Showing posts with label toads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label toads. Show all posts

Sunday, October 19, 2025

Photo-a-Day Week 42

Week 42, a few more plant photos than in previous weeks. I did have a choice of several photos on one day, Day 290. Remember to be thinking about which one of the 365 photos is your favorite as the year draws to a close. 


Day 286-

Millie came out to the living room area to watch as Charlie adjusted the front door. It wasn't closing properly, and there was a lot of opening and closing of said door. All the animals were interested in what was happening.

Watching from a safe spot

Day 287-

We had a nice, clear, warm/pleasant day, so Charlie decided to stain the deck. He had cleaned it over the previous days. Not a fun job, but needed to be done to protect the wood on the deck. 

Staining the Deck


Day 288-

Some of my dogwood trees are starting to show their fall color. This one is also showing the fruit from last year's blooms and the tiny minarets of next year's blooms. Dogwoods, Cornus florida, bloom in the early spring with tiny yellow flowers. The white bracts that surround the flowers are often mistaken for the petals of the flowers. 


Last spring and next spring


Day 289-

When I take the dogs outside to play in the morning, many times there is a lone Mourning Dove just sitting very still in the grass. I wasn't sure if it would fly away when I tried to get a photo, but this dove stayed put for a quick photo. Getting a photo of a bird with a cell phone isn't easy, the zoom isn't very long-reaching. 


Mourning Dove


Day 290-

Walking through the backyard I was tickled to see one of the Cyclamen was blooming. I have several Cyclamen neapolitanum planted in the wooden area of the garden. I see the leaves but often miss the blooms. 

Cyclamen


Day 291-

I am lucky to have a pair of Persimmon trees in our yard. They produce some fruit, though not a lot. 
Persimmons, Diospyros virginiana, need two trees, male and female, to bear fruit. The male and female trees in my front yard almost look like a double trunked single tree. The pollinators love the blooms.


Persimmon

Day 292-

Our trees are starting to show their fall colors, and the morning light hitting the leaves makes them shine. The yellow leaves in the photo are one of the many hickories we have in our yard. The sky in the background was dark with rain clouds. We could use the rain, though we were only graced with a small amount. I checked the gauge, 4/100" of rain. First reports were an anticipation of 2/10", and it was an over exaggeration. I will be sharing the side yard foliage over the next few weeks. The lot to the left sold and the new owners are moving ahead with plans to build. The lot line is pretty close to the garden edge, so the look will be changing for sure.  


Fall colors with dark skies


The day I found the Cyclamen blooming, I got a few other photos. It was a tough choice between the one chosen and the ones below. Please enjoy Rudbeckia laciniata, a small fern in the crevice of a rock, Calico aster- Symphyotrichum lateriflorum, and a tiny toad. I think the toad is a Fowler's Toad, but not sure.





Would you have chosen differently? 
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I hope you are thinking about your favorite one! See you next week.

©Copyright 2025 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet, The Queen of Seaford.

Friday, May 6, 2022

Nature- Volunteers and Surprises

As it says in the heading of my blog, it is a random diary of what is going on in my garden. I need to get back to documenting growth of my garden. One of my neighbors said that they thought my garden had really popped this year. Will it be even better next year? Who knows, every year has so many variables  from late frosts to rainfall factoring in to benefit or challenge each year's growth.

The volunteers in my garden are always a treat to see. The various colors of Blue-eyed Grasses pop up in the spring. The blue flowered grass is Sisyrinchium angustifolium. 


The yellow flowered grass is most likely Sisyrinchium rosulatum. It isn't always yellow, sometimes they are pink to lavender. Always a nice little bloom to see in the garden/yard.


Don't you love the seed pods?

A new volunteer this year is Lyreleaf sage, Salvia lyrata. It is a vigorous spreader, maybe even a thug. I am not sure how it entered my garden. There really aren't Lyreleaf sage in our wild areas. Could it have come in on a plant from a plant sale? Maybe. 


 I like the purple and lavender colors together, Sage and Iris. There is a Gladiolus byzantine planted near the Irises, so in the coming years, we will get another color combination.


Why do I have a rose in the volunteer list? Well, this gorgeous deep red rose sprouted from root stock. I had a David Austin rose, Rosa 'Olivia' in a container in this garden bed. Sadly, it was just at deer eating height. When I dug the rose out of the container there were some roots that had traveled out of the hole in the bottom of the container and into the garden. I thought I had dug up all remaining roots, but it looks as though I was wrong. This unnamed red rose is probably a rambler based on its growth habit. This coming winter I will rework this corner of the garden. The rose is fragrant and a gorgeous deep red. I love it against the yellow of the creeping St. John's Wort, Hypericum calycinum 'Brigadoon'.


Surprises in the garden come in fauna form, some with legs and some without. Below is the ladybug/ ladybeetle feasting on aphids. Balance of nature!


We have lots of turtles in our neighborhood area. Being on the lake there are many sliders, this one headed off to the woods to perhaps lay her eggs. I made sure it was well off the road before venturing on.


We also have lots of box turtles in the garden. Love seeing all the turtles.


There are also snakes in the garden, or in this case, in my hose caddy on the patio. This is a Black Rat snake, nonvenomous and beneficial to the health of the garden. Like I said with the aphids and ladybugs, balance of nature. 


Hanging out in the front yard is one of many toads and frogs we have. I believe this one to be an American Toad, Bufo [Anaxyrus] americanus. 



And finally, Bambi was visiting in the backyard garden with her mom. It is a love/hate relationship with the numerous deer. The fawns are so stinkin' cute!


Stay tuned for more observations from my garden. Thanks for stopping by.


©Copyright 2022 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.