Protection, Birds and Fun

Little Carolina Chickadee, a regular visitor

This coming weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count, Feb. 17- 20.   The website has great information about how to go about doing the count.  They even have lists of birds that are common in your area.  I don't have feeders up in the summer for any birds other than hummingbirds.  In the winter I put up suet cakes and have seed feeders.









 Seems like last winter I saw more woodpeckers.  Maybe it is just me being busy with other things.

Male Red-bellied Woodpecker

On the suet feeders we have the Chickadees and Tufted Titmouse, a few Nuthatches, some House Finches, some Goldfinches, and this little guy.

Pine Warbler?

See the yellow?  What a cutie.

Speaking of cute---
Couldn't help taking a picture of this VW Beetle while we were in town.  Perfect for the gardener! 

When we moved here we noticed there were a lot of donkeys.  Seemed like every field had at least one donkey.   The field near our house has four. 

When we mentioned something about all the donkeys, one of the neighbors said they were for protection.  WHAT?  Apparently they are used to protect livestock from predators.  Amazing, check out this info sheet from Missouri Dept. of Conservation.  We do have coyotes, fox, and some wild pigs.  These donkeys are protecting some Babydoll Sheep, goats, and lots of chickens.   I like seeing them hanging out in the front field, with our favorite view as a backdrop.
Don't forget to watch your backyard feathered friends !!!!

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Super (Bowl) Sunday

As I took the dogs out this morning for their walk, I thought what a super day this was....a bit warmer than my cami and little sweater called for, but so lovely.  First thing I saw was my first open daffodil, will have to dig through my notes from last year to see if I can find the name.   As you can see, I haven't trimmed back my grasses yet.   What a great sunny bloom to see!

I have been planting the last week, cooler weather (compared to spring or summer) and hopefully a bit more rain, has made it a great time to plant.  Earlier in the week I planted two Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata', think I found two good places for this semi-picky plant....I love it!!  Can't you just smell that gorgeous bloom?

In addition to the Daphne, I found some azaleas that I planted in our front wooded area.  We have been cleaning this area out, a little bit each winter.  There are dead trees, vines (honeysuckle, smilax, and grape to name a few), and too many Sweetgum trees to be able to grow to a healthy size. 
Two of the azaleas I planted are native hybrids....one is one of the Confederate Series, 'Admiral Semmes'---   you can see the shed in the background.  These native azaleas are deciduous and promise to be fragrant when in bloom. 











Along the edge of the driveway rocks I have some daffodils that are starting to peek up out of the ground.  To keep the dogs from walking on them and to remember where they are (so I don't step on them as well) I use a stick.  Do you see the little leaves sticking up out of the ground?  The stick diverts the dogs to one side or the other, missing newly emerging foliage.

I still need to mulch with pine straw along part of the driveway.  That will dress up the edges a little better.

The other azalea I planted was an Encore 'Autumn Twist'.  It has nice dark green foliage and will put on a show both spring and fall.   This bloom is white with stripes of a purple red...almost looks tie-dyed in the picture on the tag. 

It is in the same vicinity as my Oakleaf Hydrangea.  Knowing this hydrangea will get large, I gave each plenty of room to grow.

Right now the hydrangea is a stick about three feet tall.

This is the other native hybrid azalea I bought and planted.  The name on the tag is 'Tallulah Sunrise'  and it says this plant will get to be 3 x 3 when mature.  If it is double that it is ok as there is plenty of room on this side for it to be as large as it wants to be.  I couldn't find any information online about this one, so if you have any info, please share!

Walking around the rest of the yard, Viburnum tinus 'Spring Bouquet' is full of tiny buds ready to open.

 Hyacinths are coming up....

Fragrance is filling the air from the Edgeworthia chrysantha....yummmm

 Finally the Hellebores are blooming-- what a great addition to the shady garden, something I didn't have in Virginia.

I have an umbrella trellis that has Carolina Jasmine, Gelsemium sempervirens, growing all over it...also getting ready to open.

The Distylium myricoides is full of buds, some open, some just about to open......

For those looking for something to fix for tonight's Super Bowl game....Corned beef roll ups.  Corned beef, cream cheese, and dill pickles.  Really tasty!! 

Have a wonderful Sunday!!




©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Long Angles and Foggy Mornings

This time of year the long angles of the sun make for some wonderful light shows.  The other night taking the dogs for their evening walk I saw this gorgeous sight.  Love how the setting sun broke through the pines, illuminating various parts of the forest. 

 Turning around and heading to the house, the sun is shining along different parts of the woods.  Can you tell I live in a pine forest? 

With the mild temperatures we have been having we have had some interesting fog.  This morning, while letting the dogs out, this blanket of fog rolled in and out in the course of about a half hour.  We have fog like this in the fall-- always magical.

Fog is so interesting, but hard to really capture in a photo. 

We spread 4 cubic yards of hardwood mulch so far, the hill killed us.  Today I did some trimming/pruning and spread the pine straw in the garden along the driveway.   While in the woods I found a fun little mushroom, think it is a Turkey tail mushroom. Trametes versicolor   After reading through the Mushroom Expert, I am not sure.  Will have to go and do a closer investigation.

Whatever it is, it is pretty. 

So, like I said, mulch was spread on some of the gardens....we will probably have two more loads (2 cubic yards each) to finish around the house.  The shed sits on the front part of the grassy area of our yard. We mulched from the driveway to and around the shed

                                                     .

 I put layers of newspaper under the mulch to take care of the grass.  There are bulbs planted on either side of the door.  Along the window side is a Yuletide Camellia, two red Rhododendrons 'Besse Howells', and a Tea Olive on the back corner.

You can see how much this part of the yard slopes. The shrubs will help hide the space as they grown.  On the backside of the shed I planted three Spirea vanhouttei that will have plenty of room to grow to their full potential.   

As you can see, the house sits on the hillside. I am standing next to the lower corner of the shed, turned facing the house.  The side garden is now mulched and next we have the other side of the house and the front garden to do....think that will be a lot less mountain climbing!

  

 Hope the nice weather holds out, we have a few more work days!

©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.