Can you imagine what sleeping in a cardoon blossom is like? It looks mighty comfy to me. The bees and pollinators look cozy before dawn and only grudgingly begin to move around as the sunlight pours through the garden.
Don't forget to visit my friend, Anna at Flutter & Hum, to see all the Wednesday Vignettes!
Morning light transforms spider webs into high art. Quiet mornings in my garden, fill my soul for the day ahead. Now, I'm off to help teach a garden class to the Boys and Girls Club in our school garden.
Don't forget to visit our hostess, Anna at Flutter and Hum, to see more Wednesday Vignettes.
In late April, while I was testing out our hammock, I looked up and discovered a nearly hidden bushtit nest hanging up in our fir tree. The birds carefully tucked the nest between two hanging branches right above our covered pergola. Only the evening breeze made the nest visible from the hammock.
Bushtits are a tiny gray birds that fly through my gardens in large groups of 10 to 20 birds. I've always found them charming company in the garden. During mating season, the birds pair off and build an intricate nest made out of spider webs, moss, grass, lichen, leaves and twigs. Up to seven eggs are laid inside and are incubated for approximately 12 days.
Both of the parents flit around the yard gathering insects like aphids and leafhoppers to feed their nestlings. The nest vibrated as the nestlings sang out when their parent arrived with food. The young leave the nest 14 days after hatching. And I had empty nest syndrome after the first batch of nestlings left.
But, The Backyard Bird Shop warned me that the bushtits would re-use the nest. And they did! I counted three batches of nestlings this spring and early summer. I never did manage to capture the bushtits flying into their nest, only some tail feather shots.
On Tuesday night, Barnaby started prancing around the yard with something in his mouth. It looked like a wool sock. But, then I realized that he had the bushtit nest. The evening breeze had knocked it out of the tree. I retrieved it from Barnaby and carefully felt the nest and was relieved to find it empty.
It's just shy of a foot long. And look at the intricate design.
Isn't it gorgeous? It's in pretty good shape except for some dog slobber.
I hung the nest up to take this shot. I'm debating about tying it up into a nearby tree to see if a pair of bushtits want to make some repairs and use it. Thoughts?
So, what birds have been nesting in your garden this year? I'd love to hear about them!
The purple meadow rue seed heads are lovely in the evening light in my front garden. Looking through my camera I can forget the Crony Brothers drinking beer in their garage across the street, the cars driving by, and the unrelenting heat wave. I can just take a moment to enjoy the pink sky and the seed heads blowing in the breeze.
Don't forget to visit our hostess, Anna at Flutter and Hum, to see more Wednesday Vignettes.
Update: These are Thalictrum Aquilegiifolium seed heads. Phew, I feel so much better now. Thank you, Amy at the World's Best Gardening Blog for pointing out my mistake and saving the day!
Correction: This plant is a form of thalictrum, meadow rue. I'm not certain which variety because I lost the tag from the plant swap. If you know what it is, please let me know!
As I mentioned in my previous post, My Pirate has started taking pictures. He's using the camera on his iPhone 6 plus and is processing his shots through the app Snapseed. Scrolling through his pictures, I've discovered a theme. Whenever we go tour a garden he snaps multiple shots of plants that he wants to add to our garden.
Maihuenia poeppigii, shot taken by My Pirate
When we toured Greg Shepherd's garden, My Pirate took multiple shots of this spiky cactus in his side yard. I love his shots. So, when I was at Xera Plants, I picked up the cactus, Maihuenia poeppigii, for My Pirate. He was thrilled with his new gift.
Maihuenia poeppigii, shot taken by My Pirate
Here's what the tag said:
Maihuenia poeppigii, zone 6b (-5 to 0) This succulent Cactus relative is native to the highest elevations of the Andes and it revels in fast draining soils and full sun. Slowly spreading to form colonies in summer it is replete with bright yellow flowers. The silver thorns contrast wonderfully with the green leaves'. To 4" tall and spreading. Full sun and occasional summer water to speed growth. Cold hardy and excellent in containers. Protect containerized plants from winter wet. mye-WAY-nee-uh.
What plant do you secretly hope someone will buy for you?
