Saturday encore ~ Hummingbird, don't fly away, fly away

This encore post is from September 2, 2016.

***
 
The feral beast and I had just finished a photo shoot of the vine

when who should cross our garden path but a female broad-tailed hummingbird...I think.

I'm pretty bad at the whole bird identification thing.

Whatever species...

...she sure was a beauty, and fearless, too –

I was standing about a foot away.

Hum along if you remember the Seals and Croft song from the seventies.

The sweetness of your nectar

Has drawn me like a fly

I just love you, love you, love you

I don't even know the reason why

Me: Don't even think about it.

Hummingbird: Is he fast enough to grab me out of the air?

Me: I hope not.

Hummingbird: Just one more sip and I'm out of here. No point taking chances.

A bird in a bush

I'll move back so you can see where I found the bird (a warbler? a finch?)
and the bush (Russian sage).

 

 See him?

Saturday encore ~ She never met a flower she didn't want to eat

This encore post is from August 2, 2016.

***

 My garden this year consists of four pots of geraniums and petunias 

and two pots of tomatoes. 

I occasionally treat the chickens to supervised visits in this area.

They seem to enjoy the change of scenery.

Look who isn't broody anymore! After nine weeks of self-imposed

imprisonment in the nesting box, Peach finally gave up on the idea of motherhood.

Geraniums are my favorite garden plants, if for no other reason than

they're relatively hard to kill. Also, I like their flamboyance
in this otherwise understated environment.

Mrs. Hughes photobombs the geraniums.

Me: Don't even think about it.

Mrs. Hughes: Think about what?

Lady Mary: You always have to spoil it for the rest of us.

Now we're going to lose our garden privileges.

Mrs. Hughes: Kiss my fluffy ass.

Lady Mary: See? I told you we'd get kicked out.

Caught in the catnip

 Until Aunt Anne came to visit,
the feral beast had never experienced catnip...

 ...because I'm a bad mom and assumed he didn't need toys

with all the rodents, lizards and various other creatures he has to play with.

So I was wrong.

JCC: Save me from this life of deprivation.

The feral beast has no time for garden-variety gossip

Peach in the garden

Giant geraniums

 I don't know why my geraniums continue to thrive indoors.

 It's time to move them back outside, but I'd miss them too much.

 What's not to love about giant, joyful, crazy red flowers...

...that help disguise my dirty windows?

Bathtub geraniums

Fall colors

Hummingbird, don't fly away, fly away

The feral beast and I had just finished our photo shoot of the vine

when who should cross our garden path but a female broad-tailed hummingbird...I think.

I'm pretty bad at the whole bird identification thing.

Whatever species...

...she sure was a beauty, and fearless, too –

I was standing about a foot away.

Hum along if you remember the Seals and Croft song from the seventies.

The sweetness of your nectar

Has drawn me like a fly

I just love you, love you, love you

I don't even know the reason why

Me: Don't even think about it.

Hummingbird: Is he fast enough to grab me out of the air?

Me: I hope not.

Hummingbird: Just one more sip and I'm out of here. No point taking chances.

The annual end-of-summer obligatory vine post

Every year around this time, I can't help but take pictures of and
write about the out-of-control Silver Lace vine in my garden.
Here is this year's edition.

***

Since I'm chained to my desk and computer for most of the day doing my paying job,

I make a very concerted effort to get out of my chair every hour and walk or jog

 to the end of the driveway and back. It's 475 steps and takes me about three minutes.

This is part Fitbit obsession and part knowing that sitting all day is bad for me.

My hourly treks take me through the garden, past the Russian sage

and the Silver Lace vine – the only two plants which seem to thrive here.

I pruned the vine last fall, hacking off just about everything but the main trunk.

It came back with a vengeance. In the few minutes it took me to return from 

the end of the driveway, this piece grew another foot.

You think I'm kidding. 

If you stand under it too long, it will wrap itself around you and not let go. 

If the vine itself doesn't get you, the tarantula hawk wasps will. 

It attracts all manner of bugs...

...and the occasional butterfly.

The vine will die off with the first frost and no longer pose
a threat to those who dare to enter here.

In the meantime, we'll just stand back and watch it grow.