It has been a beautiful day today and thankfully much cooler than the last few. I spent a little while this evening just walking around and checking on things in the garden. I must have a chipping sparrow nest in my arborvitae because these chipping sparrows were quite busy going in and out of it. They are such sweet little birds and stayed close by while I walked by the arborvitae. They were so close and I was trying not to move too much, so the pictures aren't very clear. I'll have to try again another day. I've not been able to get a good picture of the hummingbirds either. I have volunteer sunflowers growing and they are blocking the view from the patio. You can barely see him between the leaves.


The Japanese beetles are back...enough said.


I don't know what kind of critter this is, but it has been on the lambs ear for several days. It chases away the bumble bees and flies in a frenzied and angry pattern. Anyone know what it is.



The first sunflower has opened and now the liatris is beginning to bloom. I had such an annoying cough today and stayed home all day, I rested and read and watched for wildlife in the backyard. I was disappointed that I didn't see a single butterfly. Hopefully soon.


I love Verbena bonariensis and welcome it in my garden, but this is ridiculous! I've had it in my garden for about six years and it has always been very well behaved and actually is a perennial in one area of my yard. For some reason it is out of control this year and it's coming up all over the place. They are like weeds! As much as I love it, I can't have it smothering other perennials and plants. Maybe if the butterflies were all over the place and bringing me pleasure I might tolerate it, but since they aren't, some of it has got to go!

The Verbena IS a Perennial. It is, it is!!!

On January 31, I posted pictures of the many little creatures that had enjoyed the Verbena Bonariensis in my butterfly garden and I made the statement that it was my favorite perennial. Jodi left a comment saying that it was an annual where she lived. I was curious to see if it was indeed a perennial or an annual in my zone 5 garden. After checking several sources I saw that it was only hardy in zones 7-10. Embarrassed and feeling a bit foolish about my mistake, I posted again telling why I had thought it was a perennial.

Nearly in a panic after reading that so many people had trouble getting this to grow in their garden, I went outside in the cold weather and snipped off the seed heads of just about every verbena in the garden. I winter sowed some and sprinkled seeds in every flower bed.

The weather was absolutely perfect here today, in the mid-fifties and I spent a considerable amount of time outside cleaning up in the flower gardens. I started pulling up the verbena, my poor verbena that I had thought was a perennial, but was really only an annual....wait a minute... what's that green stuff at the base of the plant? It is the verbena coming back! It is a perennial here in my zone 5 garden! I'm not crazy after all. I really had been seeing the same plants coming back for the last several years, not new plants that had grown from seed. Just about every verbena that I checked had new growth. I wonder why it is hardy here when it really isn't supposed to be. I mulch for the winter, but not a thick layer. I'm so glad the verbena is hardy in my garden. Even if the thousands of seeds I planted don't grow, I will still have verbena in the butterfly garden again. That is a very good thing!

The snow is just about all gone. Another very good thing!

Look what I found! I do have crocuses coming up after all, not many, but hey, I'm very happy seeing these two.

More spring blossoms on the way!


My first winter sowing sprouts are in container #17, which is Alyssum.

I was shocked to find that the parsley had survived the winter. I saw little sprouts coming up all over the place. I even did a bit of weeding pulling out those little dandelions that were coming up in the flower garden.

I cut the ornamental grasses back, gave Lilly a good brushing and went for a nice long walk with her. Spring, a very good thing.

A Look Around

Today the sun was finally shining and even though the ground was still quite wet, I ventured outside and did a little gardening. Being from the south, I never would have thought that the upper 40's would feel warm to me, but it was glorious compared to the weather we've had lately.
First, I took a walk around to check things out. I had planted lilacs last year and they seem to be doing well and full of buds.

The Burning Bush, (Euonymus alata "Compactus"), hasn't fared as well. It seems that this shrub has been the favorite snack of the local rabbits. There isn't much left at all of this one. I'm not sure it will even live after having so much of it eaten.
The frustrating thing is that they just chew off the branches, it is so sad to see them chopped off and laying beside the shrub.

This one has major damage too, as does the third one in the grouping. I think next year I'll wrap them to protect them, that is if they even survive this winter.

I wanted to make sure that I had Verbena in the garden this year, so I went out today and collected just about all of the dried flowers, (thankfully I hadn't cleaned them up in the fall). I brought them inside and tapped them on a paper plate. I used a sifter to sift out some of the chaff and I was left with what I hope are the seeds; they are so teeny tiny. I winter sowed them in container number 16. I took some of the seeds to other parts of the yard and sprinkled them around. I still have quite a few seeds and will winter sow more in the next few days. I'll probably have Verbena everywhere, I hope so anyway.

Last year I attempted to create compost by using a plastic trash can for my waste. It wasn't particularly successful, but I didn't do things exactly as I was told by my friend. I didn't keep it watered, I didn't use straw, and I didn't roll it. I saved my straw bale from my autumn decorations and had it on the side of the house. Today I put some of the straw in can number one along with some coffee grounds, and kitchen and yard waste. I'll try to do a better job of watering it, but I still won't roll it. Hopefully it will produce better compost this time around.

We have another cold front moving through tomorrow and by Sunday it will probably be back down in single digits again. I'm so glad I was able to get outside and play a little today.

Verbena Bonariensis

Hands down, Verbena Bonariensis is the most popular perennial here at Robin's Nesting Place.