Hot Air Balloon

I was working in the yard this evening and heard a very loud noise behind me, I nearly fell over from shock when I turned and saw a huge hot air balloon right above my house barely making it over. The loud noise I heard was the propane blowing the flames into the balloon. I had stuck my small camera in my pocket, which I don't normally do. I'm so glad I had it with me or I would have missed these shots. We see these balloons all the time in the summer, but never this close to our home.

I've had more funny interaction with the robins today. I told my husband that I feel like Dr. Dolittle, because I always talk to the birds and they are responding to me. While I was working in the yard this robin came close to where I was to show me his/her prize. A little while later I was at the very back of the yard and a robin hopped across the yard within a couple of feet of me. I've never before had birds keep me company while I garden, but it's been quite a joyful and fun experience.

This verbena is so pretty right now, I love the dark pink against the green. I am really enjoying this combination and will do the same thing next spring in these containers.

This is a terrible picture of the robin, the camera focused on the tree instead but I wanted to share it anyway to tell this story. This robin is quite a friendly character and is exhibiting some unusual behavior. Yesterday, when my daughter was babysitting, I took our little friend to the playground to swing. While I was swinging him in the baby swing the robin got a worm. He/she proudly pranced around the entire distance of the railroad ties that enclose the small swing area, stopping and facing me several times like it was showing me the worm. It was so funny. Then this morning I went outside to the front porch to get a few pictures of the glorious rain and this robin, which was out in the front yard hopped right up to the porch where I was and stayed close by in the front flower bed for several minutes before flying off. It was like he came to greet me.

Yea! We finally got a little rain. It wasn't as much as I'd hoped for, but I'm so thankful for what we got. My Japanese maple has done very well, thankfully it has not looked the least bit stressed by the drought.

Here are the zinnias that I sowed on Saturday night. Only three days for this growth! I checked and nothing has sprouted that I put on the ground. I think I prefer the more controlled system of sowing in containers on the patio, then transplanting. The growth rate is much quicker and I can make sure they stay moist. I'm sure the seeds on the ground got moved around with the rain, so there is no telling where zinnias and cosmos will come up.

Japanese Beetles

On Friday, June 15th, Vonlafin, at Gardening with God, said she had Japanese beetles already,
(http://gardeningwithgod.blogspot.com/2007/06/beetles-have-arrived.html) . I did a quick check today of the trees and plants that they love, sure enough I had a few of them too.
They love my birch and crabapple trees, purple coneflowers and roses. They will strip a tree of all the green from the leaves, leaving only the tell tell sign of the lacy patch and the stems.

Last year, before I even knew they were here, they had completely devoured my young crabapple tree and not a leaf was left. This year I moved that tree to the backyard because I didn't want a bare tree in the front yard. I don't use chemical sprays for pest control, so during the weeks when the adult beetle is active, I go out everyday and literally pick hundreds of them off by hand and put them in a zippered baggie. I sometimes feel that I am fighting a loosing battle with this nasty pest and last year I almost gave in to spraying. This year my trees already are so pathetic from the late freeze and drought that I won't be quite so disturbed by their destruction .

This is the grub, which is the larval stage of the Japanese beetle. I always run across these when I work in the yard, and I promptly squish them. They eat the roots of the grass. If someone has a good organic method for controlling this terrible pest, please let me know.

On a much brighter note, the birds have enjoyed the new birdbath and it had lots of activity today. These two mourning doves sat in the water together for quite some time. They must have been hot and were cooling off.

The birds took right to this birdbath, I think there are several reasons why this one is favored above the flower pot birdbath.

*This one is at the back of the yard and away from the house, the other one is right at the house.

*This one has a tree close by, the other one has a tree but it's not a good bird tree. It is a birch that I topped off last year because it was near death and ugly, it has quite a bit of new leaf growth, but the branches aren't very strong.

*This one has still water and I'm not certain that all birds like the dripping water, (the robins do).

*This one has a clay saucer and is easier to grip, the other is plastic. Yesterday a goldfinch attempted to land several times on the plastic one but never could.

*This one is shallow and the other one is deeper with rocks in it, the robins love to land on the rocks but the other birds do not.

*This one is near the bird feeder and there is more bird activity in this part of the yard.

I love having the flower pot birdbath in front of the window but I think I'll get a large clay saucer to replace the plastic one. For now I will also keep the dripping water because I like it. It is my cheap garden water feature. It is also helping to keep my Zinnia seeds moist.

Today I did some deadheading and weeding and worked on the edging around the back corner flowerbed. I also dug up one of my grasses that I bought last fall. I loved this grass during the winter, but this year it was only about half as large and seemed to be struggling. It was very root bound when I bought it and I didn't loosen or cut the roots and today it was still very tight and root bound. I split the grass into and cut off the bottom of the root ball. Hopefully, it will survive and be healthier and I'll get two of these beautiful grasses to enjoy this winter.

Reward for Hard Work

It was a very humid and hot with thunder off and on all day. We got just a little sprinkle of rain, it didn't even get anything wet, quite disappointing.



I have been waiting for the weather to cooperate to sow these seeds. It doesn't look like there's going to be a good time to plant them this spring, so I decided not to wait any longer. I sowed some of my favorite zinnias last night in containers so that I could have a little better chance at germination. I put some of the zinnia and cosmos seeds in the bare spots in the flower beds and few of the packets I will save and try to grow indoors for next year.

I made this birdbath tonight. All of it is from leftover materials that I already had in the garage.


I moved a lot of purple coneflower from my front flower bed last fall. I love this hardy flower and am glad to see that it transplanted well and is blooming in several places now.

My butterfly bush is just beginning to bloom. I planted three of these last fall and only one survived. I think I will move this one in the fall to the right side patio flowerbed, I want that to be my butterfly and hummingbird garden.

The robins don't seem to mind my presence, they will come pretty close to me while I'm sitting on the patio or working in the yard. I was on the patio when this robin hopped into the birdbath.

Tonight I was sitting on the patio wall with my camera, just waiting for a bird to photograph, when some of my neighbors walked past my yard to go to the basketball court. The teenage girl said to her mom and boyfriend, "Her yard is so pretty." The boyfriend remarked in a sarcastic tone, "Well she works in it everyday." They were a little embarrassed when they saw I was sitting right there and heard their remarks. I was just glad they said something nice, and was very pleased that a teenage girl would take notice and compliment my yard. I do try to work at least a little bit everyday and many days I spend hours working on my many different projects.

It is hard work but the rewards are many. I find great joy in creating a comfortable habitat for the birds and butterflies and it is a thrill for me to watch them enjoy what I have created for them. I enjoy watching my kitty being entertained by the activity outside the windows. I love it that we finally have a bit of privacy when we sit outside and are all using the patio more than ever before. It is rewarding when neighbors comment on my yard, it brings me great pleasure to know that others are enjoying the beauty from my very visible yard. I love taking pictures of the work in progress and sharing them with those who happen upon my blog and with the wonderful garden blogging community. This is actually the most rewarding of all right now, and keeps me motivated when I might otherwise become frustrated with all of the obstacles, ( late freezes and frosts, droughts, and pests). I've only been doing this blog for about two months now, and it has been great fun, and honestly is a great motivator to create more beauty to share.

I just want to take this opportunity to say thank you to those of you who have taken the time to browse my blog and leave such nice comments, you are the reward for the time and work that goes into this blog.

Birds, Butterflies and Balloons

Today I had a visitor to my new birdbath! I have this right in front of my window and I was concerned that the birds might not come if it was too close to the house, but come they did. This was fun to watch because this fellow really enjoyed his bath.

I think he might have wanted some privacy. Kind of looks like he's got an attitude in that picture and definitely having a bad hair day.

I only have a few visits a day from the hummers, and still only one at a time.

I don't know what this purple flower is called, but the butterflies usually love it. Edit: Carol from May Dreams (http://maydreamsgardens.blogspot.com/) has identified my purple flower. She said it was a Verbena bonariensis. I looked it up in my garden book and I believe she is correct. It is a Brazillian verbena, it's a good thing that it is drought tolerant, it self sows, and is a perennial in zones 7-9. Thank you, Carol. I had several Red Admirals visiting today. They were not shy at all so I was able to get really close to take these pictures outside.

This one was taken from inside the house through the window.

Libby, (the kitty), and Lilly, (the golden), watching the critter action outside. They are great together and I thought this was a sweet picture. I took the screen off of the window today so we could see things better and get clearer pictures. The cat loves sitting here and watching the birds. They don't seem to mind her being there, I guess they know she isn't a real threat.

Every summer we have hot air balloons that go over our neighborhood. Today I only saw two, but sometimes there are several. They are so pretty and are always a delight to see, but I could never go up in one.