I like gardening, but...

The winter really did a number on the yard. All of the sago palms were frozen and are completely brown. I'll have to cut all the fronds and let them start over. The gingers died back and now the stalks are falling over. So I guess it's time to get moving and clean things up. 

There are already signs of Spring popping up. Mounds of oxalis, also know as pink wood sorrel and windowbox sorrel, are beginning to bloom along the sidewalk. Some folks think it's a weed and should be drowned in chemicals. Not I said the little red hen. It's a cheerful and beautiful little gift from Mother Nature.

Oxalix rubra

Azalea blossoms are starting to pop and one of the first this season was my favorite - the George Lindley Taber Southern Indica azalea. Mine is still on the small side, maybe 2' x 4'. They can reach 4-6' in height and width when mature.

George Lindley Taber azalea

Roses in March is not the norm for most gardeners. I'm lucky enough to live in a sub-tropical climate and my Joseph's Coat climbing rose has blooms all year. Not a great many, mind you, but at least 1 or 2 all the time. I love how the blooms are clustered for an instant bouquet.

Joseph's Coat climbing rose bush

The toad has resurfaced. I still don't know where his permanent home is but today I caught him climbing out of the empty Oriental planter on the patio.

Southern toad (bufo terrestris)

Southern toad (bufo terrestris)

A northern mockingbird has decided to sit on my porch roof every morning and sing me a wake-up song. Well, I like to think he's singing to me. More likely he's trying to impress a girl mockingbird. Either way, he has a lovely voice and makes waking up a little easier. Did I say he was loud? Yeah buddy!

Click the caption to hear a mockingbird sing

Northern mockingbird (mimus polyglottos)

Sunday Dinner in the Yard

The squirrels ate themselves silly yesterday. I quit putting a new corn cob on their feeder when I got to the 5th one. Two of them fought all afternoon over who got to sit in the Moon Maiden feeder. There was more chasing than eating.

 

Aftermath

The ice storm did a real number on several plants in the yard. I was so excited to finally see blooms on the ginger last year and now I have to cut it all back because the ice and cold weather froze it completely. It's amazing to me though, that even dead, the stalks put off a lovely spicy smell when I cut them. There might not be any blooms this year but there will be lovely green foliage for the cat to hide in.
 
The camellias were in bloom when the storm hit and some of them never recovered. Two of my favorites did, though. One is red and white and looks like a peppermint candy. I have looked at websites and through books on camellias but have never been able to decide exactly what the name of this variety is, so I just call it the Starlight peppermint camellia. Many of the blooms only opened halfway and many more just froze solid as buds. The few that did open, however have been especially beautiful because of their scarcity. The solid red, double camellia bush did the best overall because it had already started opening when the ice hit. Most of the blooms acted like it was just cold storage and when the ice melted they carried on as usual. I'm thankful that anything managed to bloom this year.


Camellia on ice

 

The bush recovered nicely

 



 My "Starlight Peppermint" camellia

 

              Southern Toad

I was cleaning up around the gingers yesterday and found this little guy. Needless to say he was thoroughly pissed at me for disturbing his home under the pot of dead ferns. I left him to his own devices for a bit and he must have found a new abode because I haven't seen him since.


    

 

 

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The Big Chill




The master of all he surveys (Cardinalis cardinalis)



The only things moving in the yard, or even the neighborhood, right now are the birds and me with the camera. The ice storm has coated all the trees and bushes in crystal and there is 1/2" of sleet on the ground. I've only seen one squirrel today and he just grabbed a few bites of corn and took off back to his warm nest. There are dozens and dozens of birds in the yard, though. Many parts of the country see this type of weather often, but for the Gulf coast it is practically unheard of.



The maple tree is coated in ice and the raised garden is full of sleet.





This little pine warbler (Setophaga pinus) is none too happy about having cold toes



Even frozen, the ginger plants give off a spicy smell



 

Flurries and Sleet and Ice - Oh My!

WHAT??? 

Snow flurries, ice and sleet are predicted for the coast on Tuesday and Wednesday. Good thing I've been too lazy to get the garden ready for planting. I usually plant English peas and onions during January but if I had, they would get killed for sure in the storm heading our way. Since Easter is late this year, I might be able to have fresh peas and spring onions for dinner if I get the planting done in the next 7-10 days. My vegetable garden is 16' x 4' and about 12" high. I need to add another 4x4 around the sides this year and raise it a little more. I get a year older, the veggie bed gets a timber higher - funny how that works out.

Taken in October 2013 after the last summer harvest

My garden angel

Sunflower Volunteers

Every year I choose a new type of sunflower (helianthus annuus) to plant but the ones that pop up from the spilled birdseed around my feeder always seem to be the prettiest. Maybe it's because they are the unexpected ones - just little gifts from Mother Nature. The bees loved this particular plant and stayed on it the whole time it was in bloom - and it had multiple blooms throughout the summer. I don't remember what brand of birdseed I was using that time, but I've never had so many sunflower volunteers since.  I let the spilled seeds grow under the feeder and the birds like it when the millet forms heads.

 Zonnebloem in Dutch

 

Elianto in Italian

Tornasol in Spanish

Click here for information on growing sunflowers 

The Old Farmer's Almanac

The Ginger Finally Bloomed!

After 12 years, my ginger plants bloomed last summer. The cold weather we've had this winter has frozen the stalks completely so there won't be any flowers this year.

 

Shell Ginger (Alpinia Zerumbet)

(sometimes mistakenly called butterfly ginger)

All of these photos were taken in Summer 2013

 

 

That Daring Young Squirrel

Eastern gray (grey) squirrel

He'd fly through the air with the greatest of ease,

That daring young man on the flying trapeze

(and then he would eat all the sunflower seeds in the feeder and dump the rest out on the ground when he jumped back to the tree - if he wasn't so cute I'd be really annoyed)

 

The eastern gray squirrel or grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus.

·         Scientific name: Sciurus carolinensis

·         Gestation period: 44 d

·         Mass: 0.4 – 0.6 kg (Adult)

·         Rank: Species

·         Tail length: 19 – 25 cm (Adult)

·         Higher classification: Sciurus

·         Body length: 23 – 30 cm (Adult, Head and body)

- Wikipedia

 

Colors of the Rainbow

 Blue Jay

 Male house finch

 Male & female house finch

 Male red-bellied woodpecker

 

The Blue Jay is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to North America. It is resident through most of eastern and central United States and southern Canada, although western populations may be migratory.

·         Scientific name: Cyanocitta cristata

·         Rank: Species

·         Higher classification: Cyanocitta

 

The House Finch is a bird in the finch family Fringillidae, which is found in North America. This species and the other "American rosefinches" are placed in the genus Haemorhous by the American

·         Scientific name: Carpodacus mexicanus

·         Rank: Species

·         Higher classification: Carpodacus

 

The Red-bellied Woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker of the Picidae family. It breeds in southern Canada and the northeastern United States, ranging as far south as Florida and as far west as Texas.

·         Scientific name: Melanerpes carolinus

·         Rank: Species

·         Higher classification: Melanerpes

 

-Wikipedia

Joseph's Coat Climbing Rose

                            

Transplanted to it's current location 12 years ago from my former home, this Joseph's Coat climbing rose has never gone completely out of bloom. Even with the hard freezes we've been having this month (January 2014), there are still buds opening.  The range of colors in the flowers is spectacular and each bud can be different. It reminds me of a Tropicana rose only much more vivid. I tried photographing one using the vivid color setting on my camera and it was so intense it looked out of focus.

Grabbing A Snack

This female northern cardinal landed on the feeder right after the squirrel had dumped all the seeds out it it. She managed to find one and the sunlight hit it just as I snapped the photo.

The Northern Cardinal is a North American bird in the genus Cardinalis; it is also known colloquially as the redbird or common cardinal.

·         Scientific name: Cardinalis cardinalis

·         Symbol of: Illinois

·         Rank: Species

·         Higher classification: Cardinalis

-Wikipedia

 

New Visitor

 

This little fellow showed up in the yard Sunday and, to the best of my identification skills, I've decided he is an Eastern Phoebe, a member of the flycatcher family. So far I've only seen the one but migration season is starting so I'll keep a lookout for more. 

According to the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds, a phoebe was "probably the first bird ever banded: Audubon marked one with a silver wire on the leg in 1840 and recorded its return the following year." 

 

 

The Eastern Phoebe is a small passerine bird. This tyrant flycatcher breeds in eastern North America, although its normal range does not include the southeastern coastal United States. 

·         Scientific name: Sayornis phoebe

·         Rank: Species

·         Higher classification: Phoebe

-Wikipedia