More Roses

It is definitely the season for roses and both Judy and I have many blooming in our gardens now. I have 5 rose shrubs that need to be replanted so I have decided to start a new rose garden in the unplanted circle at the end of the house at the front. Right now the circle contains two peony; one light pink and one dark, both double. Since all the roses I have to plant are pink or yellow, I am going to add them to that spot and have a new rose garden. It should solve the yearly weed problems there too. Today I finished the fence side of the path in the bird sanctuary and I also did about half the weeding in the Combine Garden before it was too sunny to keep working and I abandoned it until tomorrow morning. While I was weeding there, I came upon an empty hummingbird nest. It was just like the one from last year... full of Suzy and Sandy's molt hair forming a fuzzy, downy bed inside. Too cool. I found a mutant hollyhock in that garden too but did not get a picture before I lost the light. I will try to remember that for tomorrow when I am over that way.

Roses & Coyotes

We finally finished uncovering all of Judy's roses and found this little beauty today, rose 'Remember Me'. It is my favourite orange rose to date and if it ever sends out a sucker, there will be one in my yard. I am willing to wait. It was also a day of Coyotes. I came around the corner after the metal shop to see 5 Coyotes with breakfast. One of them grabbed the breakfast and ran North while the other 4 took off South. I am sure they got back together after I drove by or one of them had a really big breakfast! It was very cool though. I often see them in pairs but never before in a pack.

Dragonfly

I love dragonflies! I think it is unfortunate that in most cultures where they appear, they are associated with evil and the devil, often seen as sinister. I prefer to agree with the Japanese culture where they are held in better regard, being seen as symbols of courage, strength and happiness. The shape of the archipelago of Japan, as seen on a map, is said to be that of a dragonfly. One of my favourite songs is Ziggy Marley's Dragonfly, which is worth a listen for the lyric alone but the music will have you bopping. Of course, the benefit of the dragonfly in a garden is obvious. Anything that feeds primarily on mosquitos is always welcome in my garden. That is why I was so happy this morning to find dragonflies swarming in our yard. It started yesterday when was walking Mikaela and it seemed like there were a bunch of dragonflies following us all along the summer road. Then, this morning on our walk, I realized that it was not that they were following us but rather, that they were everywhere. Not just along the summer road but all over the acreage. I am sure they would have been counted in the thousands. Brown-gold with translucent wings shimmering in the sunlight.  Although there were several powder blue damselflies among them, the dragonflies definitely stole the show.

A job complete!

Since we decided to move, my "to do" list has grown to 8 pages. 6 of those pages are big jobs that require a lot of time. Many of those jobs are the kind that need to be done in a specific order. A few of them also involve waiting on tradesmen and ordered materials. So it is rare these days that I can say I have completely finished a job. The excitement of that has me madly typing a post on my coffee break before I go dig up more tulip. I am happy to say that the sun gardens are completely finished. Nothing left to do but stay on top of any new weeds and since that can't be done before new weeds grow, I think I can officially say we have one job complete.

Changes

It has been a week of change here. Last week this view was all iris. This week, the iris are just about done but the roses, poppy and daisy have started. The buds make me think that by next week there will be daylily and spiderwort added to these blooms. My garden has never looked better. All the early flood water and later sunshine have really made a huge difference.

Lone Agastache

When we moved here, there were several Golden Agastache planted in the lower level boardwalk. This spot was mostly shade with very little sun shining through to it. After the first season, all that came back was this lone plant growing out from the crack between two rocks. I have tried to move it to a happier place several times but it never comes back where I move it to and it always comes back in this spot. Again this year, he has appeared here. Apparently this is his favorite spot in the garden and if he is going to stay, this is where he wants to stay. So now I have resigned myself to accepting that and all I do is wish him luck each spring when he starts to poke through. At least his flowers fit in here.