March Showers Bring April Flowers

After a wet March mixed with sporadic heat waves, the garden is pretty much declaring spring over, punctuated by my young daughter happily picking the last late straggler of a daffodil.  I am thankful for the rain after some years of drought here in North Carolina, and with the rain has come flowers (and unfortunately weeds!)

'Souvenir de la Malmaison' Rose

 My 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' Roses are blooming already.  You can see some of the leaves on this one are curled up from powdery mildew, one drawback of all the humid weather.  I find it interesting that these rose blooms can look two different ways.  This bloom in the picture above looks more like a classic rose shape, but I bought these roses because of their old rose-looking, quartered blooms.

'Souvenir de la Malmaison' Rose

My 'Princess Bride' Verbena, a perennial, also started blooming with gusto as soon as it got a whiff of summer.  This plant handles a tough location in my hilly backyard flower bed, and it bloomed nonstop last summer until frost!  It is also attracting the Swallowtails that have already been making an appearance...

Verbena 'Princess Bride'

This one verbena plant is quite the sprawler!

Verbena 'Princess Bride'

Another tough plant in my garden is dianthus.  I bought these three plants on clearance last year.  At the end of the summer they looked a little sad, and I wanted to plant something in their spot, so I pulled them out and threw them over the fence into the empty lot next door.  Several weeks later I was walking through that lot for some reason, and there they were, all three of them looking lush and healthy, even sideways with exposed roots!  So I picked them back up and replanted them in the garden.  They deserve it.

Dianthus

My Gladiolus byzantinus bulbs are almost done flowering now, but I have to show pictures of how they looked in full bloom.

Gladiolus byzantinus

I love these newcomers to the garden.  They don't need staking like other glads, and their fuchsia color is so bright and cheerful.

Gladiolus byzantinus

Yet another new pink flower in my garden, Clematis integrifolia 'Rose Colored Glasses'...

Clematis integrifolia 'Rose Colored Glasses'

Strange that all my late spring/early summer blooms are pink... I didn't realize I had so much pink in my garden! 

I've been quite busy the last few weeks, building a veggie garden, trying to correct some drainage issues, and moving plants around.  So much to do in Spring, especially when it seems to be such a short one!

To see what's blooming in other gardens around the world, check out this month's Garden Blogging Bloom Day!

The Mission Impossible Squirrels get a New Team Member

(For the introductory post on the Mission Impossible Squirrels, click here.)

(For the post in which the Squirrels decided they needed a new team member, click here.)

Mission Impossible: Squirrel Division

Location: Red House Garden

Mission: to reach the bird feeder with the best bird seed and procure as many seeds as possible 

 

Man, I hate having to pick through the leftover bird seed on the ground!

  I've tried and tried, but still can't seem to get past that baffle!

Well, at least it's better than acorns.  

And Headquarters is supposed to be sending that new team member any day now.  Maybe the new guy will have better luck!

Ethan Hawk, Squirrel Division, at your service!  Headquarters sent me to help finish the mission.  I hear you've been having problems?

Woah, Ethan Hawk?!
I've heard stories, rumors mostly... 

Is it true you got your name from escaping the clutches of a hawk by jumping onto its back and riding it to a sunflower seed farm on your very first mission??

That's classified, kid.  But I'm not saying no..

So what's this problem you guys have been having over at this Red House garden?

Squirrel baffle, deflector disk model. 

Ah, these ones are tricky.  But not impossible.  Give me a couple minutes to think about this.

Okay, got it.  I think what this baffle needs is a running leap.  Get a good running start, run up the pole, and then leap as high as you can, trusting that the bird feeder is somewhere up there.

But you'll be leaping blind!

Sometimes a squirrel's gotta do what a squirrel's gotta do.  No guts, no nuts!

Here I go.

Get a running start...

Here comes the leap..

 

Caught it!

Uh-oh, it's turning...

Holding on for the ride...

And pulling myself up!

And that, my friends, is a mission accomplished!

Here, I'll tip the feeder down for you so you can come and get some seeds.

Oh thanks, Mr. Hawk!  

Can you stay here at the Red House garden for awhile?

There are so many seeds!

Maybe for awhile - until duty calls and I'm needed for the next

Mission Impossible..

Squirrel Division: Bird Feeder Attempt #547

Mission Impossible:  Squirrel Division

(click here for part 1)

Attempt #547

Please, please, please let me get up to the bird feeder this time!  I think I can, I think I can...

Oh man, this is slippery!  Don't turn on me, don't turn...

Well, at least we've been trained well on how to faaaall...

Aaargh, another failed attempt!  

Maybe it's finally time to give up?  Don't you think it's about time to contact the agency and report? 

Give up!  And abandon our mission?!  How could you ever think such a thing?  

We're supposed to be the Mission Impossible Squirrels!  

Besides, those seeds smell sooo sweet and delicious...

You're not going to cry again are you?

I might...  sigh..  

I hate eating the same old acorns day after day!

The other day I was so hungry for something else that I chewed into a plastic Easter egg that had been left out.   Mmmm.. I think the candy might have been made in one of those factories that also process peanuts..

Wow, I didn't realize things were getting that desperate!  We should really report.  Headquarters might have an idea of what to do.  We could see if there's any better climbers in the agency...

You really think they might have a better climber?  Well, if it means accomplishing our objective, I guess that might be our only option..  

Accomplish objective, my tail! You just want to eat some of those seeds!

Hey, can you blame me?

Let's focus on contacting headquarters and less on our stomachs.  We just have to set up a surveillance and wait for a time when Mrs. Red House leaves her computer out so we can make contact...

Hey, you're not sleeping on the job again are you?!  

Hmm?   Uh, wha.. what?  I'm awake, really..

Well, good, because Mrs. Red House left her computer out on the porch.  Now's our chance!  

What in the world are you doing?  Come on!

Uh, sorry, nervous grooming habit...

How in the world did you get into the agency?!

 My brother-in-law down in headquarters..

 Ah.. it all makes sense now..

Okay, I'm going up to the porch.  Here's the computer.  Keep a lookout for Mrs. Red House!  

Connecting with headquarters..

Send your best! This bird feeder over here at the Red House Garden is truly a mission impossible.

And boy, do we need another team member...

Seasonal Confusion Disorder

Seasonal Confusion Disorder:  a disorder in which a gardener is bewildered and confused as to what season it is

It was last month when I first noticed that I was developing symptoms.

The temperature outside had climbed into the 80's.  "Summer," my two-year-old said in a forlorn toddler voice while climbing into the hot car on one of these days.  "Too hot!"  I tried to explain that it can sometimes be hot or cold in spring.  But the seed of doubt had been sown.

The March heat wave brought down the daffodils and ranunculus.  Tulips ran their course and shriveled up.  Plants started coming up - hostas, black-eyed susan, gladiolus.  Crabgrass started sprouting.  

I think these daffodils just gave up...

I hadn't finished half of the spring chores, and suddenly it seemed too late to get them done.

'Souvenir de la Malmaison' Rose starting to bloom

 I checked the calendar.  Yes, it was really only the end of March!  It is technically still spring, I reassured myself.  It's not summer yet - it can't be!  There is still so much to do!

Then I saw this:

Holey Slugbait.  What are petunias doing blooming in my garden?!!

Aren't petunias summer flowers?  And aren't those last years petunias anyway?  Aren't petunias annuals?  Weren't they supposed to die?

I was definitely bewildered.  And I felt like I had missed spring.

Thankfully April has brought some much needed cooler weather to sooth this bewildered gardener.  The ranunculus has bounced back somewhat, and a few stray daffodils have delighted me with some late blooms.  Proper spring weather has returned.

Can't remember the name of this daffodil.. Heat still affecting brain..

And research has informed me that petunias are not annuals as I had previously thought, but tender perennials!  These newer hybrids of petunias are better able to overwinter in slightly colder locations, like my zone 7b garden.  (Whew!  The heat wasn't addling my brain after all!)

Moreover, maybe this spring resurrection of my petunia plants is timely after all, blooming in time for the Easter holiday.  I wish all of you out there a wonderful Easter!

Now excuse me while I go finish some spring chores before the real summer hits..

My Favorite Color is Eastern Tailed-Blue

The Eastern Tailed-blues emerged here with the warm spring weather of March.

Male Eastern Tailed-Blue Butterfly

These butterflies are one of my favorites, even though they are tiny.  They are only around an inch across, but always noticeable in my yard due to their flashing, brilliant blue wings.

Eastern Tailed-Blue on a Clover Leaf

The females are a little harder to see than the males, as their wings have a grayer hue. 

Female Eastern Tailed-Blue Butterfly

The first spring brood of females is the most colorful and has the most blue on their wings.  As the summer goes on, subsequent broods will have even more muted colors, with the whole wing being charcoal gray.

Female Eastern Tailed-Blue Butterfly on Clover

On a sunny summer's day, I am sure to find these butterflies in my yard, as they are attracted to all the clover and vetch that I am encouraging to take over my sloped backyard in lieu of hard-to-grow grass.  

Sometimes there are so many Eastern Tailed-blues in my backyard that when I walk, my feet stir up clouds of little blue butterflies that are disturbed by my passing. 

  

Two Eastern Tailed-Blues and a Clover

Eastern tailed-blues have tiny 'tails' protruding from their hind wings.  When the butterflies land, I often see them rubbing their hind wings together so that these tails wiggle and look rather like fake antennae.  

The theory is that by moving these fake antennae, and with orange spots on the hind wings looking like eyes, birds and other predators have more trouble distinguishing where the head of the butterfly is.  Thus they are tricked into just getting a mouthful of wing, allowing the butterfly to live.

These butterflies are very common here in the Eastern US.  In North Carolina they can be seen from March through October or even November, at which point the caterpillars will hibernate for the winter, often in a seed pod of a favorite food plant.

Until then, I shall be enjoying these tiny but gorgeous winged creatures.

Did I mention that blue was my favorite color?