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Le Jardin

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It’s Sunday morning in the neighborhood. The sky is misty. The plants are happy. A Sunday report on the state of my garden, and of the Brighton Dam azalea garden.

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We stopped at Brighton Dam today on our way to Boarman’s to get fennel. They didn’t have any and we had to go to Harris Teeter, but that’s another post. The azaleas are past peak. Still pretty out there, but azaleas are over the hill. The cormorants were out in full force though.

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As you can see, there are splashes of color but way past prime viewing season.

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My herb garden is going nuts. Check out the large number of chive blossoms. Edible, tasty, pretty too.

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And, of course, the mint, which is essentially a weed. Can’t kill it. Spreads like crazy. This one has been in the same container for five years. For the life of me, I can’t remember which variety it is. It comes back every spring.

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As for my non edible garden, we got our first white rhododendron this year. Never saw one before now. The rhodie are doing well. With lots of new growth and more blooms than I thought.

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Plus, these flowers have never appeared before. Sometimes I wonder where in the world they come from. There are about a dozen of them out there now. I believe they are a type of iris. Any suggestions?

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Finally, too, the tangelo azalea has bloomed. Not as much as other years but still awesome.

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In terms of the pleasure we get from our flowers, shrubs and trees, it is well worth the effort I put into keeping them healthy.

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Brighton Dam Azaleas May 5 2013 Report

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They are getting there. The early bloomers are lovely. Lots of buds though. Mother’s Day should be perfect. And, how about this little gem?

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I assume WSSC planted the flowers. I can’t imagine them allowing an individual to do it, but who knows? Plenty of color even on a gloomy Sunday morning.

A romantic spot for a walk.

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Weekdays and early morning, this was at 9 am, you can have the place to yourselves. As you can see, many varieties are still in budding stage, not yet blooming. Still, there are spectacular blazes of color on some of the smaller paths.

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Unusual colors too.

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I could go here almost every day and be happy just to wander the trails.

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Easy to access on the Howard/Montgomery county lines. This is a treat for all of us who live here.

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The Much Needed Rain

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Rainy days like this make us happy. Soft gentle rain that greens up the yard, the field, and keeps my trees, shrubs, herbs and flowers healthy is always welcome.

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The lace maples went from budding to full glory in just a few days. These trees are my favorites. One in front and one behind the house. I now have to irrigate the front one as the underground drains carry water out to a grove with younger trees and shrubs that haven’t established their roots as deeply.

The crab apple has exploded with blossoms.

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This is one of those years where it is being covered in white flowers.

My second wave of tulips is loving it. The first bloomers are dropping petals but this variety is coming in with many flowers.

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When I planted the bulbs about six years ago, I used a variety of early and late blooming tulips to prolong their presence across the entry walkway.

This year so far only one iris came up on the side of the house. I think these were planted so long ago by the previous owner that they are pretty much wiped out, and the star lilies and tiger lilies have taken over. But, I did get this one blossom the other day.

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In a vase with a gorgeous deep purple tulip, the only one that color from out front. Sometimes it is weird to see a single bloom of a color that you don’t remember planting.

And, the dogwoods are at their peak. Two more trees that I take extra care to keep fertilized, pruned, watered and happy. Their colors just scream spring time.

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April showers bringing May flowers, and more. Here’s to erasing that deficit in our rainfall totals for 2013. In just a few days, I will be putting in the veggie garden, but still loving those flowers.

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Connections @hcconservancy

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Connections. All sorts. This time I am talking about art. At the Conservancy tomorrow night the 18th of April.

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Starting at 6 pm, there will be a reception, silent auction and words about the juried art show, by artists and the judges. The art is amazing, and has been on display in the large hall on the Conservancy grounds. Tickets are $12 at the door. I find this a wonderful place to get art from local artists, already matted and framed.

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If you love art with a nature theme, and want to support local artists and the Conservancy, please join us there. I will be volunteering at the event, and having a lovely evening “connecting” with friends, both new ones and long time friends.

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Spring Sprung!!!!

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When we weren’t looking. Everything started to pop open.

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Out of nowhere my weeping cherry went nuts. So did the tulips.

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Bulbs opening left and right. Hyacinth, hellesbores, daffodils, tulips. All the spring flowers beginning to bloom as the temperatures rise. I love spring. I plant things. Nurture them. Take pleasure in how fast they grow. I am really happy about my garlic in the garden, though. At least a baker’s dozen of garlic bulbs, which will be preceded by those lovely garlic scapes perfect for pesto.

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The ones in the pots didn’t do as well, so no pics of them. I should at least get spring garlic out of those. But, my chives came back very strong. Love them snipped off and added to dinner at the last moment.

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The lavender is coming back, too. I will clean out these boxes and add a few microgreen mixes. If you want to do something easy, plant a few herbs and microgreens in window boxes.

Working on a post about my “Out there” local meal, involving Breezy Willow eggs and local meats. It is spring in the midatlantic, and we are loving it.

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The Elusive Pileated

Finally!! I got a picture of the pileated woodpecker, at least one of them, that have been living at the edge of our property for the past two years. We hear them all the time. I saw one of them once a year ago. Today they came out and visited the side yard right out our window.

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Not the best picture as he wouldn’t keep his head still, but I did get him as he was checking out all our dead trees on the property line. I also managed to catch him as he left. Twice.

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A highlight on a dreary rainy day in west county. The varied bird community on the edge of the forest and the fields.

Unlikely Friendships

Animals that don’t normally get along, getting along quite well. Jennifer Holland, author of the NYT bestseller

    Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom

and a contributing writer for National Geographic magazine, is coming to the Howard County Conservancy this Sunday the 24th to give a program for families and those young at heart who love animals.

A cat and a bird. A mare and a fawn. An elephant and a sheep. A snake and a hamster. Pictures and stories, behind the scenes tales of her adventures as well. Here is the link to the flier for the event.

The cost is $10 a family and the admission supports the conservancy’s education programs held all year long. What unlikely friendships do you know? Do you have any pictures? Bring them to add to the fun and the discussion.

Are my blue jay and squirrel unlikely dining companions?

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They probably are just tolerating one another.

Besides this event on Sunday, next week the volunteer training begins for us for the spring school programs. If training and hiking begins, can spring be far behind?

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Six Feeders No Waiting

Since today was lovely, I went out and did some feeder maintenance and filled everything before next week’s Great Backyard Bird Count.

If you want to do something fun with your family or friends, try and spend just a little time between the 15th and 18th counting the birds you see in your yard, or in a public area near you. It is simple to do, and you don’t need to be an experienced birder. The count had over 100,000 participants last year. Many from this area. In Maryland alone, there were over 2000 checklists submitted. Quite a few from Howard County. Ellicott City and Columbia led the county in participants with 83 lists from each area.

I watch right out my kitchen window for a few hours on one of the days and put in my totals. Since I have a habitat established with regular visitors, I know I will have certain times of the day with dozens of birds popping in to get food and water.

Today was no exception. I had three downy woodpeckers, all female, out there at the same time.

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Don’t know where the males were today, but the females kept coming back. I also put peanuts in the shell out there today to check out the blue jays. I had at least six between those on the ground and in the trees. They are a riot to watch, as they go looking for the biggest and heaviest peanuts. Last year there were fewer blue jays reported. Including by me. This year they are back.

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Of course, with peanuts out there, at some point the squirrel showed up and the blue jays had to go into overdrive to get the lion’s share of the peanuts.

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Today also brought the return of the female red bellied woodpecker. We haven’t seen her around here much lately. Just the male, but out of nowhere she showed up to grab peanuts herself.

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At one point, the nuthatch joined the party. Here a young downy and the nuthatch are enjoying the new food.

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And, just to show that sometimes they do tolerate each other, I leave you with a photo worthy of submitting for the Conservancy program on unlikely friendships. Animal photos of unlikely pairings of animals. That event is on the 24th of February. Another family activity coming up in the next few weeks in the area.

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Peaceful coexistence. Unusual for them. If you can, make time to count birds next weekend in Howard County. Let’s help Cornell and the Audubon Society keep tabs on where the birds are located by creating our own “census”.

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Tulips in January?

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What is it with the weather here in Howard County? Yesterday my husband told me the tulips were coming up in the front yard.

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Yeah, those little leaves poking up in front of the mums I cut back to the ground. Those same tulips that bloomed in March last year.

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Those same tulips that bloomed in late April 2009. I wonder when they will bloom this year as they are really early.

2009 April tulips

2009 April tulips

This week has been one crazy roller coaster ride, with snow, ice, rain, tornado watches, thunderstorms, floods, and super high winds. All we need are plagues of locusts. As for the 2.5 inches of rain in a 24 hour period earlier this week, the stormwater management on the property did what it was supposed to do.

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All of the water from our shared driveway and my neighbor’s field came down to the depression that allows it to run into our yard and around the back of the house.

From there,

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it heads off past my herb garden on its way to the vegetable garden. That area is the final destination for most of the water, where it will perk back into the ground water and become part of the water table. So far, knock on wood, we have never had to redrill the well even during our worst droughts. Of course, our well is about 500 feet deep, but we are lucky to be in a good location.

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Now, if it ever stops raining, I need to finish the garden clean up. I got all the cages and tomato plants out. I just need to clear out those morning glory vines from the fence, and pull up the black fabric barrier. This shaded garden is going to be the new home for many shade tolerant herbs, and I am going to experiment with some cooler weather varieties of plants. Just for the heck of it, I will be putting in pumpkin seeds in one section.

Just cross our fingers the weather doesn’t get nasty for Super Bowl Sunday. We all remember the blizzards of 2010 that weekend, don’t we? Not going to many parties in Howard County when most roads looked like this or worse and it took a week to clear out all the snow from back to back storms.

February 6, 2010

February 6, 2010

We had 25 inches of snow that Saturday. The equivalent amount of snow that 2.5 inches of rain could have been this year if the temperatures had been lower.

I think I am happier with all the rain. The 2010 blizzard was a real pain to shovel.

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The Competition for Dinner

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In keeping with the bird theme this week, I am noticing that the backyard predators are becoming patio and deck predators. They must be running out of field mice, voles and other rodents down in the meadow.

Friday the young Cooper’s hawk decided to hang out in the maple tree off our patio and watch the happenings. What is interesting about this predator, the birds don’t seem to care about him. He is looking for bigger prey usually. While he was there the juncos just remained in the burning bush.

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Now today, the sharp shinned hawk felt like making the bird bath his perch in case any small birds were inclined to show up. He didn’t even flinch as I took at least a dozen pictures of him through the patio door. He was about 25 feet away from our door.

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He causes the most havoc around here. Swoops in low and at high speed and the birds scatter. Occasionally one hits a window in their panic and he gets an easy meal. It is the trade off here. No cover in the winter on the deciduous trees and bushes, so the birds are more vulnerable.

I do know this year the two of them are doing a very good job at keeping mice out of the house. The population must be smaller due to their constant hunting in the garden and the meadow. I have only trapped one this winter. Usually I have at least half a dozen squeezing up through the openings to the crawl space under the washer and dryer. We have to have traps in the laundry room all winter. This year either the warmer weather, or the presence of two predators is keeping them at bay.

It took me a while to get used to them when we moved here. Being up close and personal to acipitors is just part of the whole experience in this rural setting.

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