roses

Today is my husband's birthday, and we found a perfect bloom for his celebration. Beautiful in form and color, but a photo cannot convey the wonderful fragrance of his favorite rose--Crimson Glory.





Another rose which has had countless blossoms this spring has been Perle d'Or--not as fragrant, but much more generous with its flowers.

nests

Cardinals are ever present in our garden--summer and winter. A pair has decided to nest in the rose bush beside our door---the door we use all day. So far they seem unaffected by our constant movement as we do our chores, and today when I peeked into the nest I found that one of the eggs had hatched. Not the best photo, but I have tried not to disturb them too much.




The killdeer pair have returned to our drive after an absence last year. We were surprised to find 4 eggs this time--the largest clutch so far. We have placed markers on the road and hope various delivery persons will take the hint and go around them

a few birdy days

Inca Dove

It is the peak of the spring migration season for birds, and there have been some nice ones passing through. A vibrant, fiery male Baltimore Oriole came through early this morning. It has been some years since they nested here. Long ago I would put little lengths of string on the clothesline and watch the female snatch them up for her nest. Sometimes the nest would dangle over the yard from a downward hanging branch on one of the live oaks. Orchard Orioles have been feeding on the coral honeysuckle in the garden, and one spent part of the day challenging the rival he saw reflected in the sliding door window.

Yesterday we had an Inca Dove (western bird rarely seen here) visit the tilled garden for a dust bath, and I heard Summer Tanager calling from the woods.


This evening the grand event was 50-100 Mississippi Kites that burst across the sky at about 5:50 pm. It happened so fast that there was scarcely time to say "look up!". One group was lower and kettling, and the following birds were at a higher altitude and spread out across the sky. They were out of sight before a proper count could be taken.

Every day holds bird surprises during spring migration.

passalong plants

While working in the garden this morning I thought about the number of plants that were passalongs -- plants given to me as cuttings or for other reasons. Some of these have been with me for more than 30 years.

Two came from my parents who passed away almost 30 years ago...

rabbit tracks, grand duke jasmine--



" the grand duke"

a rose which has been passed down from my paternal grandmother--she gave my mom the first piece, mom passed it on to my brother, he gave it to me when he divorced and moved into an apartment--this plant or a piece of it has been in the family for more than 60 years--I call it the Dodie rose in honor of my grandmother--wish I knew how she came by it


"the Dodie rose"


an aloe from my mother-in-law and a "Fairy Rose" bush from my sister-in-law--

all sorts of plants given to me by my students through my more than 40 years of teaching--

a few cacti brought to me by one of my sons from a field trip out west--

an African violet that the other son gave to me to rescue--and which has been resurrected more than once--

and all sorts of snippets and starters from along the way--

my husband has brought many little pieces home given to him by various people and they have been nurtured like all the others.

I love working amongst them all--giving a thought to each person or occasion that brought them into my garden.

fox den

My neighbor reported this fox den to us. We were amazed to find such a large excavation right beside a state highway. He has seen the young sitting near the entrance---hope to get a chance to see them soon. We caught a glimpse of an adult crossing the road near our home recently.

double treat

I chased from window to window trying to get a photo of the indigo buntings that arrived with the rain---sometimes 4 or 5 visible at a time---but suddenly a painted bunting flew into the frame and then an indigo--and I got the double treat!

planting in the rain

A big surprise--rain! We had attempted to turn the rock hard soil in the garden yesterday hoping that we could plant a few peppers, squash and eggplant, so we were happy and not daunted when it began to rain lightly early this morning softening the ground a bit and adding some moisture. We rushed out to finish rototilling, and I began to dig holes for the peppers. By the time we finished we were soaking wet---but all the plants were in the ground.

Last evening I had planted the tomatoes in bales--a technique we have used with success to avoid a wilt virus that we have not been able to eradicate from our garden and which wipes out the plants about the time they are loaded with ripening fruit.

Retreating indoors we watched the rain fall softly while we sipped tea by the dining room window and were delighted to see the arrival of indigo buntings to our yard!--

what an electric blue!--so far they have been too shy for me to capture a photo--but I am still trying.

no freeze

The big "Easter Snap" came, and I am thankful that it wasn't as cold as predicted--37 with sleet all night, but no hard freeze in the 20's. It has been reported that many fruit blooms and newly sprouted crops were lost throughout the south and east, but we were spared major damage. It is a good thing because the continuing drought is affecting the growing things enough already.

On my walk this morning, I heard great crested flycatchers and yellow throated vireos, but not much else in the way of returning birdlife. Some of the singing kinglets and chipping sparrows are still here.

Killdeer are missing from the landscape. They would nest in our rocky driveway, and I could always hear them at the ponds or in pastures--a result of the droughty spring?

During the cold windy weather last weekend we had an increase of hummers at the feeders, and an unexpected surprise was a group of orchard orioles that came to eat honeysuckle blooms. I was able to get a few photos, but they were in constant motion.

Today, after walking 5 laps, I began to bring the plants back out from the greenhouse and from under the tarps, put some tomato plants in bales, and planted various perennials I had bought for butterflies and hummingbirds. We also rototilled the vegetable garden, and in a few minutes I am going to place a few pepper plants in the garden--more things for me to water!

good friday

Though I am not Catholic, I was raised in Catholic New Orleans, and my family always honored the tradition of eating fish on Good Friday. It was usually a seafood gumbo and fried speckled trout---the seafood was sometimes bought from vendors that sold fish from small trucks that cruised neighborhoods selling their catch of the day.

So yesterday we drove to Manchac and bought a few small crabs to combine with shrimp for a gumbo-- some catfish to fry--and we will keep the tradition going tonight.

My mom and dad also felt we should be quiet and thoughtful on this day--and if my memory serves me correctly, the movie theaters all closed on this night.

It is pleasantly cool this morning--in the 40's with a north wind--after a week that had temps in the mid 80's --old timers used to call this last blast of arctic the "Easter Snap"--and would knowingly nod--"Yes, we always have another cold front near Easter."
One forecast is for sleet on Easter morning--I sure hope they have that one wrong since I have already placed all my plants outdoors, and bought veggies for the garden.

Lots to do today--it is supposed to be good luck to plant the veggie garden on Good Friday--maybe we'll pass on that one.

thunderstorm

The sound of thunder seems almost strange. It has been so long since we had an actual shower that sprang up with black clouds and rumbles. We are in another droughty spring time, and I am having to water most days trying to keep bushes and trees from being permanently damaged.

When I was younger Louisiana winters and springs were wet. Coldfronts would come rushing through, and the warmer moist gulf air would collide with the cold arctic air and create regular downpours that made the ground soggy. Back then we would wish for a break so that we could turn the ground for a spring garden. Now we wish for rain to dampen the ground so that we can break the rock hard earth. Everytime we get a few showers I think the "old cycle" has returned, but thus far the dry winters and springs are continuing for us.

Now the hurricane "experts" are predicting another big hurricane season-----they did that last year and nothing came of it. I wish they would admit they can't predict anything. It is just more crying , "Wolf!". Weather is so variable, and with our changing climate no one knows what the new cycles are going to be---just get ready the best you can and prepare to leave if things get really bad.

So in the time it took for me to type this the shower has moved off, the rumbles are distant and not a drop of rain has fallen----just another false alarm----