Irises!
Despite appearances to the contrary, Sophie is not sniffing the flowers. Sophie is OBSESSED with bumblebees and reallyreallyreally wants to catch and eat them. I reallyreallyreally don't want her to do this, because she'll get stung and I bet her head will swell up like a balloon and I'll have a $150 vet visit on my hands. Of course, the vet visit thing is just a guess. But I do think it best that she not ingest bees. Besides, I like them!
Tristan's tastes evidently run to red squirrels, since he has CAUGHT and EATEN two in the past week, before I could even remove my chin from my chest. URGH! I became less upset about this the other day when a red squirrel killed four baby robins in the nest outside our porch window. Such a waste... he took a few bites from each and then buggered off, hopefully into Tristan's jaws. :( I know it's just nature, and squirrels gotta eat, but I had enjoyed watching Mama Robin on the nest and so was saddened about the babies dying. Besides, the squirrels have plenty to munch on around here (birdseed and black walnuts, to name just two items), so they can just leave my baby birds alone!
And now I bring you...
...Bridal wreath spirea aka Vanhoutte Bridal Wreath!
I grew up with one of these in the garden and I adore them. I had planned to buy one for this garden but voilà, there are two here already.
And we have alliums, which the bees, butterflies and Gordon love:
I grew up with one of these in the garden and I adore them. I had planned to buy one for this garden but voilà, there are two here already.
And we have alliums, which the bees, butterflies and Gordon love:
So there ya go. As you can see, things do eventually warm up in the Great White North. I am madly trying to get in the last of my veg seeds, and the veggie patch is getting more and more enormous. One hopes the deer or raccoons or anything else won't annihilate it. The only real solution to the deer is a twelve-foot fence, which I'm not prepared to erect. But since they love soybeans, and 50 acres of them have been planted on our land, I am hoping that these provide enough of a distraction from my own crop.
For some reason, I haven't, touch wood, had deer issues in the past with my vegetables. In fact, the deer have snacked in the gardens of all my neighbours and left mine alone. The smell of dog perhaps? Who knows? I just hope my luck continues.
It's supposed to hit 32C by the weekend, which is pretty hot for early June. I'd say winter is officially over.
I love the irises! Very nice. And I can definitely understand not wanting your baby eating bees and such. I had no clue that squirrels ate baby birds! What?!?
ReplyDelete~ Wolf Lover Girl
Ooooooo Ahhhhhhhhh ... yes indeed spring and at 32° summer have arrived!! I'll bet it is so much fun seeing what comes up.
ReplyDeletethe iris picture is just absolutely beautiful. I love the backdrop of the pine or cedar trees.
All of the pics are lovely.
here's hoping S doesn't catch a bee and T has already eaten the robin murdering squirrel. damn thing.
and I hope all teh wild life let your garden grow unmolested. you're probably right about the deer and the soybeans.
What a beautiful place...just paradise! :))
(god I've failed the word verification two times now! I think i need to click on the handicapped thing)
Nat, your flowers are gorgeous. I'm a particular fan of bridal wreath spirea. Have the lilacs bloomed yet? I was very sad to hear about the baby robins too :-( I had no idea that squirrels at birds.
ReplyDeleteThe lilacs are only just now just about toast. I should have taken a picture, duh, because we have huge bushes and they were gorgeous! It's a shame they don't last longer than about two weeks.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, alas, red squirrels do eat eggs and nestlings and carrion and much else. I know it's nature but still, I look at the empty robin nest every morning and am sad! Given how many black walnuts they get from our trees, you'd think they could leave my treasured birds alone!
And guess what? There have been rare instances of CHIPMUNKS being seen preying on small animals and birds!!!
If you want to learn more about the little bastards, I mean, cuties, go to:
http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/wilderness/animals/redsquir.htm
While I'm sure your alium does attract lots of butterflies (I saw at least a dozen swallowtails today), isn't the one in your picture actually a moth?
ReplyDelete