Lot of rain days this month, which bodes well for the huckleberries….they need June rains. The garden is getting very lush, and there are lots of flowers in bloom. The Globemallow that I transplanted into a large blue pot has lots of bright orange flowers. I darn near killed it but it rallied. Lots of daisies, penstemons, asters, columbines, irises, and sedums. And finally some Tiger Lilies!
Long tailed weasel sighting on the patio and scurrying around the salal. They are apparently solitary and have large individual ranges, maybe that’s why we don’t see them around. They eat voles, so they’re welcome…
But spending more time by the road than in our yard. Hopefully they are wise ducks and will be OK. We let the pond fill up again with the rain so maybe they’ll grace us with their presence after all. Here he is by the pond earlier.
Found about a dozen tadpoles in the front pond that must have hatched just in time to be missed by the ducks. So we’re back to a handful, that seems more balanced than the hundreds and possibly thousands of eggs that were originally laid.
We cleaned out the backyard pond of excess foliage, so whether the ducks would have returned after Saturday or not, they aren’t coming back here this year. We had to lower the pond level for the maintenance. The ducks were last in the yard about a week ago.
All the deciduous trees and shrubs have provided screen. The weather is warm, to 80 today, but cooler and sunny here near the Sound. The hammock is up and ready for the season .
Tides have turned against the frogs this year. At first there were just a few, then occasionally numerous frogs croaking at night. We had many egg sacs in the front pond, about 6-8 just on the rain chain alone, and we thought we were in for an infestation of biblical proportions. Then the ducks discovered the front yard pond and took care of them all. We’ll have to see if any make it into next year to repopulate the pond.
Now In bloom: Camassia cusickii, Camassia quamash, purple Shooting stars, Iris setosa, Iris tenax, Penstemon rupicola, Penstemon davidsonii, Aquilegia formosa, Aquilegia cerulean, Aquilegia flavescens, Penstemn tolmeii, Iris chrysophylla, Saxifraga oregana, White Brodiaea, Deciduous Rhododendrons. Below, Penstemon tolmeii, Jacob’s-ladder, and Iris chrysophylla, a new iris for me with pale blue and yellow markings on a white background.
Nearly in bloom: deciduous Penstemons, Sea thrift, Heucheras, white Shooting stars (dentatum).
Now in bloom, April 2012:
Dodecatheon pulchellum , dodecatheon dentatum , dodecatheon Henderson (Shooting stars purple and white)
Penstemon rupicola
Erigeron linearis / Desert yellow daisy
Lewisias,
Hooker’s Fairybells
Showy Jacob’s ladder/ Polemonium pulcherrimum
Erythronium oregonum / Fawn Lily
chocolate lily/ Fritillaria
Castilleja hispula/ Harsh Paintbrush.
The Henderson shooting stars are darker fuscia with dark brown cone, vs pulchellum are lighter with more yellow in the cone.
Soon to be in bloom: Columbines yellow and blue – Aquilegia crysanthus and Aquilegia cerulea.
Ducks have been hanging around the pond a lot, though these ducks are skittish. Ducks in the past tolerated our presence just fine.
The mallard ducks hung out along the stream and trail today, about 14 days early for their usual arrival. But snow today put a question mark on all the spring stuff….a brief but fierce flurry of snow that fortunately melted interrupted spring. Fortunately because at this stage of my life I am still having to drive to work through the snow. Later, after semi retirement, I will view things differently and look forward to snow!!! Otherwise things continue to pop up. Lots of shooting stars, brodiaea and camasses are sprouting up into groups of soon-to-be flowering plants. Oh, and a little snow this weekend just to mix things up!
Deep snow and freezing conditions for several days mid January. Native plants seem OK with that, including Brodiaea coronaria, Camassia cusickii and three shooting stars- Dodecatheon pulchellum, Dodecatheon hendersonii and Dodecatheon dentatum.
It is supposed to snow off and on during the week. Today it was very patchy but snowed hard in spots, putting a thin cover on the yard. The plants should like it, especially those that have started sending up plants, including now a white camas from 2010 (2009 bulbs planted out last December).
Now finally just peeping out of the ground, a few Brodiaea and other early sprouting perennials. These include purple and white Shooting stars (Dodecatheon pulchellum and Dodecatheon hendersonii), Camassia cusickii, Woodland Penstemon and Goatsbeard (below: full bloom versions of first three). Continue reading “December signs of life”
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