Around Busy Solitude Farm Today

A little surprise!

This beautiful iris was also a surprise -- it rode in on the Lenten roses back in March!  Lucky me, I hope it will be happy under Oskar's memorial tree.

 

And the Lenten roses continue to bloom -- over two months, and transplanted in full bloom.  Amazing!

 I think this robin is a baby -- doesn't it look like a baby face?

 One clematis is covered in buds and seems like it will explode into bloom in a week or two.

 

But this one has a single blossom on it.  How can it be unhappy when its partner is doing so well?

 After startling Ulani, Luke settled in on the lawn chair with me.  Love his color in this light!

And in the barn, the chicks are really feathering out now.   This little girl actually seemed to enjoy being held and interacting with me.

 At one point I wasn't sure I'd be able to safely grab her and put her back on the ground!

 She skittered across my shoulders, escaping my grasp.

Then she told me a secret, right up in my ear.  After that we were fine and she went back to the flock!

And the ducks?  They don't so much enjoy being picked up.

She tried to bite the camera!

April 1 Garden Bounty - No Fooling!

It was May 10 of 2011 when I asked the question "Where's the Smell-o-Vision?" in celebration of the lilac bloom.

Such a different season this year!  Fully six weeks earlier, we have lush lilacs.  What will remain in May?!

This is just one of six lilacs around here that are currently covered.

In other blooming news,

I've always loved bleeding hearts.

I didn't get the clematis pruned back before it began growing -- already reaching above the mower shed.

The new apple trees are covered with buds, promising flowers and then I'll need to pinch almost all of them off -- they're too young to carry a bounty of fruit.

The potted Japanese maple is out of the barn and leafing out, enjoying its annual rebirth.

And the maple trees are covered with their lovely multi-hued seedpods, already well past their bloom.

Finally, under Oskar's memorial dogwood, Lenten roses are blooming exuberantly despite having been transplanted, in bloom, just a couple of weeks ago!

I love their down-facing flowers in such delicate cream and pink.  You must lie down in the grass to best appreciate them.

Next year when April 1 comes along and there is still snow on the ground, or the yard is flooded from rains, I'll look back at this post in continued astonishment at what a marvelous spring 2012 has brought.

Better indulge in it now -- who knows what comes next?!

It's Magic!

 

In the old days, I'd hop off the lawn mower to pull the bird feeder poles and neatly mow under them.  I don't remember when I realized that there was magic building in those "weeds" -- now I let them flourish and see how I'm rewarded!

Strolling on a summer's day

While our friends out east deal with the wind and water from Hurricane Irene, here in our southwest Michigan summertime "the living is easy".  A short stroll through the yard revealed a number of interesting items to share with you.  C'mon!

Down on the septic prairie, the prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) is in glorious bloom.  How I wish the entire mound was covered in these plants this time of year! 

The leaves are impressively large and rough as sandpaper.  When I first saw them I was convinced the plant was a weed.  But when it sends up a red stalk...

...of these bright, dancing daisy flowers, well nothing is cheerier!  Just look at them!

I hope they're going to set seeds and spread up the mound for next summer.

Now we take a peek into the barn and find Barnard resting in the dog crate.  I tried to get Barnard fixed this week, but it turned out he was broken -- in the form of an upper respiratory infection that must heal before he can have surgery.  So he's been taking it easy in the barn, sneezing and sleeping.

He's a little bored.  You know how it is when you have a cold.  (BTW, he does NOT use that box for his bathroom needs.  I still have not discovered how he's taking care of that part of his hygiene.  Am moderately concerned to figure that out!)

The chickens are outside in their run, which is full of tall weeds giving them shelter from any predators.  They just love to take a dust bath in the sun.  I'm really happy that they're getting daily fresh air again.

Ulani waits patiently outside the barn door when I go in.  As a known chicken killer, she's not allowed inside.

Peeking into the backyard I saw this lovely swallowtail on a clover plant.  I only snapped this one picture before it flew off.  Then, looking back across the field behind us, I saw some white movement in a tree.  Suddenly I realized an egret was flying directly towards the barn!

There it is!  Need help?

Lately I've seen one Great Blue Heron hanging around with six egrets in various field pools.  They always startle me, and I wish my camera could do more zooming.  But seeing them in person is the most magical thing and I always stop whatever I'm doing, or slam on the brakes, so that I can enjoy them.  Before long the birds will begin their migration, though one heron remains here year round.  Until then, I'll keep my eyes open.

Hope you enjoyed our little stroll around Busy Solitude Farm.  Come back again!

Insect art

It might be art, the scalloped edge left on this hosta leaf after someone dined on it.  Surprisingly, I cannot find a simple web page with photographs of damaged hosta leaves and explanations of which insects do what. 

Does anyone know who the creative spirit might be?

Where's the Smell-o-Vision?

Temperatures hit 80 today, and the lilacs burst into glorious bloom.  Though these two bushes are near the road, I could smell the scent clearly as I left the barn this afternoon.

There are three other lilacs in other places in the yard, kind of surrounding the house.  Now that the windows are open, I'm aware of them everywhere.

Believe it or not, this morning before I left for work I stuck my nose straight into this bush and smelled nothing!

I didn't include anything in this photo for size, but these two side-by-side lilacs are about a head taller than my 5 foot 4 inches.  And this year they're just blowsy and elegant!

 Oh, alright!  I couldn't resist adding myself so you can see just how tall they are!

The Fairy Cactus

My cactus spent the summer out on the front porch in part shade.  The day I brought it inside I could already see buds beginning on all the branch tips.  Now it's covered in these gorgeous fairy flowers!

A bit too much back light, but you get the idea.  Of course, sadly, the blossoms will fade and drop starting by Thanksgiving and come Christmas this plant will be set on a shelf, out of the way, just a memory of a spectacular burst of color.

Until next year!

Field of Gold

Nearly the same photo.  The flash clicked on the second one.  I like the way the coreopsis in the first photo seems to be opening itself to the sky.  Reaching up for...more rays?

Everyone knows that the flowers are appearing early this year.  This field of gold magically emerged in the past week.

It's spectacular at dawn and dusk, when the low sun rays catch the petals without brightening the sky.  Normally the coreopsis last weeks; this season your guess is as good as mine!

The long view, from the flowers, across the chain link fence to the "back yard" and beyond into the crop field, ending at the heron's creek.

And guess what?  These flowers are atop my septic mound!  When I discovered I'd have to have a raised bed, I did some research and saw that many county extensions recommend planting prairie plants on septic mounds in order to reduce erosion and to use up the moisture there.  So I contacted J.F. New and ordered a sack of low grasses and forbs (the flowers).  Now it's a delight!  I even enjoy some of the weeds that have offered themselves up, though I try to eliminate most of them.

This purple flower is cow vetch, a pea relative.  I absolutely love it, although it is a weed.  I always keep it!

Don't you agree that my field of gold is better than a plain, green septic field?