My Own Little Jungle Corner

I really love this picture, though I am not quite sure why. I think it is because it makes my yard look so lush and jungle like. In fact, that's just an optical illusion of the zoom lens plus me kneeling down to get the shot at ground level.

This is just my swiss chard (which is at the edge of my vegetable garden) silhouetted against my corner perennial bed (which includes monarda fistulosa about to bloom, prairie coreopsis, and catmint (plus a few weeds here and there).

It's just a striking color combination with all that greenery and the two goldfinches perched there checking out the plants. Didn't see two? Look closer, there's a male goldfinch in the center and a female in the top right corner.

Before and After - Western Border

I have a confession to make...

Unfortunately I am terrible about taking "before" pictures. I guess nobody really likes showing their yard when it isn't at its best.

On the other hand,I love looking at other people's before and after pictures. Gives me hope that my yard will look like their "afters" someday. Well, I figured it's about time I put some of my own up and gave back to gardeners of the world!

Here's my western border showing before and after. There's a few years between the pictures. Last year my neighbor's weed killer had some drift into this bed, so I am very relieved that it has come back so strongly. That's my neighbor's yard behind this bed. I am taking the picture from inside my own yard.

In this bed I have ornamental grasses (seeds for the birds, winter interest), coreopsis (nectar for butterflies, seeds for birds), baptisia (fixes nitrogen in the soil, nectar, seeds, cool pods for four season interest - make a noise like mariachis!), holly (berries for birds, winter cover when it gets larger), a dwarf evergreen (seeds for birds, winter cover), sedum (nectar for butterflies), forsythia and lilac (early nectar for birds and bees). It's coming together really nicely and I am very pleased with its progress.

Raccoons Come a Visiting

Well, I have been too busy gardening to update this blog, but that doesn't mean I haven't been working on my backyard habitat.

Why are people so quick to want to give Mother Nature the boot? When I (rarely) tell people about the raccoons that have taken up residence beneath our porch, most people immediately leap to fear and disgust and worry about them getting into our house and wreaking havoc. While I don't go out of my way to make friends with the raccoons (I am not deliberately feeding them or trying to pet them, for instance), in reality, most wildlife can live quite peacefully with humans if we would just leave them alone.

This cute little visitor came to our window to peer in, but that's all he was doing. We had a nest of these last year too and they were no trouble at all. They are beneath the concrete porch and other than digging a hole to get under there, they are doing no harm at all. My kitty is none too sure she likes them, but heck, that's why she stays indoors!





Come on, how can you resist those faces???