It's Feeding Time

This birdhouse is under the eaves of the house right by the front window. We can watch the sparrows go in and out of the house all year round. Even our cat will sit on the couch and watch. When it is feeding time it certainly is busy.

This photo was captured through my lens from inside the living room.
For the last few days the little heads of the baby sparrows have been popping in and out of the birdhouse calling for more food.
It won't be long now till they are ready to test their wings.

What other critters are bloggers capturing with their cameras?
Check out Camera Critters and see.

Labels: Through my Lens, birds, Camera Critters

Rhubarb Cake

It's my turn to take the Friday treat into work this week, so I decided on the six layer rhubarb cake. This is a delicious cake made with fresh rhubarb from my garden and the rhubarb is at its prime right now, so I popped out into the garden after dinner last night to pick some.

You need a white cake mix, miniature marshmallows, a box of strawberry jello, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and of course some freshly picked rhubarb.

Mix white cake mix according to directions and set aside.

Topping for cake - ½ cup brown sugar, ¼ tsp. cinnamon

Grease 9x12 cake pan, layer the following:
4 cups of rhubarb, chopped
¾ cup white sugar
4 cups mini white marshmallows
1 small box strawberry jello
cake mix
cake topping

Bake 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

I hope the staff enjoys their Friday treat this week. Let me know if you try out the recipe.

Anemone

Did you attempt to guess the answer to the Monday Mystery this week?
If you guessed a dried up Hershey kiss, you were in good company.
That is what I first through of when I saw these bulbs.

The answer to the was an anemone bullb. A blue anemone Mr. Fokker to be exact.
This was something that I had ordered from a fund-raising venture from the local day care facility.

I planted the bulbs about 10 cm. deep in a partly sunny garden. They are spring blooming plants, so I'm hoping that next spring I will have blooms as wonderful as the photo above.

A bit of research tells me that these are closely related to the pasque flower. Anemone comes from Greek and roughly means windflower. This signifies that the wind will blow the petal open and eventually blow the dead petals away.

Daisies

Oxeye daisies grow wild in fields and gardens and lawns. It self seeds rapidly so it is recommended to cut blooms off just as soon as the petals start to wilt. This will encourage a second growth of flowers.

I do let clumps of these grow in my garden as daisies are my favourite flower. My garden is more of an English country garden ... where the seed falls, it grows. It is wonderful to see plants mixed in together.

Shasta daisies, Leucanthemum x superbum, are perennials and best grown in full sun, preferably in well drained soil. The flowers are good for cutting. These plants grow taller than the oxeye daisy and can be divided in early spring. Blooms appear in June and July. Daisies attracts bees and butterflies and are drought tolerant.

Cut flowers heads off as they finish to encourage continual bloom. At the end of the season let the flower heads dry on the plant before picking to harvest seeds.

Seeds can be sown directly into the garden in early spring. They can also be sown in late fall and let Nature look after them during the winter ... winter sowing at its best. They will grow in the spring. Saving and sharing seeds is a great way to make new gardening friends with a sharing friendship garden.

Shasta daisies are my favourite, and remind me so much of my Dad's garden in England. I'm waiting patiently for them to bloom this year as I have moved a couple of smaller clumps.

Print a seed packet for trading daisy seeds.

Monday Mystery for May

Do you know what the Monday Mystery photos is today?


Other Monday mystery photos have been flowers, houseplants, birds, plants, food and trees. You never know what it will be.
Leave a comment or two with your guesses.

Answer: Grace guessed it is an anemone bulb. I'll post more about them later.

Labels: Monday Mystery

Sweet Sunday Stroll

Come and take a sweet Sunday stroll around the garden.
Today the blooms are all pink, whereas Friday's Flowers were all white.

A wonderful sweet smelling aroma greets you as you move to various parts of the garden.

The honeysuckle bushes are in bloom.

Such varying shades of pinks.

After the blooms, the red berries will form. Then one of our favourite birds, the cedar waxwings, will be returning to the garden to feast on the delights of the berries.

Chips wanted to get in on the photos too.

He is so tame he follows us around the garden.

The honeysuckle vine will soon be in bloom. It is rapidly filling in the trellis with many new shoots.


The sweet smelling flowers are just starting to form in the center of the leaves.

And last but not least the grapevine is starting to form its little clumps of fruit.

It has been another scent-sational walk around the garden.

The Quiet Country House invites you to take a Sunday stroll around your garden too.

Labels: Sunday Stroll,

Crochet Therapy

The gardens have been consuming all my extra time lately and it seems I haven't been doing any crafting at all. After a busy day in the garden I need something simple to do. I tried reading but that put me to sleep. I tired visiting my favourite sites online, but that was also reading and it made me tired. So when I came across a blog I like to visit and I read about the 'one a day in May' project she had going I figured I had found something I could do. And even though most of May has gone I decided this is a project I can work on over the summer - some crochet therapy.

I had a similar UFO project in the craft closet.
Now a UFO, in crafting terms, is an UnFinished Object, not something from outer space.
I had mentioned back on March 3 that I had started this project. I had managed to get 12 squares finished, and all the inside pieces for the squares. So I figured this is a simple, no brainer pattern that I can work on, one and maybe even two squares a night.


The squares are using up my stash of odds and ends of yarn, making it very colourful. Last night I managed to complete 2 squares while watching my favourite British soap that I had recorded earlier in the week. Usually I don't work on afghans over the summer as they are too warm to have draped over my legs. But this one is made in individual squares and then joined together. So that makes it the perfect craft project to work on just about anywhere, not just after gardening.


When all the squares are finished, I think 45 to 50 in total (depending on the size), they will be put together to make an afghan that will look like the one above.
Thanks Be*mused for inspiring me to get that crochet project out again.

What do you do after spending a busy day in the garden?

Labels: crochet, afghans,

Friday's Flowers in white

The scent-sational smell of the lilac bushes is everywhere when you enter the garden. The lilac bushes are in full bloom now and what a gorgeous site.

Add to that the scent from the lily of the valley and you are in for some aroma-therapy!
Following along with a white theme for today is the white of the impatience. This flat of blooms is waiting to be planted into my tipsy pots and a large tub.
The white Solomon Seal if just starting to bloom.

Not a Word on Scent-sational 2sDay

Monday Mystery plant

It's Monday Mystery day.

What do you think today's photograph is?


We are working on a new garden and this is one of the perennials that we just purchased. It grows up to 30 cm. tall (or 12 inches for the non metric visitors).
It certainly is a different colour to the rest of the plants in my garden and will be lovely contrast to the light greens.


Other Monday mystery photos have been flowers, houseplants, birds, plants, food and trees.
Leave a comment or two with your guesses.

Answer: Frances guessed correctly. it is Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' or black mondo grass.

Labels: Monday Mystery

Can anyone use this feeder?

Can anyone use this feeder?

I've had my hummingbird feeder out for a few weeks now and the lovely little hummers visit frequently. Last week the orioles returned to the garden and were feeding at the hummer feeder. Now they didn't have to as I have an oriole feeder not that far away for them to use. I can understand their confusion as I do put the same food into each feeder. I've also seen the hummer at the oriole feeder. So I guess the answer is yes, anyone can use this feeder.


Through my lens I captured many shots of them enjoying their food.

The male looks a bit rosier than usual as the red from the feeder is reflecting on his orange breast.

The female continued to feed after the male decided to explore other parts of the garden.

What other critters are bloggers capturing with their cameras?
Check out Camera Critters and see.

Labels: orioles, Through my Lens, birds, Camera Critters

Boot Storage Rack

Wondering what to do with your boots after a day of working in the garden?

Don't just leave them on the deck and have them get wet inside.
Build this stand for your boots and you can leave them outside in gardening season.

My husband made this one for me a few years ago and it has been keeping my boots dry since then. I keep it right by the back door so that the boots are easily accessible.
A plus is, when the boots are muddy on the bottom, turning them to face the sun will help dry them out. And when it rains it will wash that mud off for you.


The boot rack is made from all recycled lumber.

base is 6" x 2" x 19"
dowels are 1.5" diameter x 16 " long
dowels are recessed about 1" into the base and screwed in from the bottom

An old handle, from a broken garden shovel, makes the bootrack easy to move. The other end of the broken shovel is on the retired wall of fame.

You could adjust the size of the dowels to suit your boots. Don't forget those short duckie boots need to dry off on the bottom too.


When you can't wear those boots anymore, make them into a boot planter.

Just to be on the safe side, don't take your boots off if you visit my garden, you just might find them planted up with hens & chicks.

Labels: Crafty in the garden

Zinnias

Zinnias - Asteraceae

Zinnias, originally from Mexico, are a lovely annual plant to grow from seed.

They come in many vibrant colours and are great for cut flowers. Plants prefer full sun and well drained soil. Zinnias are very easy to grow and just about look after themselves. Trim off faded flowers to encourage more blooms.

If you don't have zinnias this year, be sure to get some seeds for next year.


Sow seeds indoors 4 to 6 weeks before it is time to plant in the garden. Space seeds about 20 mm. apart. Cover with 6 mm of soil. Keep moist till seedlings appear. Thin when necessary.

For outdoor planting sow after the last frost date for your area. Thin seedlings when they are about 5 cm. high. Pinching back seedlings will encourage thicker growth and should begin early. Start when the zinnia seedlings have developed their second or third set of true leaves. Water frequently during dry weather.

Print a seed label for zinnias for trading with other gardeners.

Labels: Sow Then Grow, zinnias,

Tulips for 2sDay

Did you ever notice how lots of things come in 2's?
Pairs of shoes, pairs of socks, a pair of knitting needles, peanut butter & jam, bread & butter to mention just a few.

Here are some photos of tulips for 2sDay. I planted these tulip bulbs several years ago and unfortunately I don't remember the name of this variety. I love the way the 2 colours form on the petals.


Looking at the bud you would think the bloom would be dark red. But once it opens the edges are trimmed in yellow.


Isn't Nature amazing?


Look down inside the blooms when they are open and see the wonderful markings of deep red and yellow.


May 13th is National Tulip Day. Tulips are the national flower of The Netherlands.

Labels: tulips, 2sDay,