Downy at the new peanut feeder

We recently purchased a new peanut feeder from our favourite bird store, A Place to Perch.  It looks like a cat tail and you poke it into the ground or pot.

I poked it into one of the large metal tubs that had a tomato plant in it over the summer.

I'm hoping to attract the birds closer to the house so I can get better photos of them.

The top screws off and you fill it with peanuts.  So far the downy woodpecker and chickadee have been to the feeder. I'm really happy with the photos of our lens friends that I've captured.  I'm sure I'll get lots more photos over the winter.

Another Potting Experiment

Another potting experiment is happening over the winter in my garden.   I had a lot of extra tulip bulbs, some of which got planted in the front gardens.  But I wanted some spring blooms for the deck so decided to pot them up.

Like the allium bulbs I potted up these tulips bulbs were fairly small.

So I arranged them in a pot, pushed them way down and covered them with dirt.

And then sank the pot into the ground.  So hopefully in the spring I can just lift it out of the ground and display it on the deck.   There are some other potted plants that are in the ground for the winter.  These are different trailing sedums.  I did this last year with them and they survived just fine.  If left in the pots on the deck they probably wouldn't survive due to the freeze/thaw cycle that happens.  The roots need to be protected in the ground.

What have you been doing in the garden to prepare for the arrival of winter?

A Potting Experiment

The last few jobs in the garden are being completed.   Earlier in the summer I had to move some drumstick allium and I found lots and lots of little bulbs growing around the main ones.

What do do with them?  I still find it a challenge to kneel down to work in the garden after my knee surgery last May, so I decided on a potting experiment.

Working at my garden bench, I potted the little allium bulbs up in 2 good sized flower pots.

And then I dug a big hole and sank the pots into it and filled it with dirt.  Now I will now wait till spring to see if they grow.  I don't see why they shouldn't grow.  And next year I'll be able to transplant the pots into a permanent place in the garden.

Are you trying any potting experiments in your garden?

Cover Up

To keep the ipad save when not in use I made an ipad pouch.  It just required a small amount of material, cut to the width of the ipad plus a tiny bit for seams.

I folded up the material so it made a pouch or an envelope, seamed it up, included enough for a flap and added velcro for a closure.

When the ipad is tucked inside it closes together to keep it safe.  I take it with me when I have an appointment and I can play games or read the latest downloaded book from the library.  And naturally it will be going on our cross Canada trip with us.

One of my favourite apps is the OverDrive Media Consul which connect me to the Ontario library service.  And from there I can download books, just like signing them out from the library, except they are easier to carry around.  I can download up to 5 books at a time.  You have the option to sign them out for 7 or 14 days.  And the best part is you never get an overdue fine, as the books are automatically returned on the due date.  You also have to option to reserve up to 3 books for reading at a later date.

The ipad is on vacation with us.
Do you travel with your ipad?

Starting an Experiment

I've had the Let's Streak Hosta growing in my garden for 2 years now.

It has gorgeous purple blooms trimmed with white edges and darker purple streaks on each petal.

This year I have let the flower spikes go to seed and snipped them off for drying.
Each little pod contains numerous seeds.

You can see the size of the pods in relation to the Canadian dime.

Here are some of the seeds.  I've opened up 2 seedpods so you can see how many seeds I'll have when they are all open.I realized that you don't always get the same results on plants grown from seed.  But it will be certainly worth the effort to see what grows from these seeds.I'll be looking forward to spring to see how this growing experiment turns out.  And naturally I'll be blogging about it.

Do you save seeds for the garden?