yardwork amphibiana
It rained sometime during the evening and some rain yesterday, misty sprinkles, then decent amount of rainfall.
The sun is peaking out now at 10:22 and i've seen three different hummers for certain.
Hummers: One appears to be an immature bird who was allowed to drink from the feeder on the end of the deck while the female sat on top of the shepard's hook. I moved one of the three feeders that are in a parallel line on the back deck from end to end to the front yard hanging on a crepe myrtle. I moved a pot of impatiens to the end on the teardrop black wrought iron frame, and moved the glass feeder to the original spot just outside the living room. I have not seen the dark headed male return. I can't tell the smaller females apart. There may be as many as six different birds out there, but they seem to be as kids in the classroom, darting about aggressively defending or tryign to sneak into the feeders. We still have hummingbird sugar, and i've made only the second set of solution this year and that's with changing it every three or four days or upon depletion.
The do appear to show up here in August.
Cedar tree watering. I've been hauling water out more than i've been journaling in the past three weeks, perhaps five. Yesterday I hauled three buckets out to all the smaller ones. The two larger trees we had for christmas trees on the west end have not been watered this week because it's raining and they are already much taller than I and must have a decent root system.
The smaller trees have all had at least some water this week. Today I gathered all the rain water from the deck and gave it to the two on the back fence on the right.
I have moved one from the front yard into the wiskey barrel. The first one i put there did not make it. I also moved a pot up to the deck from by the trash cans so hopefully it will get rained on, and then I can put the cedar from the front yard by the white azalea garden in there. We've three growing that need to be moved, but because of the smilax, grapevine and the drought I hesitate to put them with the other four or five into the backyard until they are a bit larger, like at least two feet. I think i have 10 of 17 seedlings growing in the back now that weren't crushed underfoot by the kids or animals or desicated in the summer droughts.
Azaleas: New small potted plant on deck began blooming. Back fence closest to end by saywers blooming still. Other easternmost bloomed with one or two blossoms. Trimmed azaleas saturday. Stuck the trimmed bits in the ground, including the red ends from by the bathroom into the dirt behind old 17.
Morning glories Purple morning glories have been up to the lamp, and helped with mardi gras beads up to the mailbox. Last year i didn't 'help' with a string or ties and they never made it over the mailbox. Of course the arlene cindy dennis, katrina rita winds did not allow them to do it on their own. This year they didn't appear as if they would ever get up there anyway, so i added the beads and hung them on it.
frogs and toads and temps. The weather has claimed we'd get into the sixties for lows, but that hasn't happened due to the warm air flow up from the gulf and the stalled frontal boundary.
While i walked out to water the cedars and azaleas I saw a medium size hoppy toad in the leaf litter. When i turned over the leaking frog pond to at least catch some more rain there were two dark frogs or toads in there. I put a large green pot filled with spider plant from mom in there to help them jump out if the can't make the sides, and a smaller one on the ledge that's verigated. I do not know where the second one went.
While putting on my garden sneakers outside I noticed another dark frog hopping along toward the drawer, only a tiny bit bigger than a pencil eraser. There's a frog the size of a handheld pink eraser that was disturbed by me sunday as I moved the plastic pots into the rain to collect more water and hold it back from under the deck. There's still a slight sandslide issue there and I'd rather give the water to the trees to make them grow.
Wearing long sleeved shirt did keep the mosquitoes and tree rash off my arms. The temps have been milder. YAY.
The sun is peaking out now at 10:22 and i've seen three different hummers for certain.
Hummers: One appears to be an immature bird who was allowed to drink from the feeder on the end of the deck while the female sat on top of the shepard's hook. I moved one of the three feeders that are in a parallel line on the back deck from end to end to the front yard hanging on a crepe myrtle. I moved a pot of impatiens to the end on the teardrop black wrought iron frame, and moved the glass feeder to the original spot just outside the living room. I have not seen the dark headed male return. I can't tell the smaller females apart. There may be as many as six different birds out there, but they seem to be as kids in the classroom, darting about aggressively defending or tryign to sneak into the feeders. We still have hummingbird sugar, and i've made only the second set of solution this year and that's with changing it every three or four days or upon depletion.
The do appear to show up here in August.
Cedar tree watering. I've been hauling water out more than i've been journaling in the past three weeks, perhaps five. Yesterday I hauled three buckets out to all the smaller ones. The two larger trees we had for christmas trees on the west end have not been watered this week because it's raining and they are already much taller than I and must have a decent root system.
The smaller trees have all had at least some water this week. Today I gathered all the rain water from the deck and gave it to the two on the back fence on the right.
I have moved one from the front yard into the wiskey barrel. The first one i put there did not make it. I also moved a pot up to the deck from by the trash cans so hopefully it will get rained on, and then I can put the cedar from the front yard by the white azalea garden in there. We've three growing that need to be moved, but because of the smilax, grapevine and the drought I hesitate to put them with the other four or five into the backyard until they are a bit larger, like at least two feet. I think i have 10 of 17 seedlings growing in the back now that weren't crushed underfoot by the kids or animals or desicated in the summer droughts.
Azaleas: New small potted plant on deck began blooming. Back fence closest to end by saywers blooming still. Other easternmost bloomed with one or two blossoms. Trimmed azaleas saturday. Stuck the trimmed bits in the ground, including the red ends from by the bathroom into the dirt behind old 17.
Morning glories Purple morning glories have been up to the lamp, and helped with mardi gras beads up to the mailbox. Last year i didn't 'help' with a string or ties and they never made it over the mailbox. Of course the arlene cindy dennis, katrina rita winds did not allow them to do it on their own. This year they didn't appear as if they would ever get up there anyway, so i added the beads and hung them on it.
frogs and toads and temps. The weather has claimed we'd get into the sixties for lows, but that hasn't happened due to the warm air flow up from the gulf and the stalled frontal boundary.
While i walked out to water the cedars and azaleas I saw a medium size hoppy toad in the leaf litter. When i turned over the leaking frog pond to at least catch some more rain there were two dark frogs or toads in there. I put a large green pot filled with spider plant from mom in there to help them jump out if the can't make the sides, and a smaller one on the ledge that's verigated. I do not know where the second one went.
While putting on my garden sneakers outside I noticed another dark frog hopping along toward the drawer, only a tiny bit bigger than a pencil eraser. There's a frog the size of a handheld pink eraser that was disturbed by me sunday as I moved the plastic pots into the rain to collect more water and hold it back from under the deck. There's still a slight sandslide issue there and I'd rather give the water to the trees to make them grow.
Wearing long sleeved shirt did keep the mosquitoes and tree rash off my arms. The temps have been milder. YAY.