Christmas 2010

I have deleted the following songs from from my iPod:
"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas"
"Let it Snow, let it snow, let it snow"

This is our fourth snow this December.  We usually do not even get one.

 Veggie garden

 Dogwood tree

 This candle holder has been banned from the house.

Fake Icecycles have icecycles

 Early morning accumulation and it kept coming.

Lucky three times???

Snow three times in December - record breaking.  You have to realize there are years where we do not see this much snow in a whole winter.  Five years in a row we did not have enough to measure. 
Just look what we have at 3:00 pm on Dec. 18th, 2010.

Experimental Garden December

Early snow in NC.

 Hope in the garden.  Buds will bloom again.
Fountains and ponds will thaw.

Snow in NC?

Who would have thought?
We seldom get now in Dec. much less a good one.
The weather reporters said we might get a light dusting and it certainly would not stay on the ground because it was too warm.

Butterfly bush weighted down.

Add caption

 bee hive is closed for action

 

Feed the birds

We enjoy our bird feeders.  Apparently we are not the only ones.  This beautiful red shouldered hawk decided he might find a snack if he staked out the feeders.  First the feeders in the back yard.

Looking looking looking


Then the bird feeder in the front yard.

We never witnessed him catching one of the song birds that frequent the feeders.  Needless to say they were noticibly absent.
It was fun to watch him and imagine what he must be thinking.

Disaster in the Experimental Garden

We have maintained a small water garden with gold fish for ~20 years.  The gold fish reproduce and it is not uncommon for us to have >50, all sizes, ages, and colors.  They live through the NC winter thanks to a depth of 18" in the middle.  And can be seen even on cold days slowly swimming.












We also have a wide variety of frogs and toads. 
















Last summer the pickerel and water lillies took over the garden and we removed them because the pond was full of roots and plants.  The plan is to start again next spring with new plants. 

One day last week, disaster stuck when nature took over the fish pond.  Harry walked outside to find a beautiful large Great Blue Heron feasting on the gold fish.  It was to his advantage that the plants have been removed and the water was cold and they fish cannot move quickly.

Results:

Empty, baren water garden/fishless pond.

Next spring we will again invest in gold fish and new plants.  The expense of gold fish (>6 for $1.00) will be worth the pleasure of watching them survive. 

As for the Heron, hopefully he will not visit again any time soon.  We love the Herons and love seeing them, just NIMBY.

Experimental Garden October Bloom Report

Aw Fall is in the air.  Still having temps in the 80s and dry as a bone.  They say this will dilute our fall color but that is yet to be seen.  So far in the Experimental Garden we have a dogwood [Cornus florida] giving us color.

The buds on the dogwood are promises of blooms to come.

The colorful dogwood seeds have been eaten by birds or have fallen.

We still have our marigolds and begonias - give thanks for the annuals that keep on giving.

 If you look fast you may see the honey bee on the pink begonia.  It took many trys to catch her because she was so intent on collecting pollen.  There are not a lot of opportunities this time of year.

Annual Salvia

You may have guessed I am not very good on names of flowers.  This one I call Fred's flower as it was given to me by my friend who passed on many years ago.  It pops up different places in the experimental garden and we always welcome it.  [Cockscomb, Celosia]

This Sedum continues to change color but it is still lovely.

This Sedum was given to me by my daughter when she moved (three moves ago) and it is getting ready to bloom.  The leaves are changing color.  Love those late bloomers.  Daughter probably knows the name of it [Should be Dragon's Blood Sedum - D], check out her blog here.

Mum and beagle should not be used in the same sentence. 

One last hopeful, brocolli, hopefully it will bloom one day soon.
Hope spring eternal in the heart of a gardener.  I read that somewhere.  Oh yeah, it is on a stepping stone in the experimental garden, covered with weeds right now.