In Bloom

Full of loveliness - our little kingdom is. The only problem is that its all moving too fast. I can feel the days slipping by too quickly. Summer is in the air and before I know it, the dog days will be here and we will loathe stepping outside for even the smallest of chores, but for now... for now we will drink it in.

Yesterday afternoon was spent on the patio, under the umbrella where the breeze kept things cool. After three hours, I finally noticed that our baby sparrow wasn't peeping - I panicked! What had happened to him? He is ALWAYS peeping from the inside of the birdhouse, right outside my kitchen window. Later yesterday evening I saw him - a fledgling! He was resting on our patio chair and getting a snack from mamma.

The peas are scrambling up the netting I placed for them this past week. The berries are plumper everyday. Cilantro and dill are taking over and I am pulling them both like weeds. We added sage to the garden this year: common and pineapple. Any recommendations/recipes for the pineapple?

I am anxious for rain and today is promised to give us some showers - but you know how weather goes. We are at the point where we will have to start dragging the house out each night if the plants in containers don't get a good drink soon. We had a quick shower this morning when I snapped some photos of the berries and sage, but the sun is shining bright as ever now. Bring on the thunder storms! Bring on the drizzle. I'll take it any way I can get it.

Seed saving and such

I am happy to report that I'm on the mend and Julian seems to have come through these past 10 days unscathed. Turns out it was "just" a sinus infection but its honestly the most ill I've ever been in my life. I missed five days of work and cut short my birthday weekend in Va. to return to the doctor first thing on Monday morning. The lingering cough is now my only remnant... that and the undone house chores.

Speaking of chores and one that is made particularly difficult by a lingering cough - I've been trying to be intentional about seed saving for next year. I've collected seeds from all over; from the Sarah J. Duke Botanical Gardens (prickly pear cactus and water iris) to South Middle School where our church meets (cosmos, zinnias, misc wildflowers).

In total, I have amassed seeds of coneflower, columbine, redbud, oak, zinnia, cosmos, daisy, butterfly weed, iris, daylily, marigold, cilantro, sunflower, dill, basil, clematis (what a weird seed!), prickly pear, rose, peas, lettuce, and snapdragons. I keep them in bead bags I get from the craft store and them file them away in an old floppy disk storage box. I am always entertained by how the seeds are a perfect fit for the archaic and seemingly obsolete box.

There is no better way to get free plants and often they are colors and varieties that I'm not likely to come by in a garden center. I don't know why but I always seem so shocked at the cost of seed packets - $3.50 for tiny little grains of dust? Besides, acorns are not just nuts. They are FREE OAK TREES, people. Plant them!

In addition to being free, I'm really enjoying that the seed collection process adds a new awareness and appreciation for the season. I grow basil every year but, just yesterday, I took the time to sit down and dissect my browning basil plant to figure out how the plant works and where the seeds come from. Fascinating.

It is tempting to look in the garden and be discouraged by the end of the growing season but this year I am looking out my window and there it is - seed season - happening right before my eyes. Love it.

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Linking up with Little House in the Suburbs .

Pressed flowers

It's been years since the old aunt of my childhood friend showed me the joys of pressing flowers. She always made a collection of greeting cards to sell at our church's fall festival. She would even bring the flowers, cards, and contact paper (I hate contact paper) and let each of the children make his or her own.

Last week I was reminded of this and inspired by a picture on Ginny's blog. Julian and I popped into Lowe's on our hookie Friday and grabbed the wing nuts and bolts and had the time to put it together today. I insisted on having a 6 in. bolt. We had quite the chuckle when we realized exactly how long 6 in. is, so now I have the tall order of pressing enough flowers at one time to prove to him the value of the extra length.

Sweet Nectar of the Birds

This spring was a lesson in humility and patience as far as the hummingbirds are concerned. Our weather was really hot, really early. All the flowers were blooming 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule. I watched this hummingbird tracking website like a hawk. I told everyone I knew who had hummingbirds that they would be here two weeks earlier than our normal date of April 15th and encouraged my friends to put out their feeders (yes, I'm the  CBL of the neighborhood - Crazy Bird Lady).

On par with my predictions, the map showed that the first hummingbird was reported in my area on March 25th. But did I see one? Nope. Not in March... and not in April. Note: My kitchen sink looks out at the feeder same as my dinner table does. Its not like I just never look out there, I spend a good part of my day watching.

Then, as is always the case, I come home and Julian says, "Oh yeah, saw a hummingbird today." What?! Not. Fair.

It was another week or so after he saw the first one that I got my chance. They were waiting for the honeysuckle jungle on the edge of our yard to burst forth with life.

To make a long story longer... my boss, Bonnie, has several feeders, fuchsias, and a trumpet vine so she has more hummers than she can count. In casual conversation, she mentioned that she makes her hummingbird solution 1:1 sugar to water. What, What?? I've always heard to make it 1:4.

So I did a little research. Come to find out, hummingbirds LOVE 1:1 sugar water. Studies show that if a migrating hummer finds a 1:1 feeder right after its migration, it will stop and spend its whole summer in that place. The 1:4 ratio is more like the natural make up of flower nectar, so they tend to "graze" these feeders and move around as territory and temperature fluctuate.  To strike a good balance, I've started making mine 1:2.

Sweet Nectar of the Birds
1 cup almost boiling water
1/2 granulated sugar

Combine and stir until all sugar dissolves, leave on the counter to cool. No need to put any red color in it; unless you are my grandmother and you find it helps you see how much is left in the feeder when it is running low. Even then, don't over do it. :)

Make sure you put it in a clean feeder that is washed/rinsed between each fill up. There you go. Watching these gems is one of the cheapest, highest quality forms of entertainment I know!