In the "Click"

Recently I bought a little bird bath and staked it outside our bedroom patio.

I found it at a charity antique store and I just love it.  On either side of the basin are little metal birds.

I want to put a bird feeder in that area too, but it's hard to keep the chipmunks out.  I told Todd that I was going to grease the shepherd hook pole so they'd slide right off.  I'm still working on that theory!

I've been admiring the ferns, which are full and beautifully bronzed, all around the house.

I planted a few hostas...

...but honestly, it is really difficult to plant here.  I learned in my Master Gardener class that South Carolina once had about 25 inches of prime topsoil, but people planted so much cotton that they ruined the soil, and it blew away.  What's left now is the 'hardpan' that was once deep beneath the topsoil, and it's hard clay.

Digging a single hole and putting a plant in is like sliding them into a tough clay pot - their roots are unable to penetrate it.  You have to dig really wide and really deep so that the roots can spread and become strong enough to go deeper.

Surprisingly, we have some really vigorous worms here that seem to be able to pierce the clay with no problems.

Every morning, I've noticed lots of black beetles on our front porch.  I wonder if they're drawn to the porch light at night.

Oh, and the mosquitoes are out!  This one posed nicely for me.

His feather antennae told me that he was male.

After a recent rain, I found little slugs all over the garden.  This one was climbing on one of my vines.

Slugs' eyes are at the tip of their antennae...just like in cartoons!  ;)

The ladybug larvae are gone, and now I'm starting to see the mature ladybugs.

This one is having a leisurely time, cleaning its wings after a nice rain.

I've seen quite a few spiders, which you'd expect, since we live by the woods.  I think this one might be an immature lynx spider.  They don't build webs, but lay in wait for insects on plants.

They're quite hard to see and I was lucky to find this one.  He was almost translucent in the sun.

Another favorite is the Venusta Orchard spider.  They are quite lovely, with their black-tipped green legs and jeweled abdomens.  They build small webs between shrubs.  Venusta is latin for "charming" and "beautiful", and I would definitely put them in this category.

The most amazing insect I've seen so far here is the Eastern Eye Click beetle.  At 2 inches long and with amazing coloring, he's quite a charmer.

Eastern Eye Click beetles have 2 false eyes on their pronotum to warn off birds and other predators.

Eastern Eye (and other) Click beetles are so named because they are able to bend their bodies and make a dramatic clicking noise.  They are also able to "bounce" about six inches off the ground while doing so, which is another tactic to frighten off predators.

Seen horizontally, the false eyes are still prominent.  The real eyes are quite small and located a few centimeters above the false ones.

I've been thinking about starting an insect collection and this was the most tempting potential acquisition yet, but I just can't bring myself to kill insects for the collection, which is a pretty crucial part of the process. 

I hope to see more of these and other insects as summer progresses!

Speaking of summer, Todd and I have started eating supper exclusively in our little sun room.

Regretfully, these photos were taken on a cloudy day...but at least you can see the basics of it.  We have shades that pull down over the screens to keep the room cool.  One bamboo couch...

...one small table to eat on, and another for work (both built by Todd)...

In the corner, another door opens into our kitchen and living room.  I keep a big fern here, and I like to keep the doors open for nice ventilation.

It overlooks the little pond behind the house, and we just love it.  It's pretty sparsely decorated, but that's what we like.  We don't plan on adding any additional furniture.  The animals love it too, and they are often found sniffing the breeze through the open screens...or catching a few rays behind the computer in my office.

I hope you're enjoying the warm weather.  Have a great week!

the path of (most) resistance

On April 1st, we had very little green on any of the trees in the surrounding forest.

Two weeks later, we're in the jungle!

Most of the trees have completely leafed out.

Honestly, when I pull into our driveway, I sometimes feel like I'm pulling into a garden paradise.  I just can't get over the color everywhere!  Scores of dogwood trees, with their sprawling, white-blossomed branches...camillias...azaleas, still in full bloom, in six different colors...

...in every direction, and in everyone's yard.

Not just in our neighborhood, but all over.  Climbing wisteria, blooming trees, bright shrubs...I've never seen anything like it.  Our early-bloom azaleas are starting to falter, but the previous owner added plenty of late-blooming varieties, which are just starting to bud out.

It's absolutely lovely.  Someone told Todd and I recently:  "The South is an absolute paradise in the spring," and he's right.  The butterflies are out...

...and I just saw my first anole of the year by an outside electrical box.

A neighbor told us that the pond was stocked - full to bursting - with trout, bass, bluegill, and other types of fish.  On a warm afternoon this week, I saw several shadowy forms near the surface of the water.  They were so big that I was sure they weren't fish...but a check with the binoculars told me that they were.  Some were almost two feet long!

Our heron is always nearby, watching.

Inside, I changed our fireplace mantle from winter to summer.

The living room is so tan, so I wanted to add a little pop of color.  I especially love my little wicker basket that always holds a bouquet of fresh flowers.

But there are dust balls forming in the corners of rooms and along the hallway edges...piles of laundry yet to be put away...and dishes that have been in the dishwasher for more days than I want to admit.  I can't stand to be in the house when it's so green and fresh outside, so more often than not, once I finish my work I'm outside working.  There's much to be done on a nearly 2-acre property that's covered in trees.  Leaves have to be raked...weeds have to be pulled...shrubs need to be mulched...bushes need to be pruned...vines need to be staked...and the list goes on and on. 

I earmarked two projects last week, and I'm pleased to have them completed!  The first:  we have a low stone wall that borders our driveway in the back.  It was completely overgrown with ivy.

I like ivy, so I just pulled back enough to expose the stone.

Under the ivy, I saw sedum and some ferns starting to peek out.  I pruned just in time!

My other project was on a much bigger scale.  We have a large wooded area between our front driveway and our front lawn.  I've been looking at it for weeks and considering.  Finally I decided:  I had to have a shade garden path there.

Before:

I raked back the leaves to discover...huge ropey tendrils of ground vine.

I spent a day pulling up vines and raking a clear path.  I learned that fire ants are so named because it feels like you've actually been burned with a lit match when you're bit.  Ouch!

Next, I raked out the sides and placed my plants in the general area I wanted them to be.

I made some experimental holes and found that our irrigation system covers this area.  Drat!  It's good for future watering but meant that we'd have to dig very carefully.

Todd plowed up the selected areas with our Mantis tiller.

Not only is the soil heavy clay, but it's full of huge ROCKS that ding the tiller blades.  I went behind him and raked them to the side.

Once it was all plowed...

...we added coarse sand to improve drainage...

...and mulched leaves to provide nutrients.

Then I turned it all over, dug down a bit deeper with my shovel, and created as hospitable an environment as I could for the new plants.

Now, it doesn't look like much, yet.  Have you ever heard the maxim regarding gardens, "The first year they sleep, the second year they creep, and the third year they leap!"?  One of the teeny plants I put on the left side is a limelight hydrangea, which can grow up to 8 feet tall, with considerable spread.  Those blue hydrangea you see grow to be about 4 ft tall.  I'm interspersing them with bulbs, ferns, Helleborus, and other interesting shade plants, and I'm spreading the garden out so that the area under the trees - eventually - will be a huge shade garden.   Peonies, lily of the valley, solomon's seal, creeping phlox, hostas, columbines...I just can't wait to see what it will look like in a few years!

I may make another post later this week if I have time with some cooking fun.

Have a great week!