cat-astrophes

So many interesting little dramas happening in the past week.  I noticed a big pile of ants on...something...in a porch beam.

It wasn't long before they completely extracted the mysterious white lump, and it fell onto the porch rail below.  It was an immature carpenter bee!

They face a lot of predators before they're fully mature, but we have so many of them around that I guess it's not too much of a concern.

And, in the back yard, I saw thousands and thousands of ants swarming on a log.

It's hard to get a feel for the scope from this picture, but there was about 4 feet of wood on the ground too, and every inch of it was crawling with ants.  Winged ants rimmed the stump edge.

They're called the St. Valentine ant, because of their heart-shaped abdomen.  Both sexually mature females and worker males have wings, but these are most likely females heading out for their "nuptual swarm."  They will mate and fly off to start new colonies.

Speaking of wings, Todd found the wings of a beautiful Cecropia moth on a walk last week.

More wings...look at this gorgeous red admiral!

And eastern pondhawk!

On our way to a walk this week, we saw that someone had hit a possum.  The next day, only a few bones remained...thanks to these guys.

We have so many turkey vultures here.  I see them every single day.

I love having them around.  They seem so dignified and stately!  And they do a great job of keeping our roads clean.  

Another kind of turkey is around nearly daily now, too...and in great numbers!

It's baby time!

The young goz are out in the field, too, but in smaller numbers.

Both gardens are blooming now, which are bringing the bees.

I have one more group of seedlings to get into the ground.

But that's it.  I've been astounded, truly shocked at how poor germination has been, even with the good soil.  I started ANOTHER group of seeds - sunflowers and zinnias, the world's easiest things to germinate.  Todd built a cattle panel enclosure to keep out the groundhogs.  I started to get some small seedlings in the sunflower container, but then a pounding rain destroyed them.  In my older sunflower container, I had 6 healthy seedlings...and something popped off their tops.  A few desultory zinnias came up, but insects quickly devoured the leaves and they died.  I'm done.  I've got these zinnias, toothache plants, and ageratum up by the house, where they're thriving.  They're going in the ground TONIGHT and then I am officially, 100% done with gardening for the year.  Woo hoo!  

I've been doing more baking...

healthy flourless peanut butter cookies

a three-fruit coffee cake to celebrate the 1st day of summer

...including cupcakes and a couple of cookie batches yesterday, for a get-together, that I didn't have time to photograph.  

We've also been dealing with ever-increasing cat problems with our two boys.  They look so innocent...

Barnabas

Frances

...but they've been absolutely tormenting our elderly cat...and we can't keep them separated, because Barnabas has freaky outward-turned hind legs that enables him to jump up to 8 feet.  He's cleared every single barrier that Todd has erected to keep him downstairs.  It's been a pretty stressful and chaotic week, but we're hoping that we have something figured out to help.  Fingers crossed.

At least our outdoor cat is not causing any stress!

I'm trying to take a deep breath on the porch swing whenever I need it.  Love the view!  

Have a great week!

nest, pest, and egg divest

 The flower garden is coming along!

Just as quickly as Todd lays out drip tape, paths, and rows, I drop in seedlings.   

It was so different this year!  No filling the barn with grow lights and heat pads, no soil blocks, no drama.  I have a shelf upstairs with a few grow lights and heat pads.  I seeded in plastic six-packs, and popped the seedlings outside to acclimate once they'd gotten big enough.  Then straight into the garden.  Repeat, repeat.  We're nearly done!  

Claudia is a huge help.

Meanwhile, the other gardens are popping and I'm getting plenty of bouquets.

Nothing fancy...just whatever I feel like in the moment.  A big part of being out in the flower garden is the insects, of course.  I absolutely love hunting for them.  I found two tiny praying mantises this week, both about 1 1/2" long and hiding among the yarrow blooms.

This Tarnished Plant Bug is pretty, but a big garden pest.  They can decimate vegetable crops, so I'm going to have to keep an eye out.

Here's a blast from the past!  I haven't seen woolly aphids since we were in South Carolina.  These little bits of fluff that float through the air like fairies are actually sap suckers, like the Tarnished Plant Bug.  There are many varieties that are tree-specific, but this aphid is probably eyeballing our apple tree.

The tree is already stressed from the drought (we seem to have no rain for weeks, a day of monsoon-level pounding, and then back to no rain for weeks), so I'll definitely have to monitor it and remove any aphids immediately.

Speaking of suckers...ugh.  Ticks.  They are RELENTLESS this year.  I've only pulled off a few attached ones, thanks to multiple daily showers and tick-checks, but I'm constantly pulling them off of clothing when I come in from outdoors.  The worst is the nymphs, or seed ticks.  They're freckle-sized, so almost impossible to see.  But they can attach to you and transfer disease just like full-grown ticks.  Here's one that I found crawling on my leg this week.  I was able to magnify the picture.  You can see that although freckle-sized, it's all tick.  Walk across cut grass?  Ticks.  Walk through the garden?  Ticks.  They are everywhere, which is one of the reasons I'm so pleased with the new fabric-covered garden.  It's ugly, but at least it's safe from ticks.  

At least I've seen some beneficial insects, like this syrphid fly (great pollinator)...

...and this Sarcophaga fly.  It's known as a "flesh fly" - sounds gross, but they're great cleaners in nature.

Our bee balm is drawing bees, and many other great pollinators!

From planting one little milkweed seed a few years ago, we now have about 10 plants that are going to be blooming soon.

If I remember correctly, they smell wonderful!  I love growing fragrant plants, like sweet peas...

...and dill.  I love the smell of dill so much that I planted 5 mature plants in a huge container on our porch steps.  Every time I walk past, the scent of dill is released.  Love!!!

While I love seeing so many things growing this time of year...

...this is also the time of year for nest mishaps.  Yes, we've lost another nest.

This barn swallow nest, which has been in our barn for years, was knocked to the ground and the babies eaten, just like the bluebirds.  Was it Claudia?  She's never bothered it before, but technically she can climb and could possibly reach it.

There are also a lot of stray cats around.  And snakes...and snakes climb.  But could they actually knock down a nest?  I've also seen evidence of raccoons.  They are born climbers and could knock it down easily.  I will never know, but next year we're going to take steps to protect the nests we find by setting up barriers below for intruders.

For now we'll just accept our losses and move forward.  There are a lot more positive things...the garden is looking great, the big project is almost done, the weather has been mild (although dry)...and we've got some great support when we come in from our hard work.

Have a great week!  

mellow yellows

 It's hard to believe that it's already June!  The absolute best month in the garden.

The yellows are EXPLODING.

I've got yellow loosestrife planted in the front garden, too, and it's just so cheerful!

I'm absolutely thrilled with how this back garden has filled in...and my bee balm and over 75 coneflowers haven't even started blooming yet!

There are at least two song sparrows nesting either in the garden or on the porch, and they sing cheerfully just a few yards away from where I'm working, every single day!

Speaking of nests, earlier this week I found the bluebird house on the ground and all of the eggs but one, gone.  It could've been Claudia.  It's true that feral cats are a menace to songbirds...but it also could've been the Eastern milk snake, who was living in the compost pile nearby.  Sadly, I picked up the nesting box and put it back on another post, planning to secure it with a board later.  That same day, I noticed bluebirds going in and out of it again, and every day after.  Had the female laid another clutch of eggs so soon?!  Yesterday, I found the box on the ground again.  I peeked inside...one baby bird, still alive!  I put the box back on the post.  I was gratified to see the bluebirds continuing to come and go, taking care of the baby.  If that flimsy box will just stay together for another week or so...

Meanwhile, progress on the plowed garden.  Todd shoveled paths between the rows...

...then drip tape went down, three strips per row.

Now we just need to connect the system and lay out the landscape fabric.  It's not a moment too soon.  Despite the fact that we've had ZERO RAIN for nearly a month, weeds are starting to pop up in the newly-plowed soil.  At least I got my vines in the ground and my pumpkins planted...only 22 seeds this time, half as many as last year.

My corn is doing well...

...but the same day I planted 16 specialty tomato plants, they were absolutely destroyed by groundhogs, deer, rabbits, or all three.  Todd is building a cattle panel/chicken wire triangle for protection...thankfully, I've got about 12 plants left, plenty for us.  The peppers and herbs are ready for planting, and every day I plant another tray of seeds.

They need to get a bit larger/stronger before they're ready to be popped in the garden, but some are definitely ready now!  And I have hundreds of sunflower seeds to plant.  The heat is supposed to break for a few days this week and I'm hoping to get a lot done.

Still finding time to pick bouquets...

...and keep an eye out for other garden inhabitants.

Even though they act like it sometimes, our indoor cats are not being neglected!  Barnabas has no trouble letting the guilt flow over his empty food bowl...

...and everyone is enjoying frequent cozy naps on their heated pads.

It will be nice when the garden is done and Todd and I can have some down time, too!

Have a great week!