We Have Babies

We have three robin chicks about nine days after we discovered the eggs. Mother robin has been on and off the nest and the Daddy has finally showed up to help with the feeding.
Jan found some readable information about robins at:
http://birdsbybent.com/ch31-40/robin.html

Wildflower Garden

The newest wildflower garden is spectacular with Sweet William in many different shades of color. Although the garden was seeded two years ago the Sweet William did not appear until this year.

View from the robin's nest

This is mother robin's view of the gnome garden with daisies,elfin thyme,lariope, hesperus,columbine, allium, mugo pine, dwarf pine, iris, white azalea, peony, and more.

Dame Rocket (Hesperus)

For many years I thought that Hesperus was early blooming phlox. If you look behind and through the trees you will see that it dots the garden for more than 70 yards.

Hesperus is Greek for "evening" and probably refers to its scent being more noticeable towards evening. It is also called Damask Violet, Dames Gilliflower, Summer Lilac, and
Mother of the Evening.

First Peony

This early bloomer is my favorite.I cannot look at a peony and not see ants crawling over it and on the dining roon table.
It is named after Paeon, a student of Aesclepius, god of medicine and healing.Paeon was saved from the jealous anger of Aesclepius by Zeus who made the young student immortal by turning him into a peony flower.

Columbine Orphan

One of the pleasures of gardening is when unexpected flowers show up. For the last several years there have been green columbine leaves in the rocks on the path by the firewood stack under the hot tub deck. Becky, my Master Gardener said, "Just leave them". I wanted to pull them up as "weeds". I left them. As I was getting out the hoses for the year today, I noticed this columbine blooming out of the rocks - a true surprise. I don't have this color columbine anywhere else and it is a double blossom.

Domestic Scene Appears

Spring is in the air and a mother robin (Turdus migratorius) has constructed a nest on
a wreath which is hanging on a wall under an overhang on the deck walkway. Further observation reveals four eggs. You could call the color robin's egg blue.
Nest construction shows rougher and heavier materials on the outside and finer grasses smoothed over with mud on the inside.

Iris Week

The iris have begun to bloom with a spectacle of color. This bearded iris (notice the yellow beard) is in the upper wildflower garden where I have put some culled rhizomes. It is doing better here than in its original site. When I notice that a flower or plant is not doing well in one area then I move it to a place where it can flourish.

Wall Flower

The newset wildflower garden has started to blossom. The orange flowers are called Wall Flowers (Cheiranthus cheiri). They are so named because they grow on old walls and rocks.The name was first recorded in 1578. It is not known who first made the comparison between these delicate flowers and unpartnered women sitting along a wall at an English dance.

Daisies

With the cool weather the garden is about to explode. In addition to the ox-eyed daisies you can see the end of the azaleas and an exceptional stand of burgeoning hosta in the background.