Life in the Yard

Sorry for not posting, yesterday. Ethan and I were finishing up the lawn, including the part we hadn't completed on horrid, sweltering Monday. When you add in morning school and the required flopping-into-a-sweaty-heap-on-the-couch, it doesn't leave much energy to fire up the ol' brain cells. They're having enough trouble as it is, of late.

But on---to---the---yard :-) Flowers are starting to bloom:

Like my White Rugosa Rose?
The first year I had this, its blooms looked rather ratty. But now it boasts white bursts of brightness that threaten to illuminate the night.

The dependable and traditional Rugosa. Less petals per flower and they open up wide.


Ditch-rescued Spiderwort are just showing forth.
(be sure and click on the spiderwort picture to get a good look at the feathery filament)

And this wild beauty...
...which has caused me no end of consternation, this morning. After discovering I'd previously mislabeled it Rue Anemone, I spent over an hour before lunch ("Mommy...we're hungry..." "What?....ok, just a sec...") and finally nailed it down as Canada Anemone. Well, I had the anemone part right.

Anemone canadensis, also known as Roundleaf Thimbleweed, Meadow Anemone and Windflower. This member of the buttercup family is prevalent throughout the U.S., but endangered in some eastern states. Native Americans used it for LOTS of stuff, including an astringent, to ease nosebleeds and sore throats, and even--if the seeds were rubbed together between male hands--love potion #9.

And now, cute yet severely annoying, this House Wren...
The male fixes up a couple of nesting spots and then starts advertising to see which potential home the female will choose. This year he's scoped out the furnace exhaust pipe, exiting the house, next to the feeder.

Starting EARLY IN THE MORNING, he proclaims his message with the fierce urgency of a shrill Sinatra version of Come Fly With Me.

It stops being pretty after about 20 minutes. He's blasting right next to the window where Carolyn does her schoolwork, and the wren has taken to chasing other birds from the feeder.

So after a consult with Loren, I rubber-banded a cloth over the hole. Hope we remember to remove it come cold weather...

Now, thanks to last night's drenching rain, this afternoon promises to be a dandy time for pulling up unwanted grass in various flower beds.

And with that, I'm off to make the world a better place.
 

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