Birds in Snow

This Viburnum has never been more popular.

Mourning Doves in a Pine Tree . . . .

Ornamental grasses make a good perch and feeding opportunity.

I'm glad I stocked up on bird seed, but twenty-five pounds may not have been enough! The fat Cardinals intimidate the smaller birds.

Do they want to come inside?

Snow, again!

Where's my driveway . . .?

All covered up!

Birds in Butterfly Bush.

Tea this afternoon?

Where are the Pansies and the Violas?

Snow on Christmas

I am so glad I left lots of plants "a mess" this fall, including this Solidago that has made friends with a Rosemary and contributed to excellent shelter for small birds that visit the feeders in my garden and then find a place to hide for a while.

The Holly looks as lovely in the snow today as it did two days ago in sunshine.

The Nandina was sheltered from the snow by shrubs and a pine tree.

The Pyracantha, by contrast, bore the full brunt of the storm.

Sunflower

When you think "sunflower", this is not necessarily the image that pops up in your mind, but it's the best I can do. This one grows almost directly underneath one of my bird feeders, so we know its origin. And, you know the story of the horse and the gift, right?

This plant has four more buds on it, so it is likely that it will adorn my garden for several more weeks. Thanks to the birds!

Bug Season

This is a . . . moth? Frankly, I'm still trying to learn about plants. Bugs will have to wait. In my garden, I have seen grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, ladybugs, ants (of course!), flies, mosquitoes (every morning, every evening) and other assorted flying insects. For the most part, I leave them alone, although I did spray a Coleus this morning, when I saw a sticky white residue (white fly eggs?) on it, and also a Lemon Verbena that all of a sudden has some of its leaves turning brown (I saw some things crawling on the plant; the browning was not the result of the heat, although we do have plenty of that!). My garden is visited by numerous birds and I am going to count on them to deal for the most part with the flying insects, such as this one. If you happen to know what it is, please tell me.

My Garden - a View

One of the favorite places in my garden is "the point", the 45-degree angle of my quarter-pie shaped property, where my SE border and my SW border come together. A Maple tree marks the spot, with a huge Rosemary on one side, a field of Yarrow underneath and a Rose of Sharon and several perennials on the other side. Both the bird feeder and the bird bath are very popular with avian visitors.

Birds in Snow

This picture was taken about 90 minutes after it started snowing this afternoon. There were at least a dozen cardinals in my garden when I opened the door to the patio. They all flew away, but these little guys -- I have no idea what they are -- stayed put to have their picture taken. The landscape is beautiful.