Leash training

For the dog, of course. Shackleton is an expert leash walker. Briar is pretty good too, but it’s very hard when there is KITTY who might be a FRIEND nearby!! Note apples blooming near Shacks.

Blast from the past… Ok from Friday 🤣

Normally we let both dogs settle their own spots, but Gracie needs space with her arthritis now.
Wedge
Room for old bones
HELLO
Plz hello Gracie
Briar eventually got comfy.
But she still kept wanting to see Gracie.
Gracie says haha I’m safe!!
Wow!  The popcorn came up while I was gone!!
Potatoes in the straw bales are up!!
Mom documented my plant site choosing.
Here goes some annual groundsel and a cute little Euphorbia!
Mom did most of the digging to save my arthritis, for which I am very grateful.  She let me do this one though.  Thanks to Mom and Dad and Gracie for a great staycation-vacation!!!!

A very fancy welcome home

Saw a weird leaf when Briar and I got back from bike ride.

Oh wait it’s a pair of MATING LUNA MOTHS.

The sweetgum tree is one of their host plants, so as annoying as those spiky seed balls are, we do get these magnificent beauties. These are the first ones I have seen at this house. Our neighbors have a big sweetgum.

Irrigation for the container garden

The Black Vulture egg has hatched!! We were not sure what happened to the second egg.
One of the parents watched Mom take a picture through the well house door.
We checked on the chickadees and a parent is still sticking close. Very close.
Garden transplants and path rescues are actually doing pretty good in the shade and relative cool of the garage.
You can see several Mexican plums in here. That tree had a lot of seedlings!
Even more plums! And some other stuff.
Mom and Dad set up the irrigation for the tomatoes, greens, and herbs.
A tiny seedling. Also maybe oregano?? I am not sure. We’ll find out later.
The irrigation timer also drips some water for the birds!
The lyre leaf sage is really getting going!
This post sponsored by Dogs.

Path and fence plants

I got a bit of dirt from near the rosette of Spiranthes orchids to get any mycorrhizae to sprinkle in my soil at home.
Here it is.
“Mother hellloooooooo hi hi hi hi wigglessss”
Boredom between walks.
Also bored.
Several spring prairie plants I want to establish in my mini-prairie (to ensure flowers for early pollinators) are growing right by Mom and Dad’s house where they always weedeat, right along the foundation and in the driveway. This is a wild onion.
A weird and neato double stemmed and double seed head ten petal anemone!!
Hopefully these annual groundsel (which will get mowed in path) will seed in my yard.
Mom did a cross post on her blog. This is private property, so we are the only people digging any plants and are careful to take very few and from areas on the property where they will be damaged or killed, such as a path, the house foundation, or fence line. We also divided plants from the garden near the house and dug up babies from yard trees that would get mowed.
Gracie got a sticker in her paw, so Mom helped her out. Up along the fence, there was a small fragrant sumac that Mom was going to lop off (keeping the fence line clear) so we dug it up. It had a long taproot! Still not as long as a yucca though.

More vacation gardening and wild prairie

Lyre leaf sage blooming. Hopefully mine will be blooming soon in Oklahoma.
A Swiss Chard is coming up.
Mystery seedling… Too early for oregano??
Dogs!!
Clouds like mountains.
Native tiny bee on Callirhoe involucrata (winecup).
Chickadee wasn’t on her nest yesterday, but she was today.
More fun!!
A solider beetle yesterday. Mom has the ID.
Two of these moths in one day (yesterday).
If you look just above the moth, you can see a tiny planthopper.

Kale and bird poop

Lacinato kale is sprouting for Mom and Dad!
Scotch blue curled kale is up too!
Two dogs, having fun.
Look at the bird poop on the coralberry leaves! How unappetizing!
It’s actually a bird dropping moth. It’s even a bit lumpy! It’s probably Antaeotricha leucilliana but there are a few similar species that can’t be distinguished for sure without looking at the genitalia. Luckily for the moth, that sounds like a lot of work.

Oops, somehow I got more plants??

Mom told me that the Native Plant Society was having their spring sale on Saturday… So of course we had to go. I got lots of understory trees and shade ground covers, plus a few other things. More on this once I get home and plant them next weekend.
On Saturday evening, we went ahead and put Mom’s tomatoes in the ground. I think our yogurt containers may be part of why the seedlings have been struggling. The knife “slices” in the bottom don’t leak well enough I think; each one was still very wet in the soil at the bottom. In the future I think we’d better drill holes.
Doggies always alert. (From today, Sunday.)
This chickadee in a nest box refuses to move. The eggs, visible in a previous check, are on Mom’s blog.

Vacation! Days 1 and 2

Day 1: arrival

Wow!!! Gracie!!!!!
A male Black-chinned Hummingbird. Mom says they arrived recently.
Greeneyes! A nice big rosette to compare to my baby greeneyes in the garden. Mom says the crenate leaf edge is pretty distinctive.
It was over 90°F. Warm for fluffy.

Day 2: Wednesday.

This cluster of tulips is probably nearly 30 years old. Not bad for an “replant this every year” bulb.
Lots of frogs singing at night!
A fringed puccoon blooming. After looking at the veins and the curled under edge, I think my mystery plants in yard are not puccoon.

Pre vacation plant check (Tuesday)

Two Datura wrightii! They have thinner, slightly grayer leaves than the unknown seedlings also coming up in many containers.
Several interesting seedlings in the lowest tier of the cactus planter.
The peach flower buds opened!
Gram did a lot of work helping me pack. He and the Chef are staying home.
Briar hits the road!