Insects, Lizards and Snakes

The past two weeks were devoted to end of school mothering activities including ASW’s eighth grade graduation.   My head is full of many things including the fact that my boy will be attending high school next year, and I’ll be driving only Bear to school every morning.  As everyone says, time has flown, and not so very long ago, he was just my little boy.  Now, his voice is deep and he’s becoming a man.

Yesterday, on her last day of school, Bear had a field trip with her “little chum” to the bowling alley.  I’m a chaperone, which sounds funny if you ponder it.  He’s six, and she’s ten.  I think, with over 100 children, I was just there for crowd control.

This morning, with all school activities fini, I’ll be in the garden mulching everything before our trip to Chicago and the Garden Bloggers’ Spring Fling.  I can’t wait to see my old friends, I met last year in Austin, and to meet those friends I know only through their written words.  Since I’ll be so busy this weekend getting ready, I want to share some of the garden with you as it looks today.

Above is a little fountain grass I bought last year, which has come into fruition.  It is Red Bunny Tails, a/k/a ‘Red Buttons.’  It grows about two feet high, and I have it planted in a triangular shaped, mixed bed with red daylilies, a native aster, and a red Coreopsis which is new this year.  The Coreopsis isn’t yet blooming, and the daylilies are only beginning to send up scapes.  Because of the cool spring, they are a bit late.

On the other side of the garden, we have greens and blues cooling their heels in the shade.  As the summer moves on, I’ll show you more, but I love these space saucer-like blossoms on the Euphorbia. The Euphorbia‘s regular foliage is such a blue green, and it contrasts so nicely with its lime green blooms and the maidenhair fern.  The fern has black stems, which I just love.  If I added some of that black grass to the picture, it would be even better.  Perhaps next year.  I’ve blown my budget for this spring.  To the left of these is the ‘Annabelle’ Hydrangea arborescens.  I did move the other ‘Annabelle’ to the other side of the arbor.  They should be blooming mid-June.

We finally have some heat, and the insects and lizards are all very glad to see it.  They’ve warmed up their wings and bodies and are going about their business in the garden making a happy, humming noise.  Well, the lizards aren’t humming (at least not where I can hear them), but you get my meaning.

Speaking of humming, I was planting a Geranium ‘Sweet Heidy’ in one of the tiered borders yesterday, and I heard what sounded like a giant bee.  Already feeling skittered because the neta fin hoses sounded like snakes hissing when they started, I nearly jumped out of my skin.  My first, crazy thought was that a giant wasp was coming to get me from the nest under the house eave.  Instead of running away (which was the worst thing I could do in either event) I took a deep breath, held very still, and guess what I saw . . . a hummingbird on the wing.  He was visiting one of my Penstemons. I wish I had a photo of him, but, of course, my camera was indoors.  Like a helicopter, he hovered for a moment and then flew away.  If you’d like to know more about Penstemons, I wrote a post about them on Examiner today.

On that note, a couple of weeks ago, I went to the National Wildlife Federation and had Rosehaven certified as a wildlife habitat.  It wasn’t difficult, and it helps the NWF, along with educating yourself and others.  I received my sign yesterday, and I’m looking for the best place to display it.

Snakes, insects, birds and lizards abound in a garden.  Who is visiting yours?