Settling Into Summer

The pigeons are thriving and seem happy. One old timer passed away peacefully, presumably from old age, but a baby was fledged and took his or her place. I still have 27 birds:

But then two new babies hatched. They often don't live, so I watched for a couple of days and everything seemed fine:

I didn't handle them, but I did get a closeup:

And I also got a short video of one of the parents feeding them:


There is a section between the road and "lawn" (I use quotes because it's not much of a lawn, though it is mowed) is a strip of wildflowers, including these Deptford Pinks and Oxeye Daisies:

And Common Mullein. I used to call this Moth Mullein, but learned that I was wrong: This plant grows tall and I've been told that some Native Americans considered it to have spiritual power. I've come across these majestic plants at night, lit by a full moon, and agreed with that idea:

And Common St. Johnswort. I've read that if you break a stem on August 29, the day of St. John's beheading, the sap will be red like blood. I tried it once, years ago, with questionable results - it sort of worked and sort of didn't. I hope to remember to try again this year:


The little rock garden was suddenly filled with yellow Asiatic Lilies and Blue Sea Holly:

I've been waiting for the Blue Sea Holly to actually turn blue, and it's finally begun to show some blue color:

The flowers are supposed to be bigger, though, so I'll keep watching them develop: