Scenes From Around The Farm

Winston and his Aunt Gracie lounged in the shade during a hot day:

 If this seems like an odd pose for Winston, it's because the camera caught him peeing. It does however show the house and barn in the background:

There won't be many apples this year - except for a couple of trees which appear to be loaded with them:

The baby pigeon from a recent post, where I recorded his growth for the first 27 days, lost his mother one night. I found her dead near the nest and her baby was peeping loudly for someone to feed him. His father should still be available, and the baby is still alive, so it looks like he will be fine. That's him in front of the feeder:

 

The front of the house, with lots of flowers: On the left is the Tree Hydrangea, in the middle are the seven baby hardy roses, and on the right are the Rose Mallows, just beginning to bloom:

I saw a Monarch butterfly when I walked out of the house but it took off so fast I didn't even try to get my camera out. When I got to the sunflowers, some of which are now 12 to 14 feet tall, there was a hummingbird enjoying them. I reached for my camera and realized I'd forgotten to put it in my pocket. I went back in the house to get it, but the hummingbird was gone when I arrived back. I then went into the barn to get the lawn mower, and when I came out, there was a brilliantly colored male Goldfinch atop a sunflower, but he too took off before I got a photo. Well, at least I got a photo of the sunflowers and daylilies:


The Frans Hals Daylilies are putting on a real show. I didn't know it when I ordered them, but they are considered to be one of the "Repeat Blooming" varieties:

My neighbor cut the hay in my north field one afternoon, so the next day he was tedding it. Tedding lifts and separates (like a Playtex bra?) the hay to speed up drying:

We had a spell of lovely but cool weather, so he had to come back repeatedly and keep the hay turned over until the sun dried it thoroughly:

The Elderberries began to ripen, but the birds ate them so fast it would have been easy to miss seeing them:

Whenever I drive to Massena, I pass by the "Barney Tree" on the left. It looks like a Tyrannosaur and I get a kick out if each time:

 I planted my Carnival  morning glory seeds in too shady of a spot. They barely grew because of lack of sun, so when one small flower appeared, I figured I'd better get a photo of it. There may not be any more of them:

Gardening Gone Gonzo

All of my spring planting was finally finished, and the spot where I removed the big stump (well, most of it) has been a great spot to plant things:

 And what did I plant there? Oriental Poppies, Bachelor's Buttons, Yarrow, Chives, New York Asters, Globe Thistle and Gaillardia:

 The big stretch of garden I prepared along the dog fence has also been planted:

 I broke it up into sections to help me keep track of what's there. From left to right are last year's day lilies, this year's day lilies, Begonias/lilies/Peonies, Sunflowers (four varieties) and Armenian Basket Flowers:

The two new Bleeding Heart plants are blooming extravagantly:

 And because they did so well, I also planted Morning Glories there also:

 I had no trellis to use for the Morning Glories, so I put tomato cages there. If they grow more than that - well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it:

 And while planting the Morning Glories, I found a mutant Bedstraw plant with variegated leaves. I find such sports to be fun and interesting:

The two Flowering Crab trees and Golden Delicious apple trees put on a spectacular display, then faded away:

I put branches from the pink Prairie Rose flowering crab and Lilac blossoms in a vase to bring to church. In another vase, I put the common weed, Yellow Rocket. It is also called Winter Cress and is a species of wild Mustard:

 The Lilacs were great this year, but now I'll have to wait another year to see and smell them again:

Dreams Of Springtime - Part 1

I think I've gone seriously overboard this year in anticipation of spring planting. I have enough seed cups for 144 new plants:

And these are some of the seeds I have on hand to plant. First, Armenian Basket Flower, also known as Yellow Knapweed:

 Asters, New York Mix. I know just where to plant these because the wild blue New York Asters grow like crazy here:

 Chives. I used to grow these at a former farm and loved them, both for flavoring and for their flowers:

 Gaillardia or Blanket Flowers, Arizona Apricot:

 Gaillardia or Blanket Flowers, Arizona Sunset:

 Gaillardia or Blanket Flowers , Red Shades:

 Globe Thistle, Blue Glow. Alas, I've already tried three times to grow Globe Thistles - but I saw the seeds for sale and decided to try once more:

 These are Rose Mallow seed pods from my own plants. I intend to try getting the seeds to grow:

 Morning Glory, Carnivale Di Venezi:

 Oriental Poppy, mixed colors. My mother used to have a few of these and I would like to have a few also, with which to remember her:

And I've ordered four varieties of Sunflower, all of them quick growing and good for cut flowers:

Pastiche:

Red Wave:

Cherry Rose: