Well I’ve used up two of my blog posts on volunteer work and not joy. That must change and my next post will be flowers and birds here on the homestead. Been here just over a year and me and mother nature have been hard at work.
Here is a little preview of what’s to come.
The birds and critters are raising their babies and the blooms are popping, the show is just starting.
This May I moved to Southeast Passage overlooking Cow Bay Lake. It is my dream home, 3rd time’s a charm they say.
The property is part of a larger parcel that was subdivided, and a rock wall runs along the back of both existing properties. It used to be a farm, and there is an offshoot of Smelt Brook running between the existing lots. The lane was originally owned by a Greek woman I believe, and we all know I am Greek in my soul.
The pups and I are surrounded by tall trees and nature. The property has many Apple trees which are a favorite of our nesting Northern Parulas and of course the Cedar Waxwings came to strip them toward the end of the bloom.
Northern Parula
There are also Sumac and Mountain Ash and many other berry trees I will be able to identify later in the summer. As a birder it’s amazing to watch it all unfold and have so many birds nesting on the property and along the brook. A few of the birds that are nesting here are Black-throated Green Warblers, Black and White Warblers, Magnolia Warblers, and Winter Wren. We even have nesting Canada Warblers (species at risk) just outside our fence and there may be 3 nests, at least 2, and likely more along the brook.
Black-throated Green Warbler
We inherited a good deal of mature perennials and shrubs which the bees and Hummingbirds also love, and of course I am adding many more. I brought some from the garden at my last house too such as Creeping Phlox, Heather, Rainbow Rock Cress, and Hellebores.
treasures from the old house
The plant I am most delighted to have on the property is Peony. I inherited these beautiful mature Peonies and the first bloom opened on the Summer Solstice.
Peony
Also, a lovely pink Dianthus that smells like Cream Soda, Cranesbill Geranium in purple, Tiger Lilies, Poppies in orange, and some red Astilbe. There are more things that haven’t bloomed that I’m not sure of yet and I don’t weed anything until I’m positive of the identification.
Astilbes and Hostas that love the shade, as does Macy
The Astilbe was in two sunny spots, and I relocated them to shady spots along the foundation. Astilbe is a wonderful shade plant, so along with some Hostas I planted along the foundation they can help to soak up moisture in that area. Dad will bring me up some Spurge too, which is another thirsty plant that thrives in shady areas.
Cranesbill Geranium (will divide and put some in back for ground level deck area)Dianthus (the internet tells me this is an heirloom variety, Rose de Mai)
My mind was set on planting a shade garden at the front of the property until I realized it is actually a pretty sunny area. Well, the spot I put the future Garlic bed in is a bit shady so there will have to be some adjustments made down the road. But I found another spot for a little shade garden in between our two outbuildings. There was a broken up old chimney there, so I kept some pieces for colour and added plants to match so all peach and white plants.
White Bleeding Heart (what will the Hummingbirds think of that?)
Hosta
2 Astilbes – one white and one peach
Coral Bells (Heuchera) in terracotta
Sweet Woodruff (Gallium)
Ferns – digging up from other side of the yard. There are two different kinds on the property, and I chose the one I thought was the prettiest, which is Sensitive Fern (Onoclea Sensibilis)
Shade garden
I will probably add some ornamental grass and Daylilies down the road to a partial shade area along the back of the house, but for those really shady areas the above work best. Will have to check the Daylily bulb selection at Halifax Seed when I go Tulip shopping this fall.
Second week in June I hit up 4 garden stores for a mix of things I had to pay full price for to get expert advice and particular plants I was after (Lakeland Plant World has awesome staff and plants), and also some great sales, so in the end was able to plant 15 new trees/shrubs. The goal in some areas is more cover along the border of the property, some for colour to hope for more bird photo opportunities, some for foliage to attract birds and bees, and some just for my joy. Most of them will grow between 4-8 feet didn’t want anything with large roots near the septic field. The Rhododendron could be very large so it’s well away from that area and far enough away from the house to grow as big as it wants.
Ninebark should grow fast
2 Common Ninebark Amber Jubilee variety (my new favourite will add more next year once I get a better understanding of the property and how things fill in)
4 Boxwood (2 varieties green velvet and green mountain)
1 Wintercreeper (Euonymus)
1 Silverleaf Dogwood
2 Dappled Willow
1 White Rhododendron (had never seen one and it needed some love so got a great discount – it says zone 6 and we are zone 5 in Nova Scotia but I’m told Halifax is now zone 6?)
1 Snowbound Spirea
1 Pink Beauty Potentilla
1 Maroon Swoon Weigelia
1 Dwarf Burning Bush
some of the new trees
There is a lot to mow here, and also a lot that has not been mowed in a long time and kind of gone wild. We mowed a path around the edge but left it tall in the middle which worked out well as the Ring-necked Pheasants can take their babies through safely (that was the cutest thing of this week I think). It’s great habitat for many critters so we will keep a balance of wild and tame and refine the plan over the years as we learn more about our surroundings.
Starting some hardscaping as well and dug up weeds and put down cardboard and pea gravel around the patio stones by the steps and will fill with Irish Moss and Creeping Thyme down the road. There was a batch of Creeping Thyme out front which I divided and planted around the septic as shallow rooting ground cover is great for a septic field. Also put down tons of Dutch White Clover seed which is filling in nicely.
We had to get the septic replaced when I bought the house, and I did a bunch of research for what to do about the risers and field area. So, there are pots on the risers and pea gravel and creeping Sedums (4 varieties of Stonecrop brought pieces from my old garden) so we will always have easy access and some more ground cover and lots of clover to absorb nutrients and keep mowing down to a minimum. It’s best not to have a lot of foot traffic over the septic tank if you can avoid it.
septic risers and clover starting to fill in
I brought my Butterfly Bush from my old house, and I was pretty sure it was dead but dug it up a few days ago and saw new growth on the roots so it has time to get established at the new homestead before the fall comes.
Macy likes the Dappled Willow
The dogs are hard on the birds and bees as you can imagine so the more delicate additions are just outside the fence so I can enjoy them, and they will be safe.
Hydrangea
Clematis
Ruby Star Coneflower
Milo supervising as always
Inside the fence I am also starting to plant some hardier shrubs with a stone path and ground level seating in mind, so picked up Blue Steel Russian Sage and planted between the back step and back deck.
Boxwood to make us feel a little more tucked in and soften up the fence
The back deck is all rotted out so removing it this week and will start building a stone patio with walkdown from the French doors. I think we can salvage enough from the old deck to build the walkdown and maybe a bench or raised bed or two. It’s the sunniest most sheltered area on the property so my vision is some vertical veggies like Tomatoes and Cukes and Peppers who love the sun, and lots of hardy shrubs and ground cover. Decks rot, stone and plantings are far more practical and beautiful in my opinion. And lets face it, wood is way out of budget for most of us these days! I built a really nice area at my old house with flagstone and groundcover for that reason, so have some practice thankfully.
A photo I found on Pinterest that is for inspiration for a vertical garden component where I am removing most of the existing wooden deck.this was in the garage and we turned it into a raised garden for lettuce and herbs
It’s all an investment for the property and for the future and was a ton of work digging. Holy shale! Some rocks were as big at the Border Collies I swear.
Expecting a good rebate on the new hot water heater that will cover all the plant shopping as it was a bit outside my repair/reno budget but had to get it in there.
Frugality returns and I’m back to seeding (Black-eyed Susan and Pink Coneflower) and dividing and relocating existing plants. Of course when I first moved in, as I do every year I planted some seeds too early so will try to be more patient next year because not much made it from that seeding (seeds are cheap thankfully). Some will pop up later in the summer I expect, so whatever survived that trauma I will plant more of because I’ll know the conditions are good and it’s hardy.
It should all look pretty good this summer, but next year is when I will really see the results. Things to look forward to. This is why I garden.
I use the website as a journal for myself so look forward to updating about a year from now and see how things have progressed.
Well the thing about Cardinals is they are noisy. I’m working this morning at home. Although it’s a sunny lovely day and I’d love to be outside birding someone does have to pay the bills around here 😉
I had noticed a pair of Cardinals in my morning flock a few days ago and made a mental note to keep the camera close in case I could snap them through the windows some morning. Although grainy through my window, I did shoot Mama Cardinal this morning. She was kind enough to loudly announce her presence so I simply stood up and took the photo. I saw no less than 2 Cardinals creep through the cedars about 845am I will have to keep investigating to see if there are a whole family or must ma and pa.
female Northern Cardinal my backyard Jan. 7
Bird behavior really fascinates me and I noticed the other birds got the heck out of her way and seemed a little offended afterwards. I think I may have even noticed Bluejays giving her the right of way. Queen of my cedars in the morning, clearly.
I was already happy as I saw my first backyard Junco in the cedars this morning, and even better than that my House Sparrows are back. And as I’d hoped, they have increased their numbers. There were at least 3 this morning so ma and pa were successful in the spring.
House Sparrow my backyard (non-breeding male I believe)
Also, I watched for about 10 minutes this morning and now know for sure the birds are coming through not just for cover but to eat from the Cedars. The Chickadees and Golfinch in particular were chowing down with a vengeance. Well it does take a lot of energy to fly so it’s good to have a variety of feeding stations in the hood I suppose.
My morning flock included a pair of Northern Cardinals today. They are noisy and woke me up in fact. I often hear the mixed flock of birds moving through my yard in the morning to make their way through the neighbourhood but this morning I recognized different sounds so got up to investigate.
I have no bird feeders for a variety of reasons, finances being one, and also because as a rule I tend to be hand’s off with nature. But my yard is surrounded by a cedar hedge and is also fenced in so no cats get in, and there are lots of seedy plants and berry bushes and a grape vine so everyone comes through to get to the neighbour’s feeders a few doors down. I personally think I enjoy the birds more not having a feeder as I can enjoy them all, even the Starlings because I’m not concerned about who is eating what. Other people feel differently about this, and that is why we all enjoy the birds in our own way.
Anyway, when I came out to my kitchen window to see what was going on this morning the first bird I saw was a female Cardinal, shortly followed by the male.
No photos but I did go onto the step for a few minutes to enjoy all the birds moving through and the symphony of song. There were at least two in the hood I didn’t recognize so I will have to ask my neighbour later who he is getting at his feeders because it sounded quite promising.
Moving through my yard this morning were primarily American Goldfinch in large numbers (probably 40 plus), Black-capped Chickadees, Mourning Doves, Starlings, Bluejays, Song Sparrows, and a pair of Northern Cardinals. Who knows what else moves through that I don’t notice. Maybe someday I’ll get that bay window…never hurts to dream.
one of about 40 American Goldfinch who came through this morning
Goldfinch eating the seeds on my Birch tree
PS – if there is a commotion in the yard, I know a Sharpie is lurking about!
So, it would turn out as a field birder I’m more of a strolling variety than a “twitcher”.
Many birders get the “twitch” which means when they hear of a bird they need to check off their lifelist or their list for the year and they get in their car and zoom off to find it and get their photograph. And that is okay, it’s just not what I do.
I enjoy wandering about the neighbourhood or in places I would usually walk outdoors even if I were not birding and taking note of what I see. Primarily because bird behavior and documenting what I learn interests me more than getting the perfect photo. Naturally I am eternally hopeful about that.
And so, the most common of birds may be more interesting to me than the rare birds. And in that case, that is the case.
All winter a male House Sparrow (aka English Sparrow) was hanging around the cedar hedge in my yard. I am told that at one time they were common in Nova Scotia but they are relatively uncommon now. Nice that he lives in my yard I thought.
So when a female showed up about two weeks ago and captured his attention I was pretty thrilled. Of course I am thinking some House Sparrow babies would be a wonderful addition to my neighbourhood.
For a few days they courted about the rooftops and telephone poles and then disappeared.
And today when I had my senior dog (Nelson) out for a little walkabout I found out why. They have taken over an old birdhouse in a tree down the road on someone’s front lawn. And the male is guarding the front of that little birdhouse with all he’s got.
I’m not sure how long it will take them to make some wee ones but I sure do look forward to seeing those little chicks appear.