June 2021 - Week 3

 What's poppin' in the garden?

No philosophy this week, just some garden news and pictures.

First, I spotted this on Rose's chamomile plants on Sunday evening, I cannot reliably identify it so if anyone ever actually reads this and knows what it is I'd be grateful if you could tell me.

10mm long mystery caterpillar

While I had the macro lens out I was messing about photographing the little flowers when I made a neat discovery.  I know that peas and clover are both legumes and nitrogen fixers but I didn't think they had a lot visually in common but look at this.

A pea flower - green arrow shelling pea

And this is a white clover in the lawn photographed with the macro lens:

Wow

So the white clover is loads of tiny pea shaped flowers arranged in a sphere, no wonder the bees like them with all that nectar in one place.

Other news from the garden

Last fall I turned over the turf in a large kidney shaped area of the back lawn (I use the word lawn loosely as there was not a whole lot of grass in it) it looked like a minefield all winter and spring and I just let it get on with growing a nice crop of weeds while I thought about the best way to tackle the planting.  Yesterday I went off piste from the weekly job list and decided to get it organized before the weeds got too high.  I spent all afternoon pulling them out and putting in 40ish tiny plants I've grown in plugs (so I wouldn't have to pot them on into 4" pots, not enough pots and not enough potting soil).  Here's a list:

• Little blue stem
• Blanket flower
• Anise hyssop
• Asters
• Prairie coneflower
• Pale purple coneflower
• Cosmos purity (to help build up a bit of a seed bank and add interest this year)
• Lupins

I was really pleased when it was done, it doesn't look like much but if I take some care I should be well on my way to a lovely prairie planting next year.

This is what I found 'growing' in there this morning:

Seriously? How do they know? Can they smell freshly dug earth?

She proceeded to tramp all over the place and start digging 3 different nest holes, no mean feat in the clay around here, before she went to try in the front yard then trundled off home.  I now have a dilemma: Tom read that female turtles may dig a nest hole over a few days, so do I go out this afternoon and loosen the earth in the bottom of the biggest hole to assist (and minimize damage), or cover it all up to put her off?  I would be happy to have a turtle creche in the back yard but we're a long way from the pond and I'm not sure the hatchlings would make it.

So back to some less exciting what's poppin's:

The campanulas are in full swing

Campanulas

Scabious is starting in the front yard

Extreme closeup Scabious flower

There are tiny pea pods forming on the pea plants

Birdhouse gourds have germinated

Naughty bee-haviour

I'm so sorry, inexcusable dad-humour

Jobs for this week

Weed and plant up the herb bed  June 17.  Weeded and built a snake habitat from with off cuts from the deck and old concrete edging stones.  Hoping to attract a grass snake to eat the mice that live under the deck.

Put in chive plant bought 1000 years ago.  Sowed:

• lettuce
• chives
• radishes
• sorrel
• beetroot
• arugula

Now I've just got to hope that a snake gets to the mice before the mice get to my seeds.

Pot on the little plants that I didn't put out in the 'turtle enclosure' June 15

Plant out tomatoes and peppers on Thursday or Friday after plunging temperatures predicted for Wednesday  June 19.  Planted but not staked so I can protect them on Monday night when The Weather Network says temperatures will drop to 7 again.  Frankly my little plants are all looking a little feeble so I hope now they're out in the open they will take off.

Try to remember to protect Tithonia from above temperatures

Tidy the garage  June 20.  Wow, every job for this week has been completed.  First time since I started blogging.

Extra bits and bobs

First Monarch seen on June 15.

First Yarrow and Geranium Rozanne on June 17.

Because the garage is now tidy I was able to move my set of metal shelves outside to tidy up all the little plants I'm bringing on in pots so the wonky patio behind the garage is also now tidy.