Choice Morsels

 Interesting Garden Pics today: A Pair of Mourning Doves Resting in the Grass Next to my Patio: I snapped the shot because I've never seen them just nestled in the grass like this before. Usually, they're prowling my patio for the bird seed I throw out on the pavement so my cat can enjoy a closer look at the birdies thru the sliding glass door.  I like the cool noise they make when startled as they fly into the air. Interesting facts about Doves: They mate for life. They are strictly seed eaters. (no bugs) And they can fly 55 miles an hour. Who knew? Another Seeker After Bird Seed... This very young Box Turtle wandered out onto my patio for some seed this morning. This youngin' lives under the Hydrangea bush that's immediately around the corner to the right. It's lush with Lady Fern & Ponytail Fern; the perfect safe place. Probably delicious bugs & earthworms under there, too. I saw him come once before on a rainy day for a bit of water, then he turned aroun...

Today, I cleaned up the bed that runs along the castle block wall.  Greek Oregano and Asparagus Fern dangle over that wall and the bed along it holds blackberries, daylilies, succulent filled teacups and so on.  My main mission was trimming out dead growth in the blackberries and tying new growth up on tall stakes. The 5 foot stems were flopped out in the yard where they were in the way of mowing. Now they're tied up. Also took opportunity to dig in some Miracle-gro infused garden soil around their roots.   While clearing the area around the base of the blackberries and thinning out the asparagus fern, I found this: A Baby Box Turtle: Shell was about 2 1/2 inches in length. I also took a shot of the naturalized area up front where the mail box is between our driveway and the street that's been a work in progress for a couple years now: This view is from the street. You can see the Gaillardia there in the middle, ...

I have two Garden Pics to show today! On Monday, when it was raining all day, I had to go out and move hoses away from a drainage area and I ran across this itty-bitty baby Box Turtle! I brought him inside and took a photo with a quarter nearby for perspective. He was only slightly larger then a quarter in size. Here he is: Next: My Wandering Jew in Bloom! I keep this beautiful houseplant outside in a shady spot all summer. In late fall, before it gets cool, I trim off a bunch of stems, put them in a vase of water and keep them inside all winter. (They root easily in a vase of water.) Then in spring, I put them back in their pot of dirt for summer.  They're part of a display out front under the aspen tree.  It's hhad a prosperous year this year with me keeping them watered and now they're blooming. Wandering Jew was the sweetest little lavender tri-petal flowers!  Like most houseplants, it needs to be root-bound to bloom. That's it for t...

Today's Garden Pic of the Day is a "mini-me" Box Turtle I saw just sitting on the block wall on Monday as Hubby and I were walking up the walk after coming home from the Fitness Center. He's sitting in my Hubby's hands, all of 2 inches in size! Such big eyes! Baby Box Turtle We released him in the back yard. Boxies are territorial--maybe he'll stay. ***** Today's other projects: Move the Houseplants Inside! It will be getting down into the 40's this weekend at night! All my houseplants happily spend spring & summer outside. This year though, one of the variegated Spider plants died. So I have one pot with a bushy Spider plant hanging in the kitchen and one that has just a few Spider babies in it. I hang a Dracaena plant in the guest bath and I have a Silver Arrowhead in the master bath, though, I must say, that Arrowhead was in pitiful shape and had to have a complete re-potting. Both it and the one Spider plant will need to re-gr...