Choice Morsels

Today's Garden Pics: I saw this box turtle enjoying wading around this dish of water I have out for the birds a few days ago, at least until she saw me with the camera, then she froze. That eye is looking right at me! I took the picture and she crawled out of the desk shortly after. I recently caught this tree frog peeking out of my patio container reservoir hole. It has a couple inch space for water and the tree frogs like being in there and stick their heads out to catch passing insects. Raised Garden Bed Progress: First one is filled and yesterday I did some planting: a purchased tomato plant & bell pepper and some seeds: purple bush beans, zucchini, beets, butternut squash. It's important to space certain things out, so you don't get a ton of stuff all at once, so I'm just planting beans in quarter rows, a week apart.  Beets will need thinning out once they spout, so I left a blank row to move those two. I like them for greens. Th...

I have 3 Box Turtles living around my garden this year. One is a Baby, about 4 inches long. The two are mature Boxies: one with an ornate yellow pattern on his shell, which is taller then average and one with patch albino markings on his head and neck, which gives his head a grayish appearance.  (He was the one eating popcorn in an earlier post.) It's been dry and super hot here for over 2 weeks with hardly any rain. Then, this past Sunday, a brief rain fell and Baby & Mr. Albino Head popped out to enjoy it. First a Baby Boxie crawled out onto my cement patio eager to drink from the puddles: First Picture: Baby paused and withdrew into his shell a little when I opened the door, uncertain whether I was a threat or not. A moment of unsureness as I opened the door to take a picture! Next Picture: Then, deciding I wasn't a threat, baby put his face in the puddle and slurped away. Baby Slurping Away! He would drink, move a few inches, drink some ...

  I have 2 Garden Pics for you today: First photo up is another one of the 10 new day lilies I ordered and planted last fall. This one is called "Prairie Fire." It's a strong maroonish-red with a bright yellow throat and the first of the 10 to bloom. At this time, only 2 haven't bloomed yet: the white and one called "Midnight." Day lilies have a broad blooming season, though. Some re-bloom, some blooming only once. Prairie Fire blooms once it appears. However the new yellow and "Grape" seem to be re-bloomers. Day lilies are an excellent flower in the flower bed for care-free areas you want to naturalize or in borders or to use as a medium-high filler in a bed with tall flowers at the back and shorter in front. If you like spring daffodils, they make a good companion planting partner with day lilies, since they come up first, then die back before the day lilies appear. So plant your daffodil bulbs among your day lilies! Next pi...