Visitors

For the past several years, we've hung a fern on the porch during the summer. Despite the fact that it's constantly getting twirled around by the wind, birds seem to like it.

I sent the egg photo to my mom, who became very concerned that the brown speckled egg was a cowbird and needed to be removed. I didn't, and it never hatched. 

The other five did! They're red finches. There were three adults who seemed to pay attention to the babies. There is probably a very reasonable explanation for that. I choose to believe that they were a nontraditional family.

They became fluffier and fluffier.

It seemed as if the only time they were awake was when a parent brought food. They seemed to turn consciousness on and off at will.

sooo sleepy

I was relieved to see them start to develop feathers. It made them much more bird-like and less alien-like.

They looked very much like adult (albeit small) birds at the end. The next time I checked the nest, they were all gone.

I kept trying to think of things to do to help them. Should I put birdseed near the nest for the parents? Should I put the fern on the ground of the porch so the babies don't fall? I was able to resist the urge to tinker with the natural order of things, and everything turned out just fine. I'll enjoy wondering if any of the birds at our backyard feeders are these little guys.

Pileated Woodpecker

Yesterday we were thrilled to find this guy in our snowy backyard:

He's a pileated woodpecker, the bird we always hoped to see feeding on the suet when we spent time at my grandparents' cabin. Bad news: There's a good chance he's feeding on emerald ash borer, which will undoubtedly destroy the ash trees in our backyard. Good news: Woodpeckers will have plenty of food until the trees have to come down.

Favorite Things

I'm in the busy season at my work, and it tends to make me slightly panicked and less likely to blog.

But I've been doing things. Saturday a friend and I went to a hummingbird banding demonstration at the IMA (Indianapolis Museum of Art).

They captured, banded, took a few measurements and let go several birds.

Then I took a nice walk on the grounds to get some flower time.

I have no idea what the above flower is, but it's beautiful. Below is a hibiscus.

I've become enamored by dahlias. Can you blame me?

I bought a karma chocolate dahlia that was under $4 from the IMA greenhouse. It needs a good home. Now to figure out where to plant it...

The bees loved this flower in the ravine garden.

I recently read an article in Indiana Gardening about moss planters, and that led me to make a moss terrarium for my desk at work. Here's some moss in the wild.

I'm fairly sure the perennial geraniums are trying to devour this shrub in the formal garden. My impression might be biased by the fact that I watched a community theater production of Little Shop of Horrors Saturday night.

There was zero sun, so the sun dial wasn't much help.

But the rain certainly was beautiful.

Here's a view into the formal garden.

And the edge of my very favorite, the ravine garden.

This view is seen from the back of the Lilly House.

I love photos like these. I find paths simultaneously very peaceful and invigorating. WALK ME.

Inside the greenhouse, I visited with some orchids, like you do.

The white one is a phalaenopsis. I'm not sure what the red one is. My mom has great luck with orchids and has many different colors of the phalaenopsis type. I have one miniature one that I bought at Trader Joe's on a whim. I'm waiting to see if I can keep it alive before buying any more.

The plant visit was just what I needed. I'm really grateful to have such a lovely place to walk so close to home.

Knitting pictures tomorrow!

Flowers on a Walk

The weather around here has been glorious, so I took Dexter on a walk after work. There's a pond that's surrounded by a walking path (and office buildings) that has lots of wildflowers. I don't know what most of them are, but they're lovely.

This last flower, identity unknown--maybe a lupine?, was growing with some of its comrades in one section of the pond edge. There was a stalk that was growing right on the edge of the asphalt. I decided that it really was intruding onto the path and pulled it up. Then I carried it home and planted it. We'll see if it takes off or not.

I spent awhile trying to decide if it was wrong to take a stalk like this. I decided it wasn't. It was spreading. It was in the path. There were lots more. However, I did feel strange walking home carrying a 3' stalk. What do you think: Was that immoral?

Perhaps we should...

...start saving for a more squirrel-proof birdfeeder.


Also, as a bit of tidying up from this post, we've decided to send our donations to Heifer.

Another afternoon at the IMA

I'm trying to soak it all in before winter comes.

An Afternoon at the IMA

Yesterday afternoon I spent a couple hours with fellow students from my master gardening class at one of my most favorite places, the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.  I scrawled down the names of some interesting trees and shrubs (like the Beautyberry with its improbably purple berries), but mostly I just enjoyed how lovely it is there.

It was this kind of afternoon

with some of this

and this

and this

and then this.

This is sacred space.