Newbies

There are a few new members of the Scree Garden, which I often refer to as the Sedum garden.   I don’t do this just so I can confuse people, believe me.   I think it is because I haven’t really “named” that area of the property yet.

Anyway, I succumbed to the blandishments of the Hen-and-Chicks Man at the Baker Creek Planting Festival, and came home with several new plants.   This one is particularly charming, and I was told that not only is it winter hardy, it will keep blooming all summer.   I certainly hope so.   This is Talium calycinum:

I also got a couple more Hen and Chicks, Sempervivens.  This one is called “Gazelle.”

The other one is called “Lilac Time.” It came with a volunteer “side order” of another variety called “Super Bowl”, which I already have elsewhere.   No matter.   They look quite happy together.

I have a new robin nest in the front.  They busily built their home last week, studiously ignoring the traffic of clients in and out of the house.  Now they are edgily sitting, she is in the process of laying her eggs now.   They don’t yell at us the way the ones out by the pond, who have chicks right now, but there is definitely suspicion of our motives in evidence.

The brown thrasher chicks are doing well.   This image was captured a couple of nights ago when one of them landed on the fence to survey the domain, and was joined by one of the rock doves for a few moments.

The whole area is really looking good.   I have been going out on a daily basis trying to capture the evening light, with varying degrees of success.   I keep telling myself that one of these mornings I will get up before dawn and get some great shots with the dawn light.   Of course, that means I actually have to get out of bed, and so far I have not been successful at achieving that state at an early enough time for the actual photo shoot.   Professional photographers must be made of sterner stuff that I am!   Or they actually set their alarm clocks and go to bed at a reasonable hour.   That could also be the case.   Anyway, this is the rain garden area a couple of evenings ago.

Out in the pond, there are toad tadpoles.  They are about a quarter of an inch long now, double the size they were yesterday, and busily eating algae.  I just took this shot, that is the reflection of my fingers up in the right corner.    This tadpole is one of literally hundreds swimming about.  

When they first hatched, I was afraid the fish would eat them, but I guess pretty soon they will be way too big for my little gold fish to swallow.  At the rate they are growing, that could be tomorrow.

Life burgeons here at The Havens.