Musings

I did a vegetation check this morning. I found two hogweeds I missed in the corner of the field, not a big deal. I also checked on the unfurling ferns. Unfurling.

I went deeper into the woods, turned away from the lake, and picked my way carefully through the greenery, trying not to step on any flowers or unflowering plants. Then, I heard a din/racket/cacophony ahead of me, and stopped to spot the culprit. I think it was the male sandhill wooing the lady sandhill, just him, and she was quiet, walking away from him, this way and that, at a stately, deliberate pace. Meanwhile, the male walked after her, following, and finally doing wing flaps, as if she has to notice him and respond to That. And then quiet, and I couldn’t see them any more. Did they fly off? Dunno. Can you spot the pair along the treeline? Facing left?

Posted at 9:55 PM | Comments Off on Noisy interlude

THis morning, under dense overcast, I took a walk-wander around the field. I found a clear view of a deer trail heading through the wildflowers, or wild-plants-without-flowers.

The reason for my circuit, beyond stretching my legs, was to check on emergent hogweed (AKA cow parsnip) specimens. Yup: present. Here’s the harvest after about an hour of unearthing them, laid out to desicate before composting.

Late afternoon, the sun finally came out and it was like a different day.

Posted at 8:09 PM | Comments Off on Plant brief

Overcast and blustery…overcast all day, and blustery more and more starting in the late afternoon.

We went to Newbs and got groceries, enough to get us through the holiday weekend. I also picked up two multi-stem pots of basil. I hope I can separate them when I plant them to give them room to fluff out (when it’s not so windy). We also attacked other chores, ho hum.

Posted at 9:44 PM | Comments Off on Ho hum

They’re fading, but the scent is perhaps stronger than it’s been.

Posted at 9:41 PM | Comments Off on Close eyes, inhale

Apian proof. [See yesterday.]

Posted at 8:53 PM | Comments Off on Bumbler

I didn’t see any butterflies visiting today, just bees. [Common name: butterfly weed.]

Posted at 10:27 PM | Comments Off on Misnomer?

Strawberries verge on the sacred around here. This is the sixth one I ate from today’s supermarket specimens. The interesting thing is the first five had little strawberry flavor (as is typical), but this one had enough that I could almost imagine it approached being sun-ripened.

Posted at 9:21 PM | Comments Off on Kinda sorta

Showy oakleaf hydrangea, still partially in bud.

Posted at 8:42 PM | Comments Off on Emergent

This woody shrub has been a problem for nearly a decade. I did a temporarily expedient thing several times, chopping off the branches. This left the roots to persist and flourish. More and more each time, each year.

Today, I took the mattock and set about Final Removal. I worked around the sides, made a root-removal donut. It took a while. Then, I worried about a tap root; they can be the largest. But. But, I discovered that there was no taproot, and voila, the whole thing came up. Whew. You’re looking at the bottom—see, it’s flat—no taproot. Lucky me.

Later this week: cleanup and planting!

Posted at 8:52 PM | Comments Off on Tricky taproot saga

I never tried a photo on my watch before; I knew it was possible, but I didn’t think it was…me. However, peony-watch is a fine look.

Posted at 9:08 PM | Comments Off on Flower on my wrist