Those turkeys!!

Another gorgeous day thanks to the cold front that moved through, sunny with a high of 78.

Earlier in my blog I shared a picture of a turkey dusting itself. I have to wonder if this is the same turkey that now visits with two babies in tow. I can't believe how fast they are growing. We started feeding them corn, and they have since become permanent residents.

We have a pile of loam in the woods we use for planting purposes, and because it's been so dry, mom's been teaching the babies how to dust themselves. One baby in particular has really taken to dust baths and scratching. Which is kind of funny to watch, because the dirt doesn't always go where it should, and the scratching usually covers more seed than uncovers.

Something else we didn't know about birds until we moved here, birds love to sun themselves. All of them do this, and I can only guess we see it here because of the natural habitat which makes the birds feel safe. The baby turkey who loves to take dust baths, also likes to sun itself afterwards.

Sometimes I feel like I'm running a resort. Between the food, lodging and spirits (fresh water), what more could a bird ask for.

More weeding, pulling, trimming . . .

After 3 days of 90 degree temps, a low has brought a cold front through, high of 79.

The Rose of Sharon are also in bloom. I watched several bees flitting from flower to flower gathering pollen. Their bodies and legs were so heavily laden with yellow pollen I did not know how they could possibly gather any more any fly away.

Unfortunately, the Hibiscus (Rose of Sharon) have also outgrown their designated areas, so I really had to cut one in particular back. I planted it in front of the meters and it had done it's job, so well in fact, I was afraid I was going to get a notice from our utility company.

As I trimmed the Hibiscus back the bees just went about their business of gathering, seemingly oblivious to me.

I'm so happy when I see bees, frogs and butterflies in my garden, it means I have a thriving ecosystem and must be doing something right.

It's really getting dry, boy do we need rain!

Sunny and hot with a high of 90, at least the humidity was down.

After mowing sections 1 and 2 of the yard, I fungicided both. The heat is really starting to stress the yard. Plus, man-made-water (in-ground-sprinklers) just isn't the same as nature's water.

We just got a call from our water company to tell us we are under a voluntary watering ban. They asked us to only water in the morning, and to water deeply less often, all of which I do of course, it's just good gardening practice.

Last night we went to our next door neighbors to warn them about the bear. When we got there we couldn't believe our eyes, the pond behind the dam was virtually empty. This is a "fairly" good sized pond the kids play hockey on in the winter . . . it really takes you back.

BTW, the water in the bucket is what our water looks like right now. Can you believe they can charge for something that dirty? Unfortunately, this isn't the first time for us, we had to put an expensive water-filtration system in last winter. If we hadn't, that water would be in our house, yuck!

Okay, I'm officially waging war on all weeds!

Sunny and nice with a high of 83.

After being lazy over the weekend and having a 10 day hyatus from yard work, I decided it was time. I weeded, cut back shrubs, (Goldmound Spirea), and took a picture of my Kousa tree.

A Kousa is a Japanese Dogwood that blooms in June, and boy has mine grown this year. This is the second year it's been in the garden, and was purchased quite small at Lowes last year. While I've not yet seen any blooms, I'm hoping this is only because of it's young age. It's supposed to be shade loving, and it gets sun about 40% of the day. If it doesn't show signs of blooming next year, I think I might start getting worried.

The picture to the right is how it "should" look when in bloom. It's supposed to get approximately 20' tall by 20' wide, but I've not seen one as full as the one pictured. I see them a lot planted in yards with limited space and shade. The white really pops in the shade!

Unfortunately, a naturalized tree beside it is dying because of the changes going on around it, so I'll probably be replacing it next year. I'm thinking a pink dogwood of some sort would be nice . . .

Now for the really big news, our bear showed up for the first time last night. Punkin was looking out the family room window when she started barking. When I went to look I saw a black bear just rearing up and reaching for one of our feeders. So out we went with air horn in hand to rescue the feeders. On the way back to the garage I saw it cutting across the driveway by the stream going to our neighbors. Poor guy, I'm sure it's hungry and thirsty with the ongoing drought.

Look what I came home to!

Hazy, Hot, Humid, high of 91.

I got home late last night and what did I see first thing this morning? 5 tomatoes, 3 on the Big Boy and 2 on the Beefsteak, ripe enough to pick . . . my very first! I plan on having them with bacon sandwiches , yumm!

I must admit the yard looks really nice, Don did a terrific job while I was gone. I told him he was hired, and he told me he wasn't interested in the job, oh well, I can't say I don't blame him.

The tomato on the left is the Beefsteak and the tomato on the right is the
Big Boy.

Unfortunately, the weeds kept growing while I was gone, so it's going to take me a while to get them eradicated . . . they're everywhere!

Time for a review or recap:

Sunny with a high of 90, very humid until a downpour cooled things off, for a little while anyway.

Well, I guess it's been 30 days so it's time to revisit my Gardening To Do List.

• Trim shrubs and Bradford Pear - tree yes, shrubs no
  
• Fertilize the Rhodos - yes
  
• Spray the back-hill with Roundup - yes
  
• Cut trees out of the pines on the back ridge - no
• Weed the flowerbeds, again - yes
  
• Spray the weeds in the grass - no
  
• Edge all flowerbeds - no
  
• Plant 6 maple trees - one
  
• Plant 5 fruit trees - yes
  
• Plant 6 fruit bushes - no
  
• Plant Magnolia - yes
  
• Plant 12 daylilies - no
• Fertilize yard - yes
• Fungicide yard - yes
• Mow, trim, and water - YES

Considering I'm about to leave for 10 days and there's a moratorium on digging, I don't think much else is going to be added to the "done" side of the list.

But there's always a bright side, my little Stella's in the back are blooming and looking quite pretty!

The drought is starting to become quite real . . .

Very dry and hot this week, with temps in the high 90's.

It's just too hot to try and plant anything. The red maple is struggling, I have to water it deeply every two to three days. So I'm calling a halt to all digging until it gets cooler.

Plus, with my better half putting his back out and with me getting ready to visit Iowa, virtually all yard work is on hold.

Except the watering, which is becoming a real issue. It seems like my day is spent trying to keep something watered. Thank goodness James of Gates Landscaping came out and moved two sprinklers that are now covering the orchard.

I don't envy Don trying to keep up with this yard . . . .

1st of 6 goes in the ground

Sunny and nice with a high of 80.

Since we seem to be on a roll, we decided to plant the 1st of the 6 15 gallon maples we bought after the loggers came through. This one is a Red Maple, and is replacing a hard maple the loggers took out by 'accident'.

While the rocks are hard enough to get through, add to that big tree roots, and you have an almost impossible situation. We had to drag out the California tools, the pick axe to be precise, to get between and under the roots. With a lot of hard work, and a thrown back, we did get it in, barely.

The 15 gallon trees we bought looked so big at the nursery and sitting on the sidewalk. Now that one's planted and surrounded by 80' and 100' hemlocks and maples, it looks pretty small. We chose a spot that gets sun about 60% of the day, we're hoping this is enough light for the tree to acclimate.

Can you tell from the picture which is the 12' maple we planted in the woods? A hint: it's just to the left of a large trunk on the right hand side of the picture. If you click on the photo once and enlarge it, you can barely see it nestled between other trees in the background. In the picture you can also see the Washington Hawthorne we planted inbetween the magnolia and maple.

Another First: Heard first heat bug

Wow, another gorgeous day!

Sunny and nice with a high of 71; is it really almost July?

Today we decided the last fruit tree was going in the ground . . . eventually. The last fruit tree turned out to be the hardest fruit tree as we hit nothing but rock shelf. We had to move the hole 3 times, and I fear we still didn't give it as large a hole as it needs. Especially since this fruit tree, a Santa Rosa Plum, gets 15' high by 15 wide'. It's supposed to be a heavy producer and pretty hardy for our area, I guess only time will tell.

The first 2 to 3 years we are supposed to pick the blossoms off the fruit trees as they bloom, to help create bigger, healthier, root balls. I think I may have the will power to do this for one year, since I am soooo anxious to see them all in bloom. I never thought of this before now, what if my better half is allergic to their pollen, ack!

As the trees mature, I'm hoping the leaves and blossoms will help break up and soften the rock shelf that sits behind the orchard. Not only will this give us something more appealing to view as we sit on the deck or patio, but maybe we'll see some fruit loving birds to view as well :-)