This image doesn't adequately demonstrate the full scope of the problem, but I need a "rescue from fescue"! Some varieties of blue fescue grass behave very well, but this one was purchased by mail at Michigan Bulb where often the actual nitty-gritty variety of a cultivar isn't specified. Ah well, live & learn & shop more carefully!
I did manage to trim off the seed heads before it got any more out of control, but next year a big makeover is in the works (FYI-This grass will go to seed more than once a year sometimes!)
*Sigh* This was the last of the shiitakes, but I can't complain-this log has been producing since 2005! Guess it's time to contact my friends at Field and Forest Products for more spawn plugs to innoculate some new logs.
Last summer was very creature-heavy, with lots of traffic from skunks, squirrels, and these guys...
...Mr.Raccoon decides to move in closer...
....much to Gizmo's delight...
.....okay, maybe not!
The leaf rollers were pretty busy...
...luckily the milkweed plants were, too. Great news for my Monarch Butterfly caterpillars!
This cute little beach pea pops up here and there all over my yard, never getting too aggressive or unmanageable.
However this creature looks as though she certainly could become aggressive! This is a Common Snapping Turtle, and she startled me when I noticed her at my shoreline (apparently watching me).
These images were taken at the time of year when snappers come ashore to lay eggs, but usually after dark. Was she waiting for me to get out of her way?
Guess so! (See her by the tree, swimming away?) Sorry ma'am, please feel free to come back later! (I think they usually return to the same spot every year to lay eggs, so I imagine she did. I have found shells dug up by predators in the yard before, as well as baby turtles trying to find their way back to the water. Fun stuff!)
I am very blessed to have an abundance of froggies in my yard, and last year was no exception. This is a Spring Peeper, isn't he cute?
Canadian geese goslings are cute too, as long as they stay out of my yard! The parents are very aggressive when protecting them, and they tend to try and take over. Definately not the kind of birds I seek to attract when I put out feeders!
That's right....move along....nothing to see here!
Now this combo could never get old! Pink lupine and ostrich fern....
....I like this volunteer columbine by the wagon wheel, too.
Plenty of "chive talkin' " going on last year, too (you have no idea how long I've wanted to use that! :)
Hey! Volunteer sedum (not sure exactly which one), nothing wrong with extras!
This area is pretty "weedy", but I like it anyway...
....marsh marigold gets pretty leggy in this spot... 
....Canada Anemone mixes nicely with spurge, IMO.
Another frequent visitor this year, I saw a garter snake at least once a week all season.
My pal, the Red Squirrel, was bolder than usual (Or I just happened to catch him in the act).
Of course Jack-in-the-Pulpit is always a welcome sight...
....along with his garden mate Yellow Ladyslipper .
Red here doesn't look too impressed, though....
....maybe he had the same kind of luck I did with the "digital revolution"!
Now, if deer could transmit digital signal, I'd be all set! They were near my yard.....
....in my yard.....
.....seemingly around every corner! All season!
And very un-apologetic about it!
Naturally, they brought their appetites too :(
Another pest last summer was the emerald ash borer, and this odd purple thing was visible at the roadside all over the place. Of course, I had to stop and investigate...
....yep, it's an ash borer trap. Thankfully, I didn't hear that they actually found any in my area, but I'm guessing it's only a matter of time. Ah well, all good things must be challenged (or come to an end)...
....like this post!
Now back to our regularly scheduled winter!
9 comments:
Hello from a fellow zone 4(ish) gardener!
Love the pic with the deer sticking its tongue out. You get a lot of critters in your garden. Makes going outside fun, doesn't it?
Cheers from Alaska,
Christine
So many great photos! Love the froggies. And I have always wanted to try growing shitakes.
Christine-Welcome! I really do enjoy all the critters, even the deer. (Despite the fact that they cost me money for repellents to protect my plants.) There was one doe in particular that came around almost daily-with her twins!
Knatolee-Thank you! The mushrooms really are easy, just follow the link to Field and Forest...they supply the materials and explain it all. You can even grow some on a toilet paper roll in the house!
What wonderful photos... the peeper and garter snake are so sweet, and of course I love the lady slipper and jack... If you want the more traditional, bluer blue fescue that doesn't really seed much, I can dig you up a division in spring. And 14" of snow???? ooh, we've barely had a dusting... and I love snow!!!!!
Thank you Monica! I'd be happy to send you more snow, and that fescue would be very appreciated! I'd love to exchange something with you though, how about artemesia 'Oriental Lime'?
Nice pics! Hmm, so you continue to get more mushrooms from just one log? I guess I thought you got just a short season and that was it. Now the idea of growing them has a little more appeal!
Thanks Karen! The logs produce about a dozen mushrooms a season for me, depending upon moisture and temperature. Next spring I want to innoculate at least 3, then 3 more in fall to have an even better supply (I really love mushrooms! :) I was intimidated at first, but they are sooo fun and easy, I'm hooked!
My goodness. What a wonderful collection of pictures Lisa. I think I like the yellow ladyslippers best though. They are increasingly rare in our area.
Thank you so much! I LOVE my ladyslippers, the yellows produce seed each year that I save and sow around my yard where they are likely to succeed. I would like to attempt to raise these and re-populate wild places, eventually. They are in the same boat around here as yours, and I really want to help if I can...thinking I should send some seed to a hort program somewhere in the state too, now that I think of it....
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