Gardening Again

As I sat here to begin writing, I saw a little squirrel with only a smidgen of tail. He was up in the silver maple eating some of those helicoptering seeds. At my old house, I used to see a regular little stump tail squirrel and I always thought of him as Squirrel Nutkin the sassy Beatrix Potter squirrel who had his tail shortened by an owl. So, it gave me joy again to see another little Squirrel Nutkin. A little survivor squirrel who may have had a tangle with an owl or a hawk or a cat. I’m glad he’s still running around–maybe he’ll be off to play ninepins soon!

I love the squirrels and chipmunks in my backyard, even if they do dig up my potted plants to bury, or look for their previously buried, pecans. Today I planted some cilantro seeds in a pot, and I hope the abundance of silver maple seeds keep the squirrels busy so my plants can grow a little before they get ransacked.

It was a seed planting weekend.

Even though it was a little cold outside, plenty of people were over at the “home center” buying soil and being seduced by the abundance of flowers. Of course I too bought some things that were not on my list–a fuschia plant and some purple shamrocks. Everyone there seemed to be in a good mood. I always find happy people in the garden center at Home Depot.

This has also been pond maintenance time. A few weekends ago we pulled the net and vacuumed the pond, cleaned out the filters, and reset a new net. Last weekend we did some work on sludge in the stream bed, and during the week we added the springtime water clarifiers, etc. Now, the pine pollen is sifting down into the water, but it all looks pretty good and the PH is holding steady. Today we added baking soda to pull up the KH. I am hoping for a beautiful ponding summer.

Right now, there are three Yellow-Rumped Warblers enjoying a bath and pair of Blue Jays just stopped by. The resident Phoebe wants to visit, but the blue jays are kind of pushy, so he will have to wait. I love to watch the birds visit. They bathe or drink from the pond and alight in the red maple to preen or rest. I participate in the Cornell Lab Feeder Watch program. If you are interested in birds, you can check it out at feederwatch.org. You can record the number and type of birds you see at your bird feeder which helps scientists account for bird populations across the country. I find that it is very low-key bird watching which is just right for me.

I’ve still got some amaryllis blooming indoors. Such remarkable, dramatic flowers! Happy Spring!