This and That

We've been enjoying some nice weather the last couple of weeks.  I am finding myself too tired to do a lot in the evenings, but have delighted in sitting out front in our new planting area.  All of the other beds are full of plants with very narrow paths.  One has to be outside of them to see them, but in the front, we can go into the garden to sit.  I love it!

I have been seeing at least 2 different hummingbirds on the blooms, but can't go in to get my camera, because they will be scared away.  When I do have my camera, they either don't come, or else they are too flighty for me to get a photo that isn't a blur.  I did get a VERY short video that I put on Facebook awhile back.  This is the first season that I've seen hummingbirds more than once or twice.  I love it!  We don't put feeders out because we are afraid we won't keep up with cleaning them.  I do intentionally plant black and blue salvia and agastaches for them.  I've also seen them on kiss me over the garden gate, Mexican sunflower, red salvias, and gomphrena.

I was planning on cutting back the first teddy bear sunflower head today to prevent the squirrels from helping themselves to it, but first, I spread some compost on an area of the vegetable garden, and divided some irises.  Then, I did other things and didn't get to it. 

The sunflower looked like it may need some support, so I put the yard art deal closer to it to let it lean.  I hadn't decided if I was going to tie it to the support yet.

This is the top flower, the first to bloom.  This is the one I was planning on cutting off.

Later in the day, I opened the front door, and this is what I saw.  I grabbed my camera, and took one quick photo before yelling and running toward the varmint.

This was not focussed, but I included it to show the running of the squirrel with the big bloom in its mouth. Stop, thief!  I was hoping it would drop it so I could snatch it up.

It stopped for a brief moment in the neighbor's yard, but I continued my chase.

Once it made it to the tree, I knew my chances of getting the flower back were gone.  I just didn't want it to be able to eat it.

"Are you still down there?"

"Na, na, na, na na!"

After the squirrel went up higher in the tree, it started throwing down pieces of the white part of the flower, adding insult to my injury.  I gave up, and went back to assess the damage.  This is the reason I gave up growing the regular kinds of sunflowers, because the squirrels take off the blooms before the seeds are mature, and scatter the flowers around the neighborhood.  The plants end up torn up or knocked down in the process.  I wonder what would happen if I sprayed these blooms with a pepper type spray made to repel critters.

And now, for the "that".  I have some whorled milkweed in a flowerbed at church.  I didn't know if I could transplant it, but decided to try.  One of them is doing well, something ate the other one, except for the stem.  I wonder what that could have been.  Surely rabbits don't eat milkweeds.

I saw these shadows of some plants, and  thought they were pretty enough to have their picture taken.

This has been a bad summer for the vegetable garden, except for the spring salad season.  Even though I had a fence to keep the rabbits out, my bush beans got eaten by insects, and I didn't get more than a small handful of beans.  The pole beans surprised me, though, by having a number of huge beans.  Oops!  I like them small and tender, but I intentionally overcooked them, and they were pretty tasty just plain, with some spray margarine and a little pepper.  These that I picked today, are still large, but I broke most of them up small, and made some vegetable soup with them, and some onions, garlic, carrots, celery, corn off 3 cobs, and frozen chopped spinach.  I use a vegetable base from a jar you keep in the refrigerator when I make soup.  It was pretty good.

I found these onions when I cleaned out the area to apply compost to.  I thought I had picked all of them.  Usually, I get a crop of nice sized onions, but they were small this year, and a lot of them bolted.  I did get some chopped and frozen, though.

I am seeing butterflies every day now.  It is good for me to just experience them, and not have to take pictures every time.  This is either a painted lady or American painted lady.  I forgot which.  Liatris is another favorite of mine and the butterflies.

I felt the wind from a monarch flying by me the other day.  That was so cool!  I like the legs, proboscis, and antennae in this photo.  I hope the Mexican sunflower continues to bloom well into the fall so the monarchs traveling through can enjoy it.  Still, I see the monarchs on many other blooms as well.  I am seeing 4 or 5 at a time when I go out.  There are also swallowtails, sulphurs, different kinds of skippers, and such.

Here is one of the reblooming irises.  Someone identified it for me awhile back, but I'm not remembering what it is.

I've been watching much of the 9/11 coverage this weekend. I have felt compelled to listen to the experiences of those whose lives were changed more directly than mine, and to learn more about some things that happened that I didn't know the details of.  It was amazing how so many people used their boats to get people off of Manhattan.  My thoughts and prayers are with all affected, and our country.