I’m feeling a blog funk, I have to say. Actually, I think it is covid funk and wishing there was a way to resolve all of this without any more fatalities. Wishful thinking, I know. It’s just so wearing on the soul. I keep wanting to post more, but motivation to do so is lacking. I even missed Flower Friday here. But, I will make up for that now.
We have tulips in full swing out front.
I didn’t realize I bought so many red tulips last fall. They are striking, though. There are some more orange ones as well, but they kind of blend into the red.
A few different colored ones:
A pink holdover from who knows when:
You just never really know what ones will come back. This patch of red ones has been going on probably 5 years now and hasn’t slowed down:
Others only last a season. It’s always a surprise!
Lily of the valley are starting to make their appearance:
Tons more of this one to bloom. I just love the fragrance.
After 5 years, I finally did something with our big brush pile from renovating the back beds when we moved in. We cut down a lot of the brush into big piles to burn in our fire pit and the rest was moved off to the side of the house awaiting collection. Normally our city comes around and picks up brush each spring, but because of covid, they suspended it for now since multiple people have to work too close together while picking it up. Not sure if they are going to start it up in June or forget it this year. They do take the leaf bags, though, since only one person goes around in a truck.
In the place of the brush pile is a compost bin. I had an open pile the last couple of years, but really wanted to hide it. I purchased a Geobin to set up. It’s only $35 with shipping. Of course, the locking keys weren’t sent with it to set it up, but the company was very fast to ship those missing pieces out to me.
Very easy to set up. This sits next to the shed. It’s probably 3 x 3 feet? Maybe 3.5 feet tall. It’s actually pretty full since I moved the active compost pile into it. My finished pile was great and I used most of that to sprinkle into our front lawn area where we are reseeding. I might get another one. The plan is to buy some fencing sections and kind of close this off from view since it is near our patio, but we are limiting trips to the hardware store as much as possible right now. It looks much better than the brush pile đ
The birdies have been super active lately. Getting ready for making spring babies! The white-throated sparrow has been migrating through. I love their song.
That one is on the left. Chipping sparrow on the right.
Our cardinals:
I don’t know how long cardinals live, but at least one pair has been here for several years and bringing their babies to our feeders. yay!
Hope you are all staying smart and staying safe!
I look forward to your gardening posts hugely. Thank you.
My youngest bought me a compost membership for Christmas/birthday/Motherâs Day this year. Unmanned station system where you drop off full bins and pick up clean/empty. Really great.
Our garbage collection now restricts to what is in the bin. No leaf bags so man does not have to get out of truck or be in contact with anything.
I do envy you your tulips (squirrels here eat them immediately, they must taste really good).
My lily of the valley is blooming too. I planted about 8, 18 years ago, and now have hundreds all in Middle of one bed.
My jonquils are blooming weeks apart depending on section of the yard and sun. I am dividing them this year. Last time was 18 years ago. Replanting most. Supplying starts to 6 families.
I Divided/planted 100 (more) daffodils last week. They were from my momâs. I supplied Five families with daffodils starts too, that was another 100 bulbs. All those bulbs were in a tiny spot at her house, 18âx2.5â.
I divided hundreds and hundreds of grape hyacinths last year. I planted all over many beds. This year – Some bloomed. Some did not. We think it is the tiny ones what did not. Will be interesting to see if they do next year.
Lily of the valley do spread a lot! We have already removed a lot because it loves the spot it’s in and just gets invasive, even into the lawn. I am jealous of the compost membership! That sounds cool. Do you actually get compost back?
Yes we get compost back, not sure when or how much yet. I am someone who is a dedicated recycle person. So I am doing it more from that viewpoint. And I have a neighbor/large family contributing to my bucket. So that makes it nicer, we exchange Bucket steadily once a week. Otherwise it would be way too easy to put it off. Neighborâs kids are very into my compost bucket, so that makes it fun.
I love seeing those birds. Out here, they say the tulips won’t re-bloom because its too warm. So usually I just pull them up and throw them out. Your red tulips are so beautiful!!!
Your flowers are so vibrant! How fun to see what tulips decide to reappear each year. We pulled our very old day lilies last year because they were pretty much at the end of their life and this year a couple have come up, looking better than ever. Maybe only the hearty survive? Or maybe they saw what was happening to the others and burrowed down low, hiding out until spring, LOL.
Day lilies will spring baby bulbs or runners on them, which is pretty much a new plant, so if you remove the “mother”, they will come to life. My old fashioned ones spread quite a bit this way and often thin them out. Same with irises – they seem to like the rough treatment LOL
HOw wonderful Lori you caught the male cardinal feeding the female cardinal a seed… i think thats so romantic.. I never noticed them doing that before until i read it in a magazine then paid attention and darn if they don’t do that.. lol Beautiful tulips Lori…. deer LOVE tulips… so i have daffodils..lol Stay safe! Hugs! deb
Isn’t that so cute? They feed each other a lot, but usually the male brings the seed to the female in the tree. It was fun seeing them do it right at the feeder.
Love that picture! And it sort of looks like he has his “hands” behind his back, like a “Look-Ma-No-Hands” feeding situation.
I’m impressed with how you know your sparrows. I just know that I have to occasionally chase off a House Sparrow from my bluebird box. Supposedly those are the only ones who will try to use a nesting box. I went to a compost workshop sponsored by my city and then they give you a GeoBin that looks similar to what you have. I got a bit overwhelmed and wasn’t sure if I’d have the right portions of brown and green and if I would have enough sunlight. The lady told us that most of us would have a “slow burn”. I always tend to get paralysis by analysis and the bin is still in the box – oops. I hope you’ll keep blogging, I enjoy your home renovations and gardening and biking.
I am a lazy composter. I don’t worry about ratios. I just pile stuff in through the season. I keep two piles, one I currently add to and one that I considered finished and “cooking”. It is slow burn. The finished pile is what I distribute in the garden in the fall or the following spring. It seems to work okay for me. I put in our kitchen things, mostly coffee grounds and fruit waste. Then grass clippings and lots of dried leaves. I will also put in compostable takeout containers when we get them.
If you want to talk to someone who knows birds, that would be my sister. She can identify birds by their song and pretty much their silhouettes. I have a bird book that I will look up stuff I don’t know – or send a pic to my sister and she will tell me LOL!