Daylily

My wife really likes daylilies, and we have quite a few planted in the front. The thing is, they spread somewhat easily, and now we have a daylily jungle!

Daylilies are beautiful, but sad in that each flower blooms for one day, then fades. Every day brings a different garden, because every bloom from yesterday is gone.

Not much aroma for such a large flower. I can only guess that my nose hasn't got the proper range to smell the fragrance, because bees, moths and beetles all seem to find these flowers without any trouble.

Robins almost ready

Some birds have learnt to coexist with people, and robins seem to be one of those species. This is a light sconce at work, under a metal awning. It's reasonably sheltered from sun, wind and rain, and the robins have decided that this is a good place to raise some babies.

I've seen 3 chicks in the nest, although only 2 are visible here. The babies are very quiet when people walk by, but they chirp up a storm when mum or dad shows up with a beak full of bugs! These chicks have most of their feathers - I suspect they'll be out on their own within the week.

Ladybug nymph

Insects are amazing creatures. Their adult appearance is often nothing like their adolescent appearance, and the ladybug is one of those insects where the nymph is dramatically different from the adult.

This is a close-up of a nymph on one of my plants in the window box. She Who Must Be Obeyed knew what it was straightaway. Comes from hanging out with 6 year-olds, I guess! As near as I can tell from searching the Internet, these nymphs do not eat plants - they eat insects who eat plants. This one is walking down - head to the right side of the frame.

Skywatch Friday

It's Skywatch Friday; the day of the week when participants post photos of the sky where they live. This wasn't taken today, but it's only a few days old. Taken between rain showers, I was particularly struck by the little sparrow. Don't know why, exactly. It's just an amazing thing to see these little birds day after day, blazing sun, pouring rain or driving snow.

Visit the Skywatch Friday web page to see what the sky is like elsewhere!

Easter Lily

No, this isn't an old post escaping from a time vortex. And yes, this really is an Easter Lily. I have a personal weakness regarding plants. I can't throw them out. When we receive an Easter Lily, I keep watering it until it's safe to plant outside. And so now we have a collection of Easter Lilies in the front yard.

When allowed to bloom on their own schedule, they start in the middle of June hereabouts, and last for perhaps two weeks. This bloom is one of the last on the plant for this year. They smell so wonderful just outside the window!

Baby tomato

This year, we took (rented?) a plot at the Community Garden near our house. Community gardens are a project to put unused lots to work. Each gardener pays a small fee for a plot, and gets to cultivate it as they see fit.

We've already been harvesting lettuce - a nice treat. This is a future harvest - a baby tomato. We have quite a variety there: leeks, chives, squash, zucchini, lettuce, celery, kale, beans and flowers to attract pollinators.

Hydrant flushing

Once or perhaps twice a year, the city comes round and opens the valves on the fire hydrants, to flush out any accumulated minerals in the pipes and to make sure they operate properly. Spring cleaning, if you will.

Our water system is very old, and our water contains a lot of dissolved minerals; manganese, I'm told, is predominant and accounts for the reddish colour that can be seen in the standing water at the base of the hydrant.

When the city is flushing hydrants, don't wash your clothes, or they'll get that slightly red tinge, too. Necessitating another round of spring cleaning! By the way, our city water supply is artesian, very pure and quite tasty compared to some municipal water I've tasted.