Fresh Faces and the Evil Eye

With the end of April here, there are twenty-three bluebird chicks being fed and nourished by doting parents. Within the next week, ten of them probably will be out in the world learning the ways of chasing their own food. In addition there are forty-four eggs being incubated so the bluebird season is well on its way.

We have nests in seventeen of the thirty-three boxes. This is a slight increase over the number of nests last year at this time. Also, there are chickadee and titmouse nests in three of the boxes but we don’t include those in our data.

Unfortunately there is evidence of predators in the bluebird nests as some of the eggs have disappeared. The nests themselves don’t seem to be disturbed and we don’t find the eggs on the ground near the boxes so perhaps snakes are invading and eating them. Also, we are seeing the stick nests of house wrens in one box. The wren is persistent and we do remove them because, at this point, they are only the beginnings of nests and no eggs have been laid. If there are eggs or chicks in those nests, it is not lawful to remove them.

House sparrows have chosen one particular box for their use. They are a threat to the bluebird population so their nests are being removed also. House sparrows are not native birds and, therefore, not protected by law. They are messy birds and use lots of trash in their constructions. We’ve found materials such as cellophane, cigarette butts, and goose feathers. Like the house wrens, they will destroy bluebird eggs as well as chicks and sometimes prevent bluebird parents from entering the box.

As we peek into the nests, we are finding that the mother bird sometimes refuses to leave the box. We knock on the side of the box to make the bird fly out and when we open the panel to peek in, the bird is in there and just gives us the evil eye. When mama is glowering at us and refusing to budge, then we just tell her we’ll wait until next week to see what she’s hiding. Maybe her mood will be better then.

That’s the status of things along the bluebird trail here at the garden the last week of April.

Spring Cleaning in the Garden

Spring is here and now we are looking for those April showers that will bring May flowers and save us the trouble of watering our plants. There are a few clouds this afternoon, maybe we'll get lucky. If you have irrigation it is a good idea to test the system for leaks, adjust the heads so they are not watering the sidewalk, and check the run time so it does not allow runoff. Water conservation is everyone's responsibility.
Here at Daniel Stowe we are cleaning up, pruning back and enjoying the cool weather and colorful garden while we work. It is important to get ahead of those late winter/early spring weeds. Henbit and chickweed are the most common and pulling them before they have a chance to set seed will save time later. Prune spring flowering shrubs as soon as they are done blooming, this includes forsythia, spirea, quince, cherrylaurel and azaleas. Now that leaves are out we can remove any winter damaged branches and cut back the fig tree by one third. If you have naturalized daffodils it is important to leave the foliage alone (no knot tying) until it turns brown. These leaves are feeding next year's bulb. If they are trying to produce seed it is OK to trim off the very tip so energy is not wasted on seed production.
Finally, there is a fragrant flowering, silver leaved shrub in bloom in the woods right now that merits our attention. This is Russian-olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) also known as Silver Berry and Wild Olive. While it has long been cultivated in Europe and sometimes used along highways here (as is it's cousin Autumn Olive) we should be on our guard.It has invaded the piedmont woodlands and is as thick as privet in many locations. Make it's removal part of your spring cleaning in the garden this year.

The Come Sit A Spell Connection

Come Sit A Spell has been open at the Garden for over a month now with over 13,000 people visiting the Garden for this new exhibit! We started working on this project early 2009 and my involvement started in July 2009.

Come Sit A Spell: Views of the Southern Garden is an exhibit that reflects the importance and beauty of the southern front porch and how it has evolved over the years. We asked artists what inspired them about the front porch, what memories did it evoke, and to incorporate that into their piece.

The beginning stages of the exhibit came with a solicit to artists and for a sketch of their entry. As entries started coming in we were amazed at the creative pieces that we were seeing, and truly blown away for what the inspirations were for the artist pieces. One piece was inspired by memories of childhood and playing in tree-houses, another from playing with the Garden hose in summer, and one artist used the magic of nature that she enjoyed with her children and painted two Adirondack chairs with Day and Night Garden Fairies! It was such a pleasure to talk with the artists, schools and community groups about their pieces and their excitement to be involved with our new exhibit!

Working closely with the artists was such a wonderful experience...getting to know them, their inspiration, working with them throughout the entire process truly provided me with a connection to the exhibit that I was not expecting. I hope that you will feel the same connection when you visit the Garden to pieces for Come Sit A Spell!