Saturday Gardening and Puttering Thread, August 15, 2020 [KT]

Man, it is hot here in Central California! Fortunately, we have some photos from Jerry in Alaska! And from other members of The Horde. I love the photo above. Love the ones below, too.

Hope this finds you getting your hands dirty in the garden sans mask. Attached are a few early season pics. We are having an unusual season in Anchorage. Things are blooming out of order and then a few of our plants have taken serious nutrient supplements like our 9 foot Delphinium!

Wow! Here's that Delphinium with more of those Maltese Cross blossoms. You don't think of Maltese Cross as blooming in Alaska. At least I don't.

Here's a close-up of the delphinium:

Love thinking about this White Lilac right now:

This looks like an Alaska-type flower to me. Shooting Star. From June!

And here's some garden wisdom from Jerry. We have a few more pics from him for later. If he can garden in Alaska . . .

Critters

From MarkY:

lliniwek, and others, have great pics of critters, so I thought I'd send some. Quality isn't there, but the sentiment is. From this spring, a fawn in clover. Note the size of the clover... fawn is probably just a day or two old.

That really is clover!

Twins with Mom and yearling. Out the office window this week.

Turkey hen with poults. Last week. Every week she's short another poult. Tough neighborhood.

This was the best pic I had of this monster til I bagged him. A true bruiser. Heaviest deer I ever got.

That rack looks little on him. He grossed a bit over 175". He never showed through the summer. Came up from the River in the rut.

Again, tough neighborhood.

Impressive. Thanks, MarkY!

From the Nevada Department of Wildlife, a creature found in some back yards.

Today we feature the burrowing owl. If you happened across this small bird, your first thought may be that you found a baby owl. Averaging between 8 and 11 inches in height, the burrowing owl weighs under 10 ounces at maturity and is one of the smallest owls in North America. You are most likely to see a burrowing owl perched low on fences, tree limbs, or even on the ground. When on the ground they are often mistaken as injured, when in fact it is very normal behavior.

Fun Burrowing owl facts:

-Some burrowing owls live in Northern Nevada during the spring and summer and migrate south for the winter, while others reside in southern Nevada year-round.

- Unlike most owls that are nocturnal, the burrowing owl is active during the day and at night.

-As hinted to by their name, these owls nest in underground burrows instead of up high in trees or other elevated locations. - Rather than building their own burrow, they will move into an abandoned burrow made by other species like ground squirrels, badgers or gophers.

-A female owl will lay a clutch of eggs in the burrow and incubate them for one about month. Meanwhile, the male owl stands guard outside and brings her food.

Loss of important habitat due to urbanization, wildfires, and drought is a growing concern for these burrowing birds. Conservation strategies, such as constructing manmade burrows, are a priority in Nevada and many other states.

More on this species from the Nevada Department of Wildlife

Gardens of The Horde

Ponds and Mosquitoes, Local Report

I'm not sure we fully answered the inquiry we got about installing a pond. Any tips on installation, maintenance or mosquito control?

Here in Central California, our little freestone Pluot is becoming sweeter three or four weeks after we thought it was ripe. Tastes somewhat apricot-y.

The front yard toad is grateful for one of the garden kitties' water bowls. Watering bowls are the closest thing we have to a pond. May be a good thing. Seeing dead birds by the highways. Pigeon size and larger. Could be West Nile Virus. Reports of day-flying mosquitoes in the area. So, we are being extra vigilant about cleaning water bowls.

It is VERY hot and predicted to get hotter. Sort of humid, too.

Ohio Report

Greetings from Central Ohio!

We (Bozo Conservative and I) moved into our house last fall, and weren't sure what was planted. This summer, the garden below the kitchen window appeared with a host of beautiful flowers. The pictures are two of the ones that are in bloom now.

Shibumi

Nice surprises! Do you know what the are?

As for the mushroom, those have appeared in our somewhat wet back yard. What are they? I don't know. Mushrooms of death? Mushrooms that taste like chicken? Something else? Inquiring minds what to know.

If you would like to send information and/or photos for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden
at that g mail dot com place

Include your nic unless you want to remain a lurker.

posted by Open Blogger at 12:58 PM

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