Garden Bloggers Bloom Day March 2010

Welcome to Toad Haven Gardens on March 15. Some of yesterdays snow still covers the flower bed next to the front porch, on the north. Later there will be Daffodils, Creeping Phlox, and gorgeous Violets in this area.

Here are new green shoots from the Yarrow planted on the south side of the house last summer. Only dried flower heads are blossoming here.

This is in the same corner of the dooryard patio garden that I showed, looking so dead, in February, with the first Viola to bloom this spring. I love the Johnnie-Jump-Ups that seed themselves all over the garden. Some winters they manage to bloom through the season, but definitely not this year.

In between the March snows we are getting lovely, sunny days with up to low 60s temps so I will soon feel that it is safe to remove the dead stalks and dry leaves that I leave over the winter to protect the plants and for seed heads to feed the winter birds. My fingers are just itching to get out there and do the spring cleaning.

Indoors, the Orchid, that I recently posted photos of, is still in full bloom.

See what's blooming all over the world, today, at May Dreams Gardens.

All Orchid Buds Bloomed Out

Here is how the Orchid looks with all the blossoms open. It will be interesting to see how long they last this time.

New Winter Blooms

These Snow Blossoms were blooming all around the prairie border, at Toad Haven, this evening. I think they are really quite attractive. Brightened up the garden considerably.

Thrilled Over Early Christmas

I came home from WalMart yesterday and told Joe about a camera (Canon PowerShot SX120 IS) I had seen on sale and did he think I should get it since the 6 year old Canon Elph has about seen it's end of days. Only problem was, they didn't have any instock, but had some coming soon.

He came back from his trip to Pueblo this morning with a sack from Best Buy. In it was the same camera (10MB; 10 optical zoom), a 4 GB Flash Memory card, and a blue carrying case. He thought I needed it before we went to Denver and Boulder for family Thanksgiving. I am ecstatic! I've been out trying it and comparing it to my beloved little Elph. Beloved because it is so small I can carry it in my purse all the time and it is easy to use. This one is a bit bigger but will still fit in that huge purse and it has a huge screen compared to the other, not to mention tons of mega bytes and optical zoom!!!

I can get all the tiny details in flora and fauna, especially the birds. See examples above. A Downey Woodpecker was gracious to show up at the feeders just as I needed a model. The flower is a very late Gaillardia that I planted on the south side of the house this summer, and it still thinks it is summer, in spite of the 18 degree nights we've had recently. Look at the miniscule details.

The new camera photo was taken with the old Elph.

Do I have a very special husband? Count your blessings, Granny Fran.

Baby It's Cold Outside

It is good weather for a new sewing project. I am working on a project that I've never seen on any of the quilt blogs; a commode cozy for my mother's room in an assisted living home. She has a green comforter and sheer green curtain/blinds and loves roses, so when I found this fabric I knew it was perfect for her. I'm having to design my own pattern, since noone else has seemed to think of it. I got it sewn together except for the hem and took it to try out, and found that it was too large, so am in the process of reducing it (easier than reducing me) and will show a photo of the finished cozy on the commode. Kiddo is a "great help".

When we came home from dinner at DeRitos, last evening at 7:30 pm, the temperature was 28 degrees with freezing mist. This morning when I looked out the kitchen window I saw that most of the compound leaves of the Green Ash Tree had fallen off during the night.

The night before we broke the low temp record of 1905 by 8 degrees. This in the "Banana Belt of Colorado"! I'm used to long, warm, blue and gold Autumn days in October. I think I need to shop for some snuggly fleece clothing.

The Other Side of Autumn

The Toad Haven Garden after our first freeze last week. Just when the flowers were looking so glorious. At least I do have mature mini pumpkins for the kids' Halloween. Our killing freeze came early this year, so it will be a looonnnngggg winter. Maybe I'll have time to make quilts again.

I guess I will harvest the stalks and make a corn shock to go with the pumpkins for an Autumn decoration.

Autumn Splendor

Native Flora and Fauna on the Riverwalk. Someones attempt at humor, or a lost child's toy displayed for discovery?

Autumn splendor in a Riverwalk glade.

Autumn Elm in front of Canon City Library, across the street from the Art Center.

Chrysanthemums in sunshine and shadow.

Garden in front of the Fremont Center for the Arts in Canon City.

After a cold, gray morning the sun came out and turned the world into Autumn splendor. After I had my back treatment, and enjoyed the Studio Art Quilts Associates (SAQA) "Points of View" show at the Fremont Center for the Arts, I was able to take numerous photos in town and along the Arkansas Riverwalk.

Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take photos of the art quilts, but I did get the DVD so I can look at them over and over. I fell in love with a rough edge appliqued California Oak tree, but didn't feel like I could justify buying it for the the $2500 purchase price. [It was definitely worth it, but I didn't have enough quarters.] This was a very high quality show for our area, with art quilters from around the world displayed. The annual Royal Gorge Quilt Guild show will take place the second half of October. I will be able to get photos there.

California Wildfire Smoke

Would you believe that it is again in the 90s here, yesterday and today, and the sky is so hazy we cannot see the mountains clearly. The reason is smoke from the horrendous California wildfires. The Health Department has issued an alert for people with lung problems, which includes me. Do you realize that the smoke has had to cross over 2 huge mountain ranges, the Sierras and Rocky Mountains, to get here, 1000 miles away?!

But here is the blessing in a tragedy; a brilliant sunset last evening. My heart goes out to all those suffering from these fires. I wish they could have come out of the drought this year, like we did.

Hail, Hail, It All Fell Here!

This afternoon, as I was preparing to go out to pull bindweed and cut down elm seedlings the clouds got dark gray and threatening, wind began to blow, rain to fall, and hail began to clatter on the roof. I started watching it from the front door and then hurried to get my camera. It kept me running from frontdoor to backdoor, taking photos and videos, as the rain and hail got heavier and heavier. The noise was deafening. ChoCho sat up from his nap on my bed and looked with alarm toward the window. Oh no! My poor garden!





Please check these photos against those I just posted earlier today.

Scene from the sliding glass door of the sunporch.

My corn and pumpkin patch, taken 4 hours later; the hail still hasn't all melted.

Joe came in and told me that the raccoons wouldn't eat the corn this year.

These were going to grow baby pumpkins for the kids for Halloween.
The Black Eyed Susans survived the falling limb but not the hail.

This is almost more than a poor old Granny's heart can take; what's left of Evan's beautiful sunflower.

But, as I told Joe, it's not as if we had to make our living from these plants, like the farmers do. [As a kid I saw what hail did to farmers and that is why I refused to date the farm boys and end up watching each storm with fear that there would be no harvest that year. I didn't realize that you can take the girl off the farm, but you can't keep her from loving to dig in the dirt.] We can clean up the mess and enjoy what remains. Our cars and house survived because these were not the golf ball or baseball sized hail stones that have fallen recently in other parts of Colorado. This is part of the gamble that every tiller of the soil makes each year. Some years you win and some you lose, but the rewards to being a tiller of soil are worth the risk.

Temple Canyon

Grape Creek Canyon is between the first ridge and the rock formations in the rear.

Our daughter-in-law, Jennie, is back down here to study at the DOC Academy this week. After her classes, yesterday evening, we picked up chicken dinners at KFC and went to Canon City's Temple Canyon Park for a picnic.

Very old native Juniper (sometimes called cedar by the locals) with a small Pinon Pine and Pegmatite rocks.

Temple Canyon is in the foothills pinon/juniper forest a few miles southwest of the city, up a narrow winding gravel road that is in bad shape in places due to all the heavy rains we've had recently; but it is worth the bumping to get there. The Temple is a natural cave formation in the rock cliff of Grape Creek Canyon just before the creek joins the Arkansas River. In the old days a railroad ran up Grape Creek to Silvercliffe when the silver mines were active. Like most of the early railroads through mountain canyons here, it washed out in a flash flood and with the silver collapse there was no reason to rebuild it. When we were younger, Joe and I used to climb down the near side of the Canyon, wade across the creek, and climb back up the other side to get to the Temple. We did this several times with youngest son, Chris, when he was a kid. I can't even conceive of doing it 20 years later.

Local pegmatite rock with native flora, including a variety of blue/gray fringed sage (Artemisia Frigida).

The scenery here is gorgeous, with interesting native plants and flowers surrounded by mountains and canyons with wonderful rock formations. We originally discovered the Park, before we moved here, from a Colorado birding book. The evening sun and sunset made it even more beautiful, but we couldn't see much of the scenery driving, in the dark, out the back way, which connects to the back road to the Royal Gorge, which is another City owned park further west.

Continuing Tree Saga

Poor Echinecea, just at the height of their bloom. I hope they survive the trauma.

Here is a video of Joe and Evan removing the broken half of the tree.

Back to normal with half the Russian Olive missing.

Why we still need to prune the tree. Rather grotesque, don't you think? It will be a nice small tree again when we get rid of that tall, lopsided limb.

Here is what the border looks like now with the broken limb removed. The plants are mostly standing back up but don't look as good as before. At least when we had a bit of hail one day it did not do much damage to what was left. Notice the drunken looking sunflower in the center. ChoCho still seems to admire it.

Happy Birthday to Me

I tried to post this on July 31, but Blogger had a mind of it's own and wouldn't let me arrange the photos where I wanted them, so I am posting late. ( Edited to say: I see that since it was saved as a draft on the 31st, it is dated then, although it wasn't published until August 1.)

July 31 was my 71st birthday. I was happily surprised by the arrival, about noon, of my daughter Kat, Greg and Evan, to help me celebrate this weekend. Evan, age 7, entertained me by blowing up a balloon and letting it go to fly all around. He would also blow it up and then hold the end tightly to let the air squeal out while he giggled and wiggled.

Kat, Evan and I picniced at Centennial Park on the Arkansas River in Canon City, where Evan fed the pond ducks and threw rocks into the river until the wind started blowing so hard everyone rushed to our cars and left the park. We had planned on picking up my Mom from her assisted living home to go celebrate with ice cream, but it was blowing so hard we were concerned about taking my tiny, fragile Mom out in it, so we went to a drive thru and took the ice cream treats to her in her studio apartment. She told us about what happened on the day I was born and other old memories. When we arrived we noticed that one of the patio tables behind the home was broken.

When we got back to my house we started to drive into the driveway and were shocked to see that the far side of the carport was filled with half of the big Russian Olive tree from the front yard. We had noticed quite a few small limbs and branches that had blown off of trees, on our drive, but had no idea of what was waiting for us at home.

When we moved here 6 years ago this had been a very small tree laying on the ground in the front yard with the root ball half out of the ground. When we began to remove it, a neighbor told us that a dust devil had blown it down the previous summer, but it had continued to stay alive with green leaves. We waited until Spring and it began to leaf out, so Joe pulled it upright and staked it so it would stay in that position until the roots that had pulled out of the ground took hold again. It so enjoyed being watered and fed and generally loved by us and the birds that it grew fast and furiously. Last summer Joe was able to take off the wires and stakes.

It had gotten so tall that I wanted to get it pruned back and keep it a smaller tree. Earlier this summer the tree trimmers who trim trees that grow into the power and phone lines came by and trimmed the half of the tree that impacted the lines. This left it quite lopsided and we then realized that we needed to get the other half of the tree pruned by professionals when the season was right. Todays wind took care of half of the remaining tall limbs so now will have fewer limbs to be pruned. I just hope that there is enough there to make an attractive shape.

I know that many people consider Russian Olives to be noxious weed trees because they have begun to naturalize along our creeks and rivers, but they are an attractive tree with their silvery green leaves and the sweet smelling spring flowers (which I am happy to say, I am not allergic to) and the birds love this tree. Since I have planned this garden to be attractive to the birds and critters, that makes the decision for me.

I wasn't able to post the following before because of a vexsome virus that infected our computer, in spite of Norton. Our computer guru, son Greg, has managed to take care of it for us:

The late summer monsoons have given us some amazing weather; this past week we have had three late afternoon severe thunderstorms with heavy rains, flash flooding, winds, and damaging hail in the area, in addition to lesser thunderstorms the other afternoons.

Our daughter-in-law, Jennie, who is a librarian has just accepted a position with the state prison at Limon, which is close to Byers, and has been attending the Department of Corrections (DOC) Academy in Canon City, so we have been showing her the area during her time off. Last Sunday afternoon we took her to the most well known attraction in the area, the Royal Gorge, with it's "world's highest suspension bridge" over the 1000 foot deep gorge, and many other attractions.

When we were halfway across the bridge (it is a long bridge), walking, a high wind and thunderstorm hit us from the west. We were soon soaked to the skin but pushed on valiantly to the south rim, where we and many others took refuge in a t-shirt shop until the rain passed over. I had heard that when the wind came down the canyon the bridge undulated, but had never seen it. Believe me, it undulates.

With my weak legs, I had taken my mother's old walker with a seat and basket (it was way too high for Mom so we got her one fitted to her small size), because I didn't feel that I could manage that much walking otherwise. It worked well with my oxygen in the basket, and the seat when I became fatigued. I was pleasantly surprised that I managed the whole escapade much better than I had feared. Joe does all the refrigeration for the eating places at the Gorge so he knows the maintenance and facility supervisors, and one of them wanted to get me a ride back across the bridge with a Park Ranger, but I wanted to continue walking.

On the way back across the bridge we heard the sound of rushing water and looking over the east side of the bridge we saw a large gully running full of runoff water from the entire south rim. It was full of mud and rocks and bright red, since that is the color of the earth here. It rushed down the whole 1000 foot cliff, bouncing from crag to crag until it fell in a huge waterfall into the river at the bottom. We then saw one of the rafts coming down the river from the west. When they saw the waterfall, they stopped and the guides checked it out and then they went ahead and paddled on down the narrow area where the water was running into the river. With a lot of skill and know how they got thru just fine and continued on toward Canon City where they would disembark, probably at Centennial Park.

We were so wet and cold and could have grumbled that the storm had ruined our outing at the Gorge. Instead we were exhilerated and glad that we had a chance to experience something that most people don't get to see. I managed to get a short video clip of the rushing water with my Canon Elph camera. I hope this works, I've never posted a video before.

Fledgling Day School

On the 14th I blogged about the Western Kingbird fledgling in our yard. The next day it was joined by 2 siblings perching on the line and squawking loudly. The 3 were huddled together for comfort in the big frightening world outside the nest. Mom and Dad flew back and forth calling to them and feeding them and attempting to get them to make short hops from one part of the line to another.

By the next day the parents would bring bugs and sit a short distance from them in the Russian Olive tree and tempt them to come get the bug. First one and then another would bravely fly the short distance to be rewarded with a yummy bug. Those parent birds are wise and patient in their training of the young ones; it has been a joy to watch. I wonder how long it takes till they become independent. I intend to keep watching as long as they hang around Toad Haven.

I did manage to get this photo of the 3 youngsters on the line; I could never get in position to photograph the fledglings with the parents since they didn't hang around very long. It takes constant flying trips to catch enough of those bugs out of the air.

Garden Mysteries

When a backyard birdwatcher sees this on the patio what does it tell her?

That the brilliant Bullock's Oriole has been drinking at the Hummingbird feeder again. Since his bill is so much bigger than the Hummingbirds bill, he pulls off the little yellow mesh pieces from the feeder and drops them on the ground. As of this evening only 2 remain on the feeder and I haven't been able to find the other 2. In past years he just dumped them beneath the feeder but this year I found one way out in the middle of the back driveway and the other on the sidewalk in front of the back sliding door. Maybe he has figured out that if he doesn't take them far away, I will just pick them up, clean them, and reinstall them in the feeder. Mrs. Oriole also eats at the feeder, but I haven't seen her as often this year. When the young birds fledge she brings them to the hummingbird feeder also.

So far, Mr. Oriole has refused to pose for me, I hear him and hurry to see him on the feeder, but all I get to see is the feeder swinging back and forth. When I do see him, he is too far for me to get a good photo, so I borrowed this one from the website for Birds of Washington State. Photo by Jerry Rome.

According to an article in the Pueblo paper earlier this week, we are having a much larger migration of Ladybugs in the area than usual, probably because the weather has allowed for more aphids (Ladybugs' favorite food) than usual. I knew I had seen quite a few in garden, but was really amazed when I sat down beneath the blooming Catalpa tree and looked up at the under side of the large leaves. There were red Ladybugs everywhere. I've never seen that many in one place before. The red really popped against the green leaves. So, of course, I had to run (walk really, I am not able to run any more) to the house for my camera.

Now my mystery is: In the past I have used a product, recommended by my nursery, that is watered into the ground under the trees and shrubs infested with aphids, it goes up into the sap and kills the aphids when they suck the sap. If I use this now will it also kill the Ladybugs when they eat the aphids? I know that insecticidal soap will kill the Ladybugs as well as the Aphids. I only want to get rid of the aphids, not the Ladybugs.

Years ago, before I realized that this tree was so attractive to aphids, they caused the leaves to shrivel up and turn yellow and fall off, which was a real mess, not to mention all the sticky stuff they exude dripping, and the ants crawling all over the tree (the ants "farm" the aphids so they can eat the sweet sticky stuff.)

If anyone knows how I can get rid of the aphids without killing the beneficial insects, I would love to hear from you.

Peony Fields Forever

Here is one of my favorite local sites at this time of the year. This gentleman grows the Peonies to sell to people to decorate graves on Memorial Day. It is one of the few flower fields left in the area. Before WWII there were many kinds of flowers, as well as vegetable, fruits and apple orchards in the area. It started in the 1860s with the pioneers growing food for the miners in the mountains. A dear departed friend of mine told me of working in the flower fields in the Lincoln Park area of Canon City. I was amazed when he told me that they were packed in crates and sent in refrigerated railroad cars to Chicago.

When I was growing up in the Rocky Ford area, further east along the Arkansas River, there were many fields of Zinnias being grown for a local seed company. Some fields were all one color and others were in a mix of colors. I'm not sure if the seed company is still in business and farmers still growing zinnias down there. Maybe I should do a research field trip later this summer to find out.

That area is losing a lot of farms due to the irrigation water rights being sold to big cities like Colorado Springs and Aurora. It doesn't look like the same place when I drive along the old, once familiar roads, and find the former fields going back to prairie grass and the farm houses that we and our family and friends lived in are no longer there. This is one of the reasons that I am a missionary for native, low water landscaping. I resent farms being dried up so that people can have their large, water slurping blue grass lawns, that have no business growing in a desert. I love my native Blue Gramma Grass lawn, my mini prairie. It takes one fourth of the water and only needs to be mowed a few times each summer. Why don't people understand that an attractive landscape that needs less work and less water is the way to go?!!

June is Busting Out All Over!

I always sing that old song in my mind on June 1. All my life I've been a singer and sang as I did my daily tasks. Unfortunately, since being on oxygen for a few years, I am no longer able to sing, just croak. It is very disappointing, but I do keep my surround sound radio on all day, tuned to listener funded classical station KCME from Colorado Springs, and can sing along in my heart. Sometimes I just have to croak out loud from the joy of the music.

It appears that we are moving away from years of drought to a more normal climate (I hope, I hope, I hope!) for this area. I did hear that La Nina has disappeared and that could be the reason. We had about a week of upslope moisture, that we normally would have had in March; and now we are having sunny, warm mornings, and then clouds and afternoon thunderstorms. That was the weather pattern when we moved here 22 years ago, then around 2001 we started into the extreme drought pattern that has left us with hot, dry, windy weather and caused water shortages and wildfires. I am celebrating the return to the rainier weather, even though that only gives us between 12 to 14 inches of moisture in a year. It sure beats 5 to 7.

Today, between the late afternoon sprinkles and black clouds and the late night rain, I managed to transplant various types of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and marigolds into a couple of the raised vegetable garden beds. I was finishing up at 9 o'clock when it was almost completely dark. When the rain started late tonight I was so happy that I got them in when I did. I noticed that there was some new snow up on the bald top of Greenhorn Mountain, but there really doesn't seem to be any danger of freezing nights any longer. It was too dark to take any photos, but some will be forthcoming.

The second Peony plant, with lots of buds, has bloomed out in a darker rose color than the pink plant with only one flower. I am so happy that after all these years of pampering they finally bloomed. As I drove to and from Canon City today, I noticed huge, old clumps of Peonies blooming in so many yards; mostly pink and white doubles, but there were a few single blossom plants as well. The reds bloomed about 2 weeks ago and have already shattered.

Spring Bliss

At the first of the week we had three 90+ degree days with hot, dry sun and wind. Yesterday it cooled a bit to the 80s which was still a bit hot for this time of the year. However, the lady from Sun City, Arizona, who was ahead of me in the Subway line, thought it was cool compared to what she was used to. A pleasant cold front came in during the night with up slope moisture and it was only up to 60 degrees with quite a bit of rain this morning and later in the afternoon. After running like the dickens keeping the hoses running on the drying greenery in my yard, it was a relief to see the plants drinking up the natural showers. Thank goodness, the weatherman expects seasonal temperatures for the weekend and next week.


Here is what the Toad Haven Herb Garden looked like after the morning rain. Not much blooming yet, but look at all those lovely shades of green. And it smells heavenly!




When we moved here six years ago, the landscaping had not been watered or weeded for several years. I found a couple of stunted Peony plants near the back door growing in dirt the texture of concrete. I transplanted them to the front sides of the garden shed and have babied them with water and fertilizer. The plants grew bigger but never a bloom appeared. I had no idea what color they would be if or when they did bloom. This year one plant had one bud and the other had multiple buds so I've been holding my breath and crossing my fingers. This morning I was rewarded with a pink blossom from the single bud. It was worth the wait and I look forward to seeing the other buds blossoming soon.


I love Peonies, and every May Joe delivers a large bouquet of red peonies to me from an older gentleman in Canon City who grows them to sell for Memorial Day. He has a huge field of them wrapped around his Victorian bungalow, and Joe works on his flower cooler when he starts it up each spring. My Dad had wonderful red Peony plants at the house in Fowler and this August I am going to dig one up to transplant into my garden.


My quilt muse has been pretty much absent since my health challenges last Summer. It has taken me so long to regain enough strength and energy to do just the absolutely necessary housekeeping tasks and shopping, as well as looking after Mom's affairs. I am able to do a bit more gardening now and am getting it in shape with the assistance of yardman Carl. I don't know if I can manage to garden and make quilts at the same time, but I have finally been gifted with a concept for what I want to do quiltwise, and am beginning to dream and sketch some ideas that I can work on next winter, when the garden is hibernating. I am so excited about the history of this area where we live, and want to do a series of quilts about Fremont County, beginning with the Dinosaurs and working up to the present. I don't know what size they will be, yet, but they will be small enough to make it possible for me to manage them with my sewing machine, and yet, large enough to present the subject matter well. I don't enjoy working large.



I plan to encorporate my photographs of the County into the quilts. This concept has been working in my mind for several months and is finally beginning to develop. It's strange that the history series idea just took shape suddenly yesterday, and I immediately thought, "Aha, that is exactly what I can get my teeth into," and the creative energy began to flow. It is good to feel excited about a quilt idea again. Now to take my new camera off the shelf and start learning how to use it.