August Survivers

Wow, it's been a hot and dry summer here and I'm wishing we had an air conditioner like normal people, ha ha. At least the birds have grown accustomed to my new birdbath with all this heat. I'm growing two new varieties of tomatoes this year in a large 6 foot long container placed underneath my patio. This has been a good place for growing tomatoes, since they get a lot of sun and yet stay out of the rain to prevent blight. My grape tomato is growing like a weed, and has started to produce yummy grape-shaped tomatoes and there are dozens and dozens yet to come. I also have some Manitoba tomatoes, and while these have produced my earliest ever ripe tomatoes, each and every one of them so far has had blossom end rot. I am trying to give them all the water they need, but it has been a struggle. The heat has been relentless and it seems this variety needs more water than most. My grape tomato is growing right along side them, looking happy as can be while these sometimes look a little thirsty. I have a new Dahlia this year, and I can't stop taking photos of it. The first photo is one of the earliest blooms and it's interesting how the colour has changed with the weather. I'm also growing castor plants for the first time. It is about 5 feet high now and is producing strange looking seed pods and flowers. I love the tropical look of this plant with the  big giant leaves, but this plant is highly toxic, so be forewarned. The uses for this fascinating plant have ranged from medical, to high-performance motor oil, and all the way to chemical warfare.  

Dahlia Fantasy

Dahlia Fantasy, a later bloom

Dahlia Fantasy Bud

Dahlia Crazy Love

Hydrangea Nikko Blue

Morning Glory Early Call Mixed

Poppy

Sunflower

Larkspur and a poppy

Castor Plant

Giant Castor Leaf

Seed Pods

Manitoba tomatoes and Grape tomato on the right

Steller's Jay at my bird bath

Merry Christmas!

      I hope you are enjoying the Christmas season in spite of the busyness and potential stress. I finally finished my Christmas shopping today! It seems like the people in my life get more difficult to shop for as the years go by. Then there are those family members who say they don't want anything at all. I wonder, does every family have one of those? There isn't much happening outdoors flower-wise, but I do have one flower photo to share that I took in November.  We didn't torture our cat with Christmas photos this year (yet) so I'm sharing an old one. Merry Christmas!

Choisya 

Tiger

Winter Birds

There's not much happening in my January garden outdoors, so I've been taking a few photos of the birds that have been visiting my patio feeders. Most of these have been taken through my dining room window and doors and let me tell you, it is a real challenge to keep the glass clean and lint free, not to mention all the reflections. The first photo is one of my favorite birds, the black capped chickadee, always difficult to photograph because they're always on the go. They live here year round and sometimes I'm blessed to have them raise their family right in my backyard.

Next up is the most common BC bird-feeder visitor, the Junco. These birds like to eat seeds from the ground, helping to clean up the mess other birds leave behind.

Black Capped Chickadee

Junco

Pine Siskin

Sometimes I get large flocks of these little finches called Pine Siskins, and boy can they empty a feeder fast! One day I counted 30 on my patio.

Another one of my favorites are the Anna's hummingbirds that live here year round. I don't see much of them in the summer, but two little females come by regularly in the winter, about every 15 minutes or so. They don't like to share, and chase each other off whenever they both show up at the same time. One day last week I was blessed to have a male come by. I grabbed my camera real quick and took a photo even though I was several feet away from the window. It's also interesting to see how different their feathers look in the sun compared to in the shade.

Anna's Hummingbird

In the Sun

The Male Anna's Hummingbird

House Finch male

Here is a male house finch at the sunflower feeder. They sing a lovely song in the spring.

Below is a small flock of bushtits hanging from my suet feeder. Feeding upside down is no problem for these little acrobats.  The females have yellow eyes. 

Bushtits

Stellers Jay

The pretty blue Steller's Jays still come around to collect their peanuts.

Herbs & Veggies

We had our usual August heat wave, and while my tomato plants and morning glory loved the hot weather, I am rather glad we are back to warm and sunny.  My cucumbers are finally starting to produce, but I am still awaiting the first ripe tomato. Here are a few photos from my small herb and vegetable garden. I am also sharing a photo of the Steller's Jay that I have named Mr. Braveheart. He or she, is the first bird I have ever been able to train to take food from my hand :)

Garlic Chive Flowers

Tiny Dill Flowers

The Oregano is popular with bees

Swiss Chard that I primarily grew for the colour

Pretty Pink Swiss Chard

Zucchini Flowers

Mr. Braveheart and his peanuts

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Summer Birds and Blooms

Blooms from my summer garden and a few of my favourite visitors

Cosmos and Yarrow

Balloon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorus 'Fugi Blue')

Bud of the Balloon Flower along with some Alyssum

Daylily bloom, the last of the season. In spite of struggling with gall midge, this daylily still manages to wow me every year

Daylily 'Strawberry Candy'

Shirley Poppy

Sweet Peas with a lovely fragrance

Everlasting Sweet peas. I was a little disappointed to discover these didn't have any fragrance but they are pretty nonetheless.

Oriental Lily 'Acapulco'  The fragrance of this lily is amazingly potent

Cerinthe Purple Bells for the hummingbirds

Hydrangea macrophylla Nikko Blue This shrub is in the bed that will have to be dug up this fall to replace the rotten wood ties that collapsed recently.

My gardening buddy enjoying the morning sunshine

Steller's Jay enjoying the sun after too much rain, sitting on my patio fence

la la la la la

Chickadee busy with second batch of wee ones.

This Downy woodpecker became a regular this summer, and even brought his or her young. In fact this may be the young, I can't tell.