This year, two families of house finches, Haemorhous mexicanus, decided that our Pyrrosia fern baskets were the perfect place to raise their young. Two of three baskets outside our bedroom are filled with the sounds of youngsters, constantly bugging their parents for another happy meal. It usually takes less than two weeks from birth to
Finding Home with a Bunch of Ferners Read More »
Looking good in the garden now is Callicarpa americana ‘Welch’s Pink’, discovered by former PDN’er Matt Welch in East Texas. This is pink fruited form of our native American beautyberry, Callicarpa americana. The fruit are an important fall food source for many species of birds.
From the flora side of the garden, the lovely sacred lily, Rohdea japonica is flowering today. Our bet is that many folks have never slowed down long enough to actually see a rohdea flower, but if you look close, you’ll see the pollen is ready for hybridizing. Representing the garden fauna, we are loaded to
Reproduction in the Garden today Read More »
Most birds in the garden have the good sense to nest in relatively safe areas like trees, but not killdeers. Â I almost ran over this nesting killdeer with the golf cart yesterday. Fortunately, they have rather loud voices. Â We’re not sure if this is mama or daddy, but the babies can’t be far off.
Kildeer nesting in the garden Read More »
