A Surprising Visitor

This afternoon I went to fill up the watering can from the rain barrel


and came upon this visitor keeping warm in the stone wall under Sarah's window.

Can you see it curled up on the ledge of rock?


Here's a closer view.

 And even closer.  It's not as big as it looks.

I checked back later in the day when the stones were out of the sun and it was gone.

Does anyone know what kind of snake it is?

The Glen Garden

The glen garden is along the edge of the woods where the forest conservation area begins.  If you stand  here you can often hear the stream down in the glen gurgling as it travels along its way.  This is the perfect spot for shade loving plants. Many of these were gifts, some I bought and many of the ferns were transplants from the woods.

Walk along the edge with me and enjoy the sights.

We'll start at the eastern end and head west.

This is the west end looking back to the east.

Back to the start.  See those branches back there?  I hope to build a log fence with help from Dan this summer.

The Pond Garden

The pond is full after a day of rain on Tuesday.  It's been mulched (not by me!) and is looking good.  It won't be long before it's rimmed in yellow but that will have to be another posting.

Let me walk you around the pond.

Oops.  Wrong photo.  That was when it was frozen which wasn't so very long ago.

Here's the view from the garage.

Under my study window are these lovely hosts.

So many blooms are preparing to open.

Here's one that has.

Looking across the pond to the house.  That's my study window.

Where are those croaking frogs?

Come back another day and I'll walk you through the other gardens.

Spring 2013 Here!

Pansies on the porch!

Hostas shooting up all over.  They will need another dose of liquid fence and a general clean up of last year's dead leaves.

First spring for the Japanese maple.  It came through the winter fine.

You know its spring when the bleeding heart blooms.  I have three and some tiny volunteers.

New green iris shoots around the pond and cattail spears in the pond.  Won't be long before the tadpoles appear.  Goldfish young ones are there.

The mulch delivered on Thursday.  Gardening work has been on hold for the last week as I have helped my Mom in the hospital.  She's out now but in new digs - assisted living.  Her cottage will have to be emptied over the next month, so this pile may not diminish very fast.

Dan at work in 40º+ weather on his landscape painting homework.

Inside all the seeds I planted have germinated surprisingly considering how old some of the tomato seeds are.  Those empty pots are for transplants.  I had to figure how many would fit under my lights.  It's a long time between this and planting in the garden especially since we are having such a late spring.