Breakfast musings in the garden
GARDENING
On quiet weekend mornings, I look forward to breakfast on the deck. It’s a pretty simple affair, freshly brewed coffee, a slice of toast and the sounds of the garden waking up.
It’s almost Canada Day, we are celebrating our 150th birthday this year, and while I considered planting red and white flowers, that’s not really what Canada means to me. What I appreciate most about Canada is the freedom we enjoy — the freedom to be able to just sit on the deck, listen to the bird song and the sound of a June breeze rustling the leaves — with so much turmoil in the world, peace is indeed a luxury.
My June weekends have been devoted to priming the garden for the summer, it’s a time of change, spring blooming bulbs have finished their growth cycle and the foliage can be removed. Early flowering catmint and geraniums were given a severe haircut, a layer of compost and long drink of water laced with fish emulsion. By midsummer, they will reward my efforts with a second flush of colour.
This year our garden will be featured on Niagara Falls Horticultural Society’s garden walk, coming up on July 15 — the pressure is on (more on this next week). Priming the garden for the tour makes a leisurely breakfast even more of a treat — we are often so busy that we forget to stop and enjoy the magic in our gardens.
After hiding the bird feeders (or should I call them mouse feeders) since the late winter, I’ve started filling them again, just to see who stops by. The local sparrows stopped by almost instantly, but it took a few days for my other avian friends to get the word. Besides the sparrows, a cardinal, goldfinch, house finch, red-winged blackbird, mourning dove and a bossy downy woodpecker have stopped by. I won’t mention the baby bunny under the feeder — he’s in my bad books for eating a freshly-planted crop of gloriosa daisies and the last of pansies in the herb garden.
A family of young grackles, under the supervision of their protective parents, are foraging beneath the feeder this morning, along with sparrows and a red-winged blackbird. The parents chase away the larger birds as they approach their young brood. Just a few days ago, this boisterous crew was begging for food from the cedar hedge — the youngsters are nearly the size of the frazzled parents — it’s time they started fending for themselves.
A young robin sits on the edge of the birdbath watching the commotion around the feeder, he seems curious as to what the attraction might be. He takes a sip of water (to build up his courage?) and then tries to negotiate a landing on the perch. He repeats the same sequence, sip of water then a dash for the feeder, several times. After many failed attempts, he drops down to lawn beneath the feeder to browse with the grackles. I suspect he’s one of the robins that fledged a few weeks ago from the nest in our side arbour, he seems to be young and very curious, this was the first time I’ve ever seen a robin check out the feeder. Soon the native dogwood berries will be ripe and his curious nature will be rewarded.
A bird feeder, positioned for easy viewing from the deck, is convenient for bird watching, but a garden filled with plants that provide a steady supply of meals for birds and garden pollinators is what keeps the garden lively — even a container filled with nectar-producing flowers can help the cause.
A case in point is the container filled with yellow blanket flowers (Gaillardia) and pansies. This easy-care combination is a magnet for pollinators; the pansies will fade as the blanket flower expands to fill the container, but that’s OK. This morning, a delicate looking clouded sulphur butterfly joins me for breakfast, enjoying a patch of early morning sun and sip of nectar. Last weekend, an Eastern tiger swallowtail graced the garden, checking out the milkweed and dill plants.
Beyond the deck, an ambitious spider has strung a silver line between the tomato cage and the umbrella post on the patio. I take a water bottle and spray a very fine mist in the air so that I can better appreciate his handiwork. Two large webs were suspended between different sections of a tomato cage: one was vacant, save for the spider, the other web held a neat line of prey, arranged as if he was showing off his hunting prowess. A single filament provided a link to the adjacent tomato cage, and then to the table beyond. With aerial skills that would put a tightrope expert to shame, this tiny spider had spun a two-metre-long line to the patio umbrella. This may not seem remarkable, but just think of the distance and height involved — the spider was about the size of a mustard seed.
While I was working in the garden yesterday, I noticed circular holes, as if they had been cut with cookie cutter, in the leaves of the katsura tree. This is the work of leaf cutter bees. This beneficial pollinator is about the size of honeybee, but darker with light bands on their abdomens. The females dig out nesting areas and provide the young with food, the nests are sealed with a smooth semi-circle about 3/4-inch diameter cut from the edge of a leaf. Rather than be concerned about the holes, I’m happy to see the bees are making a home in the garden.
My coffee is just about finished, time to head out into the garden — there’s a patch of weeds hiding behind the big cedar bush with my name on it — the grass and thistles have to go, I’ll leave the milkweeds with the hopes the monarch butterflies will stop in for a visit.
Be sure to step outside and enjoy your garden this weekend, look for the magic. Happy Canada Day! — Theresa Forte is local garden writer, photographer and speaker. Contact her by calling 905-351-7540 or by email at theresa_forte@sympatico.ca.