the miserable gardener

wildlife showcase

Hello everyone; once again it is I, Chess the purebred border collie, filling in for the guy I live with, here to bring you the latest and greatest news from our garden. You may remember me from such posts as “Show And Tell” and “After The Solstice”, among so many, many others.

Here I am in a characteristic pose. That’s a big pine cone there on the left, by the way. There’s a collection of pine cones here. There isn’t much to report today, except that it was really, really hot, and I had to go to the Bad Place to have a sore on my side looked at. The guy I live with thinks I got an awn of foxtail barley (Hordeum jubatum; not listed in Weber), or regular barley (Hordeum vulgare), or some kind of foxtail, in my side, and it got sore, but now I have an ointment and stuff. The guy I live with says that for someone who doesn’t do much, I lead a very exciting life.

Anyway, the biggest deal besides me having to go for a ride is that the guy I live with says we have black-chinned hummingbirds now, and he got all excited when he was out with the camera and one flew to the Penstemon centranthifolius. This isn’t a really good black-chinned hummingbird picture, but it proves we have them. The guy I live with says this reminded him of “The Doubtful Guest” by Edward Gorey, but I guess you’ll have to judge for yourself. The reason why this picture got taken was that he was out inspecting his lawnmowers. That’s right, plural. You know how everyone talks about “sustainability” and things like that, well, these are like the ultimate in sustainable lawnmowers. They work for free, make no noise at all, and cause no pollution. It makes the guy I live with feel all green and progressive and stuff like that. The lawnmower might be hard to see here.See it now? Not only sustainable, but little. Closer up.The thing is, the lawnmowers cut down the grass, adding fertilizer as they go, and then, especially if it’s buffalo grass (which this isn’t), it sends out new runners within a couple of days, so the lawnmowers actually help the grass to spread. It’s this symbiotic relationship, and besides, the little lawnmowers are pretty cute.

I guess it make sense, right? Grass was meant to be eaten by someone. I even like a snack sometimes, even though I get criticized for “acting like a cow”.

Here’s one of the sustainable lawnmowers working on some weeds.And remember the baby robins? They left the nest. They still rely on their parents for food, so the babies follow their parents around, when they’re hungry. I follow the guy I live with around when I’m hungry, so I get that part. One last wildlife picture. This is Pearl, eating sunflower seeds. That’s it for today. One of the good things about this climate is that even though it gets really hot during the day, it cools off nicely at night. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for bed.

Until next time, then.

cactus at Timberline Gardens

Greetings and salutations everyone; yes, once again it is I, Chess the purebred border collie, filling in for the guy I live with, and here to bring you the latest news from out garden. You may remember me from such posts as “May Day” and “This And That”, among so many, many others.

Here I am in a very purebred-looking pose. Don’t I look like I’m the favorite lapdog of the Duke of Something? “Rather you didn’t interrupt the afternoon nap, old boy. My Pottery Barn rug could do with a bit of straightening, don’t you know?” In truth, it was yet another scary day, with thunder. I heard that they had really big hail (two inches…5 cm…in diameter) out to the east, in Denver, but we just had thunder and a few minutes of rain. Whew. My fort is an excellent place to be during weather like this.

The guy I live with made me get up really early, for no good reason I could think of (he said he was awake; since when is that a reason to get out of bed?), and after I had my breakfast, he took some pictures of the portion of our estate closer to the manor house (not the “way back”, in other words).

This is looking to the northwest. You can see the buffalograss coming in, in the strip next to what used to be called the Long Border. What you would see if you walked through the garden gate on the north side, took a few steps, and looked to the southwest. On the south side, looking west. The leaning thing there is an Arizona cypress, which got a lean on it after it snowed the last time. Then we went on my walk, and after a while, the guy I live with went to Timberline Gardens, to buy some annuals. Yes, that’s right, annuals. He only bought a few, to put in the empty containers you keep seeing pictures of, and maybe eventually he’ll take pictures of the new pelargoniums and calicbrachoas in the pots.

The cactus weren’t in as spectacular bloom as the last time, but they were still good, according to him. You can get these cactus either by going to the nursery, or getting them online at Cold Hardy Cactus, and now is an excellent time to root them. (The guy I live with doesn’t get, or want, any compensation for this or any other plugs, by the way.)

As you’ll be able to tell, these are flower pictures, instead of the whole plant. The first couple didn’t have names, or he didn’t see the names, but the rest did. These pictures were taken in “blindingly bright sunlight”, which only lasted until about noon, and then it got dark, at which time the guy I live with knew he had to come home and be with me.