We’ve been watching a pair of Song Sparrows flit around the area by our back deck all spring. This week, on several occasions I noticed that they appeared to be carrying something in their beaks as they did so, and NOT nesting materials.
So yesterday, since I had some time, I started the search for the nest. Partially out of curiosity, but also so I’d know where to avoid with the dogs once the babies were fledging. I found it:
It’s hard to tell in that picture, but there’s four babies in that nest. And it’s about two long steps from our back porch stairs. Talk about a bad spot for fledglings! At least it’s in a flower patch we’re not going to mow over…..
Yesterday I finished running the soaker hose throughout the garden. 150ft total. Two hookups though, one with a 50ft hose and one with the remaining 100. Both worked perfectly. Now I shouldn’t have to fiddle with it till either fall or if I can find enough cheap fittings to change out the hose over the pathways. There’s something addictive about this “being prepared” thing though. Four 55 gallon barrels should water my garden for a couple weeks no problem, and this area is very unlikely to go without rain for any longer than that. But I’m finding myself looking at the two unmodified downspouts and debating the addition of more barrels. Heck, I could add a 3rd barrel to each of the current downspouts no problem!
The Black Icicle tomatoes are now several inches over the top of their tomato cages. I guess I’m going to have to rig a 2nd layer of some kind. The Black Plums usually end up over the tops of their cages, but not till closer to August, and then not by more than a foot or so, so I can weave a stake into the cage and tie them to that. I don’t think that’s going to work for the Icicles!
I hilled the shortest of the potato plants, but most of them were tall enough by yesterday that I didn’t see the point. I’ll pick up some straw this week and just do a layer of that next.
There’s several very awkwards spots right around the house that are a pain to mow, but for various reasons aren’t prime spots for plantings either. One of them is in the corner between the bedroom and the living room addition. Its on the south-east side, so it gets sun till about noon, but up until we put on the gutters it was excessively wet as well. Now with the gutters on the house it’s just wet. Former owners had an azalea in the sunniest spot of the corner (the outside edge), and a happy hosta in the middle of it, but that left a 4 or 5 foot wide stretch right in the corner with nothing but weeds. The azalea wasn’t thrilled either, so last fall I pulled it out and replaced it with a hibiscus. As for the rest, I have, at various times, tried planting a few different things there with no success. Nothing thrived. Even the daylilies had to be transplanted out after half of them disappeared. Now, with the gutters on the house I started looking closer at the hosta that was there. I’m not a huge hosta fan. But if the one is thriving……started looking closer at the hostas for sale at work, and this week came home with 8 pots of 4 different varieties (two pots of each) and planted them around that area. Cross fingers for me!
Wet (or moist) and not much sun – sounds like a hydrangea’s dream spot. Hosta will also do well in a spot like that (as you have discovered)
Yah, hydrangeas were my next choice, though I’m not a huge hydrangea fan either….I have hopes for the hostas though!