My babies leave the nest

I guess it’s very apropos that 2 days before my own baby graduates from high school and prepares to leave our nest, our baby cardinals flew from their nest.  We’ve been watching a cardinal pair make and sit in a nest just about a foot from one of our windows in my climbing rose bush.  Before long we had 3 baby cardinals:

Who could sense when Mom or Dad was near with food:

A couple days later, it was time to stretch the legs:

Cheered on by his siblings and Dad, the first one decides it’s time to go:

Test the wings:

It was a bumpy landing, but he made it:

The proud parents were never far away:

A little fuel for the next hop:

Then Dad moves a little further away to encourage the final flight out of the rose bush:

Two remain, who’s next?

After all the excitement, the remaining 2 decided to take a nap, there’s always tomorrow.  They were in the nest the next morning, but by the afternoon the nest was empty.  We were all very sad to see them go.  As I will be in August when my first child leaves the nest.

Thanks to my oldest daughter for these amazing photographs!

Great Entrances

Here are some great front doors in the city:

Depth of Field

I love this planting in my neighborhood.  Instead of just lining up the rhodies and evergreens, they have been planted with a lot of depth.  If you have the luxury of space, planting a very wide border like this is very attractive.  What gives it interest is the repetitiveness of the evergreens, but there is still some variety as you can see in the photo below.  Different shades of green, from blue-green to lime, plus different leaf sizes between the pines and rhododendrons, make this garden a winner.

Cardinal at my Window

A cardinal has built her nest in our climbing rose bush, right outside my living room window.  Yesterday was the first day she stayed in it all day, so I think she may have laid the eggs yesterday.  I just looked up that it only takes 12 days for them to hatch.  We’ll have a bird’s eye view, how exciting.

Spring Windowbox, continued

Actually, the windowbox looks pretty good without the grape hyacinth (see previous post).  The greenery from the muscari fill in the box and the daffodils aren’t as sparse as I thought they were going to be.

Double Orange Emperor Tulips

I love these tulips.  They have been blooming through a heat wave we had here and seem no worse for the wear.  I always lose my tulips every spring, because we have a one or two day heat wave right when they are blooming.  You can’t tell me there’s no global warming.  But these are doing well, and I love the color.

Spring Windowbox – Phase 2

So now the daffodils are blooming, but the grape hyacinths are gone by and look terrible.  I’m going to have to deadhead those tomorrow.  And next year either find something that will bloom at the same time, or plant more of the later bulbs, so they will look good by themselves after the muscari are gone.

The Spring Ritual – Hardening Off

The first nice day of spring begins the hardening off ritual.  That’s when you gradually accustom your plants grown from seed under grow lights to outdoor conditions.  I start with the plants that don’t mind a little cold weather.  I harden them off first, and after a couple days, they stay out day and night until I’m ready to plant them.  This would include snap dragons, cold weather vegetables like lettuce, brussel sprouts, and any perenials I may have started, this year it’s hollyhock, foxglove and lupine.  I start with just 30 minutes the first day.  It seems so sad to take them out of the sun after such a short time, but it must be done.  The next day I bring them out for an hour or a little longer.  The next time (which usually isn’t the next day, we rarely get 3 warm sunny days in a row in New England in the spring) I’ll leave them out for 2 hours, then 4 hours, then finally all day.  Then after that batch is done, and I don’t have to lug them up and down the stairs anymore, I start on the more tempermental plants that I won’t be planting out quite as soon – tomatoes, other annual flowers, coleus, basil.  Yesterday and today we had unusually warm weather.  Luckily I had just about all my plants hardened off, so they were able to enjoy the day outside.

Star Magnolia – First Sign of Spring

The first flowering tree to bloom in my town in the Star Magnolia.  I don’t have one, but I took this photo of a lovely one in someone else’s yard a couple days ago.  I prefer the saucer magnolias, but, like the forsythia, there are some things you have to have, just because you anxiously await those first blooms.

Update on Spring Windowbox

The grape hyacinths are starting to open.  I really like this choice for a spring windowbox, because you get a long period to enjoy them.  Unlike most bulbs, the grape hyacinths are attractive for a long time before they open.  See my previous post on April 5.  Right now they look  a little bit like Spanish lavender, with the little “bee” tops.  I also have figured out the phase 2 bulbs, they are small daffodils, but not open yet.  I’ll keep you posted.