Hydrangeas Strike Back for Father's Day!

For many years we had a bunch of  Hydrangeas across the side of the house.  I never called them  Hydrangeas , I called them  Snowballs .  Mom tells me that my mom mom had called them that.  Apparently, there is some other similar all white flower called Snowballs?


Really I think both are right that the white plant is a type of  Hydrangea.  You might say that  Snowballs are white, but not the ones I thought about when looking at the  Hydrangea.  It always reminds me of the snowballs you eat from cup from the snowball stand or you make your own.  We had our own snowball setup for awhile in the kitchen.  Long ago there were large weeds  with thorns growing in the  Hydrangeas and mom paid a neighbor to pull them all out.  What happened expectantly was the man pulled out all of the weeds and the  Hydrangeas and they never grow back.  Well the weeds did, but not the Hydrangeas!  Well the Hydrangeas are back, well at least the Hydrangea.  My sister bought my mother a Hydrangea and we planted it last week.  Its a Father's Day Hydrangea!  We did not plant in the same place, but found a nice place where there is some shade in the morning and evening and a big space we would like it to cover.  Also, it is right in the front of the house for all to see.



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Rose Garden Apocalypse?

The roses are very old.
How long will they Hold?
New zombie rose buds scattered red.
Why does the little Sparrow Lay dead?
Fresh dug holes are home to new pest.
Has the catbird left it's nest?
Angels, Saints, Mary, and Jesus uncovered.
Why do so many insects hover?
Dead rose blooms wither.
Where do the snakes slither?
Disease hampers revitalization.
Will there be new fertilization?
Weeds grow like crazy.
How can the gardener be so Lazy!
Transit of Venus observed like an eclipse.
Rose garden Apocalypse?

-cbr



I have no idea why I expressed the state of the rose garden in a poem?  I think its a poem.  I don't think I have written one before.  I strictly intended this to be about the rose garden, but it may also have some hidden meaning in reference to the world 2012 Apocalypse and other things in human life.

The roses are old.  The bulk of my rose garden are red roses that were here before I was born.  Lets say anywhere between 20 - 100 years old.  Some of them have just died before I started taking better care of the roses.  I hope they will hold as long as I hold them.

Zombie Rose Buds?  I like zombies and zombie apocalypse was in the news?  You know those week smaller buds and blooms that occur after the big lively blooms have gone?  They are Zombie Rose Buds.  Sometimes occurring on weaker not properly attended plants.

I found a small sparrow dead in at the base of a bird feeder in the garden.  It appeared to be a young sparrow visiting the feeder.  Did not look to be too injured not sure what happened.  Buried the sparrow in the garden.

Not a very pleasant pests are found in Baltimore City.  Years ago all I would find is chipmunks and rabbits, but now circumstances have brought nastier pests.  If I insist on feeding the birds, there will be some difficulty removing them from the garden.  The garden is better than the house.

My friend the catbird did not like the traffic.  I feel bad because they left one blue egg in the nest, but they decided they needed a better location for a family.  They moved out front of my house in a bigger tree.  Looks like we still leave on the same property.  They needed their privacy.  They gave up the city life in the small apartment with the bath and all you can eat insects and berries for a big nice home where they can raise a family.

Garden Statues are in the open with no foliage covering them.  I want the garden to grow so big, that the statues are not visible.

Insects all over with no insect care being applied in weeks.

I have seen snakes in the rose garden.  Mostly, when I let too many weeds grow around the base of the rose bushes.  A few will scare the hell out of me this week.

I will need to spray with some disease control.

Fertilization, Yes, need to get some miracle-grow on them roses.

Weeds! Weeds!  Years ago my mother planted vines in selected places and they spread all over!  Poison Ivy grows all over the back of the garden.  There is a small tree growing like its part of the chain link fence.  I need a saw and a new weed eater.

Lazy Gardner?  Well this happens every year.  When I was in college I would come home early in the afternoon and work on the garden, but now I come home later.  The red roses only bloom until about late May and early June.  They are the main part of the garden.  It's hard to keep it up when they are done.  When it gets to this part of the year I like to care for vegetable garden and do some traveling and get out more.  And of course I'm lazy.

The transit of Venus was cool.  I stood and saw it by the garden until my eyes burned out and then had a few transit beers.

Rose garden Apocalypse?  Not yet, just need to keep working on the garden.  Just keep working at it and trying to find the time.  I would start each day by working in the garden each day if I could or may be I should jog each morning?

Zombie Task Force | CDC Foundation

Cool shirt


Zombie Task Force | CDC Foundation

Transit of Venus 2012 and Surprise Photos!

I rushed home and ignored the cloud cover and I was rewarded.

At the last minute I decieded I wanted to see the transit.  I went to 3 stores looking for the proper glasses with no luck.  Finally, I looked up if it was okay to view through your camera LCD screen.  It was okay for your eyes but could damage the camera's image sensor.  I deceided I would give it a try.  While at work it did not look good with lots of cloud cover and several work requests that keep me at work longer than expected.  I was mad and thought I might not make it home.  I got there just in time but the clouds were still there.  I was about to give up when my mother yelled, THE SUN ther it is!  I ran out side got my camera and I could not see a thing through the LCD screen, it was too bright.  Then the clouds came back and I was able to see the Sun through a nature filter.  I tool a couple of pictures not sure if Venus was in the shot or not.  Below are the pictures I was able to get.  No glasses, filter, or special lense! 
Thanks to some cloud cover I was able to see the Transit of Venus!

Catbird Rose Garden and my friends Mocking Bird and Earwigs?

Nesting in the Garden!
Weeds and Vines Going
Wild!

On the Lookout!
Don't you bring the Mower
up in here!

I have not been keeping up with the Rose Gardening.  There are yellow leaves. black spots, insects, and weeds all over the place.  When the old red roses in the garden bloom,  they only bloom 1 time a year and I do not mess with them much while they are in bloom.  I'm not one for cutting and making rose bouquets.  The red roses in the garden don't have much of a scent, anyway.  It becomes real hard to take care of the roses when they are done blooming.  While I was away during Memorial Day Weekend another complication occurred.  It appears that my relationship with the catbird has gone much further than I expected.  The catbird has moved in!  First the strawberries, than the birdbath, and know the increased number of insects in the garden have made the rose garden the perfect home, until I returned.  I don't know if they will stay.  They are only about 5 feet off the ground, they will have to put up with my lawn mower in the back of the garden and me pulling some of their weed cover down!  I am trying to be careful and would like my new friends to stay.  I certainty do not want to kill them with any chemicals and maybe I want to leave all the bugs for them to eat and some weeds and vines to cover them.  So, what about the rose garden?  Not sure what I will do.  I have all this left over chemical based insect and disease control that spays all over, but I will not use that.  I will probably look to buy more of the Bayer Advanced All-in-One Rose & Flower Care.  This product can be mixed and poured at the base of each rose bush and should not disturb my friends.  It takes more time, but I am willing to make some compromise for my new roommate.  I wish my new catbird friends good luck there new home.  Last year they lived down the center of an evergreen tree, but I believe this was already fully loaded with sparrows.  I have discovered that these catbirds will eat the berry based bird suets and I'm thinking about grabbing them some meal worms.  They ate a lot the meal worms last year.

Tasty Earwigs

Now, when I came back from Memorial Day I had to mow the lawn.  We been here a long time and the yard is full of crap.  I got to move things all over the place while mowing the lawn.  This is where me and my new friend the Mocking Bird made first eye contact.  We would have a stare down for about 5 minutes and then the Mocking Bird would just swoop in and ear all the earwigs it could find under the crap I just moved out of my way.  The mocking bird would stand all over just behind my shoulder waiting for all you can eat earwigs.  I would take a break and stand and wait while my new friend the mocking bird enjoyed some all you can eat at Charlie's Earwig Farm.  Man there sure are a lot of earwigs around

More Earwigs!

 this year!  I found one crawling around in a medicine cabinet, tough it was in  the basement.  Writing this I went ahead and looked up the earwig and what I read gives me some new feeling for this ugly insect.  I included a link for this reason.  1.  Myth about them going in your ear, (although I once had something my ear the nurse would not show me when cleaning my ear, she got rid of it immediately, earwig?) 2.  The pincers will not hurt you, and the thing that really made me feel bad about smashing and spaying my new friend the earwig is...3.  Many earwig species display maternal care, which is uncommon among insects. Female earwigs may care for their eggs, and even after they have hatched as nymphs will continue to watch over offspring until their second molt.  Although, I'm sure they make a good meal for the Mocking bird.  It reminded me of eating Crabs!

Oh, and let me not forget my Love Bird Cardinals!