Ajuga in a Sink

Last year I put this old sink under the seat of my trellis.  It has prospered in spite of dry weather.  It also has blue blossoms in the spring.

Begonias --the Houseplant Variety

When I looked in my garden books, I didn't find this begonia.  Finally, it occurred to me that it is really a houseplant.

 For at least a dozen years these stayed in my mother's basement or in a corner of her living room. 

They now spend the winter in my basement.  But the best part of the year is when they stay under the maple trees in my yard.  They perk back up after only a few weeks outside.  They escape the invading roots of their shade trees by staying in their pots.  Usually I do a better job of putting pine needles around them.

Begonias

I earlier posted  about what the flower book calls the hardy begonia.

 I considered this name and decided that in my area, this is not a hardy begonia because it dies when the frost comes and reappears in late spring from roots and from the winged seeds which travel around my yard.  It is really more of a perennial.

 It is one of my favorite flowers.  First of all, a bed of these begonias is beautiful, but even more so for the fact that they bloom later in the summer and remain until frost.  Their leaves are accented with red and are appealing even before blooms appear. They may survive some sun, but they really prefer a shady bed. 

Hummingbird Moth

At first glance this moth can be confusing.

It looks like a small hummingbird and frequents the same sweet-smelling bushes visited by the hummingbird.  It takes a close look to identify it.

 It is a hummingbird moth.

 My husband caught one in action a few years ago.  We couldn't get a picture of one this year.

Grandmother Hester's Rose

I was delighted when this rose came back to life this spring.  But really its toughness is to be expected.  The family who gave it to me can trace it back to 1847 in Wilkes County.  Grandmother Hester brought a sprig of the rose on the boat from Scotland and settled in North Carolina. The story goes that the Enloes brought the rose to Macon County and their descendants, the Snyders, gave me a rose.

 Its has clusters of small yellow blossoms, but its most memorable feature is its overwhelming number of mean-looking thorns.  These thorns probably explain its long survival.  Not even a goat would try to eat it.

                                             Arlington Rose

Last summer I went to the Lee Mansion at Arlington Cemetery in Washington.  There was a somewhat similar yellow rose blooming there.  It also had huge, plentiful thorns and clustered flowers.  The bush and flowers were bigger, but I figure they had had a much easier life since the garden was established in 1861. 

Predators

We have some annoying new residents.

Three hawks are living in a nearby tree.  They are interesting , but it seems their main interest in life is to catch the birds that come to our feeders. 

They are threatening, but the neighborhood cats present an even greater problem.  They lurk in the bushes under the feeders and stare at the fish in the pond.  The hawks have been successful more than once and the cats sometimes catch a slow bird. 

Either a raccoon or a speedy bear got all the fish in one section of water last winter.  Recently a bear turned over a very sturdy feeder, but didn't feel impressed by the sunflower seeds.