June Update

Now that it is (almost) the Solstice, perhaps I should reflect back on my first Spring here.

Birds spotted: a Cardinal pair are frequent visitors, along with Chickadees and the occasional Robin. More crows than I'd like, and once in a while the Coopers Hawk will swoop by.

Wildlife: Three rabbits at once is the record - more typically only one at a time. Ducks and geese loved to dive into the neighbours pool before he took the chems to it recently. A gang of raccoons skulked through the back of the property one time, and we might have a skunk living under the crawlspace. And possibly wasps in the soffits. Not to mention the new groundhog who likes to eat my parsley, sweet potato vine and lantana flowers!

May got off to a slow start, with our not-quite-record-breaking snowfall receding slowly away. The ravine got a bit wet at the bottom temporarily. The lack of formal care around here means that we have a lot of native flowers and shrubs, such as this lovely Trillium, several colonies of Trout Lilies, and plenty of Wild Black Currant plants. I've been spending my time thinking about how I will landscape, and trying to ID the trees and plants. And the weeds. The back lawn is at least half weed, primarily creeping charlie. There also seems to be plenty of yellow buttercups, yellow Avens, Wild Strawberry and Wild Violet, ....

Also spotted: Red Baneberry (poisonous) and Bittersweet Nightshade. And a few things I haven't ID'd yet!

Not many real shrubs - a couple (invasive) honeysuckle shrubs, some Virginia Creeper, a mystery shrub that the rabbits almost killed over the winter. Trees include the Weeping Willow and the Eastern White Pines, a few spruce and cedar, a Highbush Cranberry, a White Ash and a poorly planted (bird-sown?) Wild Black Cherry on the north side. Cedars and Maples on the east, along with a dead Hawthorne. The big old Maple and some younger Maples along the ravine, with 3 or 4 Linden trees. Understory along the top of the ravine seems to be Blue-beech (Carpinus carolinana). A few Buckthorn and other weed shrubs. Then another Cedar tree windbreak along the south, with an American Elm partway along.

Garden plants include a few Bleeding hearts, Hosta, Ostrich Ferns, some stray bits of Variegated Goutweed (must eradicate!) and a nice big patch of Periwinkle. Lots of moss along the south yard. There is a proper garden bed along the steps, with some Daylilies hiding, some variegated Sedge, dwarf Iris, Forget-me-Nots, Juniper and Thyme.

A bit of a bed along the north side in the back yard features 6 hybrid Clematis (including the above bloom, which opened today) and more variegated Sedge. I've planted a couple of tomato plants and a raspberry here.