Garden Art

My Gardening Angel


One recent morning I was in my garden enjoying the green plants, the sunshine and my various garden accents that I call my Garden Art. These are just an unorganized collection of doo-dads that I took a liking to and purchased for myself or maybe received as a gift over the years. I decided to share them with you, my blogging friends.

Above you see one of my newer accents, my Gardening Angel, keeping watch over my broccoli and my chard plants. I do think she helps them grow strong and healthy. In real life, my Mom was, and still is, my Gardening Angel.


My Gardening Rooster

Also among the veggies is another newer color spot, my Gardening Rooster. He protects the basil and the eggplant from being overrun by the squashes. Yeah, right.



Sun Faded Sunflower

Moving away from the veggie garden and over toward one of my herb gardens, we find a much older art specimen, my Sunflower & Butterfly friends. The sun has faded her petals, but she still stands among the oregano and thyme to add her muted colors to the mix.


Metal Hen and Her Chicks

In the front weed flower bed there is Metal Mother Hen and her 4 little Metal Chicks contentedly pecking the ground for bugs and worms.


Metal Quail Pair

In keeping witht the metal bird theme, also in the front bed near the porch stairs, I have my Metal Quail Pair to greet my visitors and make me smile each time I see them.


Hummingbird Solar Garden Light

Also in the bird family, and located in between Mother Hen & Chicks and the Quail Pair, is one of my pair of Hummingbird Solar Lights. These were a birthday gift to me from Hardware Bob a few years ago. They work well to brighten up the walkways at night.

Venturing onto the porch itself now, we find several frogs engaged in various activities.


Frog & Dragonfly Rocker

The first is the animated Frog & Dragonfly that rocks back and forth in balance except when the wind blows them both over with a loud clang. They were a gift from Joggin Jack's daughter many years ago.


Tiny Frog Windchime

The photo above shows what is left of my tiny Frog Windchime that lives in a potted plant. The windchime part fell off long ago, but the frog part is still cute.


Ceramic Frog Pot Waterer

This cute little froggie was a gift from Joggin Jack about 2 years ago. I spied him at a summer festival and Jack got him for me. When I fill his mouth with water, he slowly waters the plant in the pot in which he sits. The frog, not Joggin Jack.


My Favorite Windchimes

Still on my porch it's time for some aerial scenes. First above, are my favorite windchimes. They are tuned chimes and sound so beautiful when the breezes blow.


Bird Feeder and Waterer

Then my bird feeder and waterer made by a local artist who lives very near me. The birds love to visit and eat the seeds, drink the water and make a huge mess all over my porch.


High Tech Herb Drying Line

My favorite artsy garden art shot of the day is a close up view of my Herb Drying Line which is strung between two porch posts. It is functional and fun. I enjoy seeing the bunches of herbs hanging there through my screen door in the summer. The overhang of the porch awning protects the drying herbs from rain and from too much direct sunlight. Every now and then I replace the heavy duty twine that is the line. After awhile the sun weakens it.



Summer Harvest Basket

The real art in my garden is shown above in one of many ever changing versions of my Summer Harvest Baskets. Nature is the real artist around here.



© Copyright 2008 Mountain Harvest Basket

Flowers Around Me

California Redbud Tree in Spring Bloom

This blog post is about the flowering things that are around me that I did not plant.

The first is the California or Western Redbud seen in its colorful Spring glory in the above photo. This interesting tree was here when I arrived. Obviously, it is named for its Spring profusion of reddish pink blossoms that attract hundreds of bees everyday. This tree literally buzzes with activity very loudly all day long. The bees are focused on gathering their sweet nectar that they don't bother me when I walk underneath the tree on my way to my chicken coop. Oh, a few fly around and follow me for a short distance, but then go back to the blossoms. As the blossoms fade in mid-Spring, the tree grows lovely green leaves and stays that way until Fall, when it then drops it leaves and shows off all of its thin brown seed pods that rattle in the wind. When I read the Wikipedia article about the Redbud, I learned that it is in the legume family of plants, hence the seedpods. I learn something new all the time around here!


Bush Lupine

The purple blossomed bush in the photo above grows wild here in the Sierra foothills. It is also a legume, a type of Lupine. This is a purple Bush Lupine. We also have smaller purple, white and yellow lupine flowers that grow closer to the ground in fields and along roadsides. I mostly have the larger bush variety growing on my property. This year I have several big beautiful specimens all around my home. I planted none of them. They just grow here and bring me beauty. When I first moved here (10 years ago now) I brought some of the pretty lupine flowers inside in a vase and quickly took them back outside, as their heavy pollen scent was too much for my nose to handle. These legumes are good for the soil in which they grow as legumes enrich their soil with nitrogen making it fertile for other green things to grow.


Rosemary bush in bloom

The photo above is a close up of one of my Rosemary herb bushes that the previous owner planted out in back of my house. I have several of them all in a row out there. They are beautiful, useful culinary herbs that also smell good and are almost care-free. They need a little water now and then, especially in the Summer. Another nice thing about them is that they are not tasty to the herds of deer and other wild critters that live here with me.

So that's it for today's flower tour. These are the easy-care flowers that live here. Some other day I will show you the not-so-easy-care flowers and trees.

Spring color and easy-care all at the same time. Lovely.




© Copyright 2008 Mountain Harvest Basket

Silent Sunday

Sunburst

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Nature's Magic

Nature inspires me. It never ceases to amaze me. Each day brings new beginnings....


Hyacinth Emerges


new growth, new experiences....


Hyacinth Budding


and new surprises....


Hyacinth Blooming


Just like life. Life amazes me. Each day brings something new.

I love Spring.



© Copyright 2008 Mountain Harvest Basket

Resourceful Nature

In the cold winter months in the mountains, all animals need a place where they can be warm and comfortable. We humans need this, so do our pets and livestock, and also the wild creatures amongst which we live. We build fires in our wood stoves or merely turn up the propane or electric heater in our homes. We keep our small pets inside with us and make sure that any outside pets and livestock have adequate shelter and heat. We trust the wild animals to take care of themselves. After all that’s how nature intended it to be. It always intrigues me when I discover how resourceful and crafty some of these wild creatures can be at this task.

A couple of days ago my close friend/partner Bob, sent me this photo of a nest he found under the hood of his Toyota Camry. He said that when he raised the hood he was greeted by a very fat pack rat that had decided that this space was a good place to build her nest. They stared at each other for a moment until she scampered away. The nest has been removed now, as its location really was not suitable for either rat or human when the car was to be driven. I was impressed at the hefty twigs and the cushy carpet threads that she used to weave this rather large nest. Nature truly is amazing to me. Every day.


Toyota Rat's Nest

© Copyright 2008 Mountain Harvest Basket