Spring creeps in
Apr. 1st, 2003 03:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pameladeanThe Weather Underground says that the forecast for this afternoon is "Artly cloudy." That sounds about right. I took Ari out on his leash.
The small crumpled leaves of the violets are up. There are many more winter aconite sprouts. A dead stalk of dame's rocket that I noticed on Sunday and thought of, "I should move that somewhere I need more dame's rocket" has a little rosette of green around its base. The tulips are taller, and there are more of them. The peony in the warmest spot is putting up its blood-red shoots. The daylilies are rioting in green. The cranesbill geranium has new leaves. A few columbine leaves are up. The first red woundup stems of the Japanese knotweed have appeared, but all in the neighbors' yard. I wonder if the sunflower toxins really did in some of mine.
A house finch is singing a very nice run of notes, over and over and over. Eric mentioned to me in email that the elm buds looked about to burst, and when I looked at the huge elm across the street, its fuzziness was visibly red.
I am NOT taking the mulch off the flowerbeds until after this weekend. The lows are supposed to go back into the twenties.
Pamela
The small crumpled leaves of the violets are up. There are many more winter aconite sprouts. A dead stalk of dame's rocket that I noticed on Sunday and thought of, "I should move that somewhere I need more dame's rocket" has a little rosette of green around its base. The tulips are taller, and there are more of them. The peony in the warmest spot is putting up its blood-red shoots. The daylilies are rioting in green. The cranesbill geranium has new leaves. A few columbine leaves are up. The first red woundup stems of the Japanese knotweed have appeared, but all in the neighbors' yard. I wonder if the sunflower toxins really did in some of mine.
A house finch is singing a very nice run of notes, over and over and over. Eric mentioned to me in email that the elm buds looked about to burst, and when I looked at the huge elm across the street, its fuzziness was visibly red.
I am NOT taking the mulch off the flowerbeds until after this weekend. The lows are supposed to go back into the twenties.
Pamela
Re: Urban wildlife
Date: 2003-04-01 04:04 pm (UTC)You probably know the tricks. But one thing birds love is fresh clean water, especially if it's dripping or moving. I think your part of your city is more urban than my part of mine -- we've got large untidy yards and lots of trees here with the traffic and the litter, and while the Department of Inspections and the police frown on dense shrubbery and brush piles, the DNR publishes little books encouraging them.
I've also found that house finches, like goldfinches, will appear if you plant sunflowers, safflower, or coneflower, whether purple or yellow.
Pamela
Pamela
Re: Urban wildlife
Date: 2003-04-01 04:13 pm (UTC)My "backyard" is a 17' x 17' square of concrete, although we've broken out four of the smaller squares that make it up in order to give Mr. Darcy space to do what he must. All the "yards" within hailing distance are similarly paved over. The only plants are container plants or evil things that come up through the cracks (ailanthus and worse). This may explain why all we have is sparrows and Canyon Doves.
Up at the community garden we get finches, including a seasonal invasion of goldfinches. We plant lots of sunflowers and echinacea there.
The American elm in the churchyard across the street from us in the front is a temporary resting place for a male Baltimore oriole every spring, but when the missus gets there she tells him the error of his ways and they take off for some other place.
Re: Urban wildlife
Date: 2003-04-01 09:37 pm (UTC)I suspect that some largeish trees in pots would attract birds, but they'd be a lot of work, and I have no idea what one would do with them in the winter.
Pamela