Hummingbirds & Gardens

Welcome to my garden!

At my house, I have one pair of hummingbirds that come every year. The male arrives early and hovers at my kitchen window, with little wings beating furiously. He seems to say, I'm here, please fill the feeder!" The female arrives shortly after.

This is the little baby ... all grown up and learning the intricacy of feeding while he is flying!

A favorite garden to visit is the Secret Garden. It is designed and cared for by a private citizen. Wedding photos are often taken here.

This is what it is like, a quiet walk ... with some unusual plants and lots that we are familiar with ... all lovingly nurtured!

A little bit of peace in a busy world!

It has been a busy summer ... lots of posts to come!

Spring Flowers ...

I'm a little late, but would like to share these: each one beautiful ...Breathtaking in an entire field ... La Conner, WAThis fat little bee actually sat down to work on this crocus.And ... a camilla that is perfect!

First Sign of Spring ...

One fat bee, sitting on a petal and sucking it in!
Maple Ridge ... 54 F in sunshine! Time to get out in the garden.

The Secret Garden ...

This lovely quiet hide-a-way is a little piece of community property, a neighborly garden - a labor of love ...With special little views ...

bees & flowers

As busy as a bee ... these amazing little creatures pollinate the largest percentage of the plants that supply us with food. And, yet ... we poison them with blanket pesticides.

Five years ago, this Western Trillium was rescued from a woodland area that was to be clear cut. It blooms proudly each year. Daffodils ... one flower the deer don't eat!

Delicate ... brightening our day.

Pristine. The star magnolia bush is home to our humming birds.

exquisite ...

What more can we say? Mother Nature's designs are amazing.
Here is an excellent link http://www.osrbg.ca/index.html There are 2500 known orchids. Some are so specialized that they are designed just for one insect to fertilize. Orchid growers I've met are totally devoted to this prima donna of flowers.

Looking for the 'small things' ...

A new road pushes through the farmland. Man makes tracks with huge machines. They have their own beauty in the details.

.. in the ditches along the road, moss appears amongst the paper dry leaves.
Spring brings a beautiful swamp flower called 'skunk cabbage' ... you can guess that the fragrance is pungent! We need a balance ... man creates and mother nature moves back in.

Coffee Flower

This is the flower that powers your coffee!

I grow this coffee plant in a pot indoors in winter and outdoors in summer. This tiny flower produces red berries. The berries need to be peeled to reveal two coffee beans. The beans can then be roasted.

Magnolia leaf

While cleaning up the garden, I found these fragile and beautiful leaf skeletons from my Star Magnolia tree.

Romancing the flower ...

This large bee had yellow on the shoulders and orange on the butt. Her weight was so heavy that she bent the little flowers (scillia) over as she collected her reward of nectar and hurried off with pollen to fertilize the next flower.

Spring ...

Couldn't resist posting this photo.

Crocuses truly burst forth to tell us that it is springtime!