Spring has sprung (for now)

A little update now on the natural habitat at the Cheatwood/Sime estate. We're fortunate to inherit the work of the previous owners who planted and landscaped beautifully. And then they abandoned their work for the year the house sat empty, so we've had some pruning and editing to do. We did much last fall (with my mother's help), and have been enjoying seeing what pops up now that spring appears to have arrived.

You can see our front yard below. What you can't see are the crazy vines that used to drape over the side porch, on your left (Calla's right). I initially loved them because they gave a curb-side perception of New Orleans meets The Secret Garden. But those dang vines were a hideout for all sorts of bugs and just started to look really messy once the romance wore off. So we (Joe) tore them down and have planted (again, Joe) climbing roses. They should be really lovely, once they actually start to climb.



The same vines were covering the front trellis, and while Joe chopped out their roots on either side (and replaced them with young grape vines), we couldn't actually pull all the old vines down because they had been claimed by a House Finch nest and by the time we decided to nix the vines, the eggs had been laid. It's a good nesting spot - the front porch is a nice wind break and those vines are really thick and provide a good base. We've all had a few scares when we walk outside without much warning and Mr. or Mrs. Finch dive-bombs us in their urgent attempt to get out of the way. Tragedy still struck during a particularly strong wind storm last week when we saw egg remnants on the ground but Mrs. Finch continued to nest sit. Looks like the eggs have hatched since there are now little fur balls in the nest, although they're awfully quiet. Calla was never that quiet in her first week.

And then just today, we saw a new nest positioned just slightly lower than the Finch nest. With a little research, we think this is for another Finch nest whose owners decided to make our dying vines a multi-unit building. Why you'd want to move next door to a family with multiple newborns is beyond me.


We have a third Finch couple on our back porch who chose to build a nest in our porch rafters. Here again, they were trendsetters since Ms. Robin (she seems to be a single mom-to-be) moved to a next door rafter. No signs of Finch or Robin babies yet, but we're hoping they're as quiet as our front yard Finch family, since these would be closer to our bedroom window.

Meanwhile, bulbs are blooming, the forsythia is golden (except for the forsythia which we perhaps over pruned last fall. It was really asking for it.) and our yard is awash in dandelions and some other purple-flowered weed. We're trying to be green in our lawn care, so have resisted poison approaches so far. Instead, Joe put down some kind of organic fertilizer that had, among other natural yummies, chicken poop. We hope the few blades of grass still left love chicken poop. And that the dandelions don't.

Calla, tenderly examining the delicate daffodil. Actually, she was about to molest it and strip it of all petals. She's not exactly dainty with living things. She's already killed a fledgling broccoli and tomato plant germinating in our guest bedroom. Too bad, too, since she loves tomatoes and likes broccoli. Otherwise, our vegetable garden is going strong, all thanks to Joe. Though I keep saying the spinach looks like blades of grass (would be nice looking grass, too, ironically), he promises me that it will turn into salad eventually. We have lettuce and mustard greens popping out and the carrots just showed themselves. The warmer veggies (tomatoes, the remaining broccoli, peppers, etc.) will go in later this spring. If we can keep Calla out of the guest bedroom.

And although today was glorious (I'm ignoring the part about Calla's first-ever day without a nap - that wasn't so glorious), we're told there's a chance of snow (!) on Monday. So we'll cover our little garden with a sheet, and I'll bring in my flowers (pansies, which apparently are pansies about frost) and potted cilantro for the night until it's safe again. We're learning as we're going here, but don't want to be undone this early in the game.

You'll undoubtedly get more garden reports as the season goes on. And if you live close, you might even find zucchini on your door step. Here's hoping you're experiencing spring too, at least occasionally between the snow and rain and sleet and storms.