Gardening Philosophy

Part of my personal gardening philosophy is that I have a moral imperative to share "my" garden with the other animals that live there. I do have exceptions for potentially dangerous animals. No yellow jackets allowed, for example (The Husband is allergic and yellow jackets are too aggressive). But otherwise I live and let live. 

My philosophy is sometimes strained. The year we had a sawfly outbreak and their larvae munched on my Aqueligia leaves (columbine) so bad that they actually killed a couple of plants (the Denver Gold was the only the only thing that didn't come back) was rough. But, unlike most of my fellow tool using primates, I restrained from dumping poison into the environment for the sake of aesthetics and most of my Aquelegia came back just fine.

Yes, I am a bit rabid about environmental protection.

This year I have a new challenge.

"Tamias minimus" by Phil Armitage - http://www.philarmitage.net/glacier/glacier08.html. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Chipmunks. We seems to have a large number of them in our area this year. The Husband (and The Cats) have spotted them in our yard. I've seen several of them in our neighborhood and I've seen the signs in my garden.

It's hard to see but there is a chipmunk hole under the crocus foliage.

Sadly for me chipmunks eat bulbs. So much for my tulips. I guess I'll plant them in pots this winter.

Good for me chipmunks also eat seeds. They can have ALL of the maple seeds they can eat!

It may be a challenge for my garden but my belief system says I need to let them stay. Besides it would be really difficult to get rid of them. I'm a biologist and I understand how niches work. Got a niche? Something will fill it.  I get rid of the girl in my garden and someone else will move it.Better a chipmunk than a ground hog or a skunk!

Besides. It entertains the cats.

First Flowers of 2015!

Today the first flowers of 2015 (outside) have bloomed. Not surprisingly they're crocuses.

This does not herald the arrival of spring in all her glory but it does show that winter is (finally!) in retreat.

Yes, that's today. At least I can see some patches of ground.

In other news... One of our new kittens in living up to his name. We recently replaced our old couch and have temporarily turned it on it's end to take up less space till we can get rid of it. Wren manged to fly up and perch of the top of the couch, right up by the ceiling.

I just hope he doesn't try to build a nest up there...

Preparing for The Storm

The weathermen are predicting The Apocalypse tomorrow. Well, they're predicting a strong blizzard but the hyperbole is heavy. It's the Storm-of-the-Century of the Month. We'll probably get a foot or more of snow.

So we made sure we were ready just in case. Fuel in the car, check, food in the pantry, check, pet food, check and back up water supply.

If this doesn't do us there's always the other option.

Yep, that's 120 gallons of less than ideal but still safe to drink water. I don't think the fish would appreciate it if we started in on their water supply, though. I did a partial water change yesterday so it's relatively clean.

Fill the bird feeders.

Realize the birds are emptying the feeder fast today and put "fill the bird feeders" back on the to do list.

My job is cancelled until Thursday. What should I do with this unexpected (and probably house bound) new time?

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

So what if I've already placed my orders for this spring. I bet I can find something else I just HAVE to have....

And now [because the relationship is new and I can't get enough of my new kittens] here's Wren. Young and naive enough to get shocked by the weather forecast and very glad he got rescued and is now an indoor cat.

Stay safe ya'll.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day January 2015

My outside garden is sleeping the winter away this month. Even the pansies look cold. But inside my houseplants are keeping my spirits up.

Unfortunately I didn't have much time this morning so you'll have to make do with lower quality pictures. Sorry.

I don't have tons of blooms but all but one of my African Violets are blooming.

And this Calathea shows no signs of stopping or even slowing down with blooming (even though it's not  happy with either the humidity or maybe I forgot to de-chlorinate the tap water so there's some leaf burn).

And... Well, that's actually all. None of my Anthuriums or my Hoya  are in blooms right now.

It's a good thing we got some kittens to liven up the house this winter.

Mango has discovered my house socks. 

Wren barely holds still long enough to get his picture taken.

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams for this meme. Hopefully I'll have some time this afternoon to take better pictures for tomorrow's Foliage Follow Up. My houseplants have a lot more Foliage than Blooms.

Winter Slow Down

It's time for the annual Winter Slow Down here on The Edge. With me back to school (for those who don't know I'm a lecturing professor in biology) and the garden soon to be covered with snow I don't have as much time or information to post. 

I even missed Garden Bloggers Bloom Day This month! So no pictures of my houseplants currently in bloom.

I will try to post periodically over the winter but don't expect frequent updates. You'll have to make do with a cat pictures to tide you over.

This is Mango. He's new here. We adopted Mango and a younger kitten, Wren, just before Thanksgiving. Mango had been living as a feral kitten at a Putt Putt Golf Course. The people there fed him (and his sister) all summer and then, when the weather started to turn, called a rescue group. Mango is a little shy but is rapidly warming up.

This is Wren. He and his family were found living in an abandoned house. He clearly didn't have a lot of human contact and is still very, very shy and skittish around us. He does love his "big brother" Mango, though, and is starting to recognize that if Mango likes attention and playing with people that maybe people aren't so bad. I think that with enough work he'll come around. He's only a few month old, after all.

Welcome to the family Boys.