After a long, cold, miserable spring, Mother Nature finally took pity on us, and the weather turned glorious for the Fourth of July weekend, with sunny days in the low 70F range. The village of Ferndale, where I live, has many celebrations going on for the weekend, including a parade and a spectacular fireworks display, so the sunny weather was most welcome for the events. Watching fireworks burst in a dense fog cloud, as can happen, is missing the point.
Without the morning fog, the dawn sky has been beautiful, the sun slowly rising above the mountains to the east to bathe the fields in a golden glow. My morning begins before dawn, and I love to watch the sky slowly change color as the birds awaken. When I moved to this property seven years ago, there was little birdsong, the four acre property, and the fields surrounding it, being almost completely bare of trees and shrubs. My first two years here were completely consumed in getting the nursery up and running, but I have been planting what I hope will become a dense windbreak, and it is starting to fill in. Now there are many more birds, since they have nesting places and shelter, and I hope this will get even better as time goes on.
Each morning I call the dogs for our morning walkabout, when we walk around the garden and the nursery area to see what we can see. Just before this, I was in my tiny kitchen in the barn, when I heard my dogs barking outside in a very frenzied manner, quite different from their usual "someone is coming down the driveway" barking. I went outside, and they had a hawk cornered in my little sitting area. I thought the poor thing was injured, since it was panting and had its wings extended. I quickly called the dogs inside, then quietly sat and watched at some distance. It walked very cautiously past me, then took to flight, apparently none the worse for its encounter.
With the warmer weather, my small collection of Mexican bulbs are starting to bloom. the stunningly beautiful purple Bessera elegans has opened its buds, as has the sweetly scented Milla biflora, with large waxy white flowers.
I only have a few of the Mexican Calochortus species. Unlike those from the western USA, Mexican Calochortus grow in the summer, and are dormant in winter. They are not as variable as the American ones, but have a charm of their own. Here is C. marcellae to the left, and C. pringlei to the right.
I haven't taken the trouble to propagate my Mexican Calochortus species, so I don't have any available, but I usually have the different colors of Bessera, as well as Milla. With only myself doing virtually all the work of the nursery, I have to make some difficult decisions, as far as which bulbs to propagate and which bulbs to keep just for my own enjoyment. I have two large greenhouses, and can't put up more, for then I would need full time help, so greenhouse space is at a premium, and some bulbs will always be there just to please me. I do get occasional requests from collectors asking "You don't happen to have .....?", and often I do have what they are seeking and can spare one or two bulbs.
Petronymphe decora has sent up buds, but will bloom a little later. I feel very lucky to have this rare species in my collection, and usually have some bulbs to spare.
Harvesting bulbs continues. I still have most of the California species to take out of their pots, since they bloom at the end of spring, and I am awaiting the ripening of their seeds. I have carefully hand pollinated the Calochortus and some of the Brodiaeas, this year with good results. It is a slow and tedious job, and sometimes I have still lost my seed and all the work I put into pollinating due to adverse weather conditions.
With summer here, my work increases considerably, and that will continue until the end of the year. I am happy! Although I have been called a workaholic by some friends, I take exception to that very pejorative term. I LOVE my work. It makes me happy just to walk into my greenhouses in the morning. I feel blessed.
Your hawk is a baby White-tailed Kite. Like all babies, he was being a doofus and is lucky that your holy terriers didn't make him into a chew toy.
I moved and now will have to build a greenhouse for winter protection. Who did you get your greenhouse benches from? Thanks, monica
Posted by: Monica Swartz | July 21, 2010 at 01:24 PM