Nesting

Recently, carpenter bees have infested our yard, and began attacking our fence and other wooden structures. For those of you unfamiliar with these pesky creatures, they drill into wood to lay their eggs. Since too many carpenter bees + too much wood = big money problem, I decided to follow a few that seem to have set up house (hard to believe I occassionally have this much time on my hands), scope out their nests and inform my husband who has a master plan to kill the eggs and fill the holes.

While following one such bee to one of my birdhouses, I was surprised to discover that a bird made a nest inside. AND there are four beautiful tiny eggs. (I'm a city girl at heart, so to come face-to-face with any bird egg not found in the dairy section at the grocery store is a wonderous experience.)

I raced inside and grabbed my camera. I know, I know, what I did next probably wasn't the smartest idea, but I just had to document it. Plus, I figure if I didn't touch anything, it would be fine. Because of the height, angle and my fear of getting too close, the pictures aren't the best, but they sure made my day.

Isn't it amazing how quickly bad experiences can segue into good ones through the beauty of our world. In my mind, this is no coincidence that today is Earth Day. I pray we all do our best to protect these little eggs, and their little eggs, and their little eggs, and their little eggs...

Photos Finally

May not look like much yet, but can't wait for summer when my babies are in full bloom.

Lantanas and irises were added to the area on the hill. The other photos shows the addition of two miniature rose bushes.

For those of you who've never dug up grass to create a flower bed (and to those of you who have), pray for rain. Pray-for-rain.

Point of View

I'm only now realizing that these scenes, so inspiring and attractive in person, seem insignificant in pictures?

Anyway, bought red rubber mulch to highlight the spot on the hill today. Soon as I can figure out how to install the border in the rock hard soil, I can mulch and upload [hopefully] a knock-out image.

The area on the north side has already been mulched and bordered. Also added two new miniature rose bushes, since I seem to have the most luck with them.

On to the pictures!

Theory

The good news is, spring is here. The bad news...unfortunately Auburn is not on board. That's ok though. I've been researching and talking with folks and suspect that the surrounding grass (and weeds) have been fighting with the rose bushes for water and nutrients. And so far, the roses haven been losing miserably.

This morning, my husband, a friend of ours and myself dug up everything surrounding the rose bushes, in order to mulch for water retention, and to effectively fertilize. I also cut back sickly looking limbs to make them look healthier and to encourage lateral growth.

Whether my new theory and efforts work, we'll just have to wait and see. But, I'm trying.

No News

Haven't heard back from Auburn University yet. Will follow-up with a call on Monday.

Progress

Today I e-mailed the Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology at Auburn University to ask if I could mail a few clippings of my rose buses to them, to see if they can determine the problem with my bushes.

As soon as I hear anything, you'll be the first to know.

Snow Day

If you watch the news, you must be aware of the winter storm that hit the southeast this weekend. In our SE Alabama town, we saw four inches of snow. Incredible! Too bad our kids were down with the flu, otherwise they would have been able to help Dad build the snowmen (some better than others honey).

It was quite picturesque seeing everything blanketed in white. Made my poor rose shrubs look more pathetic and sickly, but if you squint just right, you can make them disappear.

Needless to say the weather has prevented me from doing much in the gardens thus far. But not for long. I've got a feeling spring is just around the corner.

P.S. In other news, I'm experimenting with bulbs. I planted a few tulip bulbs in December and almost gave up hope. But seems like this cold weather was just the thing they needed for they decided to finally break the surface. Can't wait to have a tulip boquet on my mantle.