Backyard Blooms!

[shooter]

I had a plum in IN, was great snack'n
tried 3 times here, nothing took, so it's apples, more apples, and apples! 

[scstill]

I want those backyards  :-)
so beautiful, green, and delicious.
most impressive.

[sluckey]

I snapped these pics while sitting in my swivel rocker on my deck and slowly rotating clockwise. These five pics cover about 270°. Not too bad for a poor ole country boy.

[sluckey]

Here's the fifth pic...

[shooter]

 
we took it to the city, then created home!
I sit on my deck watching the next batch of big dogs running for all their worth and smile knowing it was worth the run

[scstill]

Nice...
Noticed your hummingbird feeder.
I regularly attract many many birds.
Have 8 feeders 2cups each and they all need to be filled every day or two.
In SoCal they stay year round. Mostly Anna's and Rufous'

[sluckey]

Our ruby-throated hummers are migratory. They show up the second week of March and leave about the end of October. Right now they are nesting and not too interested in the feeders. Plenty of natural food right now, plus they gotta catch a lotta little bugs for the babies. September is when they start gathering in our yard getting ready for the trip to Mexico. They have a nonstop route from Mobile to the Yucatan across the gulf. Gotta put on some weight for that! I'll have 5 feeders posted around the yard at that time. I have to spread them out to minimize the fighting! They are fun to watch.

[sluckey]

same bushes?  We get one shot up here, late June to mid Jul

Remember I mentioned the Prime Ark Freedom blackberries that produce two crops per year? Well the first crop was ready in May. Meanwhile the new canes were shooting out of the ground. Last week I pruned the old canes to the ground after picking the last berry. Now all that's left is the new canes and they are over 6 feet tall and have the second crop of berries. These will be ready about the first week or two of July. When we pick the last berries of this second crop I'll prune the new canes back to 5 feet tall. This will stimulate new lateral branches to grow. These new laterals can produce even more berries ***IF*** it's not too hot. Then all this new growth will over-winter and produce a big spring crop in May. The cycle begins again. This is a pic of the young second crop...

[scstill]

yes they fight a lot here too. Standing room only for the nectar holes.
Lots of nests right now. Here they seem to nest all the time.
I have one in the tree next to the house that I can look down from 2nd story window to watch two hatchling fun.
On a small branch that really gives them a ride in the breeze.

[shooter]

Nice, ours will be ready about then - early Jul.
I trim the raspberries; the blackberries get ignored a lot!


your porch sittin, the rain lifted, sun out, so I took my annual Eye Exam
3030 at 40 yards
(The porch is at 65yards, but the French doors are kinda pricey) 

[scstill]

did you hit that with a golf club shot? Pretty good aim.

[shooter]

Near 3" of rain in 3 days brought out the summer blooms


I hit the golf ball 4 of 10 at 20yrds with the 22L, 4 of 10 within 3 golf balls and 2 manufacturer defects 
my final exam was 100yrds with the Winchester 2 within 3" 1 within 5" 1 at 6" and 1 manufacturer defect 

[shooter]

The Hemp's are blooming.  we call them Michigan Hemp.  the south of MI and North of IN was a large swath of planted hemp

[shooter]

the summer edibles are here!
the fall edibles are getting a good start

[scstill]

Wild sunflowers in dry as a bone SoCal

[shooter]

I planted the bigheads in my garden, like watching them track the sun.  I was even thinking of ways to "sensor" one to use as an input for a solar panel tracker 


It's "brown-grass" season here, weeklong no rain, then a 1/10", then repeat.

[PRR]

the summer edibles are here!

Yeah. The doe and her fawn ate all the leaves off the baby catalpa tree.

[shooter]

 
I cut out a ton of wild grape vines, cut way back my 2 "cultivated" vines.  The deer only eat the new shoots from MY vines, the wild ones they leave! 

[sluckey]

scstill, those wild sunflowers really pop against that brown background. They remind me of the wild daisies that grow along most rural roads down here.

Shooter, I like those black raspberries. Are they wild?

[shooter]

Wild is a relative term 


Ya, I mowed around a bunch of "patches" early, then kept the suckers cut back.  This is the best year in 30+ and it appears the ones I "tended" are the best producers.  The patches also seem to be the best mosquito hives!!! 

[sluckey]

Prime Ark Freedom second crop is ready. Yum, yum!

[scstill]

oh my those blackberries are huge.  A fav of mine.
I rescued some berry plants from the fern pot for transplanting next year :-)

The wild sunflowers are about the size of a fist. Notice the bee on the large one?
There's a MTB trail that I go out on just to see them. I always feel wild out there, just not as fast as years past.
Sunflowers are mostly dried up now, collected some seeds hoping to plant them on my local slope for next year

BTW - out here just 6weeks ago all that brown was deep green. Now is getting to fire season.

[ShoemanGB]

These are hops I use as a decorative vine now.  30 years ago I was heavily into homebrewing and used them for their intended purpose.  these are about 16' tall and hide the neighbors view of our outside deck.

[sluckey]

I had posted this pic in another thread called "Spring" but thought it might be appropriate in this thread too. Pic was taken in early May when the Prime Ark Freedom blackberries had their first crop. The look on that boy's face says it all. This is the reason I have a berry patch...

[scstill]

Wild California Holly Berry (aka Toyon)
Favorite breakfast for doe and her three fawns.

[sluckey]

Are those berries red today? Our native holly trees can get really big but the berries don't turn red until winter.

[PRR]

...Our native holly trees...

You probably have holly. (Sharp leaves?)

My winterberry is another holly. Not red today.

Apparently the California Holly Berry or Toyon is not a holly at all. I actually remember it from the 1950s. Native in a very narrow strip all down the coast into Baja. Los Angeles had a poaching problem but also adopted it. May be somewhat toxic, but may help Alzheimer's, maybe the deer are self-medicating.

[sluckey]

You probably have holly. (Sharp leaves?)

Yes! The American Holly has very prickly leaves. They hurt! Impossible to walk barefoot underneath one. They are pretty though...


This pic is not from my backyard.

[PRR]

...Our native holly trees can get really big...

Our last house, we had a big holly. And it was in good shape, not bothering the house too much, BUT the heating oil tank was under it somewhere. And a 1000 gallon underground tank is a problem. Ran out a few times. Was gonna be an issue when we sold. We brought gas in from the street, but then you "have" to have the old tank removed before it leaks oil residue. (We actually got a process which vacuumed the tank clean, sampled soil to show it hadn't leaked, and then filled the empty tank with plastic beads so it didn't settle.)

First pic shows the holly tree higher than the house.

We got online (very early days of public internet) and found a guy would buy large holly logs. Wanted on a skid, ends painted (I had yellow) to dry evenly, and wrapped. I trimmed the limb-stubs to get maximum board-feet on the skid. And what was he doing? Making PENS! Beautiful writing pens in all woods, but he didn't need full logs, and I doubt he ever sold all that he bought from me. But he seemed happy, and apologized for not returning my ratchet-straps (I knew they were never coming off without a knife).

[scstill]

Yes these Toyon berries are bright red today (July 1, 2022)
This post says "The city of Hollywood was name for this plant."
https://calscape.org/Heteromeles-arbutifolia-(Toyon)
Some posts say edible, some say toxic. Guess I'll just stay with the blackberries :-)

BTW - In addition to the doe and fawns today, there was a Jerusalem Cricket (the "alien") and a Western Diamondback (10 rattle pairs would be 3-5yr old). I walked up on him heard the rattle and then saw him coiled just in time. Whew....

[shooter]

I spent a few years vacationing in the hi-desert of NM and AZ, you folk got some interesting critters 
My 1st day I was introduced to the western diamond back and the tarantula!
If version 3 camper passes it's shake-down cruise, I might head there for 'ol time sake, maybe see my 1st scorpion. 

[PRR]

I did not know you can get rattlesnake vaccine for your dog.

(There's no poison snakes for hundreds of miles from here; also Chloe is scared to go in the woods.)

The other wildlife excitement here is Star-Nose Moles. Very strange critters, 90% of their brain wired to nose-feelers, specialized for finding bugs under leaves. Now five of them, all dead next to the driveway, no visible wounds.

[sluckey]

Now five of them, all dead next to the driveway, no visible wounds.

And that's a good thing.

[scstill]

I take it back the sunflowers are still blooming.
And today's wildlife company is a group of 5 Turkey Vultures

[shooter]

Turkey Vultures

we call 'em turkey buzzards here.  They like summering here.  Pam tells 'em "Not yet keep flying"

[rake]

There are plenty of rattlesnakes and copperheads here in south central NC
but in almost 25 years now we have never seen one on the farm. See we have
a very large Eastern Black Kingsnake that resides in our pump house. You see,
these kingsnakes look at rattlers and copperheads as food! 

[shooter]

met a few Eastern diamondbacks while rockclimbing, seems they like that warm rock where I want to put my fingers!!
all we have in MI is a Messasagga (SP?) has rattles, is poisonous, but typically not deadly, they are kept in check by folks with guns.

[shooter]

The hummingbirds are happy
Arbor 25yrs ago and a 1ft vine

[sluckey]

We call that cow itch vine down here. Lots of it everywhere. Very invasive. Loves telephone poles.

[scstill]

Any hikers out there?
Tues wife and I "bagged" Mt Baldy (10mi, 4000ft) in SoCal, Angeles Forest
Some new flowers were discovered.
https://stillampd.com/wildflowers-california

[scstill]

A couple more views from the office

[sluckey]

Beautiful scenery.

[shooter]

Nice, my last effort to bag Mt Baldy maybe 15yrs back, by the time we got near the base, everything went to FOG, thick, heavy, headlights didn't even make dent.  We waited about an hour, but our trip was time limited, so we moved on to the big trees!

[shooter]

"spearweed" is the name we gave it, circa 60's
as the ground thawed, all the kids came out of hibernation, these would be dried, easy to pull up, tweak, then throw at moving targets 
this one is ~ 8'
never did lookup the proper name

[scstill]

looks like there would be a lot of mosquitos around.

[shooter]

 
we donate a pint every walk!
the deerfly are worse, they eat meat and blood!
this area is locally called "the swamps" or "the marshes"
places were the glacier rubble settled, then melted, then eroded into small ponds and intermittent stream-lets.
folk-lore says when the cows were moved to railheads during the wet season they tied up the legs and rolled them through the marshes 

[shooter]

when the Buckhorns start turnin red, you know the Sun is moving in the wrong direction

[sluckey]

White Texas Star. 7' tall plant with 8" blooms.

[PRR]

We have little tiny wild blueberries. (Not the cultivated freaks.)

[scstill]

The birds are blooming too. All six feeders are this busy.