Toby's Memorial Garden

I finally put our "Toby's Memorial Garden" sign into the triangle garden in the front yard.  When this garden is in full bloom it contains lots of pink Astilbe, Sweet Woodruff, the sacrificial Hosta that the deer enjoy munching on, purple Campanula flowers, Pink Bells, and more.

This is the perfect place for the sign as our big, blind, blonde, beautiful boy used to love to sniff the flowers and do full body rubs against plants.

Here is a close-up of the gorgeous red Dianthus flowers that are just coming into bloom for the summer. 

And, finally...here is a photo I took of the memorial garden sign, when it arrived, with snow as the backdrop to show you the gorgeous details of it.

Planting Cucumber and Salad Greens

Today, we assembled the City Picker grow boxes and I planted the lettuce, parsley, and cucumber seeds as well as the Arat Parsley Root seeds that had been soaking overnight. This is the earliest I have ever planted the garden seeds, but it seems like it will be warm enough. We'll see!

I planted a gourmet blend of lettuce seeds that have been successful for many years. I also planted Italian flat parsley seeds into one of the openings.

I am trying a few new types of cucumbers this year. Drew has always been a fan of the burpless cucumbers that his father used to grow, so I am trying those this year.  And, the Homemade Pickle Cukes are new for this year.

Wells Police Department Public Service Announcement

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We haven't seen the sun since May 15th, but today there were brief moments of sunshine peeking through the cloud cover. It was a welcome sight! I must say that I am starting to recharge my Mojo and I am at about 70% right now! Tomorrow should top up my Mojo tank to 100% ! I'm back, Baby!

Getting the vegetable garden started

Yay! We did not have but a sprinkle of moisture falling out of the sky today! And, there were peeks of sunshine periodically throughout the day. It was a good day to start planting vegetable seeds.

I planted kohlrabi seeds into two 15 gallon grow bags. The carrots and arat parsley root are all in taller, skinny bags to accommodate their long tap roots. I have the Arat Parsley Root seeds soaking overnight in water so as to help them sprout. I will plant them in their prepared cloth bag tomorrow.

The garlic plants are looking great!!! My garlic bed is tiny, but mighty!

Rain and Rain Barrels

I have been hibernating for the last three cold, dreary, rainy days. Today, I kept thinking we are surely going to see the Sun soon as I cannot remember when we saw it last. So, I checked the monthly weather and no wonder I am going stir crazy. We haven't seen the Sun since May 15! Considering that I seem to be fueled by the Sun, I should get my mojo back on Monday!

The rain barrels are out capturing rainwater runoff from the roof. They are already half full! This water will be used only on our flowering plants. (Remember not to use roof runoff on food crops, as animals and birds leave poop on the roof and that water can give you Salmonella and other bacterial infections.) We use well water for our vegetables and blueberries.

Flower Gardening

Today, I got to dig in the dirt and it felt so good! I bought 4 plants from Mid Coast Growers: Blue Columbine, Red Columbine, Dianthus (pinks), and Elfin Impatiens. I always buy impatiens to put into the planter hanging below the window of the equipment shed. Although, I might have to replace the planter next year!

My goal is to plant everything I buy on the same day that I buy it. That will limit what I buy as I really don't need much more as my gardens are so full! I planted the two columbines in the center stump garden.

Here is an overview of the backside of the garden showing the location of the columbines. I had King Crocosmia growing and taking over the garden, so I dug it up earlier this spring which left a opening for new plants! Ha Ha! My motto seems to be that every opening must be filled with plants!

I planted a red Dianthus in a stump in the triangle garden. It will look so pretty there! The stump was originally a red maple tree and is decaying rather rapidly. There was a lot of good soil in it. I also added some freshly dug up humus.

I transplanted two Asiatic lilies that I had planted in the wrong location for years. Now, they reside in the top of another stump in the front yard! This may still be a bad location as it might not get enough sun, but time will tell if I have to transplant them somewhere else next year.

I am loving a stand of Blue Bugle that has spread in the yard. I can see it from where I sit on my birding bench.

The bees love the blue bugle as well. Here is a closeup of the lovely flowers.

In the fenced-in backyard, I have my wonderfully majestic Empress Wu hosta that was gifted to my by my gardening guru friend, Veronica. I wasn't sure Wu would make it through the winter, but here she is leafing out nicely. I have given her a huge area to spread out in.

My three clematis plants made it through the winter as well. This is a clematis that is probably 20 years old and I never planted it in the correct location until last year. It loves being on the north side of the yard, up against the fence. I have never seen it so happy! I fertilized all of the clematis plants with Rose Tone and also mixed in some humus into the soil around the base of each plant.

This clematis plant will have purple flowers. It seems happy here and I am hoping that it will have more that one healthy vine. The second vine looks very short. I must be patient as this might be a variety that takes awhile to become established.

The third clematis plant will have pink flowers. It looks quite healthy with several vines. I think it will thrive.

Fuchsia to attract hummingbirds

I bought a gorgeous Fuchsia hanging basket from our local Mid-Coast Growers. We also bought a shepherd's hook to hang it on. It is now in our little triangle garden and we are hoping that the hummingbirds will enjoy its nectar. Geesh... I hope the deer leave it alone as it is hanging above their beloved hosta!

The flowers are stunning! I have friends with Fuchsia plants and they say the hummingbirds love, love, love these flowers.

Jack-in-the-pulpit

 
I do love Jack-in-the-Pulpit. I found it growing in my Solomon's Seal/Trillium garden on the north side of the property where I have a tall white pine "stump garden".

Pink Lady's Slipper

 
We went for a walk along Hix Small Cemetery Road and found that the Pink Lady's Slipper flowers were almost ready to open. I get so excited to see them.

We saw 8 plants, 7 of which had flower stalks.

2025 Maine Big Night Total Tally

2025 Maine Big Night Total Tally

Traffic Tally:  80 vehicles

Species Live: 

Spring Peepers - 138

American Bullfrogs - 6

Green Frogs - 4

Pickerel Frogs - 12 

Wood Frogs - 1

American Toads - 21

Eastern Newts - 8

Red Efts (Juvenile Eastern Newt) - 0

Spotted Salamanders - 17

Northern Two-lined Salamanders - 0

Red-backed Salamanders - 1

Species Dead:  

Spring Peepers - 17

Green Frogs - 1

Pickerel Frogs - 1

American Toads - 2

Spotted Salamanders - 2

Species Injured:

Spring Peepers - 1

NOTES: 1 live gravid crayfish helped across the road; 1 year old painted turtle dead in the road

Blueberry plant on stump

I was wandering around the yard looking at my stump gardens when I found a surprise. A small blueberry plant is growing from the top of the stump in the center stump garden!

Somebody must have dropped a blueberry or two in there at some point.

Check out the blueberry flowers on it!

Flowers at Center Point Preserve

 This is my favorite season at Center Point Preserve as I find some of my favorite flowers in bloom over the next few weeks.

I was on the lookout for Painted Trillium as they are just coming into bloom. They are close to the ground and I was looking for flashes of white in the woods. I wasn't disappointed as there were small groupings... 

and some Trillium singlets visible on the west side of the trail where the ground is often damp.

I practically jumped for joy upon finding my first grouping of Fringed Polygala, aka Bird-on-the-Wing. They really are attention grabbers!

Here is a close-up of one. They really do look like birds or butterflies flying. I found these flowers in groups on both sides of the trail.

Another flower in great abundance was the Starflower.

I love Wood Anemone as well. They are in the buttercup family.

I also saw lots of Sessile Bellwort plants which are characterized by the drooping of the top of the stem.

I wasn't surprised to find wild strawberry plants in abundance. They are in flower now, and will bear tiny strawberries in awhile.

I didn't come across many, but I was pleasantly surprised to find this wild blueberry plant right next to the trail.

There were Violets everywhere. The are incredibly prolific and provide so much color along the trail.

Clumpings of Bluets were in many sunny, poor soil areas. From what I have observed here in Maine, the bluets range from light blue in color to white.

And, I wouldn't want to leave out such a cheery flower as the Dandelion. Their nectar is a great source of food for bees and ants. The Dandelions were mostly found along the sides and in the center of the trail.

2025 Maine Big Night #8

 Maine Big Night #8. Paul was the only member of our team on the road assisting amphibians tonight. 

LH1Bowd (This year's participants are me, Paul, and Caroline)

May 3 - Start time: 8:20pm.     End Time: 9:20pm

Certified Volunteers - 1

Uncertified Volunteers - 0

Starting Temp: 56F.      Ending Temp:  56F

Precipitation: Light Rain

The road is wet

Traffic Tally:  18 vehicles

Species Live: 5 Spring Peepers, 2 American Bullfrog, 8 American Toads, 1 Pickerel Frog, 4 Green Frogs, 1 Red-backed Salamander

Species Dead: 1 Spring Peeper, 1 Green Frog

Species Injured:0

NOTE: 1 dead year old Painted Turtle

"Millicent the Magnificent" Magnolia

"Millicent the Magnificent" Magnolia is in her full blooming glory! And, the floral fragrance is divine...

And, it is not just me who enjoys "Millicent the Magnificent", the robins usually nest amidst her branches as well.