Happy Birthday Month

According the government I am officially a Senior. I never would have thought while growing up during the times where we weren't supposed to trust anyone over 30 that I would ever make it to this age. 

I woke on my birthday and looked out to see that we had a light rain coming down and a bright yellow daylily 'Tetrina's Daughter' peeking at me around this begonia.

 

Speaking of daughters, our darling daughter came to visit with a 'Highlights' Arborvitae and a miniature hosta'Church Mouse' both of which were on my wish list. We also were treated to a lovely lunch out. 

The next morning in the drizzle my Dearly Beloved planted the Arborvitae for me.

It is replacing a rather large hydrangea that we took out in this spot. The hydrangea didn't ever bloom and I wanted something that will eventually block the view into my neighbors garden and my compost pile. 

 If you look through this arch you can see where the path takes you around to the gate where you can enter the neighbors garden. Our neighbor removed a small shed that really opened up their back garden to us. My hermit tendencies lead me to enclose the garden. 

This is how it looks from the neighbors view over the fence. Did you notice that big mushroom  like water trough beside the gazebo? More on that another time.

Yet another morning I found my Dearly Beloved in the floor with a splayed out project. 

Annie was right there with him making sure he gets it right. 

What he put together was another item that has been on my wish list. A nice new garden bench.  It is aluminum so I won't have to worry about rust or peeling paint (I hope).

Below is the dilapidated bench that is being replaced. It sits in front of our barn. I often pause here to rest or set items here before moving on. This was taken last month when the Viburnum and Chocolate Chips Ajuga was blooming

It is sort of a more quiet look now.  I also moved some plants out from behind where the old bench sat. I also added some 'Christmas' Ferns Polystichum acrostichoides since the hostas on either side of the bench are 'Christmas Tree'  Hosta. Now all I have to do is get some more mulch to cover the bricks that the bench is sitting on. Those feet on the new bench are so pointy they sink down into the mulch. 

My birthday Month, I mean DAY, has been filled with many blessings. I hope your June has been as good or better. 

Miscellaneous Monday

I am happy to report we have received a good share of  Miracle Moisture that I have been complaining about not having. I won't mind a bit of some of those 25% and 45% predictions of more Miracle Moisture show up.

The garden has certainly responded. It is such fun to find perky plants instead of droopy dull plants in the garden. Just step through this path off the patio and I will show you some other miscellany.

This flower bed has a bit of color in it now.  The first daylilies, a tall lily and a oak leaf hydrangea blooming up a storm. The blooms are small this year but it is good to see them. You can embiggin the photos if you want a close up look.

We have a tulip poplar that popped up at the edge of a flower bed. We have been trying to get one to grow out in the side lot for several year. We haven't had any luck. This I think of as a gift. Maybe I will leave it here since this is where it chose to live. 

Annie seems to be inspecting the Nikko Blue hydrangeas. Do you notice anything odd about this picture? These shrubs are normally several inches taller by this time of the year.  It seems a lot of plants are struggling this spring.

The Miracle Moisture also brought out jelly fungus.

It turned the white fungus that was growing on the rock below black, yuck.

The Miracle Moisture also brought out other creatures. This garter snake was keeping an eye on me.

It was a pretty bright color. Look how wide her mid section is. It is either pregnant or it had been eating something yummy. 

This past weekend I bought a few native plants that the Knox County Invasive Species Control Association was selling at the Farmers Market. This vine, Yellow Passionflower Pssiflora lutea, will hopefully climb up a pole it is planted beside. Will I be sorry about this? We will see. I also bought a Woolly Pipevine aristolochia tomiatosa, Foxglove beard tongue, Butterfly weed to add to what I have already. 

Speaking of butterflies. I had a Red Admiral  and this Eastern Tailed Blue Butterfly in between showers. Neither would hardly sit still for a portrait.

Lastly but not least we finally got a new top for our gazebo. It is so pleasant to be able to sit out in the early morning or late evening and not be eaten alive by mosquitoes. 

How is your garden getting on now? I hope you have had enough of the Miracle Moisture to keep things blooming.

Unusual sighting - Tacky Green Russula Mushroom

We had our daily walk with Annie this morning. The sky was still overcast and you could feel the humidity in the air. We had a good rain last evening with a promise of more rain this morning so we had to get out before the rain came pouring down. Since this is the first rain in June it was most appreciated.

As we came to the end of our walk there upon a mossy hummock along the road were these nice greenish mushrooms. I have never seen this color of mushroom before.

There were several scattered through the moss. This rather large one was knocked over. 

You can see the gills below. 

With me holding this you can tell it wasn't small. Probably 3 to 4 " wide.

As they were popping up this is how they looked.

My best guess by looking through a mushroom field guide is that it is a Tacky Green Russula   Russula aeruginea. My field guide is fairly old. It is the tenth printing (1994) of the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms.

If there is an updated name for this mushroom or if I am totally wrong about what it is I would be happy to know just what it is I have seen. 

I think our dry spring has made all sorts of plants happy to receive rain. Everything looks perky this morning.