Waiting for the Circus to Arrive

The calendar may say February 1, but if I didn't know better I would think it was April.  Today's high temperature is supposed to be in the low 50's, and yesterday it got up to 61 degrees, warm enough that I quickly shed my coat while running errands around town.  It looks, feel, and smells like spring! 

Days like these make me eager to see blooms, of course, but also to see some of my usual spring and summer visitors.  The bumblebees, like this one enjoying the white salvia in the Arbor Bed last year, will probably be among the first to arrive.

Going through old photo files the last few weeks, I realized I had intended to do a reprise of 2010's Cirque du Prairie, but never got around to it.

While 2011 did have some acrobatic performers like this balancing bee  . . .

. . . or the mantis trapeze artist, 

. . . most were content with less death-defying activities. 

A variety of performers, however, kept the show interesting.  Some were so small they often went unnoticed until downloading photos onto the computer.

Others sent the audience searching through books and websites to find their names.

While there were plenty of bees in last summer's show, the circus appeared to have been downsized in other areas, perhaps another victim of the poor economy.  Butterflies, especially, were fewer in number in 2011.

Still, some of the usual performers showed up, like this Buckeye and the swallowtail in the previous photo.

And the Tiger Swallowtail, which found my new delphinium as captivating as I did.

The stars of the show, the Monarchs, finally showed up in late summer and early autumn.  You might notice a theme here, besides the obvious one.  Favorite perches for photo shoots were the coneflowers and the cosmos.  Agastaches and zinnias were also popular.  As I plan this season's garden, I am making sure to allow space for all these bee and butterfly magnets.

Moths also found the cosmos appealing.

Red admirals made a brief appearance, but somehow escaped the photographer.  However, I did manage to capture this unusual visitor--though not very well--after following him around the garden for awhile.  It was the first time I had seen this particular butterfly in my garden, and I still haven't identified him.

A brief visit by a fritillary was also welcome--it's not often that they visit my garden.

Some visitors avoided the spotlight, but left evidence of their amazing talents.

Although there weren't as many butterflies seen this year, the hummingbirds were numerous. This lovely lady (?) even was kind enough to pose for a long while, as long as I didn't get any closer.

Much to my delight, she was soon joined by a friend.

 A hot and dry summer in Illinois also means a multitude of grasshoppers, though not quite this size:)  This giant grasshopper was part of an exhibit of insects crafted from natural materials at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, which I visited in November.  I'm not particularly fond of grasshoppers, but I'm glad the ones in my garden weren't this Kafkaesque:)

Digressing for a moment,  I wanted to add a note to my last post.  One of the elements you won't see much of in my new Arbor Bed, or any of my garden areas, for that matter, is garden art.  Although I admire artfully placed objects and whimsical additions to others' gardens, I am too cheap frugal to spend much on decorative touches and not creative enough to come up with my own.  Even when I do have something, it takes me a long time to know how and where to place it.  Dear friend Beckie gave me these garden gnomes early in the summer.  I'm not much of a gnome person, as she knows, and stuck them under the arbor bench temporarily...which is where they stayed all year:)

However, some garden visitors enjoyed this placement. 

I rather like the more natural look of this garden "art," don't you?

Even better, the art exhibit changes periodically:)

Ah yes, Tarzan, Toby, and the rest of the furry clan are eagerly looking forward 

to the 2012 edition of Cirque du Prairie.  Maybe we won't have to wait long--I just saw the first bee flying around here today!

The Garden Team Welcomes Spring

As if on cue, the first hellebore opened this week.  More crocuses and primroses are blooming each day, and I spotted the first daffodil bud yesterday.  Yes, at long last spring has arrived!  Although the calendar's marking of spring doesn't automatically mean warm and sunny days here in central Illinois, there were several beautiful days this past week--even reaching to 70 degrees on Thursday!--that put me into a happy spring mood.  I cleaned up most of the flowerbeds, and now I'm anxious to start spring planting, although I know it's much too soon. 

This year there is some added stress to the spring ritual of gardening: my daughter and son-in-law-to-be decided they wanted to hold their wedding reception on our front lawn.  While we've been busy reserving a tent, hiring a DJ, and checking out caterers, to me this also means I want my garden to be perfect by the first of June.   While waiting for the weather to become more cooperative, I've been busy making lists of chores to be done and plants to buy this spring.  I've also talked to the garden staff, making sure that each understands his/her duties and the importance of getting everything done early this year.

"What garden staff?" you may ask.  That is a valid question, since I am always complaining explaining that I do all the garden work myself and that my efforts are limited by my time and stamina. However, I do have some full-time garden team members, and actually, some of you may have met them before, but perhaps didn't realize their valuable roles here at the Prairie.   Since I am depending on their assistance more than ever this year, I think it's time to properly introduce them and describe each one's important position on the staff:

Sophie:  Head of Excavation

Duties: Digging holes, assisting in soil prep and in weed pulling.

Sophie is eager to help in any way in the garden, but she excels in digging deep holes and pulling out stubborn weeds and debris when given some direction.

She is also the keeper of the garden gloves.  When she is let out of the house, she finds the gloves in my garden tote by the back door and takes one with her to let me know that she is ready for some garden time.  Unfortunately, by the time she hands them back to me, they may be missing a fingertip or two, but we are willing to overlook this minor flaw because of her overall work ethic and enthusiasm.

Other than myself, no one is happier to spend time in the garden than Sophie. When she's not busy digging or assessing the fragrance of new plants, she enjoys spending time bird-watching or chasing the occasional squirrel or rabbit away from the garden.

Marmalade: Head of Wildlife Management

Duties: Patrolling the garden and the surrounding area for small rodents and other pests. 

Quiet and rather shy, Marmalade is a true outdoorswoman.  Although her sleeping quarters are in the garage, particularly on cold winter nights, she will not enter the house and prefers to spend most of her time outside.  Her quiet demeanor helps her to excel in this position--not a mouse has been seen near the house in years. 

Although Marmalade is the head of this department, she is assisted by all the other staff members.  An incident last summer illustrates the cooperative effort of the staff:  Sophie discovered a vole near the front garden bed and unearthed it, then, when it ran up on to the porch, Toby and Tarzan (not pictured) kept a watchful eye on it until it eventually disappeared.  I'm not sure of the actual fate of the vole, which is probably just as well.

Sasha: Head of Quality Control

Duties: Collecting data on plant varieties; assisting in garden design

Sasha would rather work alone and prefers the heated/air-conditioned office to being outdoors in the middle of the day.  Because of this, her forays into the garden are limited to short periods of time (between naps) and used for general inspection.  She is particularly interested in aromatic plants, such as catmint, and offers her expert opinion on their quality.  Various vantage points in the garden also give her a different perspective on the overall design.

She is also the resident "plant sitter" if I am away, though her technique leaves something to be desired.

Tarzan: Vice President of Employee Relations and Head of Arbitration

Duties:  Providing encouragement and support to all staff members, including the head gardener; resolving any employee disputes.

If Tarzan attended kindergarten, he would bring home report cards with high marks in "plays well with others."  Sometimes living and working together twenty-four hours a day can cause team members' tempers to flare.  But Tarzan always keeps his cool disposition and is ready to offer a calming gesture.  He was the first of the feline contingent to embrace Sophie when she arrived. and he displays a remarkably open mind to all species, be they human, feline, or canine.  Besides Sophie, Tarzan is also the one most likely to accompany me as I garden, offering me encouragement and occasionally lightening my mood with his silliness.

And after a long day in the garden, Tarzan doesn't quit--to help Sophie unwind,

he even gives kitty massages!

Toby: Garden CEO

Duties: Whatever Toby wants to do . . .

Whether it is his aristocratic lineage or the fact he spent his formative years entirely indoors, Toby has less interest in the garden than in the creatures that inhabit the yard and trees.  (If you would like to know more about Toby's background, you can read earlier posts about him  here  or here  .)  As the senior member of the staff, Toby finds manual labor distasteful and prefers to oversee garden work from a comfortable perch.   Make no mistake about it, though, he is the lord of the manor and our little fiefdom.

Staff orientation was held this past week, including some stern reminders about unnecessary digging and "fertilization" in the garden.  Last year's perennials have been cut back, seeds have been purchased, and garden gloves washed.  The team is anxious and ready to work--let the gardening season begin!

An Alternative Method for Vole Control

This morning Frances posted an excellent tutorial on how to control voles in the garden.   I hadn't planned on doing a post today, but just by chance this afternoon my own Vole Patrol was on duty, inspiring me to present an alternative method of controlling these pesky varmints that can dig up your precious plants.  For this, the lazy gardener's method of vole control, no hardware cloth or tools are needed. 

All you need is one dog who has a keen sense of smell and likes to dig.

You will notice the now deceased vole to the left of the photo.  For the faint of heart, I did spare you the sight of the other more disgusting photos.  Suffice it to say that Sophie still thinks everything is a chew toy.

The second requirement for this method is a cat.  In this case, the credit for the vole capture goes to Tarzan who initially caught the little creature.  How Sophie managed to wrest the vole away from Tarzan is a mystery, as I missed this exchange.  However, Tarzan seemed content with letting Sophie have the spoils.  Cooperation in completing garden chores is always a good thing.

While my method produces the desired results with a minimum amount of work, if you do have a problem with voles, I highly recommend you follow Frances' advice.  Besides, there are a few disadvantages to my method: you can't plan the procedure, the digging used to draw the vole out is sometimes harder on the plants than the vole was, and it's hard to convince Sophie that her new "toy" is not allowed in the house!

I apologize if this left you a little disgusted, so here's a much prettier photo to cleanse your palate.  While I was convincing Sophie to come back inside without the vole, I noticed a Monarch floating above the garden.  I was so happy to see it, because I thought all the Monarchs had left already, and I followed it with my camera for several minutes.  Instead of landing, though, on a pretty bloom remaining the garden, it stopped in the grass.  Who knew I still had dandelions blooming in October??

Cirque du Prairie

Although recent days have been warm and sunny, the days are definitely getting shorter and nights are much cooler.  The ground has been covered with a light frost several mornings, but nothing serious enough to affect the garden yet.  But even though the plants that survived the summer's drought are still hanging on, one group of performers has already packed its bags and left for their winter home in Florida.  That's right--the circus has left town!

What, you didn't have a circus in your garden this summer?  If you missed it, let me share some of the most popular acts that appeared here this season:

There were balancing acts high above the floor of the Big Top.

Tightrope walkers . . .

 Acrobats . . .

. . . and Contortionists.

 There were so many daring feats they made me dizzy just watching.

This performer scaled a sheer vertical cliff effortlessly without any ropes.

There were numerous balancing acts that would make your head spin . . .

The lion tamers were equally brave, showing no fear of the mighty cats with their powerful jaws. 

There were jugglers as well who could catch a stick in mid-air.

And what would a circus be without the clowns?

  I think we might have had a flea circus visiting, too, but I repeatedly sent them packing!

(Please note: The juggler, clown, and "lion" have not vacated the premises

but will be overwintering here.)

And the most breath-taking of all--the trapeze artist, swinging from high above without a net. Gasp!



There were many times over the years, back when my four children were growing up and I was teaching full-time that I thought my life was a three-ring circus.  But life goes at a much slower pace now, and my juggling talent is seriously diminished.  Instead, I'm content to sit on the sidelines and cheer on my little circus performers.  I do hope they come back next summer for a return engagement.