Bergenia (Bressingham white, possibly)

Hello there! Welcome to another blog post written during the Covid-19 ‘stay-at-home’ time. Confession: I’m afraid that I am not one of those people who have completely organized their home, weeded the entire garden, finished countless craft projects, learned a new skill, and managed to not loose my cool while living and working with 4 other adults (full time!) during these uncertain times. There have been good days, and there have been gloomy days. I’m learning to take them as they come. I think that everyone’s energy levels are a bit down. There feels to be a weight on my (everyone’s?) shoulders, which I’ve named ‘Everything Covid-19’. Thankfully, there are more good days than gloomy, and I wouldn’t trade this time with my family for anything. There is definitely good to be found in every situation. But I have to be realistic with myself, and not beat myself up if this slower pace means, well, that the bar needs to be lowered a bit! 🙂

The plus side: there is lots of beauty in the garden, even with minimal work on my side. Also, I just finished crocheting a blanket which was a new pattern for me (more on that in a later post). We even had a BBQ outside, something that due to schedules and weather, we have rarely done in the past. Finally, we acquired two new chickens (I purchased chicken feed from a local farmer and picked up two cuties while I was at it). Integrating them with my 1.5 year old hens was/is challenging!

So life has been ticking on for us, amid the Covid-19 situation around the entire world. I am grateful that we are able to stay home and stay safe. I’m more aware of my gratitude these days, as there is so much that I am grateful for. I’m also grateful for my blog, and for connecting with people from around the world. I hope you find it to be a sanctuary, like my garden is to me.

Enjoy the pictures, which give a sampling of what has been happening here over the past few weeks.  And please do stay safe!

In Peace,
Dana

Bergenia ‘Bressingham White’ in full bloom

This white blooming bergenia (Bressingham white, I believe), is in full bloom and has never looked as pretty! It is rather difficult to see from this angle, as the grass is so long!

Oops! only half of this bed has been fully weeded! You can just see the Bergenia on the left.

Sunny days really do make a difference! The tulips are beautiful right now. I fear that tulip fire is making its way around the garden, though.

Tulips with Bergenia and Erysimum in the background

I just love evergreen trees. The one right behind the tulips is Abies Koreana, and the one below in the far background is a Nootka Cypress.

Tulips with Abies Koreana + Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’

The Aubrieta continues to provide beautiful color, along with the anemone ‘Mr. Fokker’. It is now also joined by tulips Merlot (and some stray tulip Ballerina).

Aubrieta and tulips on April 11

Aubrieta in two of the rose beds and a theme of very pink flowers!

A backdrop of Aubrieta for the Tulips Merlot

Tulip Merlot + Tulip Ballerina

I’m not sure, but this looks like tulip fire

This vase was a perfect match for the Ballerina tulips.

I added some vases of flowers to my kitchen this week. I brought in Ballerina tulips and some grape hyacinth.  It was interesting to see how they changed as they ‘matured’.

Grape hyacinth and Ballerina tulips

So, we ran out of gas for our grill, but that didn’t stop us from having one heck of a BBQ outside! Some wood, some charcoal, some determined people, we made it happen. You’ll notice that I am dressed for winter, while my kids are quite comfortable in much less clothing! I feel the cold much more than they do 🙂

The First BBQ of the season!

Moving on from the BBQ – I’ll add that we did not eat chicken – let’s talk about our pet chickens!

The first introduction to the older hens

One thing that we have learned is that you can’t just add ‘new’ chickens to ‘old’ chickens. They need to be integrated over a period of time. We didn’t realize how trying this was going to be! The older girls (they are 1 and a half years old now) were not nice to the ‘babies’ who are 5 months old. The first night, we actually kept the babies in our back-room (in the crate). But not before we snuggled with them to make them feel welcome!

Just a chicken resting on my lap!

The next step was to have the new girls in a section of the run that was separated from the old girls. Everyone needed to be able to see each other, but not peck each other.

Our sectioned off area for the babies.

We maybe could have waited a few more days before mixed them all together, but they are now all together. Night time is tricky. I still supervise everyone going to bed, to make sure the babies aren’t getting a ‘peck’ before bed.

We now have two teams of two… Here is Sweet Pea and Iris under the hedge

Team Daisy + Rose resting together

This is the ladder we used to get in and out of the run to take care of the babies (yep, we need to build a gate!)

The chickens are getting along better in their run. The older girls still chase the babies, but they aren’t pecking them, which is a relief. The babies sure are fast!

Narcissus Sir Winston Churchill

Mom in the Garden – anything is possible when the weather is good! Take care!