Spring at Last

[Growing Coastal]

We had a freak warm spell and it has brought out the fullness of spring.

Orange Crowned/Ruby Crown Warblers come to bathe. The chicken wire is up to keep out the crows who like to eat their food wet after they've dabbled it in the fountain. Pink camelia in the fountain too.


This is a fresh out of the nest hummingbird. The first I've seen this year. Beak tip covered in pollen from the scented viburnum. I didn't know they liked this flower.


Getting a little extra lift by fanning the tail feathers.


And then it sat on a cage nearby. The wire is just the right size for those tiny feet.


That pollen is lip smackingly good!


Alarm as a crow flies overhead cawing.
A nest line can be seen across the tummy of the bird starting from the left.


Nap time. They sleep for a few seconds at a time, ever watchful, waking to check.


When the bin I was sitting on started to fold and collapse i moved one foot a little and hummy saw that! They are very wary of anything moving on the ground.


I saw it feed on this polyanthus later. It is up high in a pot. An alpine plant that likes shade.




Found this under the leaf of a regular primrose.


The hummingbird is spending its days hanging out in the hedge that also contains a Quince they like to feed on.


This azalea at the front door is at least three weeks ahead of its normal bloom time, just starting. Lilacs are also in bud early. We had a milder winter.

[bower]

Wow that is a treat to behold. Thankyou for sharing your spring while I wait for mine!

[GoDawgs]

Absolutely gorgeous! It's nice to see spring things again so that you for sharing this.

Is that yellow flowering plant a Kerria?

[Growing Coastal]

Kerria, yes. I brought it with me from house to house for 10 years until it got here 30 years ago. It runs and is somewhat invasive but I don't care. It mixes well with the Quince and purple rhodo not yet in bloom. Actually, that quince is from the same place the Kerria came from. An old Japanese acerage in the country along the Fraser River on the mainland. There were long sheds that were used for storing and mending fishing nets, a chicken coop and delta soil that went down many feet produced rows of raspberries as well as these plants that I loved. It was the first time I saw pear apples too.
The people, being smaller, had built the kitchen counters lower than usual for N/A. I will always remembeer when the neighbour's Irish Wolfhound came in the back door and helped herself to a pound of butter that was thawing on the low counter. Just too easy and tempting!
The people came back one year to ask if they could pick a certain plant. The leaf looked like wasabi but the stalk was long, maybe 2 ft. They said they pickled the stems, for them, a delicacy.

Boy. I'm a blatherskite today! Locked up for too long!

[SpookyShoe]

Great photos!!!!!

[GoDawgs]

Great story, Coastal!

I hadn't seen Kerria in ages so I was just wondering. We used to grow it at the ornamental production nursery where I worked for 18 years but it was dropped. That running habit made it a logistical nightmare to maintain in pots. It was forever needing pruning but you couldn't prune them after bud set because then they wouldn't bloom and having blooms on the plants was the only way they'd sell! By that time the whole block of them would become a matted mess.

[Growing Coastal]

Oh yes, I describe Kerria as being invasive, for sure. Yet, I have it in one corner where it has not run wild in the 30 yrs it's been there. It did run more where I have the quince and dark purple rhodo but I keep an eye on it and can keep it in check where it grows next to a path. It does make for a great colour addition in the mix, especially nice for bringing light to dark spots.



Most people like to keep their plants seperate. Not me. I do like other gardening styles where there isn't a lot of mixing but this lends itself to providing bird habitat and protection from hawks. It is more clear on the ground than the spreading branches above.
We tend to see hummingbirds out in the open and at the edges where flowers grow. There is a juvenile hummingbird who is spending a lot of time in there enjoying the flowers, napping, coming out to bathe and go visiting other places.




Here enjoying a grevillea, a native of Australia. New Zealand has fuchsia trees but neither country has hummingbirds.



Having a little stretch.


He is starting to show colour at his throat. I might think that he is a female except that he has started to sing. Anna's males are the only sort of hummingbird that has anything like a song, a raspy sound unlike regular bird song.


He gets right in there in the thick of things to get at the quince flowers.


Yawn


Skinny, tiny legs touching down for a bath, not at all intimidated by the sparrow unless it moves quickly.


I don't keep a feeder but they all come for water.


The fragrance of these violas is delightful.

[Whwoz]

@Growing Coastal, We may not have Hummers, but we have a lot of different honeyeaters down under, some of them very pretty in there own right. Would place that Grevillea in the rosmarinafolia (rosemary like foliage) group. Prickly thing i'd bet. Good to see the odd Aussie plant over there. So much of your country they could not survive in due to the cold.

[PlainJane]

[mention]Growing Coastal[/mention] I’m so impressed with your hummingbird photos. I’ve stalked my resident pair many times and can’t get close enough for decent shots of them.
Funny, I never hear anything out of the male but the female is always squeaking away. Certainly not a song by any stretch but she’s very conversational.
Love the combination of colors with your flowering shrubs. It’s forever that I heard of anyone having Grevillea.
The Protea family carries some fascinating members.

[GoDawgs]

Love the hummer shots and captions! And those violas... an absolute stunning explosion of color. Maybe I should say "a riot of color". Hmmm, what about an explosive riot of color?

[kath]

Thank you for posting all of these gorgeous photos! Absolutely beautiful! Can't wait for our spring to really be here to stay.

[bjbebs]

I can vouch for that viburnum being a hummer magnet. I have a Korean Spice that opens up about the time the birds show up. One feeder is hung nearby that they don't even seem to use. Too far away for a good picture but they are on the schub now.

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[Growing Coastal]

The scent of the one I have is heavenly. I don't know the name of it. It does have a wee bit of pink as it opens out into white.
Solomon's Seal also white is attractive to them.


I'm not sure that Centaurea is a regular part of their diet or whether the youngster is just trying it out.


Here he is on my potted blueberry one evening.

[Growing Coastal]

@Growing Coastal I’m so impressed with your hummingbird photos. I’ve stalked my resident pair many times and can’t get close enough for decent shots of them.
Funny, I never hear anything out of the male but the female is always squeaking away. Certainly not a song by any stretch but she’s very conversational.
Love the combination of colors with your flowering shrubs. It’s forever that I heard of anyone having Grevillea.
The Protea family carries some fascinating members.

I have had visitors who say they have never seen a hummingbird sit still before watching them do so in my yard. They like the shrubs to hang out in and nap during the day. They need a place to sit still at and really like the size of clothes line and height to sit guard over the flowers on. I put branches out with the right sized twigs for them in places where they can sit and I can see them. Otherwise they tend to sit inside or under shrubs and trees where there is little light or at the tops where skylight interferes with photos.
It takes luck, time and a little stealth. The youngsters are not afraid for a while after they hatch out of their nests and they are easier to get close to then.
The Anna's are not as zippy as are the Rufous which helps too!

[Growing Coastal]

I almost forgot Mrs Wilson who sits across the yard from the dark rhodo.
She is at least 8 ft tall. Hummingbirds leave them alone though the wild bees do like rhodo flowers.
The coloured objects are old glass hummingbird feeders that do not work well and are only used to attract.

[Growing Coastal]

This was the start of the honelysuckle and lacecap hydrangea.


Complete with hummingbirds, of course.




If you see Fragrant Cloud at a nursery, do your nose a favour and have glorious sniff.


Hotlips always starts out in a blaze of red. Nice with the Snow-in-Summer.


Dame's Rocket is over at the start of summer.






I think this one was fresh!


Compassion is another fragrant beauty.


Dogwoods are finishing. (At the park)




Beauty birch bark


Cherry sap exuding from a tree by the river. Is there a use for this? My mother told us that they used to chew it as gum when they were kids in the old country where there was no such thing as chewing gum, then. Bland tasting. Yes, I tried it.


Cherry bark lasts longer than the wood it surrounds once it is down on the ground. Great colours.


Back in the garden, I love this daisy.


That little hummy did a great job pollinating the blueberries!



Woo Hoo! Looks like some poppies for summer.

[MissS]

Your photos are amazing. I can almost smell those flowers. Nice capture on the newly eclosed Swallowtail unfolding into all its glory.

[Growing Coastal]

Well! Spring is long past and we had a summer of almost no summer here this year but still, things grew.

I see I left off with the poppies. They were fun to grow though they ended up in pots they did well.

One sort was mixed flowers and fairly large pods.














The giant poppy had all one type of flower.








The giants could have been larger.

[Growing Coastal]

Geranium peeking out from a surround of golden oregano.


I have one epiphylum cactus left. It sleeps in the cool garage during winter.






Broad beans did well despite competition from tree roots for water.





Later on, figs were a nice size this year and lots of them, close to 40 lbs.


Not a great shot of this bumble bee cosy in a Wedding Day rose blossom in June.


No matter how much I prune off it this rose grows and grows! Scented, delightfully dangerous!

[Growing Coastal]

A few roses


This Fairy rose has a fabulous scent for such a tiny flower.


Of course, I didn't only grow flowers.


The deliciously sweet Mr Snow sported a few marbled leaves.








This one is really different from any other tomato I have grown.






Delicious!


I don't recommend Baby Wine. Too bland. Too bad. It is such a strong healthy potato leaf plant! Maybe a good parent for a cross? A mistaken planting. Mixed seed or something.






I didn't get quite 200 lbs of tomatoes. In this poor year the 1st truss on all plants was way undersized.