Diario de joffenbacher

A variety of weather over the course of three months. With the pollinators tucked away, my focus turned to feeding the birds. Sparrows and a couple Cardinals spend the winter in the area. By late December or early January, I usually see a Robin or two and a large plague of Grackles as the weather turns cold. This year, they appeared later than usual. Although I shoveled snow on January 17 and 20, I did not see a Robin until 27. Grackles followed the next day, devoured my seed and then attacked the vines on my neighbor’s garage across the alley for additional food. It grew cold with below zero wind chills a couple days later. I always wonder if the Robins are Canadian and fly south staying close to my house after finding a food source. They devoured pound after pound of meal worms until leaving, in late Spring. It warmed to 50 degrees in early February bringing rain. I worked for several days ahead of a storm to clear the downspouts which were blocked by slowly melting snow that had frozen. The storm brought an inch of rain but turned to ice and snow threatening power lines. I maintained power but needed to dig out the driveway the next day and fixed the garage door that was s stuck to it. It rained again, two inches on 17, and I spent an early evening cleaning up water in the basement of this 152 year old house. By the last day of the month, it was warm enough to start working in the gardens.

I typically shovel snow on the back patio (essentially a small back yard with brick pavers) into the garden containing the Magnolia. As the large pile of snow melted, I saw my first Snow Drop in bloom, March 1. This bloom usually occurs weeks earlier. I no longer see my Winter Aconite planted with bulbs several years ago and vowed to get more. These harbingers of Spring are always a welcome sight..By March 3, I developed some type of allergic reaction while working outside which lasted a week. It could have come from the composted Magnolia blooms spread over the gardens last Fall. Or perhaps while cutting back the Hyssop or Agastache. Made another mental note to wear a mask next year around the aforementioned plants in the Spring and fertilize my plants in a different manner. By the second week of March, I saw growth from Bleeding Heart, Hellebores, Yellow Archangel, Bishops Cap, Coral Bells, Spiderwort, Catmint, and Lamium in large back patio planters. In the front gardens White and Purple Sage. Early buds formed the following week while Wood Poppy, Snake Root, Ligularia, and Toad Lilly started their first growth. I have two Mason Bee houses, one on each side of the house. In front, found a small, black ‘bee’ of some kind emerge from one of the holes, only to encounter a spider. A fight ensued. I interceded, perhaps to the detriment of each of the combatants. By 23 was picking whole Magnolia flowers in bloom off the back patio and the Forsythia bloomed across the alley on 26, the exact same day as last year.A cold night into the 20s browned the remaining blooms on the Magnolia. Then, snow on April 1 ended all hope for further flowering. First Hellebore bloom April 3. First Bluebell in the garden bloom April 7. Unfortunately, Bluebells in large container never returned. Saw my first Honeybee at McCoy Park on Clover while hitting off the Tee getting ready for softball season on April 20. First Mason Bee popped out of the back Mason Bee house still in the garage and started working the House now placed on the back patio on April 23. In addition, a presumably Queen Bumblebee feeding on Bleeding Heart the same day. This is my earlier sighting of one actually on flowers on my property. A wet April canceled all scheduled outdoor softball practice. Saw at least two Mason Bees working the House May 1. The cold squelched all plants intended to feed them. So, unsure where they obtain their food. After a cold week, there was only one. She lasted until the middle of the month. I was disappointed by the lack of opportunity to work side by side with the Mason Bees like last year, but there were still plenty of potential offspring for the following year as Nature provided two bees instead of one to achieve the same result. Saw my first Hummingbird at the feeder at dusk May 12. It was green and flew away quickly. I dumped 20 gallons of rainwater on the front plants on an 80 degree May 17, and saw my first Wasp of the year. In addition, a Woodlouse Spider feeding off the remaining decayed Magnolia blossoms around the catch pots. By 22, sage, Spiderwort, Catmint were blooming in front. Milkweed in the garden by 27, which seemed early. Saw my first Honeybee on the property 8 AM on Memorial Day and a Bumblebee on sage the following day.

Bee Balm and Coneflowers bloomed the first week in June, which seemed a little early this year. By the second week, I saw a small Bumblebee on the south garden Milkweed. Weather permitting, they became regular visitors in increasing numbers, 2,3,4 at a time. Dinner with a friend on 16, remarked that he had yet to see a bee in his garden plot area on the west side of town. I had not seen a Honeybee since May 31. That evening, had a power outage that lasted until mid morning. Previous outages in the area earlier in the week due to a storm. By 21, finally saw a Honeybee, a Sweat Bee, and a smaller black beee, perhaps a female Carpenter Bee, on 22. 27 saw what I believed to be a Yellow Jacket and a Ligated Furrow Bee on Blanket Flower. Great to see this diversity, however, butterflies were clearly fewer in numbers. Annually see a Cabbage White but no Monarchs this year. Sad. Hostas bloomed on porch early July and surprised to see Bumblebees on them with the availability of Natives. July 2, saw a Dancer on east fence. 6 heavy rainfall of 5 inches brought a text from Cousin Jake in Colorado the following morning saying he saw it on the news and eventually a power outage lasting 5-6 hours. 10 saw what I believe to be a Streaktail Butterfly on newly blooming Agastache. By 12, no longer seeing the small black bee but did see a small swarm of small, hyper whatever’s that landed momentarily on flowers and quickly flew away. This lasted for several days. By 28, Hyssop blooming became a Honeybee favorite. Had quite a few softball games rained out up to this point, but as we played more consistently, my observations and time in the gardens declined. Wool Corder Bees returned late July, sometimes two at a time. Gayfeather bloomed in early August but was only moderately popular given the other choices. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail observed mid August. 16 a large Bumblebee asleep on a flower for an extended period. Bumblebees and Honeybees continued to visit in large numbers through the end of the month as did a Wool Corder. Bought White, Blue, Red Cardinal Flower and an Obedient Plant that grew and bloomed into the Fall but was also of only moderate popularity.

I typically begin the season with a trip to buy Blanket Flower over the Labor Day weekend. Because it is often in short supply at this time, I need to visit a number of different places to find plants that are blooming and capable of sustaining late season pollinators. However, this flower has declined in popularity with all of the Natives now available on the property. However, with some recent Blanket Flower planted in pots, I believed that the trip was unnecessary. Both Stonecrop Seedum had just started to bloom, which has been particularly attractive to Honeybees. My new Cardinal Flower and Obedient Plant would soon be in bloom. And Hyssop and Agastache were continuing to be the primary choice in many instances. As the Summer Natives died out, Blanket Flower did attract some visitors by mid September. By this time, gardens and some potted plants started to look ragged. Plants that spread by seed had invaded other planters or the space of other plants in the gardens. In some instances, I didn’t mind so much because the new plants sustained my pollinators and are not designed to enhance the landscaping design. However, I do need to remove some of the new plants in areas where competition has reduced the productive growth of both plants. I saw a Bumblebee foraging for food in back at the end of the month. Last year, one discovered the Coral Bells in washtub planter by the garage, but such was not the case this year. Some cool days by the end of the month and the start of October. By 5, the weather had warmed and bees were out in full force. Hit or miss the rest of the month with colder and rainier days outnumbering the nice ones. A Cooper’s Hawk visited 10 looking to feed on one of the Sparrows eating seed on my property. Observed two Honeybees on 22 during the day and a solo Bumblebee a little later. Cleaned and filled the hot tub for the winter on 24. 25 brought a smaller, green type of ‘bee’ or ‘fly.’ Had not seen anything like this, previously, and was unable to identify it online. Later, saw the last Bumblebee of the season, a small one foraging the few remaining plants at dusk. A solo Honeybee on 27 and then finally on 29. Found a young opossum in my carport in the early afternoon, finding shelter from the rain. Many of the Magnolia leaves had been picked up by this time, having fallen a bit earlier than usual. Most of the outdoor work was completed by Thanksgiving. Cleaned out gardens and cut back plants on nicer days after that. As the weather became cold, brought planters into the sheltered area of the fenced in back patio and then finally into the carport. It was time for the Holiday Season.