March 31, 2009

Where Is This Thing Called Spring?

Spring is painfully slow making its way to the upper Midwest. I searched the yard for color and new growth to share with you. Not much out there.

Some people seem to like these Red Twig Dogwoods because the red branches add some color to our winter landscapes. In the summer the leaves are green and if you're lucky, there are white blooms in late spring/early summer. We have four of these and none of them give us blooms and no matter how far we cut them down in the fall they grow to be almost seven feet tall if left alone. I don't like them at all and had nothing to do with them being planted in our yard. The credit for the savage pruning goes to my husband.


My lovely, lovely Raspberry Splash Pulmonaria aka Lungwort is making herself visible. The leaves will be a silvery green and the numerous raspberry-pink flowers will sit atop the leaves. Grows well in light shade and brightens dark areas. I planted one in 2007 and another one last year.



Even the birds around here are drab looking this time of year. But I do love the Mourning Dove and its soft mournful voice. I like the peaceful way they behave when visiting our yard. Here are come cool facts about Mourning Doves that I found on www.birds.cornell.edu.

During nest-building, the female stays at the nest and the male collects sticks. He stands on her back to give her the nest material. She takes it and weaves it into the nest.

The Mourning Dove almost invariably lays two eggs. Clutches of three or four are the result of more than one female laying in the nest. A dove may have up to five or six clutches in a single year.

A Mourning Dove pair rarely leaves its eggs unattended. The male usually incubates from midmorning until late afternoon, and the female sits the rest of the day and night.

The Mourning Dove is the most widespread and abundant game bird in North American. Despite being hunted throughout most of its range, it remains among the 10 most abundant birds in the United States.


3 comments:

  1. I am so disappointed that my mourning doves are not nesting in my window box this year. I have a paper birch nearby and that was a great place for dad to hang out when mom was nesting. I lost the two main branches close to the house in the ice storm and I haven't seen the mourning doves. Ezra would go and look at the birds from the bedroom window where he had a "bird's eye view". On my blog June 8, 2007 are pictures. Maybe I am just wanting them here too soon. There's hope.

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  2. Donna, your comments about the balcony gave me a chuckle. What is your son doing in WA state? Does he travel for work/school?

    I understand your yearning for color in the garden right now... I feel like a hibernating bear that has just come out of my cave. I am craving color... digging around trying to find signs of spring. There are bits here and there... but so small they wouldn't show in a photo. Time to dig into the archives to remind ourselves why we dig & weed until our backs hurt. Thank goodness for Advil.

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  3. Hi Donna,
    We've recovered from our snowfall on Sunday and looking forward to temps in the mid-50's this week-end. Hope to get out and de-stick my yard.

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