Monday, April 13, 2015

A Wild Turkey Sighting, Daffodils and Violets


Look at what DH saw when he looked out the window on Easter Sunday afternoon!



He called downstairs to tell me there was a turkey in front of the garden, and we managed to get the window open and the screen removed without scaring her off. I think the noise of the camera made her a little nervous though; soon she headed across the driveway


and into the neighbor's pasture.




The redbud was at its peak Easter weekend. As you can
see I still have a lot of clearing from last year to do!


I like how the redbud looks with the nearby red maple, nicknamed the
apricot maple due to the color of its spring flowers and fall leaves.


This has been the best year so far for daffodils.


DH's grandmother's daffodils finished up in early April

On March 28th



and then Quail, Curlew , and Thalia took over the show.


Quail


There is still plenty of space for more daffodil bulbs
so I have been dividing them as they finish blooming.


'Thalia' has a unique sort of grace. I love the way it nods. To me the blooms smell like vanilla.




Curlew (the little white daffodil with the custard yellow cup) is also very sweet.



This time of year weeds are as important to the bees as garden flowers. This is the year of the field pansy. I don't recall ever seeing so many. They covered the neighbors' lawns.


Many are white


but I found some growing near the front yard that are pink and lavender, the loveliest of all.



Thanks to a couple of wet years blue violets have formed a nice carpet in several of the garden beds. I know some people regard them as weeds, but they are native and I desperately need a ground cover that can handle moisture and part shade. Besides, they are purple and I have always wanted violets in my garden.


Incidentally, blue violets were not growing wild on the farm when we moved here. Instead, there were 3 other species. One, the early blue violet, which looks much like a unicolor bird's foot violet. Two, what I believe is a marsh violet, with smaller leaves and flowers than the blue violet. It's very floriferous and typically grows in wet places.

The flowers range from blue to lavender. Three, a lilliputian
white violet, which I think is a bog white violet.


My quest to get lamium growing somewhere other than in the garden is succeeding! Now it's growing all over the front yard. This is a bee *favorite*. Once the clover starts blooming that will be a bee favorite too.






The bee looks like she is saying that this lamium is the best thing ever.
I predict there will be arguments with DH about when to move the lawn. lol


17 comments:

  1. I just thought about you, wondering how things are up in your bit of paradise. Looking quite lovely as always and what great photos of your visitor.

    Love your wild ground covers.

    Happy Spring ~ FlowerLady

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  2. Beautiful views around your place. Having a Turkey nearby is always a plus! Happy Spring!

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  3. What a treat to see a turkey in your yard! Nice photos of her, too.
    I love the daffodil display. Your garden is always lovely.

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  4. What lovely spring blooms. I'm just now getting the first daffodils. Wild turkeys have made a wonderful comeback here in northern Illinois. They can be seen along country roads in subdivisions. Leash laws protect them from dogs so they roam pretty much untroubled.

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  5. The light always looks so soft and mellow in your garden. It instantly relaxes me. :) I have seen the odd daffodil coming up around here as we are having an early spring. I planted several myself last fall and am looking forward to their cheerful faces. Yours are absolutely lovely.

    Enjoy your beautiful spring!

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  6. So exciting to have a wild turkey in the garden and it all looks so lovely natural. Your daffodil 'fields'are magnificent not to speak about the field pansies and blue violets. You live on a heavenly spot of the earth.

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  7. What a special sighting! We sometimes hear the wild turkeys but never seen them in our garden. I suspect our dogs romping around keep them away. We found lots of violets growing in the woods and paths in our garden. I get very excited when I find a caterpillar on them. Looks like the bees are very happy in your grass.

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  8. Spring has definitely arrived in your area! I love all those daffodils and how lovely to have pansies pop up in the grass. It was fun to see your shots of the wild turkey - I always enjoy it when an unexpected visitor shows up here too.

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  9. I so admire the natural beauty of your garden! What a treat to see the turkey! We once had turkeys in abundance in our area, so much that it was known as Gobblers Knob. But I haven't seen a wild turkey here in years, the price of neighborhood development around me. Your daffodils are wonderful. My own daffodils bloomed just in time for severe frost to hit; then once they recovered from that, it rained almost continuously for several weeks. Poor things laid on the ground and suffered through it all. They had little chance to show their beauty!

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  10. My brother had wild turkeys around his house in suburban Boston. They were very aggressive. Your daffodils are wonderful, and I admire your conscientiousness in dividing them, something I always mean to do but usually forget.

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    Replies
    1. Wow, aggressive? They must have gotten very used to humans; I know a lot of wild turkey have.

      I used to see turkey on a horse farm where I rode as a teenager. One time I was riding and turned the corner around some trees and there was a tom displaying. We were in a horse pasture and so he was so used to horses that he just kept on with his fanning and strutting. We used to see flocks of turkey when we lived in western PA too. I'm surprised it's taken so long to see turkey here! We lived here about 15 years before we saw any.

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    2. Yes, the turkeys around his house were not intimidated by people, whom they would sometimes threaten or actually attack. They would also attack parked cars.

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  11. I think the daffs like a long, cold winter and that's what they got this year! I love those violets, too. I wish my lawn was full of pansies! So very pretty. :o)

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    1. I wish my lawn was full of wild pansies too. My lawn was full of Lamium and chickweed, which I left up for quite a while since Lamium is bee crack. We have the wild pansies (which I think is a mix of the European and American wild pansies, judging from this site: http://www.jeffpippen.com/plants/viola.htm ) but they didn't pave my lawn the way they did the neighbors'.

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  12. Love all the daffodils! I have some slender ones that I really like, but I planted them several years ago and can't remember the name. They look much like 'Quail,' so I may order some of those this fall--thanks for the i.d.! I am a secret lover of violets, too. Happy Spring, Sweet Bay!

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  13. Wow, having a wild turkey visiting the garden is certainly something unusual to write about!
    I love, love, love all your daffodils. When they are planted in masses their sight is simply wonderful. I have read that the white Thalia daffodil will also grow in my warm climate and I hope I get some planted for next year to find out if that is true. They are just too pretty to pass.
    I also have a special fondness for the violets. There is just something about the dainty blooms that tugs at my heart.
    It certainly looks like spring is wonderful this year in your neck of the woods!
    Warm regards,
    Christina

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