Southerner in the Northwest

JUST ANOTHER WAYBACK WEDNESDAY

Since we are all practicing "social distancing" (frankly, I've been doing it since I retired), I haven't been able to go out anywhere to get some good pictures. So I am going to be sharing some more beautiful pictures of our yard back in Lumberton. I think everyone could use some nice flower and critter pictures right about now.

One of my favorite plants that we grew was Coreopsis (also known as Tickseed). It had such a bright and cheerful flower, and we anxiously awaited its arrival in the spring. We tried to have a variety of colors in our yard, but I do believe the yellow flowers were always my favorites.

Coreopsis

It was an ongoing struggle for us to grow anything in Lumberton because we were surrounded by hundred-years-old oak trees. So our yard did not get much sun. Some of our flowers did not do as well as they should have due to being in shade most of the day. Whenever I would sit outside and watch the birds, I would always look up to see the canopy of oak tree branches above me. There were usually birds and squirrels all over these trees, so I was thankful that we had them for that reason, even though they blocked out the sun.

Still, we did manage to have some real beauties in our yard, like this aptly named Beautyberry Bush (Callicarpa) below. I remember that the Mockingbirds used to love to eat these berries in the spring, as soon as they popped out on the bush. I just love the contrast of color between the leaves and the berries.

Beautyberry bush

Another one of my favorites was the plant that Linda and I affectionately named "Wolfie." It was Euphorbia Wulfenii (article here) and it had almost fluorescent flowers on it. I also liked to say that it was our Alien plant because it looked kind of weird.

Euphorbia Wulfenii plant

We seemed to have somewhat more luck growing bushes than we did flowering plants. We usually got our plants and bushes from Plant Delights Nursery (website here) in Raleigh, or Niche Gardens in Chapel Hill. Sadly, I just discovered that Niche Gardens went out of business last summer. It was a wonderful place to find native plants and I am sure it is greatly missed. Below are some of the bushes we grew in our yard.

Lady Banks climbing rose bush

Sweet Shrub bush (also known as
Carolina Allspice)

My mother's rose bush...this is the one that we
brought some cuttings with us to Yakima

Azalea bush

We always had an abundance of critters in our yard...birds, squirrels, butterflies, dragonflies, praying mantises, cicadas, toads, and the occasional bunny.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly

Painted Lady butterfly

Little Yellow butterfly

Dragonfly

Monarch butterfly

Toad (taking a dip)

Baby Mourning Dove

Praying Mantis

Cicada

Red-Banded Hairstreak butterfly

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Baltimore Oriole

Squirrel!

Red-Bellied Woodpecker (aka "the King")

Stella, the bunny

UPDATE ON SPRING

Linda and I have been walking around the park, but have been making sure to keep our distance from the few people who are there. The weather here has been crazy...after the warmest February that we have ever seen since we moved here, March came in to remind us that Spring is definitely NOT here yet. Last week we had some frigid weather, with lows down into the teens and daytime highs around freezing. Still, we suited up to be able to get out of the house.

Scary!

I was reluctant to go outside wearing my balaclava (face mask) since so many robbers and thieves use those nowadays. But comfort won out over reluctance and I wore it a couple of days when the wind was blowing. This is the only way I can go for a walk around here when it is cold.

PARTING SHOT

Since it was Wayback Wednesday again, it is only fitting that we let little Precious Baby (Peeber) have her time in the spotlight, posthumously. Here she is napping on her cat tree, and also looking so cute that you just have to understand why we named her Precious Baby.