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A Photo Blog

A late decision to add some photos of the garden's progress.
Click on photos for a larger view.
Some dates are approximate.

Started some seeds requiring cold stratification in the porch hot house.

Woodland Agrimony - Agrimonia Striata
Pale Coneflowers - Echinacea pallida
Early Figwort - Schrophularia lanceolata
Tall White Beardtongue aka Foxglove - Penstemon digitalis
Dense Blazing Star aka Gayfeather - Liatris spicata
Blue False Indigo - Baptisia australis

And also some New England Aster and Button Bush …


One bird feeder is visible from the window so it can be easily viewed. While there are signs 3 or 4 times a year that a bird has been a meal for one of the hawks in the area, these photos captured a Cooper hawk and his prey, probably one of the pigeons that visit. Be forewarned!
Warning!

A Cooper Hawk with his prey

Click to view photos.

Goldfinches are always nearby but this week had a nice visit from a pair who were happy to spend some extended time in the Swamp Milkweed - Prairie Coneflower area of the garden.
Added some Rusty Birds garden art to the garden.
Just some garden photos …
Just added some Allium to the garden from Rohsler's Allendale Nursery for no other reason than I liked the way they looked when I saw them at the New Jersey Botanical Garden.
Monarch is still at the milkweed, and some photos of other flowers.
First Monarch visit on the Swamp Milkweed!
And the garden is looking great.
Various garden photos but mostly when an Easter Tiger Swallowtail was spotted around the Giant Purple Hyssops!
Bee Hotel added to the new area. From Crown Bees, purchased over the Winter months.
Also seen is the new location for the Sun Dial and an Eastern Columbine from Rohsler’s Nursery and a rows started of Black-eyed Susans and Giant Yellow Hyssops.
Enjoying a warm Spring day with the lilacs blooming, sitting outside having a coffee and muffin, watching the bunnies frolicking…
Spring, 2024 garden expansion.
New section added to the garden.
Everything looks different in Winter!
Sitting in a pine tree overlooking the garden today.
Discovered a Northern Flicker at the suet by the porch. Photographed through the window.
Photo edited in Canon Digital Photo Professional 4.
Starting the new year by starting plantings in the porch hothouse. Mostly trying some new to the garden plants including;

  • Black Eyed Susan
  • Cardinal Flower
  • Giant Yellow Hyssop
  • Wild Columbine
  • New England Aster
  • New York Ironweed
  • Spotted Joe Pye Weed
  • Sweet Joe Pye weed
  • Purple Cone Flowers

The source for most of the seed packets was Toadshade Wildflower Farm and purchased Fall 2023 with the intent of adding some new plants to the garden even if in small numbers. And extras can be shared with neighbors?
I saw Yellow Hyssops were very popular with bees at the Bergen County Audubon Society Butterfly Garden in Overpeck Park so I am really interested in seeing how they work. Purple Cone flowers are popular with the butterflies so I thought they would be a nice addition. I hope they work better in the garden than the yellow cone flowers I tried last year which I hope will return. I really didn't plant many flowers last year so wanted to add more.
I've read and heard varying opinions on how difficult it is to grow Cardinal Flowers so that will be interesting and hopefully successful - the tiniest seeds!
Removed an older birdhouse set in the lilac bush that was well used but wanted to replace it with one that was more wren or chickadee friendly after seeing this style on a walk at the Frank Chapman trail. Trying something new with the birdhouse entry not used before.
While doing some light cleanup (weeding) in the garden, I felt a light tap on my back and wondered if it was starting to rain. It turned out to be a tiny Ruby-crowned Kinglet flying around between the garden milkweed and the lilac bush that had brushed my shoulder or briefly alighted. On further study there were several flying around! Had to get the camera out…. The little birds were difficult to photograph as they never really stopped flying around rarely stopping.
Also, surprised to see a Monarch butterfly on the lilac bush.
End of September photos showing the still flowering Broadleaf Goldenrod, various Asters, along with the Tall Meadow Rue and White Snakeroot being popular with the pollinators.
While out inspecting the garden found this bee who looked to be taking a nap on the Meadow Rue…
Found a reasonable sundial for the garden and repurposed a bird bath base to support it after making a mounting adapter with the correct spacing. I would prefer a more fixed, brick or concrete base rather than this style base but this is the best solution while still contemplating a final permanent position for the sundial. In fact, it looks good to me but just needs a flat level platform when placed in or near the garden.
Photos of the garden and some of the various plants that are doing quite well. Most plants are doing well with the exception of the Asters which seemed a favorite of the bunnies & groundhog, and the cone flowers for some unexplained reason. Hoping for better results with the coneflowers in the future.
A view of the garden with some plants being added from the hothouse. Also the removal of one damaged bush which was replaced with a Viburnum nudum (possumshaw) obtained from the NJ Botanical Gardens plant sale.
Plants being transferred from the porch to the garden. Discovered that the plants needed fences to prevent being eaten by bunnies(?) which are numerous. Made fences for individual plants but in retrospect enclosing the whole area would probably have been easier and better until the plants were better established. Asters and cone flowers were the hardest hit and slowest to recover. In fact, cone flowers never did recover which is the biggest disappointment.
The completed hothouse with the plants, waiting to be transplanted to the garden.
Building a small hothouse for the porch in anticipation of having a safe are for the seeds to germinate over the Winter. Unsure of the material for the siding.
The other right side of the garden begun.
To begin the garden an arbor was placed leading to a patio that was made previously using repurposed slate stones from a walkway. Then the right side of the garden area was created and some plants were added by moving existing ones from the front area of the house. Mountain mint and Henry Eiler's rudbeckia were moved and some asters were added.

The photos with the odd appearance were taken with the 7Artisans 7.5mm f2.8 which is a very wide angle lens. Not the best lens for the PhotoBLOG photos but what I was experimenting with at that moment.
Page last updated: 23 December 2025 at 11:17am