Native Gardening and Backroad Ruins

With the sun shining on Saturday, and the temperature soaring to 70 degrees, Elliott and I drove to a garden nursery to buy some native trees for the front garden. Along the road edge, I have a vision of creating a wildlife hedgerow, with native trees, piles of rocks and logs, and a wildlife fence to offer sanctuary for the local critters. We got a fringe tree, a dogwood and a redbud along with another forsythia and a few perennials. 

I have to confess I was a little more excited at seeing a parrot I've befriended there on previous visits, than actually looking for trees, which of course, was our main objective. This rescued sulphur crested cockatoo is called Lola, and she climbed onto my arm immediately, crab walked up to my shoulder and snuggled in, cawing soft 'hellos' and making kissing noises with her beak. I've never known such an affectionate bird. I cuddled her like a cat, with my arms around her, her head bent down under my chin, lifting her wing to be stroked underneath. I adore this little parrot and it seemed the feeling was mutual. We had plenty of cuddles and softly spoken endearments before I had to tear myself away, upon which she looked at me and said, "Bye!" She'd apparently learned another word since my last visit. I'll see her again in a few weeks when we return for more plants.

Back home we planted the three trees and the forsythia and an old canoe I'd found cheap online, which we'd then painted blue, was filled with earth. I'm looking for a native Carolina rose shrub to grow in it and there will be bedding plants added also, when the weather warms up. I had also found a guy locally who had a lot of free rocks on his land, so we paid him a visit, filling up Stanley until his suspension dropped low. These would be the base for the 'nature wall' so small critters, mouses and insects, reptiles and maybe small birds, would have a little protective area that some might even hibernate in next winter. The rocks were stacked, with spaces left as critter 'hideyholes', then logs placed on top of that and then we need to gather more smaller branches and brush to pile on top and complete it. The logs and brush will also provide shelter as well as insects for birds to eat as the wood begins to break down. We can replenish the wood every couple of years. I'd like a second one of these built a little further down the road with a couple of cedar trees that will grow and provide shade over it. I have wildflower seeds to plant  along the curb and around the trees, and some native perennials will be added too. This was really Elliott's first experience of gardening and it felt wonderful to have a partner working alongside me, especially someone who shows a genuine interest in the garden and my goals. I'm hoping this stretch along the road in front of the Blue House will mature into a native plant haven for wildlife, the trees growing to offer shade and additional habitat, along with the perennials and wild flowers creating a colorful verge that passersby will also enjoy as they drive through the cemetery gates. A far prettier and more interesting view than just a grass lawn.

On Sunday, the forecast was rain, so we decided to take it easy and go for a drive with our cameras down some back roads near home. It didn't take long to get onto the rural lanes, barely any other vehicles in sight, and a calming silence in our surroundings, apart from the spring chatter of nesting birds. Black vultures soared above us, enjoying the winds, their wings outstretched wide as they slowly tuned in large circles, sometimes coming down low and casting dark shadows across the road in front of us.

 We trundled along unpaved roads, enjoying the tranquility and scents of spring, the breezes getting stronger and the clouds becoming more ominous, competing with the bright sunshine which seemed determined to battle for its right to shine. That strange aura, which always appears before a storm, was cast upon the countryside, light competing with the dark, creating pools of bright sun contrasting with deep shadows, creating an eerie sense of almost dusk in the early afternoon.

We saw the rain coming and when it fell it was torrential. The sky went dark, sheets of water cascading down the car windows and across the mountains. A wall of water drifted across the countryside in front of us and we watched in awe as the watery veil obscured our view. I packed my camera away. After having been without it for weeks, due to repairs, I wasn't going to let raindrops render it unusable. The iPhone took over. Heavy drops splattered onto the windscreen and the roadside gullies filled with cascades of water.

As the sounds of the falling rain filled the car, our bellies joined in with their hungry chorus, and so we headed back towards civilization and a Mexican restaurant, stopping briefly to photograph another abandoned building, where Elliott soon became engrossed with his camera. But the most I could do was snap a couple of shots on my iPhone, my energy had waned. But on the way home I did pull out my phone again to snap these shiny, silver, chemical carrying cylinders parked on the side of the road alongside a beautiful vintage truck.