There is a place for a vegetable patch in any suburban garden, including wildlife-friendly gardens. Letting nature back in can include growing food plants and letting nature into your kitchen. In keeping with my rather laissez-faire attitude to gardening, we stick with herbs and vegetables that are relatively easy to grow and suited to the local climate and soils. Continue reading “Letting nature back in via a kitchen garden”
These two juxtaposed natural but unrelated objects seem appropriate for Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge for this week, Two different things or the number two. These two objects are among the small collection of found things I keep in my suburban wildlife garden. ★
Posted by Carol at letting nature back in
Having burst out of its seed sheath and pushed up through the surface of the soil, this bean starts its long and arduous journey to maturity – to grow tall and produce flowers that turn to pods bearing seeds. Continue reading “Bean on a quest”
The name “Laughing Dove” derives from its bubbling call that is said to have a gentle laughing quality. Laughing Doves are thought to be monogamous, with birds pairing for life. Continue reading “Favourite Garden Birds: Laughing Doves”
Capturing the beauty of a single bloom is the theme for the Garden Photography Challenge for September. In response to the request from Jude to showcase a flower that you are particularly fond of or one that is unusual, here is my photo of a single flower of the Barringtonia racemosa, often referred to as the Powderpuff tree, for obvious reasons. In South Africa, this tree occurs naturally along the edges of coastal swamps, estuaries and rivers on the eastern seaboard of KwaZulu-Natal and north into Mozambique. Continue reading “September: Flower Portrait”
Not all cuckoos are brood parasites, but the cuckoos in our area all lay eggs in the nests of other birds and leave the hosts to raise the young. The female cuckoo surreptitiously approaches a host nest and rapidly lays a single egg and also removes another egg from the nest. She will lay 4 to 5 eggs on successive or alternate days in different nests, and most will lay about 20 eggs in total over one breeding season. Continue reading “The cuckoo has landed”
Not only do the male and female in each mating pair of guttural toads mirror each other, but the two couples are mirrored “in reverse”. Spring and a welcome shower of rain triggered spawning by guttural toads in our garden pond, despite the water level being low. The deeper areas of the pond are now coiled with long ropes of spawn. ★
Posted by Carol at letting nature back in
Southern Tree Agamas, commonly known as Blue-headed lizards, have adapted to suburban gardens, especially where there are suitable trees to sustain them. When breeding, the males are colourful and their vividly blue heads are most striking. Non-breeding males and females are considerably less conspicuous although their more understated scaly markings still render them handsome reptiles. Continue reading “Agamas in the garden”
In a reflective moment, when the birds are absent, a bird bath frames a small circle of calm. ★
Posted by Carol at letting nature back in
Weekly Photo Challenge – Frame
