Please to have rain

It is very dry.
The sunflowers are going to seed.

The Gold Finches are pleased.

I am not deadheading until it rains.

The coneflowers continue to bloom.

I planted cotton seed for October decorating.
I hope it sprouts and grows well.

We are planting our Autumn gardens.

Planting for October's harvest.

We are replanting sunflowers.

The ground hog ate many.

Our rocks have one more week of

tumbling.

I am very excited!

It is still hot,

90's instead of 100's.

Still we have had no rain.

Wilted

The dwarf Crepe Myrtles are in bloom.
They are an understory for the French Lilacs.
A bird bath is nestled behind them.

It is easy to see what areas of the yard are in full sun.
They are burned up.

I have been keeping the seedling alive.

Milkweed vine is climbing the bee-balm.
The Monarchs will use the vine for their caterpillars.

The sumac has found its way through the bamboo.
I am so happy it has survived.

My native planting are doing okay with little rain.

The gourds are also thriving in the heat and drought.

My main focus is keeping water available for the wildlife.

I wilt quickly in the heat.

I need sorbet to keep my spirits up.

I am inside in the afternoons.

I am gathering my rocks

and making garlic braids.
It is too hot for me to hike and do my pond watch.

I am my own Hero...
I know to stay inside and wait for moon rise
to be outside.
I shall take a moon bath tonight.
I shall soak up moon beams.

Goldfinches in the Coneflowers

The Goldfinches came to the coneflowers this afternoon.

It is hot but they do not seem to mind.

I watched for a few minutes
 from the dining room window.

Soon I was outside in the heat too.

I sat in the grass and watched a family of Goldfinches.
I forgot about the heat for a few minutes.

Hot

I replanted the shasta daisies.
I chose Becky this time.
She makes me smile.

I enjoy finding the patterns in nature.

It was too hot today for Pond Watch.
After my morning watering I went inside.
It was just too hot and windy to be outside.

I am doing up pots of zinnias for July gifting and decorating.
The zinnias sprout in just a couple of days.
These are easy and fun to do up.
I am up early now and rest in the afternoons.

The butterflies also rest during the heat of the day.

Once again I have a stack of books to read.

At dusk I will go outside again to watch
the dance of the Fireflies.
It is Summer time and it is hot.

Pond Watch

We saw lots of dragonflies on Pond Watch today.
The Eastern Amberwings were abundant.

Common White tails were very common.

We watched dragonflies for two hours.

We are now able to identify many of the dragonflies we have been seeing every week.
We both know this is a female Eastern Pondhawk

and this is a male Eastern Pondhawk.

The Blue Dashers strikes a classic dragonfly pose.

We keep seeing  a large red dragonfly that I think is a Ruby Meadowhawk.
So far we have not been able to get a photograph.
Xerces Society has added a few more dragonflies to look for.
Maybe next week we will spot them.

Pond Watch

The Green Heron and his mate were

feeding in the pond when we arrived today.
The mate flew off immediately.

Many damselflies.
I need to get a damselfly field guide.

The pond was a busy place today.
Many Common White Tails and Widow Skimmers.

We were pleased when the Eastern Pond Hawk
 perched for a minute.

We think we saw a Blue Dasher.

Many dragons patrolled the pond.
We watched a red dragonfly zip by
but were unable to get a photograph.

This week we saw a male Ebony Jewelwing.

I do hope he found the female we saw last week.

I am so very pleased the Jewelwings 

are near by.

It was 80 degrees when we began our

watch at noon.

When we left at 2pm it was 86 degrees.

As we walked out of the woods we spotted a 

Little Wood-Satyr.

Our little pond is supporting lots of wildlife.
I look forward to Pond Watch Tuesdays.