What's Happening in My Garden and Beyond

 It's exciting to us to see variety of all things nature in our garden.  I believe the more variety you entice to your garden the healthier it is.  All wildlife is welcome here and we intentionally don't use chemicals that would harm if at all possible.  

I don't know about you, but my camera is usually in the opposite room when I wish to take a photo.  This was the case when I saw a Black-capped Chickadee on the dogwood.  By the time I reached my camera and returned to the front window I was surprised to find an Eastern Buebird in its place!

One afternoon I spotted a Silver-Spotted Skipper on the geranium blossom on the patio.  He obliged my desire to take his photo.

So many Yellow Tiger Swallowtails have graced our patio as well.  

I always am amazed when the Colchicum pop up in early Autumn.

Some people refer to them as Fall Crocus, but are not crocus at all.  My dear neighbor that shared these with me years ago used to call them crocus.  It's always nice to see them come up.  I understand they are poisonous as many plants are.  I'm not a fan of eating plants unless I really know they are okay to munch on!

When Grayden and I went out for our early morning walk we discovered a large Katydid perched on the door of our car.  

I'm not sure why he found the door a good perch, but we enjoyed seeing him.  He's related to the Cricket and is one of the night sounds of summer.

Maybe he thought the shadow was a potential mate. 

The next photo may not be to your liking.  So warning ahead if you don't like snakes!

I understand as I used to have quite an aversion and still can't say I'm in love with them, but they have a place on our planet.

This appears to be a Gray Rat Snake.  He is not venomous, so we don't need to be afraid.  He is defensive so we didn't bother him.  His diet is mainly rodents.  

I wanted to share another photo that I took last week in Culpeper.  Since it's not far we often visit there.

 After having lunch we enjoyed a stroll through the small town shops.  As we were walking Grayden spotted an interesting insect.

Unfortunately this is the dreaded Spotted Lanternfly.  I had heard of this invasion but had never seen one.  He is a plant hopper that prefers the Heavenly Tree (an invasive tree) as his host.  He eats grapes, stone fruits, soybeans, and apple trees causing extensive damage to crops.  Originally from China and Vietnam the lanternfly has spread to Japan, South Korea, and the United States.  Canada has intercepted Lanternflies in shipping crates in Ontario.  It's always nice to see another insect with which I'm not familiar, but this is one insect that I was very unhappy to see in Virginia! 

Thank you for taking a look at our recent observations!

"Having your head in the clouds, even for just a few minutes each day, is good for your mind, good for your body, and good for your soul."

Gavin Pretor-Pinney

 

Chatham on a Hot Afternoon

I realized I had not shared our visit to Chatham garden this summer.  It is not far from our home, just a couple of miles, and we found it the perfect spot to enjoy on a Sunday afternoon even in the heat of summer.  I have posted before about this lovely spot on the Rappahannock River overlooking Fredericksburg, Virginia.  It has a long varied history that is now owned by the National Park Service.

We were able to park our car easily and walk to the garden.  The manor interior is normally open but is now closed for maintenance of the fire suppression system. You may still visit the garden and its grounds.  If you wish to read more about this very interesting place visit -- https://www.nps.gov/frsp/learn/historyculture/chatham.htm

Lining the entrance are beautiful grape vines full of grapes!

I'd say it's been a great year for them.  

Like all of the large manor homes in Virginia the land and homes were toiled by enslaved people.  Chatham Manor was built by enslaved labors in 1771.  As much as this is disturbing, it is a fact.  

On this day we were there to view the gardens.  Rounding the gate we see lovely Chatham.

 There are many statues that are featured in these gardens.

Diana is featured in the entrance.  She was added to the garden between 1921 and 1927 at the recommendation of Ellen Biddle Shipman.  Shipman was the esteemed landscape architect who designed the gardens for Chatham's owners at the time, Daniel and Helen Devore.  John Lee Pratt and his wife were the last owners of Chatham.  They donated the statue to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in 1959.  When the museum decided to remove the statue from storage in 2017 Diana was offered to the National Park Service that owned Chatham Manor.  After $12,000 dollars was raised by the Friends of Chatham the statue was restored.  I must say she is lovely!

We have had such an oppressive summer that has made it difficult for volunteers to keep up this garden space.  Still it is a great place to come particularly when it is empty.  The garden is defined by walls along with ionic columns gracing the center.

Garden Phlox is blooming to the delight of the pollinators.

There is a water feature that had to be covered to protect the inhabitants of the small pond. We have bald eagles and hawks and cranes and herons that patrol the river for food.  If this small pond were not covered there would be no fish here.  

We both needed to find a shady spot under the wisteria on the pergolas.

We both are very aware of the invasiveness of wisteria, but it is always so lovely when in bloom.

There are many out buildings associated with Chatham.  The laundry house is quite large, but served the needs of the day.

The Summer House with the small pond in front.

We decided to walk around to the riverside of the manor and viewed more lovely statuary framed by Crepe Myrtle in bloom.

Walking along the pathway we pass the giant old Catalpas that witnessed the horrors of the Civil War when Chatham served as a field hospital.  

The National Park Service is trying its best to preserve the life of these trees, but sadly in time they will not be here.  As you can see the front of Chatham Manor faces the river. 

 

You can see the giant Catalpa trees to the left.  Because of the foliage the river is not quite visible from this view.

Though it was quite warm that day we walked up to the cupola that houses Pan.

We both enjoyed our little afternoon adventure on this very hot, humid day in Virginia.  Thank you for coming along with us!  I hope it wasn't too hot for you!

A Little of This and That

Happy September, friends!  I really do believe time is passing at warp speed.  My favorite season will be here soon.  Today is not as hot, but is quite humid.  In Virginia we will probably continue to experience warm weather throughout the new month though little changes are happening.  Our Black Gum trees have been dropping colorful leaves for a while now.  We also have a White Oak that drops its leaves when we experience dry weather.  Thankfully we received over three inches of rain this week.  Though it all came down rather quickly and we lost some to run off, it was good to get some moisture.

We are so fortunate to have butterflies visit us frequently!  The Monarch (Danaus plexippus) thrills us particularly.  

The Hummingbird Moth loves to visit our Buddleia as well.

Our old patio umbrella needed updating and we were able to find a cover for this one for half price at World Market.

The old one had a wonderful wooden skeleton that we could keep and just place the new cover on it.  Works well and I'm pleased with it.  Samuel said he liked the new Zebra umbrella when he first saw it! 

The vinca has filled in nicely in the patio planter.  

The rudbeckia has taken over the perennial bed in the back.  I must speak to the gardener (me) about removing some of it as it seeds profusely!

My friend Cheryl at https://thinking-about-home.blogspot.com has the most lovely home decorating ideas along with her sweet wisdom.  She recently posted about making a silhouette and also about one she had bought at an antique shop.  She got me thinking about the silhouettes that I have of our two children.  I told her I needed to go find them and bring them out into the light of day again. So eventually I found them in a mountain of framed photos of our children.

Grayden hung them beside the China cabinet in the living room.  I'm so happy with them.  Seeing their little profiles makes this Mama very happy!

The one of Noel was taken in Disneyland before her brother was born.  They had an artist on Main Street USA that would do these if you could get your child to sit long enough!

  Noel's is in a larger frame so we placed her on the bottom.  We love seeing this as she loved to wear her hair in this fashion!  He even included her eyelashes.

As you can see Grady's was done in Walt Disney World.  I'm not sure of the date, but he is three years younger than Noel.  I love seeing his profile as well and those eyelashes!

Did you ever get silhouettes done by these artists?  I truly treasure them.  Thank you Cheryl for reminding me of these precious times! 

Thank you for reading a little of this and that, my friends!  Have a happy week ahead.