No matrimony is involved. These are merely six random pictures that could not conform to a sensible topic. I realize that I should feature more flowery pictures, but some of these were just too cool to omit. Well, perhaps #3 could have been omitted and replaced with something flowery, and less objectionable. #2 actually happens to be flowery, but is the only one. #6 is the best!

Seriously!

Winter seems to be going so fast. It is naturally brief here anyway. There is so much to do before spring, and none of it involved flowers. Besides, flowers are merely a byproduct of our work.

1. Old and rotten ponderosa pine trunk has been popular with woodpeckers. Some of the holes seem to be carved out neatly enough for nesting; although grubbing was probably the priority.

2. New camellia flower blooms among many unopened buds. There are many camellias of unknown cultivars here. They bloom when they want, and maybe in different chronology annually.

3. Borrowed bamboo was removed from where it grew from seed in one of the landscapes, but has no permanent home yet. Most was already discarded. This is golden bamboo, a ‘bad’ type.

4. Blue heron sometimes visits the lawns during rainy weather. It sometimes catches gophers! I do not know why it came by without rain. Maybe Big Bird needs directions to Sesame Street.

5. Rock on! This is no more relevant to horticulture than Big Bird or a rotten pine trunk. I just happen to like finding this familiar rock again. It moves around somewhat, but does not get far.

6. Rhody does not cooperate for pictures. Nonetheless, everyone loves Rhody, and wants to see his pictures. It was not easy, but I managed to get this one before he realized I had a camera.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate:

https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

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36 thoughts on “Six on Saturday: Old, New, Borrowed, Blue”

  1. Good Morning, Tony. A funny looking dog! I’ve never seen woodpeckers at work as we don’t have them here though we had one, on occasions, over the past few years. Their range is extending in our direction. They are colourful and interesting birds.

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    1. Funny looking?! That is a new one. I will be sure to tell Rhody that. (He does not care much about what I say though.)
      Woodpeckers are an annoyance as they bore into some of the old buildings here. In some situation, the boring is less damaging than the termites that they remove. However, sometimes, there does not seem to be any termites. The attics of one of the old buildings here was filled with many pounds of acorns deposited by a woodpecker storing them up for winter. It was a major mess to clean up.

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    1. I thought that the heron looked angry. I keep my distance. The real Big Bird was friendlier . . . although disturbingly androgynous back in the early 1970s.
      The best puppies might let you work in the garden while lounging by the fire inside.

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    1. I got the picture while he was distracted with . . . something else. Otherwise, he would have been less cooperative.
      The heron was . . . odd. I do not know why it came by here during such nice weather. It looked angry about something.

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  4. Herons catch gophers??? You may have solved a mystery for me here in that case. I have seen herons on the slope out back and in the pasture. Gosh knows we have a lot of gophers around, but I never thought for a minute that might be what a heron was interested in. In that case we need a large flock to help us eradicate those buggars!

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    1. It is disturbing to see! I would prefer to think that they just get small frogs and fish. Gophers should be too big and feisty for them. Nonetheless, they patrol the lawns when it rains enough for them to flood, and peg off the gophers as they come to the surface. They eat the small ones straightaway, but thrash the bigger ones about a bit first. They do not shred them like other predatory birds do, so instead swallow them generally intact, which is unpleasant to witness. There are a few places around where they drop gophers from high up. I really hope than they never drop one onto a guest.

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    1. Bamboo bothers me. I really dislike it. This bamboo happens to be the common golden bamboo, which is one of the worst. It may get discarded (into the trash rather than the greenwaste) when no one is looking. First, I will ask if a Chinese restaurant in town wants it for large tubs out front.

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      4. Yes, some of my work has involved such suits. For one client, I needed to appraise the landscaping and trees that were to be ruined by the eradication of a neighbor’s bamboo. The neighbor intended to pay for the procedure, and felt very badly for all the damage that his escaped bamboo caused. Another case was actually bogus. I needed to explain that the bamboo on one side of the clients yard did not ruin the landscape of an adjacent property on the far side of the yard. The complainant claimed that the reed and black bamboo in his garden was from the golden bamboo on the far side of the neighbors yard. Of course, I had to explain that they were not related. It was weird.
        Anyway, I loathe bamboo, and am very concerned that we are retaining some of what appeared in the landscapes here. It lives in a narrow row along the top of a retaining wall where drainage water flowers. I removed only what strayed away from that narrow row. There will obviously be more strays within a few years.

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  6. How interesting to see all those woodpecker holes. I only tend to see green woodpeckers in my garden and they like to feed on the lawn. Still lovely though.

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    1. They are not bad in a dead and rotten tree trunk. They are more of a problem in some of the old buildings here. What is worse is that damage in the buildings might indicate infestation of termites!

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  7. Love the photos – even the travelling stone – but especially the woodpecker tree. We have a green woodpecker that visits for the ants that are up the trees, in the grass and under the patio. Great picture of Rhody!

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    1. The pattern on the stone is getting muted. It was never clear even when new. I think a child in the neighborhood left it there. It moves around a bit when the area gets weeded or planted, but has stayed nearby for quite a while. I like to think that whoever put it there likes to see that it has become a perennial feature of the landscape. Another rock lives in one of the hanging pots on another building. I suspect that it was left by a guest. I like to think that if they return for an annual event, that they can find it in the same spot.

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  11. I really appreciated the picture of the ponderosa pine trunk. We are often so eager to remove the dead wood from our landscapes that we overlook its critical functions for wildlife. Currently trying to find a balance between protecting my roof from falling branches and total removal of a dying maple next to our creek.

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    1. No, they attack some of the old buildings here as well. As bad as their damage looks from the outside, it may be less damaging that that of the termites that they eat.

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    1. You are welcome; although I could do without the bamboo. I just can not bear to discard it. It is still alive and healthy. I hope it goes to a good home where it will be appreciated more than it is here.

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