13 Year Cicada Now Flying!

 Meg and I visited the 17th Annual Art in the Garden Sculpture Invitational today and everywhere you looked the 13 year cicadas were perching or flying about. Been hearing about them for a week or so, but rarely run into them. Then again the last time they were here it was May of 1998.

I recall when I was a kid the 17 year cicada in Ohio. Things always seem bigger when you were a kid, but I recall seeing them everywhere in huge numbers. We'd swing a 5 gallon bucket into a swarm of them and catch hundreds of them.

Hope Mothers Day was delightful for all of the mothers out there.

Hellebore seed collecting time!

This is a 'Red Lady' hellebore just opening up for seed dropping. Once the pods start drying up the pods will open and drop the seeds under the plant. This is the time for collecting them.

Here we missed the seeds, they are now under the plant.

These are hellebore seeds I found under the opened pod in the above photo.

Here is a 'Red Lady' flower I picked just before opening, I dropped it in a cup and let it dry out and I did not miss any seeds either.

The seeds can be planted in pots if you have the patience to water them and wait many months for them to germinate. I like to give them a special spot on the ground a just toss them on the ground and let nature do the rest.

When you collect seeds in your garden that the bees pollinated one never knows how the seeds will cross with the other hellebores in the garden. One must wait two to three years to find out what they will look like.

 We were givien this peony I believe.

This peony I bought for Meg as a mother's day present several years ago, it is growing nicely. It was purchased at the corner store which closed a few years ago, I loved that little store.

This Louisiana Iris has been in our garden for a very long time, mostly abused as it grows on the hillside to the pond. That is False Nettle, Boehmeria cylindrica on the right of it. False Nettle is the host plant for the Red Admiral butterfly, we have lots of the nettle and butterfly here. No it is not stinging either.

The tin man, I found this poor poor little fella in of all places the recycling bin! It broke my heart, but I saved him, Meg was very pleased as well.  Now to find him a home in the garden. That is Meg's Larkspur in the background. The bright green stuff behind the larkspur is our Swiss Chard.