So you know that we have sown shade-resistant grass seeds all around our woodland garden as well as the meadow area last week. The winter crops are still there, providing a small land of eye-soothing green. We did not want to till or rake them, nor did we want to create a conventional suburb lawn that does not promote biodiversity. So we simply spread around the seeds among the crops and hopefully they would cover up the batches that were still barren. The entire animal society had been watching and came to the conclusion fairly quickly just after two days of observation that there was no dangerous trap or potential risk posed by the two human-shaped food servants. It was simply a free buffet.
My chin dropped to the floor this morning when I came to our kitchen and looked through the window. Why were there so many birds on the ground!? All of our regulars -- the finches, sparrows, mourning doves -- have brought along their aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews to this special event. Our humble yard was suddenly full of pleasant bird songs and chips in this chilly and still gently raining morning.
Even though I was worried about how many seeds could survive, I was more than happy to see that our feathered friends multiplied just in a couple of days. The seeds also attracted two new types of birds to our backyard: a Red-winged Blackbird and a Dark-eyed Junco, which was really good timing, as today was the last day of the "Great Backyard Bird Count". We have observed 25 birds in the past 4 days.
Updates for plants:
Winter jasmine has yellow bulbs now.
Bulbs are shooting up from the meadow! Crocuses, Tulips, Daffodils, and some unknown types that we forgot to label!
Hyacinths are opening up while growing taller and taller. They have a sweet sweet fragrance that is drifting in the air of our unheated greenhouse.
Camellias never stopped blooming during the entire winter. We regularly picked up the fallen flowers and added them into our compost bins.
The Hydrangea "Endless Summer" is sprouting too. Lacking experience, we planted it initially in a low spot that had water pooled last Summer and almost killed it. Fortunately, we managed to save the roots and moved it to a slope with partial sun. We look forward to seeing its first bloom this year.
Cat grass loves rainwater. They are growing rapidly these days and Momo and Maxie can soon have their tasty herbs in the wet food again!
Weather report: It's February. It's cold.
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