Beyond My Garden: This and That

Monday, I took my daughter to the airport in Charleston WV so that she could catch a plane home to Nevada.She and her brother live at Lake Tahoe where two weeks before, she had left during a storm that dropped a foot of snow. She drove home from the airport in Reno with more snow falling. I talked to her yesterday. It was snowing. All that snow makes me glad to be here in West Virginia though ninety-one was a bit extreme yesterday while I mowed and dug up two of the herb beds. This cardinal seems to be enjoying the weather as he eats the last of this season's bird seed. Our beautiful weather with ample rain means that there is plenty of food in the woods. I don't want to encourage more birds to my yard than the woods and garden can support. I hate for them to become dependant upon me then have something happen where I miss feeding them.

Before I left Charleston, I had to make a trip to the Charleston Market to take advantage of fern prices. I'm sure those of you who live in cities are used to such abundantly filled markets but for me it is a treat to see stall after stall of bloomers. Greenhouses from all around the area bring in stock each morning to refill their vending area. By 9:00 am, gardeners are filling their carts with flats off petunias, salvias and geraniums. People stroll by carrying small trees or hydrangea shrubs. All the competition keeps prices down so it is worth the trip to stock up. The Macho ferns I brought home with me were $15.00 each and they are huge. The flats of marigolds which, yesterday were planted around the herb beds, were $10.50 I think. So much fun!
I returned home to this sight below. "What is it?" you may ask. The answer is ants! Lots and lots of ants swarming at the edge of our front stoop. You really should click on this picture to enlarge it so that you can see the ants more clearly. Ants were crawling all over each other as they came in and out of the ground. Yes, I am a nature lover but this is right by my front door. . . . . Gross!