Apropos of Nothing v.15

Great story Julie! Thanks for sharing and for the pictures of your toad.

If anyone has Steve's address, could you please dmail me that info. Thanks.

Isn't this beautiful? I wish it lived up here. I'd plant whatever I had to to keep it happy . . .

http://www.hemmy.net/2006/04/30/glasswing-butterfly/

Wow- that really is a gorgeous butterfly.

Wow, what a beautiful butterfly!

Willow and Pony, I am glad that your daylily babies are doing well. I really really hope they have some beatiful results!

I was so bummed earlier this spring.... a mouse got into my greenhouse and ate over half of the daylily seeds/seedlings that I had planted :( and then the slugs chewed a bunch of the others. Now I am almost thankful as the weather has been so awful and I am so far behind that it gives me less work to do. Looking for a silver lining! The good news however, is that when I plowed the vegi garden last Sunday, I scoped out my seedling rows down there and I have scapes/buds on at least a couple dozen (probably much more than that, but didn't have time to examine closely) of the seedlings that I had planted last spring. Just imagine... dozens of never before seen babies to enjoy this summer!!! I am doing the happy dance just thinking about it!

Kathy, I think that Mom has a good picture of Phoenix pointing. When she takes the "classic" pointing pose, I seem to never have a camera available. She does lots of dork points though... strikes an instant still pose in any position when she senses something to hunt. This is the best one that I have of a classic point... she was telling me that there was a bird in those reeds... and she was absolutely right.

This is one of those dork point poses on Mom's front deck when the grey squirrel decided to check out the bird feeder.........

This gives you a better idea of what was going on. She just sat there locked in position shaking like crazy....

In the 8 years I have had my Blossom & Sweetpea,I have never seen them sleep in this position. Interesting!

They are so cute. And I have a red and lavendar primrose blossom. WHew

Sorry guys Iam still in Michigan. Dan is here too we went out in a swamp yesterday to see orchids and you would have thought Dan had a new child! He had never seen these before. There were hundreds of them!

Pictures, pictures, Steve. Terrestrial orchids? I must see them!!! I can't believe Dan hadn't ever seen them - isn't that where you guys grew up?

Bea, the girls look just darling in that position - like they were doing something else and got chilly and just had to roll into eachother. :-)

Julie, I love the dork point. It's sort of a half point, because she was already sitting when she saw the squirrel, right? It's such a great "freeze" concept. I'm amazed that "they" were able to breed this trait into dogs. She looks pretty nice in the full point!

Steve, you are such a tease. Imagine posting that without a photo! Wild orchids deserve photographs!

I agree, wild orchids definitely need a photo! How fun to be with Dan when he discovers something new (even if it's just new to him). That's one thing I like about his books. He's not hung up on just talking about stuff that he's collected. He just shares his enthusiasm for all sorts of cool plants, and isn't against including some of our natives, either.

Julie, loved your toad story! Wonder if someone could synthesize toad goo as a pet repellent, lol.

Steve, how fun to be with a fellow gardener when they discover something new to them!

Bea, Cute pic of your pups. They look like a little Yin/Yang symbol!

Susybell, Pet repellant...LOL! I need that when I am working in some of my smaller garden areas!

For anyone who is interested, the Pierce Conservation District is having a class on "Rain Water Collection for the Home" at the begining of July. You can find it here:

http://www.piercecountycd.org/workshops.html

All you doggie luvers, get out the hankies...

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=BGODurRfVv4

I have to admit I was expecting something a bit sappy -- but this was very moving. Thanks. I have a friend who is a quad and he recently got a stationary bicycle that he 'rides' daily, somehow works by firing off his nerves. Pretty amazing stuff they are coming up with.

Gwen, that was very cool!

Wonderful video.Made my morning. I would like a service dog to pull weeds. My back is killing me!

Just when I think I need a couple fur and responsibility few years in between dogs, I see something like this and end up with more dogs than ever...

Wasn't he cute the way he sat for his treat after doing something when he was really little?

Can anyone ID these? They were growing very abundantly in my stacker pots and the immediate area. At first I thought they were carrots, but no, they were not orange. Then I read the posts made about poisonous hemlock, so I pulled most of them up. What do you think?

Click on the second picture to enlarge it. They do look like poisonous hemlock. This says that they have a musty odor. Did you smell that? Or can you smell yet? Maybe you need to get Joey to smell them for you.

http://www.co.stevens.wa.us/weedboard/other%20weeds/HTM%20pages/poison%20hemlock.htm

Had to share a picture from my camera of Phoenix on point.

I like that picture of Phoenix. He is such a fun dog.

Thanks, Sharon. That really shows the bone in her. She has grown so much? How much does she weight now?

Lovely point and lovely yard, too! It looks so neat, yet inviting!

Dan was sooooo excited to find these and I did photo them but he was so worried that they would be picked we pointedat trees when a car passed. One was a friend and I decieved him with a conversation about pilated woodpeckers. I cannot send on my Iphone pictures.

Poison hemlock has hollow roots and has purple splotchy marks on the stems. It looks alot like queen anne's lace and also cow parsnip. I think the purple markings are the key difference. If in doubt, pull it out!

Well, Steve, we can give you a special dispensation until you get home. But then we want to see, too!!

That's so cool, Steve! We once took a botanist up our river to see a globally endangered plant called Aeschymomene virginica, or sensitive joint vetch. He'd never seen it before and he was thrilled.

DH took a course on botany in the Pinelands, with field excursions, and someone in the class obviously must have come back and extirpated one of the rare orchids that the land manager/naturalist brought them to see. Everyone (but the perp, obviously) was sick about it. Dan was smart to be worried and it was good that you came up with a plausible cover story!

wow ... "extirpated" ...

I think they really were; the population was all gone.

Apropos of nothing; I bought these little treat sticks for George and Gracie- they're seeds and dried fruit stuck on with a kind of a glaze. When I put one of those in their cage, they turn into feathery little piranhas! They attack it and strip that puppy bare in no time. hehe. Just kinda cracks me up. :)

Extirpated - good word.

Pony - I'm glad that the little Piranhas enjoyed the stick. That was nice of you - I haven't done that for them in a long, long time. Are the kitties still behaving themselves? That's too sweet!

Aw, I can't have critters and not give them treats. They got a new jingly toy, too. hehe.

The kitties still go up and try to sniff at the cage, but the birds fuss at them and they back off. No troubles. :)

When you keep birds, are they happy in their cage? I think I'd freak out about them not being able to fly free.

The birds I've had in the past weren't closed into their cages, they mostly hung out on top of them.These guys aren't tame, though, so I can't really let them out. They have a good-sized cage they can fly around in at least a little, and seem happy. But pet store budgies are bred in captivity, so it's all they know.

I did not get pictures. I had to hop in the car and leave with a car coming. The forest floor was filled with an upright cream and pink orchid that is found only in our home town area. Extripation was our primary concern, but were they beautiful.

And they freak out when they're free. They fly to a corner and then sit there terrified. This is all they know. Their favorite thing is to sing along with noise and/or music (well, their favorite thing after fruit stick treats).

Steve, Steve, Steve - you led us on!! Well, I'm happy that you enjoyed the orchids.

You could post a photo of the orchid from the web, you know! I'd love to see what it looks like!

It is only in Dan's camera. It is only localized to our home town. I will look for a similar.