Six on Saturday

I’m posting this Sunday morning, because I fell asleep while uploading the photos last night.

1. Morus rubra ‘Silk Hope’

I do not know for sure that this is the ‘Silk Hope’ variety but given that it is growing in Silk Hope and is known for ‘weedy’ qualities, I assume so. I have been enjoying snacking on these berries, regardless.

Morus rubra ‘Silk Hope’ (with Cinnamon Chicken butt)

2. Lilium ‘Merlot’ petal

A sort of homage to Georgia O’Keefe

A petal fallen from the glorious Lilium ‘Merlot’

3. Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort) in the golden hour

Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort) at the golden hour

4. A lot going on

Cercis canadensis ‘Ruby Falls’ planted this year, and given a new, real, stake today instead of the long stick I’d been using.

Asparagus flowering.

Messy, over-heaped burn pile, because after a while, I worry someone has taken up residence in the pile and don’t want to set it on fire. Also, I now worry this pile is too close to some plants and will scorch them if I light it. Also, I put fresh stuff on the pile that won’t burn; then, it rains. So this really isn’t an optimal way to deal with this material. Another thing to think through…

Lurkey lurking in the background. I think perhaps I did not see him puffed up and strutting at all yesterday, and he didn’t approach me aggressively. Perhaps we have turned a seasonal corner, and he’ll go back to being my distant gardening companion now?

Newly staked Cercis canadensis ‘Ruby Falls’, flowering asparagus, Guardian Rabbit, messy burn pile, and Lurkey lurking

5. Verbascum ‘Dark Eyes’

I had no idea tiny, decorative Verbascums existed, so I impulse-purchased this at Big Bloomers last year. Every time I think it has reached peak flower density, it proves me wrong.

Verbascum ‘Dark Eyes’

6. Snakes mating on self-heal

This was the most amazing thing… Friday afternoon I coaxed a sunning black snake out of the road in front of my house. Yesterday morning, I had a visit from a black snake in the south side yard. Yesterday evening I noticed a very strange sort of thrashing sound and movement and discovered two snakes twining together at the southeast corner of my house. Their mating lasted over an hour, and took place over and around a patch of Prunella vulgaris (self-heal), my Hamamelis vernalis (vernal witch hazel), and a young Aruncus dioica (goat’s beard) just about to flower. I basically stopped in my tracks and watched until night was falling and I needed to coop the guineas, because it was mesmerizing and something I’d never seen. I came back with a couple of guinea eggs for the pair after cooping the birds, but they were gone.

Black rat snakes mating in Prunella vulgaris (self-heal)

Six on Saturday is hosted by The Propagator, and other entries can be viewed at the weekly post there.

2 thoughts on “Six on Saturday

    1. Thanks, Lisa! Sorry for the delayed response, but my site got locked there for a few days. The snakes were completely mesmerizing!

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