Our house has more wildlife than I ever expected. The newcomer is a frog. A very loud frog. We haven’t seen him, but he croaks for a while every morning.
Of course we have squirrels and they have been hiding walnuts and acorns in my vegetable beds, between the leaves of the strawberry patch and under bushes. I’m finding shells everywhere. And one of them has been enjoying the free salad bar; I planted lettuce two weeks ago.
Every morning I provide them with clean water in the bird bath, put out bread and fresh sunflower seeds. The crows come and dip the bread in the water. Crows are very smart. They know and remember individuals. It’s a good idea to make friends with them. You really don’t want to ever make them mad because they will take revenge. Blue jays like the bread dry and the little birds (sparrows?) prefer the seeds and splash around in the bath.
We have a couple of hummingbirds that come for the nectar on the red pineapple sage blossoms. I always thought they just eat and run, but now I see one of them hangs out on a branch very close to the sage, then like a thirsty cowboy hitting the bar, he dives and drains a few blossoms and takes off. But I think he's a local and lives nearby.
Those red sage flowers attract an army of bees. We have one sage by the front door and one in the back yard. I have left them bee drinking stations filled with marbles (so they won’t drown). I never thought I'd go from being terrified of bees to being so happy to see them and I never thought I'd have 100+ right by my front door!
The first butterfly came a couple of weeks after we planted the new sages out front in July. She must have recommended the neighborhood to friends and we now have several butterflies.
We still have hot days – it was 90 yesterday – and there are a few lizards that enjoy laying on the hot paved areas. As soon as I open the door, they run into a crack.
For a city girl like me, this is all very entertaining. It’s also gratifying. I like knowing that my garden has provided a nice safe home for the critters. And it means that the garden is healthy.
