Patricia Franklin
This is the 13th day since the babies were born. We have been gone most of the weekend, enjoying some xeriscape yard tours around town and in Pueblo West. There are some beautiful xeriscape flowers and plants that I have never seen before. A few small plants really interest me…the butterfly weed(bright orange and almost like a wallflower),
An entire Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) plant from the ground to the flower. It shows the characteristic blooming flowers, hairy stem, and is within 1 to 2 feet tall. Photo taken in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Photo was a handheld shot. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
varieties of creeping thyme, which we have also planted in our flagstone walk, pine leaf penstemon, wine-cup, ninebark, sea holly, gazania (like a daisy in various bright colors), candytuft and my favorite, desert willow. That’s a willow with pink flowers that look like orchids. It loves the dry desert. It looks as if the flower does not belong to the willow tree at all. Gorgeous! Then there are several plants with wonderful scents, honeysuckle, chocolate flower, ornamental oregano, agastache (various scents, even lemon, mint and licorice), hummingbird mint, lemon thyme (a ground cover similar to what we planted), and various types of lavender.
I cold go on and on. I have fallen in love with all these beautiful plants that can grow easily and beautifully on our dry plains here. It was a great get-away for a couple of days.
The robins have been so busy feeding the babies. It takes two of them all day long, especially since the miller season is gone and they have to search for food. We decided to give them a treat yesterday and brought them back a few night crawler earthworms. We did not see the robins when we went out there, but put a few worms in the raspberry patch, then the rest in our garden. We were not gone thirty seconds when the mother and father came out to gather them up. I could not believe how fast they could spot the worms and have them back to the nest. Those little birds got their tummies filled in no time and mom and dad got to rest in a nice long evening break.
The babies are getting lively, flapping their wings and trying to stand up the tallest to get the first mouthful of food. I hope they do not fall out of the nest before they are ready to fly. They are three different sizes, one is quite a bit smaller than the other two, but they are all very lively. They are quiet. I thought I would hear them tweeting, but they do not make a sound. I guess it is safer for them that way. They recognize mom and dad’s warning call, and will scrunch way down in the nest when they hear it. They are all used to us by now, and don’t seem to care if we are out there though I’m thinking at least one of them will be gone soon, as my research said it takes ten to fourteen days for them to fly. It has already been thirteen, but I don’t think they are quite ready.
I think this is a critical time for the babies, so I am going to keep a closer eye on them for a couple of days. That cat knows when we are gone, and would be over here in a flash if he knew they were there. I will now go out front, water my flowers and make sure the cat knows I’m around.
Related articles
- Limited water? No problem, go for xeriscaping (thehindu.com)
- Going Native: Landscaping for Your Climate (wisebread.com)
Old Things R New 
Soon they will be on their own. I will miss them.
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This is a lovely blog. It made me wish I had been going around looking at plants with Patricia and her husband. I’m glad to see what’s going on with the robins, too.
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