This morning the first rose bud was opening up a bit. You can see there are two more in the wings so we’ll have three pretty soon.
photography
Many more blooms
This morning the sun shone on the Asiatic Lilys. A lot of blooms!
Yes it bloomed
If you’ve been visiting Roadtirement for a while you know that we have been waiting somewhat impatiently for the Asiatic Lily to bloom. As you can see, it did bloom this morning.
Lots of buds still growing, so it looks like we’ll be blessed with more pretty blooms. Oh, and if you look in the lower right hand corner of the photo you can just see some leaves of the mint that we also have growing. It smells so pretty!
So close to bloom
We have been watching this Asiatic Lily closely. We planted this last year when it was in bloom, and the growth this season has been impressive.
They say a watched pot never boils. The same idea fits flowers. We have been checking, sometimes twice a day. Yep, seems like a watched Asiatic Lily never blooms, but we’re getting close.
Finished with the mulch project
If you’ve been following along with some of the projects Roadtirement has been working on during our COVID-19 stay safe at home time, you will know that mulching has been a big part of our flower garden design. (Whew, what a long sentence!)
Herbs and wildflower starts on an old stump
Still needing a bit of grass/weeding work, but close to done
Our son has been such a great help in toting bags of mulch and spreading same. The herbs are doing very nicely, and seem happy to be on the remains of an old trees stump. Sher spread some wild flower seeds on the rich soil on the sides of the stump, and several seeds have already sprouted.
Progress continues on the flower garden
The past few days have been very productive in Roadtirement’s garden and landscape project list. The primary task list included preparation for, and placing of a mulch base for the flower garden. Our son did most of this work.
A progression of progress
We still have a bit of mulch left to place. It will go around the old tree stump where Sher currently has a grouping of herbs. This stump may also end up as a Fairy Village.
Unfinished mulch job and placement of herbs on the stump
Close up view of one of the glacial rocks we collected for the garden
A better look at the “getting close to finished” project
In addition, Maj planted more trees that we got from the DNR. Our total tally ended up with two Black Cherry trees and three Tulip trees. We thought we only had two Tulip saplings, when in fact we had three in the bundle.
Some more things spotted in the yard
Here’s some more images of some plants around the yard. We did get a nice thunderstorm this afternoon. I won’t have to water anything today.
We decided to use both sink compartments for flower plantings. We’ll get another something for a bird bath. Since we have put up the bird feeder our backyard has become very popular with the neighborhood avian population.
The rose bush is new, just got it planted a few days ago. We were surprised and happy to see the new bloom at the peak of the bush! Roses are so pretty…
Seen in our backyard
Just a couple of images from our backyard. This really isn’t a photo blog, but we do like to share pictures. So maybe it is a photo blog….
The writing tool is in the mushroom picture for scale. We got the Black Cherry tree at a local DNR giveaway. It is in a tomato cage to protect it as it starts to grow. We also got a couple of Tulip trees as well.
We found an old growth forest and trail
Every once in a while you stumble upon a new to you attraction. While researching central Indiana trails and forests I came across a small but delightful gem in Shelby County, which is south east of Indianapolis. The gem is a nearly 50 acre nature preserve called Meltzer Woods Nature Preserve.
The unique quality of this property is found in its description: The forest is considered an original old-growth stand that was placed in Indiana’s Classified Forest Program in 1928. In 2014 it was protected forever when it was acquired by the Central Indiana Land Trust. An old-growth forest is one that has trees that are at least 150 years old and has not been cleared for a century or longer.
The trail
National Natural Treasure designation
Meltzer Woods is a wonderful place to spend time in nature, and to get a sense of what Indiana forests were like when the first European settlers arrived. Many of the trees are older than Indiana’s Statehood in 1816. Some have even been dated back to the 1600s. There is an easy and nearly level 1.3 mile trail that wanders through the forest. Magnificent trees, wildflowers galore, and interesting understory make for an inspiring walk through the forest and go back in time to when 80% of Indiana was covered in forests like this.
Dense understory
The Meltzer family first bought this ground in 1857. The family still owns adjacent farm ground and still farms today. Rain was threatening yesterday, and we decided to return another day when we could take the trail and really enjoy this historic and natural corner of Indiana. There is ample parking across the road, and Google Maps knows where it is if you are in the area.
A committee of vultures
On a drive today we saw many large black birds in a field next to a rural county road. I had my son stop the car for a better look and a photo op. The committee of vultures started to move away from the road, some walking and some flying close to the ground before they settled down again.
And by the way, there are three different names for a group of vultures. Different circumstances dictate what name applies at the time. A committee is a group resting on the ground or in trees. A wake is a group feeding. And when you see lots of vultures soaring in the sky, wings outstretched with little or no flapping, well that is called a kettle of vultures.
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