I happened to look up a day or two ago and spotted a mound of grass, sticks, ivy and bits of bark and debris emerging from an old bird house in one of our pine trees. On a nearby limb sat a mother robin, guarding her handiwork, and most likely, a clutch of eggs from predators and other birds.

My goodness! I never knew robins were such great guard birds. If a squirrel or another bird comes near the nest a whole troop of robins chases it away with much angry chirping and dive bombing. I’m fascinated that the mother robin seems to have many friends helping her make her nesting endeavor a success.

I love robins and feel great happiness one has nested in our yard.

Here is a household tip for anyone who cooks with tomato paste. I often find that a recipe calls for just one tablespoon of tomato paste. More often than not, unless I have another recipe that calls for the same, I end up wasting the extra paste. A good way to use all the paste is to freeze the can for several hours, open both ends, and push the frozen paste out. Slice into four to six patties and store in a freezer-proof container. The patties will thaw and be ready to use in under an hour. Happy cooking!

I love this precious keepsake my daughter-in-law created for me this past Mother’s Day.  She painted my grand-daughter’s toes and feet and pressed them to a terracotta flowerpot. “Voila!” A keepsake for Nanny. I love it!

I’ve been on a hunt for the prettiest iris in the neighborhoods where I live. I’m working on compiling all my finds in an Iris DVD. Here is a preview of one growing in my side garden.

I couldn’t be happier with my Square Foot Garden beds. This is year number two using this method. I am thrilled with the results again. The lettuce is amazing. Eating lettuce only a few minutes away from the garden is a pleasure I wish for everyone. Happy Gardening!

Last Saturday night my husband went to the races. In honor of Mother’s Day the racetrack, and a local garden center, provided a zinnia plant for the mothers present at the race, and for those who stayed home. I was delighted when I found this extra small flower pot on my kitchen table.

I adore zinnias. I think it is genetic. My maternal great-grandmother grew a large bed of zinnias in the summertime. I am named for her, so perhaps, a little extra of who she was lives on in me.

I recently found quite a few zinnia seed packets on sale. I had already planted the larger varieties, 36 inches and taller, throughout my garden. Still, I could not resist the smaller sizes. I bought four packets, and I am full of purpose to place a few in every bare spot I might find in my garden. I am also planning on growing a dozen or so in pots so that when I have the invariable bedding plant catastrophe, I will have a few replacement plants on hand.

Zinnias are a favorite of mine to watercolor.

I love the second ring of yellow flowers lying deep within the larger petals. These small yellow flowers are where the nectar hides. Hummingbirds and butterflies will visit your yard daily, more than once, to sup on this treat. Here are a few of my zinnia reference photographs with some of their visitors. All artists and crafters are welcome to use any of my reference photographs for inspiration. Happy Painting!

This amazing patch of parsley has grown throughout the winter in my Square Foot Garden. It sulked a bit in the freezing temperatures of the winter months, but always maintained a green appearance. Although it did not grow much during the cold weather, it endured, and once the warmth of the sun intensified it began to exuberantly leaf out again.

I must harvest the parsley before it sends up a seed stalk and turns bitter. A good article can be found here about why lettuce and herbs bolt: Why plants bolt

One of the ways I am going to preserve the parsley is by freezing it in ice cube trays. The resulting herbal ice will be perfect for adding to soups and stews and crockpot recipes.

Another way I preserve herbs is to hang them upside down in a dark closet. In a week or two, the leaves will be ready to crumple and store in jars or ziplock sandwich bags. I use parsley processed this way in lasagna and other dishes that call for dried or fresh herbs.

I will also try to quickly dehydrate the parsley in my turkey roaster. This is my least reliable way of drying the herb. With this amount of parsley available, it is the right time to give the roaster another try.

I love this photograph of our adorable kitty-cat, Hans, smelling the flowers. Priceless!

Yesterday, I moved my coleus plantlets out onto the back porch to begin acclimating them to the cooler night temperatures. I will probably plant them this weekend, even though the nights are still unseasonably cool. I am hoping a few days and nights on the porch will sufficiently harden them off. They are still very small. They have been grown in a cool basement under lights, and although this keeps them from becoming too leggy, it does not promote quick growth.

It’s fun to see what new patterns and scalloped edges the new season will bring. This year, as always, I have one or two favorites. My dilemma will be the decision of whether to plant them outdoors where they will face elements and insects, or coddle them on the porch for a few months. Maybe I will do a little bit of both.

Growing coleus from my own seeds is one of summer’s happiest pleasures.

So far this year very few sprouts or transplants have been bitten off by bunnies, squirrels or chipmunks.  Since warmer weather is on the way, there is still potential for the tender greens to be nipped away by a hungry rodent. I need to take preventative action before I lose any of my beautiful Mammoth Sunflowers. In the photograph above you can see a sunflower sprout, hopefully protected by the smell of a freshly wet baby diaper.

A bag of cleaned out kitty litter also has a bit of an odor even when closed, hopefully it will frighten away any hungry rodents.

I made small cages with chicken wire, open on the bottom, closed at tops and sides, and covered tender transplants such as zucchini and melons. Any transplant that grows from a nut-like seed seems to be a favorite of hungry animals and even birds.

Four of my sunflowers are encased within a tall chicken wire tube. Be very careful working with chicken wire, the jagged edges bounced up several times near my eyes. It has quite a lot of spring and is unruly and hard to control. The tubes were not difficult at all to make. Bend the long cut edge together until it stays closed, cover with clear cellophane (a dollar store item) and tape with duct tape or gorilla duct tape.

Because the tube is tall it will catch the wind. You need to anchor it to something. I used another long piece of duct tape and nailed it into the wood of my square foot garden.

The long view from above. I have high hopes for my sunflower towers.

A common problem in almost every home is finding a way to tame an unruly electrical cord.

An inexpensive hair clip will hold a wrapped cord in a neat bundle. They also come in many colors and styles.

When the cord is tamed and clipped it’s easy to hide it behind the appliance.

A sampling of my garden library:

Dogwood trees are blooming in Southern New Jersey this weekend. My husband and I camped in Belleplain State Forest on Friday night and found this beautiful specimen in the forest.

Legend of the Dogwood Flower

The dogwood flower is “a representation of the Crucifixion itself, with the four white bracts cross-shaped, which represent the four corners of the Cross, each bearing a rusty indentation as of a nail and the red stamens of the flower, represents Jesus’ Crown of Thorns, and the clustered red fruit represent His Blood”

Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia

I love the combination of white Violets and Creeping Jenny.