Country life between a river and the ocean in Southern New England.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
country letter May 31st
From: Caroline Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 5:48 AM Subject: May 31st
When my brother was still a very small boy he had an argument with his nurse. When our mother asked him about the outcome he said, "well, she won out but I won in." That's the way I feel about my on-going battle with the English sparrows over the bird boxes. They have won out with four, but the furthest away in the back forty is filled with short lengths of small black twigs and I am in hopes that there is a wren nesting in there. And if I don't have charming tree swallows, at least I have a pair of barn swallows nesting in the garden shed. Of course I have to leave the door open for them, but since they eat a prodigious number of flies and mosquitoes its worth it.
This is the timeof year when I really feel sorry for city dwellers as where else can you find air so sweetly scented but in the country? Right now the heavy fragrance of Russian olive fills the air - alas they are invasive as are the wild Rosa multiflora which will follow, but for one short period you can forgive them both. We also have sycamore maples which I haven't seen in other places and they are hung with little green bunches of flowers that look like tiny bunches of grapes. If you haven't ever taken the time to small these, try it. They smell like honey. Hard to believe that May has passed us by so quickly, so hold onto June. Caroline
From: Caroline Sent: Saturday, May 06, 2006 6:22 AM Subject: May 5th
I have been creating a glade – or what I think is a glade –albeit a very small one in the “back forty” just before the bridge crosses the drainage ditch. I was inspired by the description of a primrose in the Avant Gardens catalogue. Now how could I resist this? “A candelabra primrose with whorls of fragrant yellow orange tubular blossoms in late spring. A must for the moist garden, it grows well in low lying areas and along streams and ponds.” As there are already rushes AND this primrose is hardy to zone 4 (as very few are) it is indeed a must. I have sworn not to plant anything not hardy to zone 5 anyhow. Remember that spell of minus 10 days we had several winters ago? The one in which lavender and roses and Buddleia were all killed? They weren’t meant for that kind of cold.
The Tree Swallows still haven’t come but I have been destroying the English Sparrow nests in the birdhouses almost every day. Their industry in building anew is unbelievable. And don’t tell me that birds can’t see color! In almost every nest there is a scrap of blue – a piece of a blue label, a blue jay feather or a scrap of torn tarp, and always a little bit of green grass or leaves from the ubiquitous Rosa Multiflora. In one nest I found a most enchanting feather- tiny and white with a completely round black dot in the middle, like a little beady eye. Fortunately I have a friend who seems to be able to answer all my questions whether mammalian or avian, so I mailed him a feather and the answer came back – from a Flicker.
The squirrel trapping is proceeding well. The trade name of the trap is Safeguard but I feel One-A-Day would be better. There are a few times when the sight of a squirrel gives me pleasure – when it is trying to get around the slippery plastic dome over the bird feeders – or if by chance I see one coming down the path from the “back forty”. Then the sight of it making those crazy loopy bounces make me laugh.
People have been complaining of what a cold spring it is. I don’t think they realize that the cold maintains that haze of tiny leaves which give each tree and bush an individual color – bronzes and yellows and the palest of greens. Pretty soon everything will be green and that early phenomena will have
disappeared. I can usually count on the Orioles arriving on May 6th, but this year none of the trees on my windy hill have leafed out – and without insects to eat the orioles won’t come and the insects won’t come until there are green leaves. So I shall just have to be patient and not put any orange slices on the deck for them – yet.
PS Well no Orioles but the Humming Bird came whizzing by last night. It investigated the suet and flew on but I am sure he’ll be back as I immediately got the feeder out and filled it with red syrup.
