I am overdue with a couple of posts. I need to discuss the current chicken affairs (they crossed the street, hahahahah), I've been given an award by Spartacus and the nanny swap is complete. However, before I can do any of those I owe CG a list of things growing in my backyard that I can name off the top of my head. As usual, I kind of made up my own rules as I went along and I did this at my desk which means I really have to think about it (I can't see it).
To start with, I definitely divided flora and fauna and I have no idea if bugs and insects belong in fauna (I suspect not) but that's where I put them just like I listed my fungus with the flora even though it should have it's own category.
I also included some things I planted but omitted many (as in most of what's inside my garden walls). I'm not sure exactly how I drew the line but a lot of it had to do with self sustainability. In other words, I dropped seeds for nasturtium, cosmos, zinnia and johnny jump ups but they will and have come back on their own. I established perennials which will also be back but I do want you to know that the Foxglove (digitalis) was found in the woods before I even added to the collection.
I also noticed that while I know the formal names for some things I know only the common names for most. In some cases I cheated and looked them up. In the case of the mushrooms I kind of had to look them up because common lawn mushroom numbers 1 and 2 would have been meaningless to anyone not from the Northeast. Probably. Also, nifty red things, only meaningful to me.
And lastly I noticed how much I don't know. For example, most of the forest behind our house is made up of new growth trees (in the last 70 - 100 years) and are of a variety that I simply don't know. It's not like I've never seen them I just haven't the foggiest idea what they are. All I know is they grow straight up, have green leaves and no branches good for building tree houses. Bah. Also, they fall over a lot in the swamp.
One last thing - I have no idea what kind of grass is planted in my front and back yard. Probably because I don't much care about it. It's there, it's green, we no longer reseed or fertilize it.
Flora
Blueberries
Wild raspberries
Wild strawberries
Alpine strawberries
Queen Ann's Lace
Poison Hemlock (there's a reason these two are close together)
Golden rod
Rag weed
dandelion
Purple sage
Clover
Oregano
Monkshood
Thyme
Honey suckle
Peppermint
Violets (just purple I think)
Johnny jump ups
Yarrow
Butter cups
Day lillies
Snap dragons
Peonies
Cosmos
Eccanacea
St. John's Wort
Orange poppies
Lupine
Cone flower
Zinnia
Yellow and Red climbing roses
Wisteria
Morning glory
Fox glove
Nasturtium
Portulaca (yes, this comes back again and again in the most bizarre places)
Bracken Ferns
Maiden Ferns
Blue Flag (swamp) Iris
Skunk cabbage
Purslane
Meadow foxtail
Northern bentgrass
Thicket sedge
Red fescue
Bulrush
Burdock
Wild lettuce (reseeding butter crunch)
Wild(ish) butternut squash (crawled from the compost bin)
Broom moss
Powder puff moss
Lichen (I know there are multiple varieties)
Crab grass
Whipfork moss
Reed grass
Cat tails
Witch hazel
Sweet flag
Woodbine (creeper)
Holly
Rhododendron
Burning bush
Azalea
Common dogwood
Mountain Laurel
Juniper
Maple
Pine
Blue Spruce
Common lawn mushroom # 1 - Macrolepiota Procera
Common lawn mushroom # 2 - Psathyrella Candolleana
Nifty red shrooms - Mutinus Elegans
Fauna
Lightening bugs
Japanese Beetles
Night crawlers
Cicadas
Grasshoppers
Crickets
Centipedes
Carpenter ants
Itty bitty black garden ants
Dragon flies
Common house flies
Horse flies
Mosquitoes
Potato bugs
Aphids
Boxelder bugs
Tree frogs
Swamp frogs
Garden toads
Canadian geese
Mallards
Tree sparrows
Goldfinch
Robin
Blue jays
Humming birds
Field mice
Owls
Wood peckers
Raccoons
Coyote
Wild turkeys
Rhode Island Reds (those be my ladies)
Chipmunks
Ground hogs
Deer
Rabbits
Gophers
Hawks (at least a pair, possibly more now)
Bats (at least half a dozen now)
Crows
Grey Squirrels
And..... (you thought I was done) I would also love to see lists from Kory, Kitt, Lisa, El, and Wendy.



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