Always trying to identify

Earlier this summer we had been pleased to see these pretty yellow flowering shrubs thriving in our backyard and wondered what they are. 

The plant in question is in the center of the above photo, to the left of our new drainage system. The others are past their prime but this one is still blooming profusely. Here's a closer photo of the blossoms.

While in the Native Plants part of the Duke Gardens last week, I took this photo identifying one of the Endangered Species. (click on the photo to read more about the Broadleaf Tickseed and notice the small range, including our part of the mountains!)

And here are a couple of  crops from the photo taken in our yard.  I think we have it!

We don't know how they arrived in our backyard, but we're happy to host them.

In the Fauna side of the natural world, this morning, a bird much larger than our usual goldfinches showed up on top of the hummingbird feeder - sorry the photo was taken from across the room in the morning light. As I approached, the bird flew away.

Norris remarked it looked a lot like the goldfinches.  For a size comparison, here's a photo of two goldfinches on the same type perch - this new visiting bird really dwarfs them!

The artistic image at this link clearly shows the female Purple Finch I was thinking this could be. They do winter in this part of the world and are among the larger finches. It does have the shape and beak of a finch, and only the female Purple Finch seem to have that distinctive white stripe over the eye and along the chin line.  She may be too large to use the new seed feeder we hung last weekend.  (We don't have a photo of the goldfinches using it... we'll have to work on that!)

Duke Gardens - part 2

After descending the terraces of the Historic Gardens, Norris took this photo of some of the more interesting tending work we witnessed.  We spotted gardeners in many places. There were large fish in this pond, but the water is pretty murky.

The docents at the visitors' center were very proud of this tree, a Dawn Redwood, a tree at one time thought to be extinct.  A tree was found in central China, and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University funded a seed-collecting expedition in mid-1947. Duke Gardens planted one of the Arnold Arboretum's seedlings in 1949.  It is now one of the largest specimens in North America.

The redwood was on the path to the last of the large garden areas, the Asiatic Arboretum.  The docents explained that North Carolina's Piedmont resembles the growing conditions of Southeast Asia.  A prominent feature is a large pond featuring a collection of water fowl. The Barnacle Geese I could almost touch are native to the Arctic islands of Northern Asia and Greenland.  The reason they are so fearless is visitors can buy food for them at the gift shop.

The charming zigzag bridge, being swept by a woman wearing a straw hat, felt remote and authentic to us behind the foliage.

This photo was taken specifically for my friend Jim who loves Japanese gardens and specifically, stone lanterns.

We took a slight detour to view the Durham-Toyama Sister Cities Pavilion and Garden.

The structure is a Japanese tea house, where Duke Gardens host traditional Japanese Tea Gatherings.

The Moss and Lichen garden was worth a side trip on our route back to the parking lot.

 We walked close to two miles during our visit and could have spent much more time in the gardens. 

Duke Gardens - part 1

Last week we returned to Chapel Hill and while we were there visited the famed Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Admission is free, though you do have to pay a small fee to park. The gardens, dating to 1934, are on about 85 acres in the middle of the Duke University campus. It was a beautiful day and we took over a hundred photos.  I had a hard time narrowing them down. There are still too many for one post, so I'll just have to make two.

The visitor center and gift shop is in the Doris Duke Center, where docents are available to give you a map - (we needed it!) and to tell you about some of the highlights to be sure and take in.

Directly behind the visitor's center is an amphitheater and the Virtue Peace Pond. It's a lovely spot, but we didn't linger since there was so much more garden to see.  

A path through the woods behind the pond leads to the parking lot and larger gardens.  We remarked on how tidy they are compared to the woods we own.

I asked Norris to pose by this Japanese banana tree for scale. Most of the plants are labeled.

Our next stop was the Mary Duke Biddle Rose Garden and Roney Fountain. Our photos of the fountain were washed out, but we were sure to take photos of roses. We are highlighting a few of the yellow ones here as Norris' mother is very fond of yellow roses and we had to focus on something!

This one is called Lemon Fizz.

 This is Winter Sunset - I like the variety of color on this one shrub.

Just one more - but it was farther away and I didn't get its name.

Our next stop was in the H. L. Blomquist Garden of Native Plants. This garden, like all of them, was full of features like this bridge.

... and this waterfall in the Fern Grotto.

There are benches everywhere, usually memorial donations. This particular group with the stone tables to make an outdoor living room charmed me.

Norris is in the Bird Viewing Shelter.  Just beyond the railing is a bird feeding station.

I'm not even showing the photos of the Endangered Species garden or the Carnivorous Plant Bog or the pond that look like a good home for alligators.

We moved into the Historic Gardens.  This Pergola marks the top of the Historic Terraces and Fish Pool.

Just on the other side we expected to see the terraces, but they are delightfully disguised.

The sunlight was strong and fooled our cameras, but we took some photos of the brilliant floral displays.

Norris got this shot of these colorful ornamental peppers.

The terraces were dedicated in 1939. They are so carefully planted, you can't see more than one level at a time as you descend.

We were not expecting to see so much color this late in the summer - some of it was provided by coleus. 

Here's a look back toward the pergola shown earlier.

Again for scale, I asked Norris to step into my photo of potted plants near the fish pool.

 

Weaverville's New 9/11 Memorial

We did our evening walk at Lake Louise in Weaverville last Wednesday evening (the anniversary of 9/11) and decided to stray from the path to check out the new 9/11 Memorial that the Town of Weaverville had dedicated earlier that same day.  This picture is taken from the walking path around the lake.

The memorial is dedicated to those that lost their lives in 9/11, but also to all the firefighters, police, and military who protect us every day.

This is the panel that is dedicated to police and firefighters.  The other panels include a tribute to the military and a quote from Abraham Lincoln.

More Lessons in Getting Along

This is the fifth day of our new regimen of cat introductions. Moki, Lilly and Lu are eating meals together in the main part of the house for the first time since Lilly's second week with us.

Breakfast Sunday morning, Moki and Lilly are keeping an eye on each other.

Since Moki's attack on Lilly Thursday evening, we have not seen anything more than a hiss from her in Lilly's direction, though she did have a spat with Lu two nights ago. Lilly, however, has been extremely nervous in Moki's presence. I started treating her with Safe Space for Cats when Moki is out, while Moki has gotten a dose of Bully Remedy.  I just put a couple of drops on my hand, then pet the cat in question.

This morning's meeting seemed a little better for both cats. When we put the leash on Lilly now she knows Moki is going to come out.  She often retreats to one of the bedrooms.  Unlike in the past, when Moki came upstairs, this time she did not nervously hunt for Lilly, but went out on the porch to look around.

Moki even took some time to chase her tail, but it happened too fast for the camera. So she was sitting under the table while Lu was lounging back in the house, keeping a close watch on Moki.

 Moki was relaxed enough to wash her whiskers.

 

At this point, on her own, Lilly decided she could come out too. The two cats are about 17 feet apart, with nothing between them. Lilly hadn't even noticed Moki when I took the photo, but she saw her a few seconds later.

Moki shows some wariness. I was sitting to one side and reminded Moki she should relax, to take a deep breath with me.

 

Lilly moved around at the other end of the deck, even disappearing behind the large wooden box while Moki stayed glued in her spot.

Lilly worked her way to the back door and was partially hidden from Moki's view behind the gas grill, scene of the attack on Thursday night.

 But Moki remained in her sunny spot.

Lilly took a moment to flop on the doormat.  Moki made a forward movement when Lilly got up again, but we reminded her to be nice with a stern "Moki!" and she backed down.

Lilly decided to end the session, and walked with Norris back to our bedroom.  We closed the door so Norris and Lilly could have a nap while Moki, Lu and I relax.  (Photo taken with my tablet.)

The behavior vet we consulted with in January 2012 told us it was very important to end sessions before anything bad happens. Everyone seems to think this one finished on a positive note.

Progress report

It's less than two days since Kathy was here to help us help Moki to get along with the other cats, but since that evening, we haven't seen her seriously try to attack Lilly.

Here she is lounging in Norris' new recliner with Lu nearby, enjoying a lot more freedom inside the house today. We are promising Moki if she continues to behave well, we will not be locking her behind doors any more.

Lilly is in the guest room sleeping off some serious play time with a short all-cats-out session sandwiched between.  We are keeping Lilly on the leash as she was when Kathy was here for these encounters with Moki, for her own safety.  Although Lilly has always just acted like a young cat, she is learning to slow down her movement so that she doesn't provoke Moki during these sessions.