Welcome to my Garden Blog

Nature: wild & untouched. Photographing it, preserving it, taking walks and drinking in the landscapes as they unfold.

Gardens: touched by loving hands. Cultivated, nurtured. Drinking in those landscapes is wonderful, as well.

In my garden one enjoys some of both. Generally unpruned & wild, my plants reshape the garden as they grow.

Beyond the garden borders, natives from the Santa Monica Mtns await. Oak trees with their shady canopies. Cactus & Sage in the sun.

Always there are animal creatures to join in the fun.

I look forward to sharing some of my experiences with you as they unfold.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Sycamores to the Rescue

    Western Sycamore Tree with seed pods, Warner Park, CA, Photo by Kathy Vilim


As if they'd read my story "Birds Need More than just Trees", today small birds (Finches I think) took to the Park. Up to the tops of the Native Western Sycamore Trees they flew where seed pods hung on the still bare branches. I delighted in watching them, happy to see the native trees provided them with some seeds after all.

I had just written about the lack of birds in the Urban Park and how I missed their bird song. Their absence was largely due to a lack of understory plantings which provie seed and berries for the birds.

                         Frosty Sycamore leaf, Warner Park, CA, photo by Kathy Vilim

The seasons being what they are, all mixed up, here we are at the end of February and new spring leaves are already coming to the Sycamores, even while the brown leaves of autumn still lie on the morning's frost-covered lawn..

Wildflowers, Santa Monica Mtns

Wildflowers, Santa Monica Mtns