Quails, Rabbits, Clematis, and Bamboo, Oh My!

It’s been a busy few weeks.  Here is just a brief update of what’s been going on in the garden.

First, a quick quail hatching update.  The eggs have been in the incubator for the last 15 days.  We tried to candle them, but with little result.  Almost all the eggs are too dark in color to see inside, and even the lighter ones are so small that it is impossible to see any actual life inside.  But, it seems hopeful.  I could clearly see that a couple of the eggs were duds (the light just shone through as with an unfertilized egg, but at least four others had a dark mass forming right where a chick would be.  So it’s impossible to say how many we’re going to get (many things could still go terribly wrong) but some are developing, I’m sure of that.

Anytime now, they could begin to hatch, but their ‘due date’ is the 20th.  I’ll keep you posted!

Their coop is also progressing – in fact, I venture to say it’s nearly done!  Here’s a few shots, showing the garden roof.  It still needs the gutter and the dirt, but otherwise that bit is finished.  We still need a few more bits of trim, the door, and the nesting area on the right side.

Here’s a tip for you: buy the regular silver hardware cloth, then use black outdoor metal spray paint on it.  It makes it so much nicer to look through – it’s much clearer and easier to see your animals.  Most of the time, it’s like the wire isn’t there at all!

The rabbits are adorable, in all the many ways that rabbits are.

That is Daisy.  Her sister Dandelion is behind her.

New things are going in the garden.  Our historical family rose the White Rose of York (Alba Semi-Plena) has bloomed for the first time, and WOW.  What a beauty it is!

Two of my early clematis have bloomed, and are now demonstrating a really cool thing about clematis: the seed-heads are nearly as beautiful as the flowers.

And this one has the most wonderful metallic gold shine to it.  I tried, but neither of these pictures really capture how gold it is.  Really spectacular!

The peonies are also in bloom.

And, my friend was remodeling her garden and had some clumping bamboo to give away.  I have this little space that I am going to turn into a shade garden, with trellises arching over it, and lots of ferns and hosta and lush green things inside.  With the quail adventure happening this year, this new garden project was slated for next summer.  But, one must always accept free bamboo when it is offered, and so….

…..I have the early beginnings of the new garden.  The very, very, very early beginnings!

Some day, this space WILL be beautiful.  But that day is not yet.

And in case you’re wondering, bamboo prefer the shade.   Hence the temporary umbrella.