Mary Jo’s ferns

These are all the ferns I have in my yard. I had to work fast because they wanted to wilt the moment I snipped them. Here are my beloved native ferns in order of abundance in my yard:

Ostrich Fern
Interrupted Fern
Lady Fern
Sensitive Fern
Northern Maidenhair Fern
Marsh Fern
Cinnamon Fern
Bracken Fern

I have samples of each in this little composition, but some are tucked behind and little hard to see. I have worked hard at assembling native colonies of each of these on my land. There are a couple more (oak fern and christmas fern) that are common in my bio region that I would like to see get established as well. If any local Twin Citians are reading this, and have nice established patches of these ferns, and would like to share…

one last cuddle

Magnolia is a genus of about 210 to 340 species. And every single one of them is probably good looking. Can you imagine a family tree with 340 relatives and not a single cousin or uncle or great aunt is weird, or ugly, or so shameful no one mentions their name any more? While I have not met all 340 members of the Magnolia clan, I suspect that they may all be pretty darn good looking, and welcome and even celebrated members of their communities. #jealous

dried magnolia leaves

black and white is always a good idea

The birds are molting. As I walk down to the dock and back all day long, I pick up molted feathers–large and small–as I go and deposit them in a basket I am keeping on the deck. The basket is getting quite full–mostly with indistinct large brown sandhill crane and canada goose feathers. And then today, I found this little gem–black and white and perfect. So, while I could make a very large–maybe even impressive–feather assemblage, I choose instead to highlight this singular expression of “feather”.

woodpecker feather

old reliable

Taking a little break from all the blooms of late. “Bits and pieces” is always fun.

Bit and pieces of found nature

a rose is a rose is a rose

I bought this rose plant last year for Steve for Father’s Day. We were still living in the apartment then, rebuilding after the house fire. We planted it at the house, as symbol of hope. And then we had a huge storm and a 60 year old oak tree fell on it. Hope was hard won last year. We got the felled tree removed but he rosebush looked like a goner. And even this spring, it still looked like it wouldn’t make a comeback. But, it did. Just like our house. Just like STILL blog. Just like me. We all found a way to keep on keeping on. Hope wins.

champagne rose