An Encounter with a Hummingbird

Jo Ellen Roe August 24, 2017 0 Comments

Hummingbird looking

While I did not take this photo, the hummer looks very much like the one who looked at me.

Encounter With a Hummingbird

I attend a writing class that meets every other week. At the last meeting, our facilitator, a poet, provided the class with a template to help them write poetry. Then we each wrote a poem using his method.

My poem turned out to be about an encounter I had with a hummingbird. Here it is:

Encounter with a Hummingbird

Walking down my garden path,

Brushing aside tall pink anemones that tickle my cheek,

So I can watch an ecstatic bee

Rubbing its belly across an anemone’s pollen, ... Read More

Read MoreRead More

A Winter Reflection: Home in Serendipity Gardens

Jo Ellen Roe January 11, 2016 0 Comments

Swing in fall (1)

This swing is one of our favorite places to sit in summer — and occasionally in winter, too.

It’s snowing today and quite windy, too, so it feels like winter. But this past weekend, the weather was warm enough — and dry enough — to sit outside in the garden. It usually isn’t warm enough to do that in January, but this year is different, compliments of El Nino.

I sat in the swing beneath the maple tree, where in summer a great canopy of shade cools the air below. On this particular rare bright day in a sea of cloudy days, however, only a tracery of branches studded with nascent buds reached to the blue above. ... Read More

Read MoreRead More

5 Citizen Science Projects for Kids and Grownups

Jo Ellen Roe September 21, 2015 0 Comments

Monarch Mirror Image

This image of a tagged monarch butterfly was taken from the web and made into a mirror image.

The monarchs have started their long journey south, to their winter homes in Mexico.

Many birds have already begun their southward flights, too — an annual event many of us notice when our backyards become noticeably quieter.

By becoming citizen scientists, observers of these migrations and other phenomena of nature can help scientists learn what is happening to butterflies, birds and many other creatures.

What is Citizen Science?

According to the Scientific American, Citizen Science is a way non-specialists can join teams of scientists in research. SciStarter.com adds, “Science is our most reliable system of gaining new knowledge, and citizen science is the public involvement in inquiry and discovery of new scientific knowledge. A citizen science project can involve one person or millions of people collaborating towards a common goal. Typically, public involvement is in data collection, analysis, or reporting.” ... Read More

Read MoreRead More

A-B-Cs for a Great Garden!

Jo Ellen Roe September 11, 2015 0 Comments

Sometimes, you might wonder what you can do to make your garden even better than it already is. Here is an A-B-C list to give you food for thought. Many of these suggestions will help attract wildlife to your garden, but some of them are just for your enjoyment as well — and some are just plants that I happen to like, some native, some not.

Many more items for each letter are available. I started to do at least two per letter here, then decided the post was getting too long. Perhaps I will do another A-B-C before long. ... Read More

Read MoreRead More

High Summer in Serendipity Gardens

Jo Ellen Roe July 27, 2015 0 Comments

Clematis on porch

Dark purple clematis are the July star of the front garden

It’s been a cool summer here in Michigan, with only three days so far with temperatures above 90 degrees. But it’s mid-July now, and the weather is beginning to heat up. I have enjoyed the cool weather, but a little heat seems quite welcome, both to me and to the plants in Serendipity Gardens. Speaking of these plants, here are a few that are adding their beauty to the garden.

On the front porch, dark purple clematis are still blooming profusely. Every year, the plant on one side grows more robustly than the plant on the other side. I am never sure why this is the case, and I have not found a solution. Perhaps I do not need to. They look gorgeous as is. What a welcoming site they are! ... Read More

Read MoreRead More