We had some beautiful sunny days in Plymouth this past week and my courtyard came alive. Last Thursday my fence was lined with robins. They hung out on the fence, my outdoor fireplace and the roof of my neighbor's home just long enough for me to take some photos. I heard a ruckus at the end of the courtyard so I went around through the garage to investigate. The birds were disturbed by my presence but I saw the aftermath of their feast. The end of my courtyard is bordered by two hetzi columnar juniper trees which had been laden with dark blue juniper berries.They must have knocked...

  All of these photos were taken on August 31st, 2015. It is not the date that is important but the fact that the photos were taken on the same day which is quite remarkable to me.I have received so much joy from my garden this summer.I have had two broods of painted lady caterpillars and have had black swallowtail butterflies lay eggs in my courtyard as well. I had a Giant Swallowtail butterfly which I never had in my Lakeville garden and  are pretty rare in Massachusetts. We have had many beautiful sunny days and I will often think I might like to go to the beach or take a day trip to Cape...

One night, a couple of years ago, we heard the most unusual, intense, shrill call from the wild. Being adventurers at heart, we donned flashlights and headed outside to track the call. The loud chorus made it easy to pinpoint the culprit- a gray tree frog! It was in the tree by our pond and he has once again found a home in our tree this summer. As their name implies, gray tree frogs spend much of their lives high off the ground, living in trees and shrubs. They are nocturnal creatures, only becoming active after dark to feed on moths, crickets and we hope mosquitoes! They move about the trees...

During that nice spell of warm weather we took the opportunity to open up our backyard pond for the season. We took off the mesh covering which catches the leaves over the winter.As you can see there's always a lot of work to do at the beginning of the season. We usually have some perennial visitors when we open the pond- snakes, frogs, masses of frogs eggs, but last year was a first. We opened the pond on March 20, 2011. It was the first day of spring and a lovely way to celebrate.The following day, when my husband came home at lunch time, he found two mallard ducks happily swimming around in our little...

  This past summer we had a garter snake who was a frequent visitor at our backyard pond. I found out why, on a hot, sultry day in July, when I witnessed the snake catch and devour a frog. A few weeks later, I spotted the snake again stalking his quarry. He was poised on a rock eyeing his prey with his tongue flickering in and out.Since I can generally be found in the backyard with my camera in tow, I caught the chase from his first leap to capture. The snake eluded me for several shots as he took his prey underwater and undercover of the shaded water lily leaves. Perhaps he was raising...

Every summer we patiently wait in anticipation of the bloom of our lotus plant. We fear it did not survive the harsh New England winter and then we are greeted by that first distinct leaf which dwarfs the other standard day lily plants. This year was no exception. Then begins the long wait until the plant matures and forms a bud. We silently exclaim," please don't burst into bloom the week we are on vacation or the day we are attending an out of town wedding!" For part of the drama of the lotus is that it lasts for only 2 days. The first day you can see the emerging bloom in hues of luminous...

I caught this robin red breast cheerfully singing at our backyard pond on a hot summer day.He decided to take the plunge,shook himself out, and dried off at the edge of the pond.