More Deer Visitors

 Look at those two cuties.  It's always fun to see them in the neighborhood but a little scary when a car drives by and they run erratically sometimes going in opposite directions.  Meanwhile an adult deer stands and watches as a car drives by.  She doesn't panic but keeps a eye on the car just in case.

Gorgeous Flowers in the Back Yard

The first day of summer is blooming in the back yard.   Our volunteer Sunflower (self seeded from last years crop) is over 6 feet tall with a huge flower open. And it has buds for three more flowers getting ready to open.  Nearby our Butterfly Bushes have fully recovered from there winter haircut and are blooming great.  We've seen a couple of butterflies and hope a bunch more join the party soon.

Twins in the Neighborhood

 Here is a great picture of a very cute baby deer.  And lo and behold he or she is a twin.  The second picture shows momma deer with her two young ones.  One concern we have is sometimes the twins will run in opposite directions when we come down the driveway.  I guess Mother Nature is able to figure out a way to get the family back together once we have past them.

Large Hydrangeas

 Our mature Hydrangeas are doing great this year.  The first one has been in the ground for several years but this year it is really growing large with a bunch of flowers.  The three Oak Leaf Hydrangeas were originally planted in outside the fence where they were eaten to the ground by the deer.  We moved them inside the fence and the plants recovered to grow quite large with beautiful blooms.

Cutest Baby Deer

 It is baby deer time again.  A couple of days ago, we saw a mom deer with two baby deer so I set the camera out front.  I was lucky to get a picture of a mom deer and one baby and the baby even posed for the camera as mom moved out of the frame.  This is one of the greatest things about spring is seeing these young critters get their walking legs under them.  We have an arrangement with the deer, they stay outside the fence and this has worked except for two times. See my post from Saturday, June 23, 2012 describing how I caught a baby deer and moved it outside the fence.

Magnolia in the Woods

 Back in the woods is a Magnolia tree that is out of place since I think they prefer a good amount of sun.  This tree wasn't planted here but Mother Nature must have thought it was a good spot.  Because of the lack of sun, it has sparse leaves and very few flowers.  But this year we are lucky enough to enjoy two flowers on one of the lower branches.  In looking up higher, there are some other flowers but too high to see clearly.

Clematis and Columbine

 This is a Clematis we moved from behind the pond several years ago and it must really like the new location as it is blooming like crazy.  Last May it had a few flowers but this year it is a cascade of flowers.  Below are two new plants we added to our inventory.  These are a species of Columbine that we planted this spring.  It's flowers are very different from the Columbine we already have that spread all over.  We started with one plant and now have dozens.  We hope this variety will also spread to other areas of the garden.