Garden visitor

I was doing some yard clean-up tonight (around dusk, when it wasn’t quite so hot anymore).  I picked up a few dozen palm fronds that I’d pruned about a month ago but had neglected to throw out, I rolled up the solar pool cover and put it in the shed, and I pulled a few weeds.  At one point I saw something move out of the corner of my eye and I assume it was just a blowing leaf or one of the gargantuan spiders we seem to grow here, but it was this guy:

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The image is a bit misleading, because he was quite tiny—just about three inches long, not including his tail.  I took this photo on the macro setting while he was wedged between the wall and my raised planter bed.  I don’t know what type of lizard it is, but I’m guessing maybe a type of spiny lizard because of the spikes behind his ears.  I really don’t know.  I was thrilled to see him, though, because I try very hard to attract wildlife to the yard, and I hope that we can provide a bit of a sanctuary for things like lizards.  Lizards eat cockroaches and fire ants, so I love them.

On a related note, I’ve been quite jealous of the gorgeous garden photos posted in blogs by people who live in areas where plants are green and people actually have lawns.  I’d like to show off my own garden pictures, but this is the best I could muster.  The first is a couple of flowers on a cactus (the cactus had tons of flowers this year so I guess it’s happy), and the second is a burgundy gazania flower.  I think it’s the most colourful thing in our entire yard:

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Posted by Leigh-Ann on 05/15 at 12:48 AM

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  1. What beautiful flowers Leigh-Ann.

    Posted by Nio  on  05/15  at  02:11 PM

  2. Great backyard wildlife photos!

    Posted by vetmommy  on  05/15  at  08:36 PM

  3. Love the little Lizard.  That is something that is rarely seen in Manitoba. Also love the cactus flowers and the gazania flower.  Beautiful!

    Posted by Simply Coll  on  05/15  at  08:47 PM

  4. Today we noticed the jacaranda tree is blooming for the first time since we bought it last year.  We’re very excited, because it has gorgeous purple flowers.  I’ll take some pictures as soon as more flowers open, as there are only a few of them today. 

    One thing we’ve noticed is that we don’t have a lot of luck growing plants which are blue or purple.  We have a purple lantana, and some lavender, but other blue/purple plants I’ve tried always die off.  Red and yellow seem to be much hardier colours, go figure.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  05/15  at  11:36 PM

  5. Great photos! The lizard is neat….we don’t see them often here in the upper midwest either. I like that you welcome wildlife into your garden, good for you! Too many people spray, trap or poison critters that set up housekeeping on their property. With some exceptions - house mice, roaches, bitey bugs, black widows, etc - I think it’s nice to let them share. :~)
    And, lawns are sterile, boring and a pain in the arse to keep up, IMHO. When it’s rainy they need to be mowed every 37 seconds or your neighbors glare at you.
    Weird about blue flowres. Now you’ve got me curious. There must be a university with a gardening/ag extension you could call or email? I had a question, fired off an email to MSU and they were really nice & helpful.

    Posted by Carina  on  05/16  at  03:09 AM

  6. I have a shade garden, and except for impatiens, almost everything that blooms well there is blue or purple.  This seems to be true of most perennials.  Wonder what the explanation is?

    Right now I have blue creeping phlox, Forgetmenots, grape hyacinth, lilacs and wisteria, not to mention pesky woods violets blooming.  It is a very blue garden!

    Posted by Nurse Ann  on  05/16  at  07:02 AM

  7. Everything that blooms at my house is some shade of pink. The only exception are the crocuses which bloom white.

    Hmmm…

    Posted by Nio  on  05/16  at  07:16 AM

  8. I had beautiful blue delphiniums last year and they died mid-summer.  The same with my blue Marguerite daisies.  The purple lantana does okay, as does all lantana, but the purple is the most delicate and sun-sensitive.  The golden lantana will grow anywhere.  If I really think about it, the only “blue” things which thrive are herbs.  Lavender does okay except in the hottest part of the summer, and rosemary with its little blue flowers is fine (and a big fire hazard, I’m sure, as it’s so oily).  The flowers are such a small part of the entire plant, though, it seems like it hardly counts.

    I don’t think there are any blue or purple cactus flowers, which might indicate some relationship between colour and heat/sunlight.  I’ll have to search around the Internet, or write to the source Carina suggested, and see if I can find out more.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  05/17  at  01:56 AM
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