Yesterday my husband and I went for a walk.
We came upon a strange tree.
Hubby said it was a Cottonwood tree.
I saw “cotton” all over the ground.
I picked some up.
I was amazed to learn that the male produced the pollen (causing allergies for some) and the female trees make the cotton.
The cotton is an appendage to help disperse the Cottonwood seeds so they do not fall at the base of the mother tree.
So, as they say, you learn something new every day!
So we decided to do No Mow May, a movement to help pollinators as they come out of hibernation.
Our intentions were good. Nevertheless, there are rules in town. By the latter part of May we wound up mowing our front lawn to avoid a fine.
The backyard is a different story.
I could hardly believe how quickly grass grows!
The grass and weeds seemed to take over at such a pace! It was wild!
The rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks just loved it!
When grass grows too long it is quite a chore to try and cut it down.
We will continue to trim our backyard grass and weeds.
We do not spray our plants or lawn with pesticides nor do we harm the ecological environment with noxious chemicals to keep the bugs at bay.
It was good to do No Mow May for a couple of reasons.
We gave the pollinators a break so they could enjoy the long grasses, and we didn’t mow the backyard for a month!
I’ve seen some bumble bees in our garden.
That’s another good sign that we did OK with No Mow May!
P.S. We saw a hummingbird bird in our backyard for the 1st time. Even though we don’t put out hummingbird feeders we have flowers for them!
Yesterday we experienced severe weather in our neck of the woods.
We live in South-Central Minnesota.
Tree branches came down on my street.
The news was worse. Others had been hit harder in surrounding areas.
After the storm, hubby and I took a walk.
Gladly, we enjoyed cooler temps.
Springtime storms can be scary.
Today I do not have to go to work.
It’s my day off.
Nevertheless, a woman’s work is never done.
There are always things to do here at home.
According to the news, we are supposed to take down our bird feeders and empty the bird baths for a month.
There is an outbreak of Avian Flu in Minnesota.
So, as much as I would like to stay in bed on my day off, need to get up to safeguard the health of the wild birds , by removing the bird feeders from the backyard this morning, and emptying the bird bath.
I pray that the many variety of wild birds out there will be okay, and won’t be too disappointed with the loss of their regular refreshments.
I know that the chipmunks, rabbits, and squirrels won’t be too happy either with the absence of their free birdseed food.
Zents Music Studio 