It’s Still Summer in the Garden
After a week in Mexico I was pleasantly surprised to find summer is still here in Chicago. The leaves are turning colors, but the feral flowers are in full bloom.
The cats in my yard were regularly fed while we were away, but I think they noticed we were gone. The garden path was littered with feline gifts of rats and a pigeon. Bouncy Bear and Funny Face ran around us in protest when I discovered these gifts, and we disposed of them. The colony cats rarely hunt, so I wondered if these gifts were their way of missing us. Who knows…
But it got me thinking about how the garden is a tiny patch of nature here in a city setting, on a standard Chicago lot.
The zinnias have truly taken over. When you sit in the corner catio, it’s like you’re hiding behind a secret wall of zinnias.
Zillions of zinnias.
They even took over one of the paths.
With the zinnias, came the insects. We have TONS of butterflies. This particular monarch was tagged from Monarch Watch, a group based in Lawrence, Kansas.
The grasshoppers and bees really like the Green Envy zinnias, which were kind of like camouflage for them. My friend across the alley has a bee hive, and the bees were all over the flowers all summer.
And then of course, there are the cats. Who basically hang out wherever they want.
On the garden path.
And the walkway.
In the shade.
And in the sun.
On the Feral Villa.
And on the fence.
On the deck.
And on the catio.
Except when I’m there. They won’t sit with me. I didn’t even see Jim take these photos. This is my favorite place to blog.
