Max and Peter spotted this small snake in the garden this afternoon. I'm darned if I know what it is. If it weren't so skinny, I'd call it a hog-nose... that must be what it is. They favor sandy areas and our garden is all sand and gravel. I just hope it grows up and eats many voles.
I bought a bunch of different sedums today for mixed planting in the new steps. I bought individual pots, divided them where I could, and used the broken pieces. I dug up a few from the front bed by the street and moved a
Viola pedata and a small creeping cinquefoil. I'll move a few pieces of black mondo grass and maybe some pink pussytoes. I'm going for a xeric mixed carpet look. Have to add some iceplants too.
I was intrigued to find a number of fresh 1" holes in the soil between the stone risers. Chipmunks, I hope. The dog spent much of the day sniffing them, without trying to dig out the mystery inhabitants. Maybe they're not a mystery to her. If there's voles in those holes, she's welcome to dig them out, though I think voles don't dig their own tunnels. I've heard they adopt old mole digs.
But hey! We had an earthquake, hurricane, tornado, records heat, record cold and alternating periods of drought and deluge. Why wouldn't fall be a bit out of whack? Liriodendron and Nyssa which might, in any normal year, be well into their autumnal display are hanging in with healthy green leaves.
