So I was looking at my semp wreath today (it's mounted on top of a trellis), and I saw a lump in the center top of it. It looked like a mushroom and was pushing one of the semps off the wreath. I went up to get a better look, and here is what I found!!

Isn't that just an adorable tree toad! Here is a picture of his back. He looks silver!

Here is a picture of the entire wreath. You can see him top and center. I left him there. He looked so comfortable!

Oh my gosh. A toad, how lucky can you get Chris. What an awesome ornament. He must be coming out of hibernation? Wonder if that is where he spent winter? What a treasure.
Oh by the way, that wreath is gorgeous, look at all the new growth on it.
Definitely a Five Star Wreath, especially as far as Mr. Toad is probably feels about his accommodations.

I overwintered the wreath on the ground, and he wasn't there when I put the wreath on the trellis, so he's new! But I hope he stay awhile!

We have a native toad here in the Willamette Valley. They get pretty big. I would so love to have one come live in my yard. This year I am going to put out a toad house and see if I can coax one to come live here. : )
Okay, now for sure I am planting a wreath. Does every wreath have a frog move in?
I did find a wonderful salamander while weeding under my red maple tree. It was adorable.

I've seen tree frogs around here before but never a tree toad. Tree frogs are green and much slimmer.

Here is a picture of our normal ground toads. We love them because they eat lots of bugs - especially mosquitoes. They get so fat! Strange, another picture of one in the semps.

I've put toad houses out but have never seen a toad use any of them.

Edited to add that this picture is about years old.

I would be so happy to have a toad here. We had very large tadpoles in the creek one year and really got excited. They were just starting to show the beginnings of legs when they shut the water flow off above us. They use it for irrigating in the summer. That was the end of the what looked to be toads.

Good Morning! Are you up early or still up from last night?

Bummer about the tadpoles. When I was little we used to go to the creek and catch and raise them.

I just got up. Can't believe I slept that late. Soft spring rains today. It is lovely, everything outside looks so happy. : )
We used to do the same things. We did it in those flat type, round fish bowls. My dad came home from work and went to take a shower, what a surprise he had when he pulled the curtain back and there was a big old catfish. I found it in a pond that was drying up, was very easy but tricky to catch him. : ) Poor dad, he never new what he was going to find when he came home. Orphaned skunk, orphaned crow, nothing was exempt from my love and curiosity.
We have a new Cubit member. Stefan from Topiary Art Works. I am so excited about learning and sharing with him and his family. I did not know it is family owned and run. How awesome is that.

I saw that Stefan is here - that is VERY cool! He has a link on his site to your cubit too. Its under the wreath category, lower right corner - how to make a wreath.

I always have had a soft spot in my heart for animals too. I bet your Dad was shocked to see that catfish!!

I had an absolutely wonderful Dad.
I think I am going to purchase one of Stefans turtle topiary. Would love the horse also, but only one this year. Maybe the horse next year.
I love his website.

I had to evict a toad from my yard last year. He kept deciding to nest in my sempervivum pots. I kept finding my plants dug up, one pot at a time and was trying to figure out what was happening for weeks. Then one morning found him asleep in the middle of one of my pots, with the plant pushed aside. We had a long talk that day and he agreed to move on.

I can just see the serious look on your face during that talk. For me it's the Jays, they love pulling up young plants and just leaving them lay right in the spot they pull them up from. Not sure what they think they are doing.

I can imagine that too! The one in the wreath did push one semp off with his butt as he was burrowing down but thats the only damage toads have done. Now squirrels and gophers are another story with my containers.

I have a couple of small glass ladybugs in my semp containers and couldn't figure out why they always ended up laying outside the pots. Yesterday I finally figured it out - the birds were trying to eat them. Hope they didn't damage their beaks!

Anything that keeps them away from the berries and small fruits is a good thing!

Ahhh - use the glass bugs as decoys??

I'm going out to find red and black paint. I have a lot of rocks I can paint to look like lady bugs. Maybe that will keep them from eating my figs.

I read that you can hang red beads in cherry trees all summer long to teach the birds that red round things are not good to eat.

We have a real problem here with robins. They eat all the small fruits before they have a chance to ripen. I keep thinking I'm going to try making omelets from blue eggs and learn how to make red-breast meat pies. The robins used to be mostly solitary, but now we see flocks of 8-10. They are relentless. I knock down their empty nests whenever I can to discourage them, but it does not help much. Each year the robin problem gets worse. They are taking the fruit here earlier than ever before.

Sorry twit, I wouldn't want them eating my fruit either. But I just got this picture in my head of you cracking those tiny blue eggs and whipping them up into an omelet. How many do you think it will take to fill you up?