Houseplants

If one can't garden outside, one does it inside.  I've always had houseplants.  Over the years, I've tried many different ones, but like my outside garden, I prefer plants that don't ask too much of me, and so I have some staples.  Call me lazy, I guess.  I do tend to neglect houseplants, and the biggest reason is that they need more than garden plants.  They won't get rain, you have to provide water.  They are confined to pots so the soil gets tired and can't feed the plant properly.  You have to repot regularly.  You might have to fertilize them.

I recently read an article that said that regular fertilizing could be the death of houseplants.  I actually experienced this, but didn't realize exactly what had happened.  One of my staples is the Golden Pothos, an extremely easy and fast-growing vine that does well in the low light of indoors.  Want more pothos?  Just cut some and root it in water.  I have kept these rooting in water for a long time, and they seemed to be okay with that.  I came up with a design idea that involved pretty glass globes hanging in attractive gold chain hangers.  I found the crackled glass globes in the decor aisle, and the chain in the hardware aisle.  The globes held more water than I needed for this, so I found some drinking glasses that fit perfectly inside.  This worked out beautifully.  Since tap water will leave mineral stains on glass over time, it only appeared on the glass inserts.  The globes stayed sparkly and clean, and the smaller glasses inside anchored the plants better than if their roots were spread out in the globes.  Then I went around and gave all my pothos a haircut.  They rooted and grew in the water, and made a very attractive and different display.  I kept a small watering can filled at all times so the chlorine in the tap water could gas off before I needed to top off the pothos' water.  Learned that trick from having aquariums for most of my adult life.

One of my first experiments with this was going well until I decided to give them a shot of fertilizer.  For my houseplants, I just used water-soluble food (Miracle Gro), so that's what the pothos in water got.  They began to brown and die.  I can only assume it was the fertilizer.  They apparently didn't need or want it.  They got all they needed from the water and sunlight from a nearby window.  The next time I tried it with no fertilizer and they did great.  Never again will I feed plants living in water.

Then this article explained why some of my other plants were declining.  It was my habit to add some Miracle Gro every time I watered.  Except in winter.  I had read a long time ago not to feed houseplants during winter because they go sort of dormant in response to less daylight.  But I noticed some actually seemed to grow more in winter!  I often repotted the ones that needed it in the fall.  After reading this article, I realized why they seemed to look better when I quit feeding.  Because they didn't need or want it!  If they had been repotted, they had fresh soil, which is really what they wanted.

What this article said is that most commercial fertilizers are chemicals and minerals...salts.  Salt is deadly to most plants, and in the confined situation of houseplants, it builds up in the soil.  Less is more when it comes to feeding houseplants.  Repotting does more for houseplants than plant food, and if you do feel the need to feed, use an organic fertilizer very sparingly.  So I'm throwing out the rest of the Miracle Gro.  Maybe I'll pick up a bottle of Fish Emulsion, something that has long been recommended for houseplants.

Another thing I'll do when I get settled in a new home is set up rain barrels.  City water is not great for plants as its salts will build up in the soil.  That's what the ring of white is on vases, etc.  I'll collect rain water for the potted plants.

Besides pothos, I also have a few other hardy houseplants.  Over time, I've learned what they need.  Spider plants are beautiful and dramatic, but they want more sun and water.  They become pot-bound very fast as their root system is large and bulky.  I have both the striped and the solid green.  I've learned the solid can take less sun than the striped, so I can grow that one farther from windows.

I have a Neanthe Bella Palm that I found in the garden center at Lowes.  It was sold as a patio plant, but I thought I'd try it as a houseplant.  I learned that one doesn't like much light, it gets sunburned.  It's doing great in a corner of the room that never gets direct sunlight.  Anita Draceana was bought as an interesting topiary type of plant.  It had been grown and pruned into a globe shape atop a standard.  A standard is a tall single bare trunk.  It's not a globe shape anymore, but it does well in low light, too.  The Thanksgiving Cactus also does well with less than bright light.

Yes, I said Thanksgiving Cactus.  I've always wondered why my Christmas Cactus bloomed before December, and now I know.  A random thing that came across my Facebook feed recently showed me how they are different.  It's in the leaves.  Thanksgiving Cactus has little spikes on its leaves (actually its stems).  Christmas Cactus is smooth.  Mine is spiked.

Some plants I've tried and abandoned due to being more trouble than they're worth.  Ficus is the most annoyingly sensitive plant I've ever had, even though it's actually pretty hardy.  Any change in its environment causes it to shed leaves like a cat sheds hair.  I mean any change!  Move it a few feet, leaves drop.  Dry air in winter, it sheds.  Too much water, not enough water, cool draft, warm draft, more light, less light, it sheds.  They didn't grow new leaves fast enough to replace the ones they dropped, and I got tired of picking up after them.  I finally trashed them.

I used to grow violets, but they are a bit demanding, and need quite a bit of light.  If you have a bright window sill, they'll be fairly happy, but I've never really had a good place for them.  I prefer plants that can serve as decor which means not necessarily in front of a window.

Others I've tried just didn't do well for me.  As in my garden, if it can't make do with what it gets, it's too much trouble for me.  But I will try new ones now and then.  It's what I do.

Another tip I recently learned explained why my heavily water-rooted plants didn't adapt to soil well.  In fact, they often died after planting, and I didn't understand why.  When water-rooting plants, you must plant them in soil before the roots get long.  No more than a couple inches is best.  This is because those short young roots can move into the soil more easily.  A long thin root can't.  It just sits there unable to grow anymore, and eventually rots.  I knew this about garden plants.  I always root-prune new plants before planting in the garden.  If they've been at the nursery for very long, the roots are winding around in the pot.  You must tease them away from that circular pattern, and sometimes, it's just easier to prune them.  If there's a thick mat of roots on the bottom, I slice a good inch or two off the entire root ball.  It doesn't hurt the plant as long as it gets plenty of water after transplanting.  It actually encourages the plant to grow more roots, just like pruning branches forces the plant to grow new leaves.

In Bird news, he is finally roosting under the carport without any cajoling from me.  Whether because of his bad experience that snowy morning, or because his wings are clipped, I don't know.  I'm glad I don't have to worry about him so much now.

Weather is up and down.  Very cold and then not as cold.  So far, the very cold nights are just a couple in a row.

Happy Holidays
Naturechild

Dumb Bird

Not much else happening these days so here's more of the Bird saga.

Shortly after I took the last photos of Bird's attachment to Whipper, I was able to catch this scene.  Bird was on Whipper for quite a while.  This one looked a lot like mating behavior.  Bird was vigorously drubbing Whipper's shoulders, and it must have been a pleasant massage because Whipper barely twitched through the whole session. 

Still no reaction.  What a dog!  Since this, Bird has been concentrating his efforts to mount Whipper at the other end.  Apparently not as pleasant for Whipper as he won't allow it.

Bird was roosting in a tree whenever he could.  I tried several times to reprogram him to roost under the carport where he'd be dry and safe.  I lured him into the pen with birdseed, locked him in for the night, and then let him out in the morning to forage.  It seemed to be working for a few days, but when I tried letting him come and go as he pleased, he again went for the tree at dusk.

Now this particular tree is actually a large wild privet shrub just the other side of the back fence.  It held leaves longer than most other trees, but it's not a substantial tree and the branches are flimsy.  I didn't know how he was getting up there.  I always missed that small window at sunset when he went to roost.  The fence is 5 feet tall, I really didn't think he could fly over it.  I thought maybe he was using the tree in front of the fence to sort of climb up and then hop over to the fence and then to the privet.  I finally caught him in the act, and he was flying straight up off the ground to the top of the fence!  Well heck.  I threw up my hands in defeat.  Fine, if you want to be undomesticated, you're on your own.  I knew it was just a matter of time before he came down in the morning on the wrong side of the fence, it's happened before.  And being a dumb bird, he wouldn't remember that he could fly back in if he wanted.  If I wanted him in, and he seemed to want in, I had to spend some time and birdseed to lure him in the gate.

Then we got our first snow this week, and it was a pretty good one.  It started out as all day rain, and turned to snow overnight.  When the sun came up, it was a winter wonderland.  A good 3" or maybe a bit more.  It stuck to everything, and it got so cold that night, it was ice under the snow.  Not a good night for a chicken without a roof over his head.

I couldn't see him in that privet from the house.  I heard him crow once that morning before the sun came up,  so I knew he was there at that time.  I thought about how disorientated he would have been when he saw his surroundings after sun-up.  Nothing but white everywhere.  He was hatched this spring, he's never seen snow before.  He wouldn't have known where to go when he came off his roost.  The weight of the snow on those weak branches would have changed his roost, and maybe even dumped him on the ground.  After that one crow, I never heard or saw him all that day, and I was watching for him.  I figured he was history.  He would have been very cold and probably wet to the skin, and maybe not able to walk in the snow with those fluffy leggings of his.  He'd be easy pickings for a predator.  If I had seen him outside the fence, I would have gone back and lured him in, but I didn't.  As usual, I have afterthoughts.  As soon as I saw he could fly over the fence, I should have penned him up so I could clip his wings.  I felt really bad that I didn't think of it soon enough.  So with regrets, I bid Bird R.I.P.

Then there he was the next morning pacing along the fence!  Looking hale and hearty as ever!  Where was he all the day before???  I got him back in the gate, and penned him up that evening.  Just before full dark after he went into roosting stupor, I went out and clipped his wings.  Now he's leery of me again, but at least he went to roost in the pen on his own last night.  Maybe he realized that the carport was much more comfortable than a tree when there's cold wet stuff falling from the sky.  Or he realized he can't fly now.  Nah.  This is a chicken brain.  Doubt he can process that much.  We'll see how it goes.

Sure hope this cold snap breaks soon!  20's at night and barely 40's during the day even though it's been crystal clear and sunny since the snow.  Way too cold for me.  

tnt

Natureschild

November

After observing this scene several times since I posted it the last time, I've come to the conclusion that Bird just likes hanging with Whipper.  I wasn't quick enough with the camera yesterday.  Bird pecked the ground between Whipper's front and hind legs.  It was only when he pecked his body that Whipper reacted.  He swung his head at Bird with a show of teeth.  Don't blame him.  I've been pecked by chickens and it can really hurt.  That's as far as it went.  Bird left, and Whipper resumed his doze.

Bird is also warming up to me.  Especially since he learned I'm the keeper of the bird seed.  He forages under the bird feeder for dropped sunflower seeds.  I began giving some just to him, and now he's liking me a little better.  He's even coming up on the porch when I'm out there.  I picked up a bag of the cheap mixed/cracked corn bird seed I used to feed my flock of chickens.  Pickings are getting slimmer now that we've had a few good frosts, so I'll supplement his grazing with the bird seed.

The next shot is a rare capture.

This is an Eastern Towhee (previously called Rufus-Sided Towhee).  I see them now and then under feeders, and this is the first time I've caught it on film.  This was taken at full zoom through the window so not as clear as I'd wish.  They're secretive ground feeders, and prefer forest floor where they forage for seeds and insects.  They have a unique method that's very chicken-like.  They scratch and hop back to see what they uncovered.

Our first frost on 10/26 was actually first freeze.  It went down to 23F that night.  That and the lack of rain hurt the fall color show.  Usually a light frost or two gets leaves turning, but a freeze will kill them before that can happen.  The crape myrtles went immediately to dull brown dead leaves instead of the pretty pastels they usually give.  Then the first hard fall wind last weekend blew most of the leaves off everything.  So disappointing fall color around here this year.

tnt

Natureschild

Random Shots

So this happened.

I had gone into town, and had been back home for about an hour.  I heard the neighbor's dogs carrying on so I looked out to see what was up.  Saw these 2 horses in their front yard driving their dogs crazy.  The horses were not the least bit intimidated, and in fact, went after the dogs a little bit.  The horses even went right up to their front door and putzed around between their car and house.  That was when she came out and shooed them off.  I was waiting with my camera because I was pretty sure they would make their way to my place for a good shot.  They did.

They checked out all of my front yard before heading off down by the creek, and I assume back home wherever that was.  It seems to me I saw these in a field on my way into town, but don't remember exactly where.  Somewhere not far down in the neighborhood I think.  So this was a fun diversion.

This next scene I've been waiting to capture because I've seen it more than once.

This rooster is one of the 24 chicks my hens hatched this spring.  When I sold the flock, he was the one I could not catch.  The attempts to catch him must have traumatized him because he won't have anything to do with me.  He takes off if he even sees me in the window.  He has done just fine on his own.  I don't feed him, but I do maintain a water bowl for him.  He doesn't seem to fear Whipper at all.  I'm not sure if he just likes being near him, or if it's the fact that they both like this patch of bare ground under the crape myrtles.  He spent some time getting snuggled into his little wallow for the mutual siesta.  If Whipper knew he was there, he didn't show it.

Because of this bird's semi-feral attitude, he will stay as part of the landscape when I move.  I wouldn't be able to catch him anyways.  He's roosting as far up a redbud tree as he can get which is farther than I can reach so I can't even snag him at night. 

Getting our first taste of winter this week.  They're calling for first freeze and maybe snow tonight.  I finally got all the daylilies (16!) I want to take with me potted up.  Just have a few other perennials I want to dig up, and the beginning of my future new garden will be good to go.

tnt

Natureschild

Noxious Invaders

Noxious is defined in the dictionary as "harmful or injurious to health or physical well-being".  In the natural environment, it refers to non-native plants or animals that negatively impact ecological systems.  Many such plants are labeled noxious weeds or noxious invasives.  Kudzu vine is one of the south's most notorious noxious invaders.  It was imported from China, and found the southern climate and lack of natural predators so agreeable it became known as the Vine That Ate The South.

I'm lucky there is no kudzu here, but there is some not too far away on the main road.  I do have another invader that gives me fits, and it's a tree.  Ailanthus altissima, also called "Tree of Heaven".  This is another Chinese import that loves the mild climate, and the edge of my surrounding forest is lousy with it.  This tree grows very fast, and before I had identified it, I began transplanting the shoots I found.  There weren't any trees on my property in the beginning, and I was like...yeah, fast tree.  Since then, not only did I learn that it's noxious, I learned why.  Besides being a very prolific self-sower, it also sends out runner roots, and new trees grow at the ends.  In no time, if they aren't kept mowed down, they will form a thicket and nothing else grows there.  So I battle this damn thing constantly.  It pops up everywhere!  It looks a lot like sumac, which also grows here, so it can hide in a sumac thicket.  Sumac is a native and a valuable wildlife resource, so unless it's growing where I don't want it, I leave it alone.  But the ailanthus will eventually over-grow the sumac, and offers no value to the ecology.

So what prompted me to talk about noxious invaders?  There is another that I really like but didn't have any around here.  Mimosa.  I realize it's considered noxious, but it's not as obnoxious as ailanthus, and it does have redeeming qualities.  It's a pretty tree, and the beautiful exotic blooms attract hummingbirds.  I actually bought (mail-order) some one of my first years here, but they didn't survive as transplants.  I acquired some seeds but never got around to growing them.

A couple years ago, one of my gardening magazines profiled a new mimosa cultivar called "Chocolate Summer" with dark purplish brown foliage.  Described as not as invasive as the species (cultivars usually are more civilized).  So I went a-shopping, and found it at one of my favorite mail-order nurseries...Sooner Plant Farm.  Being a new introduction, it was very pricey, but I had to have it.  I could probably find it much cheaper now.  It's a very striking foliage plant, and I do love purple leaves.  I haven't seen the flowers yet.

This poor plant has been so mistreated.  I couldn't decide where to put it so it sat too long in its nursery pot.  It lost its leaves and I didn't know if it was still alive.  I finally put it in the ground late that summer (2011), and the next spring it sent out new leaves.  That same year (2012), I decided to move it again, and it again dropped it leaves, but came back this spring.  So now I'm going to dig it up again to take with me when I move.  At first I didn't know if I would, but decided I paid too much for it not to.  It seems to handle all my meddling OK so hopefully it will again.  I'm holding off digging it up as long as I can in hopes it will have gone dormant.  Purple or red leaves don't change much in the fall like green deciduous plants so it will have to be an assumption that it's gone dormant.

I mentioned Sooner's.  It's also listed to the left with a few other nurseries with which I've had good relations.  I'm never disappointed with Sooner's quality, or their careful packaging of live plants.

tnt
Natureschild

Something new.

One of my greatest pleasures is seeing something new (to me) in the garden.  I run to my books or the internet to learn what it is.  This was the latest.

This is an Eastern Fence Lizard that appeared on the porch rail yesterday.  It was very patient as I tried to get close enough for a good shot.  This guy was very small so I had to get real close!  My guess is less than 3" (the rail is 1-1/4") nose to tail.  According to the source, they lay eggs in late summer, so this one is probably not very old.  It was so cute!

When I first moved down here, I began to see Five-lined Skinks.  That was fun.  We don't have lizards scurrying around in plain sight up north.  You have to search hard to even see one, and know where to look, and I had never seen a lizard anywhere.  The first skinks I saw down here were actually on the outside wall of the motel I stayed in while searching for my new home.  Once I got settled in here, they were everywhere, but I saw them most on the porch or old shed.

This is an especially pretty lizard.  The juveniles have a bright blue tail.  I once dug up a skink nest while weeding.  First the mother appeared, and then I saw I had dug up eggs.  That was startling, and I felt real bad.  I quickly covered them back up, and hoped they survived my clumsiness.

This next shot isn't something new, but the situation was.

This Tawny Emperor spent a lot of time walking around on the window glass.  So I spent a lot of time shooting it.  A different perspective, for sure.

I keep notebooks that list all the species I've identified, most since I've been here.  One for fauna, one for flora.  This new lizard brings the "Beasties" list (fur and scales) to 12.   I've ID'd over 50 birds, and 29 flutterbies.  Flutterbies include butterflies, moths, and a few other interesting insects like Praying Mantis and Cicadas.  Speaking of that, this is the time of year I usually see big Praying Mantis.  Haven't seen one yet, but fall garden cleanup usually shakes some out of hiding.

The weather has been beautiful!  Perfect!  Just right for garden work.  I've been working at getting perennials potted up for the eventual move.  Still no progress in that department, and I fear this latest government fiasco will impact the real estate market even more.  But I continue to plug along as though I will be moving soon.

Something that has slowed me down a little is spiders.  I really really hate spiders.  I can tolerate little ones, but not big ones.  I never realized this before, but apparently orb weavers are most active in late summer.  I don't remember seeing them earlier in the year.  Now there are way too many enormous orb webs where I want to go in the gardens.  You can see them best in early morning before the dew has dried.  The rising sun lights them up.  The biggest orb weaver is the Golden Garden Spider, which as spiders go, is not ugly, but it is BIG.  There's a couple of their webs in the gardens right now.  Then there's a smaller ugly brown one that likes to spin under the porch roof.  As long as it stays out of my way, I try to ignore it.  I'm going to have to figure out a way to remove the one Golden pretty soon.  I really need to get in that garden, and she's smack dab in the middle of it, and her web stretches about 3 feet.  No, not going to kill her.  Much as I hate spiders, I hate smashing big ones (gross!) almost as much, and this is not a dangerous spider.  I'll get her onto a stick or something (a long one!) and relocate her.

tnt

Natureschild

Flutterbies

The butterfly gardens are a huge success this year!  They're constantly animated.  The main one is the Porch View daylily garden (see previous posts), but the Bird Garden in front has some action, too.  The flowers they are hitting are Butterfly Bush (of course!), Tall Garden Phlox, Coneflower, and Joe Pye Weed.  A few seem to like the Altheas (Rose of Sharon) and Crape Myrtles as well.  The Joe Pye I have was a dwarf cultivar, but I think it's reverting to the species as they are now taller than me, and I couldn't reach to get good photos of the butterflies all over them.  I just enjoy that one from the window.

Pipevine Swallowtail warming its wings.

Male Eastern Tiger Swallowtails

Female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.  Yes, some of the black ones are the ladies.

Great Spangled Fritillary.  This was a rare capture.  Freshly emerged and still wrinkly.

Same Great Spangled Fritillary.

Silver-Spotted Skippers

I couldn't resist the pollen-covered Bumblebee butt in Althea flower.

Hummingbird Moth (old pic because I couldn't get a good one this year).

The daylilies are pretty much finished except for a few sporadic reblooms.  I was really impressed with Moonlight Sail (see previous post) for its first year.  Even though it's very immature, it shot out flowers over a long period.  About one per week, but I'm sure when I have more splits in a mass, it will put on a really good show.

The house is finally listed.  Now I wait, and continue packing non-essential stuff.  My realtor said there were some inquiries but so far, no one has scheduled a viewing.  I still have to finish getting the Goodwill stuff together and out of here, but I'm making progress.  I'm on Realtor.com almost daily, and have quite a few prospects.  It was my plan to start viewing houses, but I decided to wait until there's more action on my place before I go gallivanting long distances to see houses.  Can't make an offer until I have an offer unless sellers will accept a contingency contract.

tnt

Natureschild

Mystery Solved

I think.

I got to thinking about that mystery daylily I talked about in the last post.  A couple (few?) years ago, I realized I had very little pink in the daylilies, and ordered several that spring.  I could account for 3 of them, and didn't recall a 4th.  This is why I keep certain catalogs as reference.  In my dejunking, I got rid of all the magazines, including those catalogs.

This morning, I went to the catalogs' websites (there's only 2 I ever ordered from), and found a double whose name rang a bell.  The more I thought about it, the more I'm sure it's what that is.  "Over The Top" fit what I was seeing, especially the described size of the bloom.  They say 8", but I'm seeing 6", maybe 7".  It's still a pretty good size flower.  Here it is this morning.

Not terribly impressive for a double, but since this is its 1st year to bloom, maybe it will be better next year.  Also probably the reason I forgot I had ordered 4 pinks that year.  It failed to remind me.  I'll keep it.

Here's another double I had almost forgotten because it hadn't put on a good show until now.  "Yellow Submarine".  This is an impressive double for sure.  Looks more like a rose than any other daylily I have.

The next photo is one of the other pinks from that order with its neighbors.  I labeled it for my own reference.

"Pink Attraction" is the truest clearest pink I have.  Since "Over The Top" is taller than "Frances Joiner", I'll make a note to that fact and plant them together again.

BTW, I'm not absolutely positive about this, but FJ may be one of the oldest if not the 1st doubles.  I've had it a really long time.  So long that its name was lost to me until recently when I saw it in a catalog.  For lack of a name, I called it "Sunset Waves" (I do that).  It's good to know its true name, and once I found it, it fit that vague memory of its tag.

There's another long time resident that just started blooming so I haven't snapped it yet.  Its name was also lost, but I loved it for its heavy substance and high fragrance, and so it moved every time I did.  I called it "Heavy Yellow".  Recently saw it in a catalog as "Isle of Capris", and confirmed it with a search.  That catches up most of my lost names.

If you have "old" daylilies you can't identify or only vaguely remember the name, here's a really good database.  Daylilies.org.  Use the "database online" search tool.  One thing that helps ID old cultivars is the year it was registered.  If you can remember the years you've had it, it helps to narrow it down.

One more.

"Moonlight Sail" was given to me last year.  As I was getting this photo this morning, I realized it's also quite fragrant.  It pays to stop and smell the daylilies.

tnt

Natureschild

Daylily Season

In garden design, trees and shrubs are considered the bones of a garden.  In my gardens, the daylilies are the small bones.

When I revamped this garden last year, I only had the memories of the colors and heights as I designed the layout.  I love the way it turned out.  I was concerned about the fact that most of the plants in this garden have a spikey leaf form (hey, it's what I had on hand), but they differ enough to give some variety in texture.  The daylily flowers themselves add some texture from the open and rather sloppy habit of Prairie Moonlight (tall yellow on far left) to the tight double and clumping form of Frances Joiner (light orange far right).  I'll use this photo as a guide in my next garden.

While taking that photo, I discovered a surprise.

I have no idea what this is.  Don't remember buying anything like this.  It's behind Frances Joiner in the previous photo.  My best guess is that it's an unauthorized seedling of Frances Joiner x one of the nearby pinks.  Many years ago, I dabbled in hybridizing and used FJ quite a bit.  The double gene seems to be dominant.  I'll tag and pot this one for the move. It will need a name, too.

My most successful and only surviving hybrid is D. Lemontime, and this year it has proven itself as a keeper again.

This was a cross of Stella D'Oro x Ice Carnival.  Stella is, of course, the mother of all rebloomers.  Ice Carnival was my first "white".  Lemontime came out pretty much as I hoped.  Dwarf and early like Stella, light clear yellow and held above the foliage like IC, and it reblooms.  This year I realized it was much better than Stella.  Stella covers itself in blooms all at once early and then it's done until it reblooms later in the year.  Lemontime is still kicking out enough flowers to earn its place as a player in the peak season design.  That's it below Frances Joiner in the top photo, but Stella is nowhere to be seen.  In fact, I decided I'm over Stella, and won't be wasting time and a pot on transplanting it when I move.  I don't really care for that gold color anyways.  I much prefer the clear yellows.

Speaking of white, here is my whitest, Ruffled Parchment.

This is a fairly prolific bloomer when it gets going.  Definitely coming with me.  I want to get back into hybridizing when I get settled in my new home, and I'll try it with Frances Joiner.

Still trying to get the place ready to list.  I have a contracter lined up to do the necessary repairs to the outside of the house, and they keep pushing me back.  Grrr.  I've made a lot of headway inside the house and by the time they get that job done, I should be done inside.  I took a 3rd carload of junk to the dump this week.  Yeah, I'm still finding a lot of trash, but should be near the end of that.

Weather is still holding the unsouthernly coolth we've had all spring.  Some days in the high 80s but mostly less than that.  It has been humid, however, so it feels hot.

I have to say, it's a huge relief to not worry about rabbits in the heat.  I do miss them, especially baby bunnies, but not the worries and other negatives that went along with raising show rabbits.

Oh, by the way.  I have a new Facebook personal account for the gardens, and other things that interest me outside of rabbits.  I've posted more individual daylilies there.  Come on over and join me if you like.

tnt

Natureschild

A.C.

No, I'm not talking about air-conditioning.  In this case, A.C. stands for After Cat.

I told how I found a new home for Abby.  I've never been a cat person.  Until her, and her mother before her, my only experience with a cat was my mom's Siamese who was a real character.  I liked having yard cats, but Abby was such a good hunter, she was a serious threat to my beloved wildlife.  She was about 3 going on 4 years old, so I don't really remember what it was like B.C.  In those nearly 4 years, the landscape has matured a lot, and it attracts more wildthings.

Abby has been gone for about 2 weeks now, and I can really tell the difference.  The birds seem to know they are safe again, and there's more of them in the yard.  There's also bunnies.  Abby was known to snag young cottontails, but I'm seeing quite a few of them now.  I'm not completely deprived of the company of rabbits.

The Carolina Wrens are nesting somewhere I think.  Maybe in the bird house I hung on the porch a long time ago which was never used that I know of.  They investigated, but didn't seem to stay.  I love this chipper little bird.  I found some tiny blue eggs (sadly broken) on the ground under a crape myrtle but don't know what bird was nesting there.  Not a robin (the only bird I can think of right off hand that lays blue eggs), they don't nest here.  Robins only pass through here on their migration routes spring and fall.  I suppose I could do a search to figure it out, but I'd rather discover the nesters myself.  Maybe I'll catch them going into the tree if they use that nest again.

There is one other difference A.C.  I can hear mice (or rats) under the house again.  Ugh.  They can't get in, I stuffed wadded up chicken wire in all the cracks and holes under sinks.  Haven't had a mouse in house since.  The original tip was to stuff steel wool in such holes, but I figured a really determined rodent could figure out how to pull it out.  No way they can move chicken wire.  I had to resort to the old standby to cull the population a little...DeCon.  I shove a couple boxes under the house.  Nothing bigger than a rat can get under there so no other animals are in danger.  In that respect, I do miss Abby.

Still working at the dejunking and all.  Took another carload to the dump today.  The timeframe has slowed a bit.  The house I had fallen in love with was sold, and I don't have another at the top of the list yet.  There's still prospects but since there isn't one I'm afraid of missing out on, I'm back to a more organized approach to getting the place ready to list.  First get rid of all the junk, then declutter my stuff, and then the thorough cleaning.  I also have to put some money into a couple minor repairs to make it saleable, and that should be taken care of within 2 weeks.  I pled "need to sell ASAP" to the contractor so they'd put me on a priority list.  He came out this morning to scope the jobs, and will get the estimate to me next week, and said he should be able to do it the following week.  So I have that much time to continue what I'm doing inside.

The daylilies are hitting their stride.  Perfect timing.  I can tag the ones I want to dig up for the move.  I have a list of things to dig up, and I know where most of the daylilies are, but it helps to have confirmation when they bloom.

Speaking of house-hunting.  Mano, is broadband internet a big help!  My last move, I could only see a little remotely.  Now I can see almost everything I need to know before I decide to view the house in person.  Google Maps aerial views!   I punch in the address to see what's around a property.  Realtor.com and Zillow.com are my main sites, but I will visit individual realtors to see if they have more info on their website.  I eliminate a lot of houses using those tools.

Still don't know where I want to end up.  Could be SC, NC, or maybe even TN.  I don't really want to stay in this immediate area, but I'm open to possibilities in my state.  It would be easier to move within TN than going over the mountains, and it might be financially prudent to stay here.  I think TN has the lowest cost of living of the 3 states.  We'll see.

tnt
Naturechild

Busy weekend

Got so much accomplished this weekend!  First, there was the rendezvous in NC on Saturday where I delivered the last of the bunnies.  It was nice to see everyone, but I didn't stay for the whole day.  I still had a lot to do because people were coming for stuff Sunday, and then again on Monday.

Once the buns were gone, I could finish gathering up the rabbitry inventory for pick up on Monday. I had most of it packed up already, there were just a few things the rabbits were still using, so that didn't take long.

I concentrated on the furniture that was being picked up Sunday.  I had to get rid of some big excess items that I didn't want to move with me, and the only other option would have been to leave it behind which a new home owner might not appreciate.  Found an ad on craigslist for "free hauling".  Turns out the guy really wanted scrap metal (big business around here), but when I described the furniture, he said he could use it.  So I had to hustle up and get the stuff that was on the furniture off.  It was a nice young couple who were just starting out and needed a lot of things.  They took quite a bit of small stuff off my hands as well, so I don't have to haul that to Goodwill.  They even offered to move anything around that I needed.  I played the "old and no longer strong" card (mostly true) to get out of doing any more heavy lifting than I had to.  Same for the rabbitry stuff.   They couldn't get all the furniture on their truck, but said they could come back the next day.  I told him there was quite a bit of scrap metal that he was welcome to as well.  It's not a priority for me to deal with it (it's out back and out of the way), but he was so nice and helpful, I'm glad to help him financially in that way.

Then the gal who bought the rabbitry called and said she couldn't come Monday as planned but she could come that afternoon.  Sure, we can do that.  She didn't show up until 7 pm, but we managed to get her loaded up before dark.  She let slip that she was a single mom, and I warned her again that she needed to bring muscle to move that stuff.  She said no problem, her 14 year old daughter was strong.  She wasn't kidding.  That young girl was tall and efficient.  The family was pretty interesting.  At first, I thought she said she had 2 daughters, but a little later, 3 little boys piled out of the truck.  Oh my.  They lived a homesteading style of life, and utilized their animals.  She raised some heritage rabbit breeds for meat.  Turns out she's not a show breeder, she just had some dwarf breeds that could use the equipment, and a friend or two that would take what she couldn't use.  This passle of little kids were very well-behaved, and pitched in where they could.  Mom was very patient and never yelled at anyone.  She deserves a medal for raising that brood so well.

As they were tying down the truck and trailer, I stood on the porch to continue chatting.  It had started to rain again by then.  I was stunned to see the smallest boy do a face plant off the truck's tailgate!  It's almost like he did a cannonball (like into a pool) on purpose.  His face landed in the grass, but he barely missed smashing it on the driveway gravel.  His hands and knees hit the gravel.  He just got up like that was normal!  I wonder how often she has to visit the emergency room!

Now that all that big furniture and the shed is cleaned out, I can get back to the job of getting the house ready to show.  I have so much room now, I can actually see what I'm doing!  There were just narrow paths through the junk in the back bedrooms and it was hard to organize the piles into trash, Goodwill, and what I'm keeping.  Now I can.  A lot of it can go out in the shed.

I decided that getting the entire house ready to list wasn't going to happen as quickly as I wanted.  Now my goal is to get the main part of the house presentable so I can list this week, and continue to plug away at the chaos in the back rooms later.  Potential buyers will just have to look past that part.

Haven't had time to start digging in the gardens.  It's been raining for the last 4-5 days anyways.  After good soaking rains is the best time to dig so I'll try to do a little each day.  Oh yeah, and I have to drop everything to cut the damn grass again now that all this rain has been feeding it.  Need a dry day to get to that.

A friend gave some insight into downsizing as I'm doing.  It's liberating.  It really is.  Getting rid of all the unnecessary stuff in one's life is a good thing.  When I realized how right he was, I feel I can be even more ruthless about what I keep for the move.

Yes, I miss the bunnies.  And the chickens.  I'm sure once I get settled I'll want a pet rabbit.  No, I'll never breed again, but I'm a gardener, and every gardener should have a rabbit or two.  I already have a nice outdoor hutch being planned in the back of my head.  If my new home allows for it, I'll probably want a couple birds, too.

tnt
Natureschild

The new plan

When I last wrote, I hadn't yet made a final decision, and the blog would likely have just been the sporadic posts about this and that in the gardens.  Decisions have been made, and so the plan changed.

I've been putting my affairs in order towards the new goal...moving.  First order of business: because I'm downsizing, most of the animals needed new homes.  That has been successful.  The chickens and the cat are gone, and the rabbits will be within the next 2 weeks.  I had posted a craigslist ad for Abby (free to good barn), and a very nice couple came for her the day after the chickens were picked up.  They were in dire need of a good mouser for their horse farm.  I'm confidant Abby will do the job for them.  I had posted her first in the pets section but got no bites.  The same day I reposted her in the farm section, this couple contacted me.

Getting the chickens rounded up was a workout!  The buyer said he could come and get them that day.  If I'd had more notice, like the night before, it would have been easy to nab them at dusk.  It took me over an hour to catch and cage the young chicks.  They were confined to the pen but I had to chase them around it with a net.  Whew!  Then I took a break after I got them all.  Went back out to start on the adults, and there were 2 chicks running around the pen.  WTH?  How did you get out?  I think what happened is that they were hiding behind the food can.  I thought I had it blocked off so they couldn't get back there, but guess not.  I wasn't counting as I nabbed them.

Catching the adults was a lot easier than I thought it would be in broad daylight.  Several hens were on the nest, and I just picked them up and put in the pen.  The ones that weren't in the box immediately went in when I vacated a hole.  So I just picked them up, too.  Once all the hens were penned, I threw out some cracked corn for them (their favorite treat), and that lured the 2 roosters in.  Oh and I wasn't done yet.  I had to pack up all their stuff, food, etc, as the buyer was getting the whole kit and kaboodle.

However, there is one chick I couldn't catch.  I had put the 2 biggest cockerels out of the pen about a week ago, and they were adjusting to free-ranging with the adults.  One walked right in when I opened the gate.  The other wouldn't.  Later I put the cage full of chicks out of the pen, and he was very interested in them.  I tried again to net him but he was really wary and quick!  Later that day, after the others had been picked up, I left the gate to the pen open and I found him in there.  I shooed him out because there's no water in there for him, or food, and I didn't plan on leaving the gate open all the time.  He is now very leery of me.  I tossed out a little of Whipper's food which I did see him eat, but other than that, he doesn't seem to want anything from me.  He's mostly staying at the back of the yard, and I guess he's finding plenty to eat.  I assume he knows where water is.  There's bowls scattered around the yard.  OK fine.  I guess he'll be part of the landscape after I'm gone.

In the meantime, I'm also getting the house in order to list it.  Starting with dejunking it.  Good lord, did I accumulate a lot of junk!  There was so much, I separated it into recyclables.  Plastic, paper, metal.  I'm lucky that a dump (convenience center)  is just down the road on my way to town, and they do recycle many things.  I spent several days going through the bedrooms and kitchen, and got ruthless about throwing stuff away.  I think I had over 200 lbs of magazines alone!  I kid you not!  I sometimes read them again when I ran out of reading material.  Garden mags, rabbit mags, poultry mags, and a lot of miscellaneous mags.  And I just didn't throw them away.  I went through the garden mags as I was bagging them up to cut out articles I wanted to save.  Plastic filled 2 large garbage bags, and scrap metal and hardware filled 2 feed bags.  Oh and then there was the usual household trash on top of that, including quite a bit of junk that couldn't be recycled.  My car was stuffed!  But it's done and outta here.  I'm sure I'll find more as I continue the dejunking, but at least that's most of it.  Next car load will be to the Salvation Army.

Now that the animals and most of the junk has been dealt with, I'll spend a little time in the mornings in the gardens.  I'll be digging and potting things up to take with me.  When the heat runs me inside, I'll work more in there.  I hope to be ready to list within 2 weeks.

Where am I going?  Don't know yet.  I spend a lot of time on Realtor.com, and have bookmarked a lot of interesting prospects.  The one at the top of my list is in SC.  Another reason I want to get listed asap before that house is gone.  It's my plan to run down and see it in person as soon as my place is on the market, and if I still like it, I'll put a contingency contract on it right away.  My realtor was very encouraging about the market in this area, so I hope to sell pretty quickly.

tnt
Natureschild

Currently showing

Iris are the stars of the gardens right now.  I don't have that many.  I had more, but over the years, they were lost or something.  It happens.  Here's the ones that are blooming right now.

Siberian Iris

Bearded Iris 'Stairway to Heaven'

"Heritage" and Siberian Iris.  I call this "heritage" because in a way, it is just that.  This was one of several iris that were already there when I bought my place in Michigan circa 1995.  I brought some with me when I moved down here, and this is the only one still in residence.  I don't know what the variety is called, but I assume it's an old-fashioned cultivar.  This photo doesn't really do it justice (cloudy day).  I'm not crazy about yellow and red combos, but here I like the gold and burgandy look.  I call it "Brandywine" for lack of a known name.

I captured some wildthings in the last few weeks.

Bumble Bee on Chive flower.  I think she was watching me as I snapped her closeup.  She became very still, and when she did move she faced me.  I'm sure the big black camera lens so close was off-putting.  After a few moments, she seemed to relax and went on about her business.

Brown Thrasher.  Taken through window screen.  Don't see these very often.

Male Ruby-Throated Hummingbird.  Yes, Virginia, hummingbirds have feet.  Someone asked me that once. This guy was very close to me.  The feeder is hanging from the porch roof so I have a great vantage point for captures.  I just sit in my chair with camera in hand and wait.  I just wish I could have caught him with the sun shining on his throat.  As you can see, without sunlight hitting it just right, he's actually black-throated.  That's the tip of his tongue sticking out the end of his beak.

I wonder how that unusual feature came about on the evolutionary plain.  I believe almost all hummingbirds have that ability to "turn it off and on".  How did the birds learn that facing a certain way made their colors shine?  Did they notice how their adversaries reacted to it?  Hummers are notoriously territorial so anything that gave them an advantage against usurpers would be an asset. Or was it attractive to the females?  That's usually the reason male birds are the more colorful sex.  I can't say I've seen a male sit and flash his intended.  They have an amazing mating dance flight which wouldn't show off that color.  At least I can't see how since it's such a fast dance.  They swing wide loops in front of the female.

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.  I only see these for a short time in the spring.

Indigo Bunting.  I began to see these when I let more and more of the property revert to natural habitat.  They appear in spring and summer when those grassy weedy areas are well grown.

I doubt I'll have a vegetable garden this year.  I'm thinking about moving the garden boxes to where the old shed used to be.  Closer to the house and water tap.  So, until I make up my mind about that, I'm not doing anything there.  I might try some tomatoes in containers.  Got some plastic bins kicking around here that would be good for that.  Wonder if I could grow cukes that way.  Might try.

Nice days finally.  It could be like this all the time.  No hotter, no colder.  Dream on.

tnt

Natureschild

Spring 2013

Wow, it has REALLY been a long time (3 years!?!) since I touched this blog.  This post is just a quicky to update.

Out of sheer laziness, I began to do all the garden/nature blogging at the other blog, Spring Creek Gems.  It was laziness because there's 2 different logins.  I was usually logged in (or half logged in) at the other so I just stayed there.  I decided today that I should use this one for garden and nature stuff again.  So that's what will be happening here from now on.  In the meantime, you can read past posts about all that at the other one.  I'll probably begin transferring some of it from there to here as time permits.  I might create some pages as well.

tnt