Fall

It has cooled off a lot, and it's looking like fall.  The main trees in my yard are Water Oaks and Yellow Poplars.  I knew the poplars turned yellow and they're one of the first trees to drop leaves.  They turn, and fall right away.  They're adding bright color to the ground in the backyard.  My last experience with oaks were the huge ones I had in Michigan.  They had big leaves that were a real chore to deal with in the fall.  I think I like Water Oaks.  Their leaves are small which means they'll decompose faster, and won't lay a thick carpet of suffocating leaf litter.  I don't plan to deal with them at all.  Since there's no lawn in back, they will contribute to the garden where they fall.

I was also pleased to see that the Water Oaks are colorful in the fall.  Most oaks turn shades of brown.  These are turning yellow first, then darken to an attractive shade of pinkish gold.  Very pretty while all the shades are on the tree at once.

Got all the big (as in EXPENSIVE) projects done outside.  At least for now.  There's a few other things I'd like to do, but they're not a priority, and can wait to see when the budget allows.  I'll be concentrating on the gardens from now on.  Well, except for the inside projects.  Still lots of those, but most are just a matter of getting it done, and not any more expense.

I spent some imaginary money at Home Depot the other day.  I just cruised in to see what they had for fall planting.  Yep, I want that.  And that.  And some of those.  I managed to walk out without buying anything, but I'll be back soon.

In Wildthings News:

I finally put out bird feeders over a month ago, but no one noticed.  The Carolina Wrens dropped in, but I think they were only interested in what they could find lurking in the deck flower garden in the same area.

This female cardinal was the first to notice this week.

Her mate was right behind her.

I'm sure I'll see more action now that birds are coming.  There was a House Finch the other day.  As migratory birds begin passing through or coming back, it should get quite busy.

I saw Pileated Woodpeckers for the first time when I moved to Tennessee 10 years ago.  The forest around me was full of them.  I was surprised and pleased to see them in my backyard here.  This neighborhood is surrounded by extensive forest land, and there's a lot of natural habitat all through the 'hood.  Apparently enough to attract the Pileateds.  I've been trying for 10 years to capture one on film, but they never came close enough.  

I finally got these this week!  Not the greatest shots due to full zoom through window screen, but I got him.  That was exciting.  The red spot in the chin stripe marks this one as male.

I'm enjoying the cooler weather.  The AC has been turned off for about a month, and I like that.  I'd rather have windows open, and the electric bill is happier.  I hope it will be a while before I need heat, but I might have to start running it at night.  Once it goes below 55, it's a bit too cool in the house for me.

The Wildthings list has been updated.

tnt

Natureschild

Light Play

One of the many things I like about this house is the natural light.  Every room has a large window, and most have 2.  I began to notice the interesting silhouettes on the walls.  On the east side of the house is the thick stand of trees.  The rising sun shines through them and casts animated shadows on the floor or wall.  The setting sun also gets through the trees on that side enough to add living art.

I've always loved suncatchers, and in my old house, I had several windows on the south side.  I took advantage with crystal rainbow makers in those windows.  One of my crafts is beadery of a sort.  I refurbish windchimes and suncatchers with glass beads and crystals.  I had quite a collection.  Alas, I don't have a good south window in this house.  The only one in the main areas is the living room, but it's under the porch roof and doesn't catch any light that way.  So I have to accept that my suncatchers will only be effective in a limited way.  I'll probably refurbish my rainbow makers again to get more crystals in one piece for the few windows that can do them justice.

This is the nook off the kitchen.  I thought for a long time about what to do with it.  It's not very big...about 9' x 6'.  I tried the table in here, but it took up more room than I wanted to give up, and I hardly ever use the table anyways.  I finally decided that this would be my crafting corner.  Then I realized I spent a lot of time looking at it.  My "throne" is at the end of the island where I drink coffee or wine depending on time of day, and just gaze out the doors at the trees where I'll see wildlife, and the deck garden.  I decided to make the room part of the view.

As you can see, there's a lot of light play here.  The doors face east and the window is north, so the light isn't intense or all day, but it's bright enough for most houseplants.  To maximize the light, I installed the mirror tile "window" on the right behind the plant rack.  Not only does it gather more light for the room, it reflects the view outside the door.  The houseplants turn the room into an extension of the outside.  So now I'm calling this "The Garden Room".  Next project will be to paint it.  It's going to be blue as will the kitchen.

One thing that became a special sight was the gazing balls.  I have 2 glass mosaic balls that I found at the discount store (Big Lots).  They were originally intended for the garden, but then I discovered the glass mosaic pattern reflects the sun when it's in just the right position, and shoots sparkles all over the room.  You can see a hint of that in the photo.  So those balls are permanent fixtures in front of windows.

If you have windows that give you interesting light, consider using that light in a creative way.

tnt
Natureschild

Active morning in the garden

Ok, there's not really a garden here yet, but I've always liked how the British refer to a yard as a garden.  Even if it's just a lawn with some trees and shrubs, or a tiny patio space, they call it a garden.  So I will, too.  It will all be garden eventually.

There is a garden sorta.  I talked about the nursery bed in the last post.  The surviving daylilies and other perennials are recovering from their ordeal.  As I thought, they just needed more sun, water and actual ground.  That space is large enough to hold a lot of things until I'm ready to design the gardens.

I picked up 3 "Northwind" Switchgrasses the other day.  This was one of my favorite grasses, and I didn't bring any with me.  Probably would have gone the same way many of the other transplants did...dying of my procrastination.  Since I don't see them very often, I snapped them up.  I'll split them in two or three and set in the nursery bed to grow a bit bigger.  By then, I'll know where I want to use them.

I also set up a window box planter that wasn't doing anything as a seed bed.  I had a couple packs of Purple Coneflowers to start.  I know I'll want a lot of Coneflower for the butterfly garden so seed was the best way to go.  When they're big enough, I'll set in the nursery bed.  Or if they haven't outgrown the window box, I might just keep them there.  I'm starting to plan the butterfly garden so they might be ready when I am.  The other reason I like starting these with seed is that they'll be hardier.  Nowadays, the coneflowers in garden centers are all the fancy new cultivars...doubles, new colors, etc.  I haven't had a lot of luck with any of them, but I can count on the species to be vigorous, and it's just as beautiful.

It's my plan to acquire more perennial seeds to fill in the gardens.  Oh, I'll buy plants,  I can't resist, but as with the coneflowers, I've found seeds to give the best results for many things.  Just have to be patient as they usually won't bloom the first year.  If the window box works well, I might pick up a few more for that purpose.  I can usually find them at Big Lots at discount prices.

The 4 pines were cut down last week.  The crew did a great job.  Those trees were mature and tall.  They threw rope over the top with a slingshot (slick!) so they could control where they came down.  They dropped them right next to the deck which was a bit concerning, but they knew what they were doing, and the trees came down exactly where they wanted them.  Then they cut them up, took away the logs, and fed the rest into a big chipper shredder.  I got a big pile of wood chips.  Pine chips will be wonderful mulch!

Pine wood chips and a birdbath pedestal.

I asked for a level top on this stump, and it's about as perfect as a chainsaw can get it.  I've never been able to get a free standing bird bath this level!  That's a 16" saucer.  I haven't caught a bird using it yet.  When I got this dish, I also bought the smaller one you can see in the title image.  I've seen the wrens bathing in whatever was catching rain water on the deck so I set that one on the pot.

Next project is the fence.  Got that lined up yesterday, and it should be installed in about 2 weeks.  Can't wait to get Whipper off the tie-out.

Oh yeah.  Why it was active this morning.  Spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker on one of the backyard trees.  While I was watching it, a pair of wrens fell out of a tree in a serious battle.  Wrens are very territorial.  They startled the woodpecker into going on the ground where they were scuffling to see what the fuss was about.  Then I saw a Pileated Woodpecker on another tree and whatever it was after really had its attention.  It poked around that tree for a quite a while.  Unfortunately not close enough or clear of branches to try to capture with the camera.  I've yet to get a Pileated on film.

And there's the baby bunny grazing in the lawn.  Saw it first last evening, but it was out there again this morning.  Couldn't be much more than 3 weeks old, it was that tiny.  Don't think I've noticed new litters this late in the season.  That's why it's important that people don't disturb a cottontail nest unless they are absolutely sure it's abandoned.  Baby cottontails are good to go shortly after their eyes open.

tnt

Naturechild

I can dig it.

I'm finally getting around to putting my poor TN daylilies in the ground.  I'm ashamed to say I lost some of them in the move, as well as all but one of the other perennials.  Ashamed because it's mostly my fault.  You see, I dug and potted them back in the fall, and they sat in the pots through the unusually cold winter.  Not really a problem for daylilies but the others couldn't take it.  I didn't take a lot of care when I potted them.  Hey, I moved daylilies from MI to TN in plastic grocery bags!  Pots were a luxury.  So anyways, when I got them here, they went on the ground along the backside of the house.  Where they've been ever since.  That area is fully shaded so they were getting no sun to speak of.  I lost all the ones in the smaller pots, some of which were rather special.  I was going to lose them all if I didn't get them in the ground.

One of the reasons I hadn't planted them is that I didn't know where I wanted them yet.  It finally occurred to me that I needed a nursery bed, and the best place for it was on the east side of the house near the water tap.  I took herbicide to the turf and waited for it to die.  It took 2 sprayings to get it all.  Then summer kicked in, and that corner starts getting sunny about 10 am.  It was scorching there.  I could only work there early in the morning, and sometimes I'm not good about getting motivated that early.

Finally got motivated yesterday.  The other reason I was dreading the job was what I expected to find when I began digging.  In TN, my land was made up of sandy soil and stone.  Lots of stone.  I couldn't go an inch without hitting a stone.  I don't have the power to dig a hole with a normal shovel because a stone would stop the shovel cold every time.  I discovered my favorite digging tool was my BFS (Big F-ing Screwdriver).  It's a heavy duty 18" flathead screwdriver that I acquired from work a long time ago.  It served as a sort of pry bar, but in TN it became my most valuable garden tool.  I started a hole (on my knees) by loosening the soil and stones with the BFS, and then a hand shovel to pull the dirt out.  And that's how every hole was dug thereafter.

The first hole I dug here was for the mailbox.  Sure enough, it was lousy with stones.  I hoped it was just that it was next to the road, and the sewer line is there.  Makes sense there would be a lot of gravel in that area.  Imagine my surprise and pleasure when I began to dig in the nursery bed.  Nary a stone!  Really?  That would be awesome!  I realized I didn't see much stone where the land was cleared in back either.

Yes!  I can dig it!  By the way, that comes from an old song (60's?).  Can't remember the band, but I can clearly hear the song in my head.

I can dig it, you can dig it, we can dig it.
Can you dig it, can you dig it, baby?

Not only was there no stone, the soil is really very nice.  I expected the usual southern red clay, but that isn't prominent.  It's there, but well balanced with topsoil and sand.  That's almost the perfect blend for garden soil.  Clay, topsoil and sand.  The only thing missing is humus, and this could be present in back where there had been years of leaf litter.  This is could be the best property I've ever had for gardening.

In other news.  Fire ants.  Yes, I am so blessed.  Didn't have any experience with these little nasties in TN.  There were quite a few large mounds on the property when I moved in.  So far, I haven't been attacked.  Well, once.  I was standing near a mound observing it, and one got me on the ankle.  Yep, it hurts pretty good.  I can imagine how horrible stepping on a mound would be.  And these things swarm out of the nest in a second.  Any vibration, even a light tap on the ground near the mound brings them out.  Must watch my step at all times.  If the mound is destroyed , like from mowing or weed-whacking, they simply move a few feet away and start a new one.

I looked into controls, and found several options since this is a common southern problem.  Decided to try Orthene, made by Ortho.  It's a fine white dust that's sprinkled over the surface of the mound.  I didn't know how it worked so I went online to research.  Found many reviews on Amazon, and almost all of them were glowing.  Apparently the way it works is that the ants track the poison dust into the nest.  This stuff smells seriously toxic so I wondered how well it would work.  Surely ants would avoid something like that?  But I could see it was being transported away.  The dust gradually disappeared from the surface of the mound.  If the mound was already dead or abandoned, the dust didn't go away.  I think I can add my own glowing review to this stuff.  I'm seeing fewer and smaller mounds now.  I'll probably always have to watch my step, but at least I know I can minimize the danger.

The south is cooking now.  High 80s and 90s.  I've kicked on the AC in the house, and only work outside in the early morning before it heats up.  I have plenty to do inside.  Like painting.  I want to get painting the main rooms.  Got colors picked, just a matter of getting the paint and getting on it.

tnt
Natureschild

Operation Backyard

The backyard was cleaned out yesterday.  The ideas are starting to come.  First 2 photos are the before shots.

This mess was made up of Privet, Mimosa, Pink-Flowering Raspberry, Honeysuckle, and many things I didn't identify.  English Ivy, Virginia Creeper, and Poison Ivy (ugh!) on tree trunks.  The trees are Yellow Poplar, Water Oak, and Virginia Pine.  There's also a couple white Dogwoods back in that corner.

After.  You can just see the trunks of the Dogwoods behind the biggest tree at the top left.  I'll be tacking onto the existing fence on the sides.  

The open area in front of the trees gets pretty good sun all day.  The Salad Garden will go to the left near that side fence line.  The wide space in the middle will be a butterfly garden, and there should be room for a nice strawberry patch.

This is also the only good view from inside the house.  The windows in the other main parts of the house are partially obscured by deck railing.  I can see the whole thing from the kitchen window, so I'll plan the garden to be seen from the window as well as the deck.  A lot of ideas coming to me as I stand there gazing out the window.

I like Mimosa, so I had him save this one.  

Beautiful soil!  Years of neglect and leaf litter made some excellent topsoil.  The back property line is north and it's very shady back here.  I'll be creating a woodland garden in pretty much the whole shaded area.

I won't be able to do much for a little while.  I have to wait for it to dry out so I can see what's left alive that needs removal.  I'll be using a lot of brush killer until I get all that under control.  In the meantime, I'll be hitting the nurseries to see what's available.

Discovered this vine after the tall brush that hid it was removed.  Sure looks like Wisteria.  The darker one is English Ivy.  They're on a pine that I want to cut down.  The Virginia pines (the bare trunk and the ones behind it in the previous photo) in the space are dead or dying, and this one is too wimpy looking and too close to the house for my comfort.  If that is Wisteria, I'll have to figure a way to preserve it.

One of the residents looking to see what the land clearing turned up.  And again...look at that soil!  I also saw some chipmunks.  Didn't see them before because the brush hid them.

One thing I worried about a little, but couldn't help, was if there were any ground bird nests.  I'd have to look it up, but I think Towhees and Brown Thrashers nest on the ground.  At least it was late enough that they had already raised a brood before the habitat was gone.

Stay tuned as I get gardening.

tnt

Natureschild

May

Not much to report.  Got a guy coming this week to clear out the backyard.  Before and after photos when that's done.  As soon as that's under control, I'll be ordering fence.  Whipper will appreciate that.  Then I can begin to think about gardening back there.  Ok, I've been thinking about it all along, but until it's cleared out and fenced, I can't really visualize what I have to work with.

At the top of the left-hand menu, you'll find a couple new pages.  One for Garden Tips, the other for nature identifications.  I'll be updating those pages as needed.

Weather has been wonderful.  Been getting some daily gentle thunder-dunders, but not a lot of storm or rain from them.

tnt
Natureschild

Top O' The Morn

Spring has not sprung.  The unusually cold winter (for here) hasn't broken yet.  Not what I expected.  I have seen 70s so not a total bust, but mostly 30s or less mornings to 40s/50s for daytime.  At least it's mostly been sunny days.  I'm still working in the house so I don't mind the coolth that much.  Still have piles of stuff, but it's slowly getting squared away.

The weather forecasts on TV are interesting.  I've never seen a local forecast split into 2 distinct areas before.  It's "Upstate" (where I am) and "Mountains".  Mountains is NC, and obviously a bit cooler as a rule.

The existing shrubs around the foundation are azaleas and Chinese Fringe Flower.  I thought I recognized the Fringe Flower because I had tried one in TN.  The tag threw me off, the botanical name was different than I remembered.  It didn't do very well for whatever reason so I never saw what it would do.  Looked it up to see what these will do, and decided they were not a good choice for a foundation plant.  They'll get 10'-15' tall which might be too big for my taste or practicality.  They're pretty good sized so not sure if I want to move them.  They'd look best untouched as they have a natural spray shape, but it's either prune them or move them.  I'll probably prune.  In the meantime, they're getting ready to bloom so they'll be my first flowers here.

I've identified quite a few birds even though I don't yet have feeders up.  Some I didn't expect to see here.  Shouldn't have any problem attracting the usuals to the feeders.

Robin
Blue Jay
Cardinal
Mockingbird
Carolina Wren
Tufted Titmouse
Bluebird
Mourning Dove
Eastern Towhee
Brown Thrasher

I was surprised to see Bluebirds.  I didn't know they'd like this sort of "suburbia".  I was very pleased to see the Carolina Wren.  I loved this perky little bird in TN.  There's also a small woodpecker that I haven't got a good enough look to ID, but I think it's either a Downy or Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

2 Days Until Spring.  At least the forecast agrees as we are supposed to get 70s later this week.  I'm ready.

tnt
Natureschild

I am here!

I consider the official move-in date to be Feb. 25.  That's the day I handed over the keys to my old place, and the last day I needed drive back to TN.  Just had a few things left to pack into the car for the final drive home.  HOME.  I'm still adjusting to that.  It's just now starting to feel like home, even though everything is in piles all over the house.  Some needful things it's taken a while to find in the chaos.  I tried to pack essentials last so it'd be fresh in my memory where they went, but some things still went invisible.

Whipper has had a bit of a rough time adjusting to the move, but he's getting there.  When the delayed closing on this place and the really crappy snowy weather in both TN and SC set my time frames back, I was still running back and forth after the furniture came down on the moving van.  Whip takes up quite a bit of space in the car which meant less room for stuff.  Couldn't leave him in the house for 6-8 hours a day while I ran back and forth.  Couldn't leave him tied out either.  My good friend Alan saved the day by taking Whip in until I was done moving.  He raises show dogs, and often takes in houseguests of the 4-legged kind, and I knew Whipper would be a good houseguest.

The first night here, Whipper wasn't comfortable.  Long drive, strange place, paths between piles of stuff, tie-out instead of fence, and then a thunderstorm.  He stressed in a very messy way.  The good thing is that even though he's been an outside dog all his life, he tried to tell me he had to go, but I wasn't quick enough for a bout of diarrhea.  He also went off-feed which didn't help.  He drank a bit of water and that was it.

Alan had medication for the diarrhea, and got him eating.  He learned about potty times with Alan's schedule.  His stay ended up being a week instead of the 4 days I thought it would be, but Alan was the best about that.  I know his time there was much better for him than what he would have endured while I was still moving.  So now we are here, and he went off feed again the first day, but was eating normally by the 3rd day.  I tried to get him on a potty schedule but we aren't getting it.  Now I put him on the tether twice a day for a while.  Eventually, I'll just see if he tells me he has to go out.  Housebreaking has been no problem so far.  His fastidious nature, and apparently being able to hold it for a long time took care of that.  Can't wait to get the fence up.  I think part of the problem is the tie-out.  He's not used to it.  I have been crating him at night so he doesn't get the notion to wake me up in the middle of the night.  My own sleep habits are too iffy for that.  Happily, even though he's never been crated, he took right to it.  He goes in on his own whenever he wants, and actually spends quite a bit of time in it.  It's about the same size as the dog house he had in TN, so I guess it feels like his house.  I only latch it at night or when I leave the house.  Works for me.

The weather has been cool here (still warmer than TN!), which is good so I can do what I need in the house.  Gonna have to deal with the yard very soon.  I'll get some before pictures before I do anything else.  I'm going to hire someone to clean out the underbrush.  The back and one side are overgrown with privet and brambles (just can't get away from those damn brambles!).  They gotta go, there's currently very little usable backyard space.  This is also necessary before I can fence.  The brush has eaten up the property lines and then some where the fence will go.

I haven't got bird feeders up yet, but so far I've seen Blue Jays, Titmice, Robins, a woodpecker I haven't ID'd yet, and gray squirrels.  Lots of squirrels.  Guess I'll be chasing them off the feeders.  Haven't had to do that since MI.  The trees are oaks and pines.  Not sure what kind yet.  That's the kind of habitat squirrels and the birds I've seen like.  Many of the trees have ivy (it's evergreen) growing up their trunks.  I don't mind ivy, it looks cool.  I will want to control it to some extent.  Also some heavy vines on trees that are either Virginia creeper or poison ivy.  Please oh please be creeper.  Won't be able to tell until they leaf out.

There are some new landscape shrubs (still have tags) around the front of the house.  Haven't investigated what they all are.  Azaleas for sure, but I'll have to bend down and look at the others' tags.  Don't know if I'll leave that landscaping as it is, but I like azaleas, and they don't like to be moved, so I'll probably work with them.  A boring shrub would have to go.

Stay tuned as I transform the yard into the lawnless garden I envision.  I hope to hire a neighbor kid or somebody to cut the grass until that happens.  Don't even own a lawnmower and don't intend to.

tnt
Natureschild

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

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

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

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