Rain, rain go away

With the exception of Christmas day, we haven't seen the sun in central Alabama for weeks.  Although it hasn't been truly cold, it has been wet and gloomy, with an abundance of rainfall or high humidity almost every day. 

I had all kinds of outdoor plans for my Christmas break, none of which can happen in a backyard that more closely resembles a swamp than a garden.

Of course, "wet" is what defines the winter season here.  A wet winter is a good winter.  My well hydrated trees, shrubs and perennials are healthy and prepared to handle the cold snaps which will inevitably arrive during the coming weeks.

I just wish the rain would come another day. 

Merry Christmas from my backyard to yours

One of the benefits to Christmas celebrations in the south is the ability to just walk out in my backyard to collect Christmas decorations.  This year I kept the trimmings from my Christmas tree and added nandina, pine cones, and eucalyptus from my gardens to create colorful and fragrant arrangements all through my house. 

While enjoying my Christmas gardens, I was reminded Jesus, our Savior and Son of God was not born in a hospital, mansion, or even a humble home;  he was born in the "backyard" of an inn. 

I hope your Christmas is filled with gladness and joy.  Merry Christmas from my backyard to yours.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

I have finally finished decorating my Christmas tree! 

Each year I decorate my tree with a color scheme.  It always starts with approximately 1000 lights wrapped around the branches from the trunk to the tips of the branches.  This generally takes several hours.

This year, I wanted to create an illusion of snow on my tree.  I used all white ornaments and then draped the tree with tulle to give it that  snow covered feel.

Because I'm frugal (or the queen of cheap, depending on who you ask), all of the ornaments came from yard sales, including the stunning angel, and the tulle was leftover from my oldest daughter's wedding.  The total cost of decorating the tree (except for lights) was less than $10.

My Christmas tree will be as close as we get to a white Christmas in central Alabama.

May all your Christmases be white!

Poor Christmas tree

One of my favorite Christmas gifts is the natural, cut tree we purchase for our family.   Re-arranging the living room, choosing the tree, bringing it home, and decorating it with a color theme are all "Events" in our celebration of Christmas.

As is my custom, on December 1st, Bob and I went to Helena Landscape Supply to choose our tree.  I like to purchase my Christmas tree from a local business and their trees are nicely displayed, kept in water, have an excellent price, and the customer service is always wonderful. 

We don't own a truck, so the tree traveled home, delicately balanced, in my trunk.  My dedicated husband helped me balance the tree in the stand and proudly carried into our house.  The fragrance of the frasier fir filled the room and drifted throughout our home.

And there the tree sits, for almost two weeks now, without a single light or decoration.  It has been a busy holiday season for me so far and I just haven't been able to set aside the time it takes to wrap a thousand lights around its branches and then fill them with ornaments. 

Perhaps today?  Maybe tomorrow?

My Christmas ponies

One fun Christmas tradition for me is using elements of the garden as holiday decorations.

My first project this year has been to make a "wreath" in the shape of a horse's head out of materials found in the horse pasture.   I used cedar and long leaf pine for my holiday pony. 

It's now proudly displayed on the gate at the barn.  My ponies look festive together.

The first colors of Christmas

Several years ago an old friend brought me a couple of strappy-leaved plants, called them bromelids and told me keep water in their cup-like center.  I stuck them in a pot,  dropped the pot under a tree in the backyard and let them enjoy our humid Alabama summer.  When winter came, I brought them into the house because my cold frame is not warm enough for tropical plants.  The plants had spread to fill the pot but I wasn't impressed with the greenery . . .  then those bromelids bloomed!   This unassuming plant puts on an amazing show every year at the beginning of December.

This year, the bromelid has been spectacular.  We had six blooms at one time; with a secondary blooming coming right behind the first one.  While not traditional Christmas colors, they are a show-stopper as we begin the holiday season. 

It was a tough year to be an Owari satsuma tree in central Alabama

This basket of oranges is the total harvest from Bob's Owari satsuma tree this year, in contrast to the 67 oranges we picked last November.

I can only speculate as to why there were only 10 satsumas.   The first idea that occurred to me was that the tree was merely "tired" as a result of last year's bumper crop.

My second thought was related to the delay in our spring warm-up; spring was about two weeks "late" this year.  Although the tree was covered in blooms, they were later than normal; perhaps we missed contact with the best polinators. 

Related to that idea, summer arrived right on time which meant that the tree had very little transition time between pollination and fruit onset.  Did the infant oranges die off in the rapid rise in heat and humidity?

I will probably never know what exactly went "wrong" for the satsumas.  To add insult to injury, we had an early hard freeze this fall, forcing me to harvest before the oranges were completely gold.  I had read that they can be considered ripe once they begin changing color but it was scary to pick all 10 of our satsumas while they were still partially green.

Regardless of all the challenges to growing citrus in our backyard this year, I can report that partially gold satsumas, fresh off our own tree are fabulously delicious!

Giving thanks

Among many other things for which I am thankful, I have been reflecting on the amazing creations of God that live in my own backyard.

All through the year I observe the infinite variations in plants, shrubs, vines and trees that grow in my backyard.  The breathtaking beauty of each plant and bloom reminds me of the awesome God who designed each one; including the millions of genetic variations that people have been able to draw out from the original designs. 

Recently, I attended a presentation on the intricate relationship between all the flora and fauna that exist within the small ecosystems of my suburban neighborhood.  There are plants that can only be pollinated by specific insects which only feed on certain plants.  Those plants and insects are often the particular food favored by native bird species.  Every plant and creature plays an important role in God's grand design. 

I am amazed and grateful to participate in my tiny corner of God's creation.

Frozen

Farewell, sweet clematis flowers.

While the Disney movie is adorable, in my very cold backyard this morning, the reality is not as pretty.  I am always saddened at the arrival of the first hard freeze because it means the end of the growing season for the year.

It seems especially disheartening this year as we have experienced night after night of sub freezing temperatures weeks before the cold normally arrives.  Even the hardiest of my fall bloomers cannot endure this.  I noticed that even the leaves on the trees have frozen and faded in the unusual freeze.  Our fabulous autumn faded to dull red and pale yellow in one night.

Since we also experienced a late spring this year, along with our early freeze, the entire growing season felt cramped and abbreviated. It was lovely while it lasted. 

Good-bye, cheerful chrysanthemums

 

Autumn in Alabama

Autumn has come to central Alabama.   The colors are amazing this year, although I seem to feel that every fall has the brightest display of color I've ever experienced.

While the maples, hickories, and sweet gum trees are the stars of the show, I've been noticing some of the supporting, backdrop colors in my backyard.  The branches of the cedar tree are bending under the weight of millions of metallic blue balls.  The leaves of the dogwood tree have been steadily darkening from lime green to burgundy, contrasting with their bright red seeds.   The nandina bushes are already beginning to look like Christmas, sporting giant clusters of red berries amid their glossy green leaves. 

There is just nothing quite like the visual feast of autumn in Alabama!

I refuse to clean up my "mess"

My backyard will not look neatly manicured this winter.  This is not merely because I'm lazy (I may be); there are some very good reasons why I let my plants finish out their annual cycle in the way God created them.

The seeds and berries provide food for the birds and critters who live here.  If I was a more patient photographer perhaps I would be able to capture the picture of tiny birds perched on the stalks of cone flowers and zinnias, enjoying a feast of sun-dried dried seeds.

While the birds feast, they also scatter dried seeds about in the flower bed, this saves time, energy and money since I won't need to replant these beds next spring.  The birds and wind will have done it for me.

Cutting back the stems of woody perennials in the fall permits water to flow down through the cuts into the root system, which could cause them to drown if we have heavy rains or freeze if we have an exceptionally cold winter or rot if we have a warm, damp winter.  By refusing to clean up the woody perennials I am saving them from the risk of death.

And it could also be that I'm just a little bit lazy and am delighted to discover good reasons for not doing fall "chores." 

Meet Wilbur

My pig has a name!  My friend, Elaine, recognized my pig's strong resemblance to E.B White's pig, Wilbur, in his book, Charlotte's Web.  Like my piggy, E.B. White's pig was doomed until he was rescued by a little girl and a spider who recognized that he was a "terrific" pig.   While doing a little research on Wilbur, I discovered that E.B. White wrote other books about Wilbur, including one called Wilbur's Adventure.  The book jacket illustration looks exactly like my pig.

My Wilbur has already had his first big adventure since arriving in my backyard; branches from the fallen oak tree landed just inches from Wilbur's head.  It was a very near escape.

Thanks to all my friends who suggested marvelous names for my little pig.

Farewell sweet tree

While on a garden tour in April 2008, I saw a grancy greybeard tree in bloom for the first time.  The white, fringy flowers of this Alabama native dancing in the breeze warmed my heart.  The property owner allowed us to harvest seedlings so I gently prized two three inch babies from the soil under the tree, gently placed them in a styrofoam cup with a little water from my drinking water and carried them in my hands for hours until I got home to plant them in my backyard.  Both little trees thrived; reaching  the six foot mark this spring. 

Sadly, a large dead tree from the back side of my property fell yesterday, crushing one of my precious grancy greybeards.   I didn't discover this tragedy until I got home from work yesterday afternoon.   I immediately grabbed my gloves and pruning saw in a desperate attempt to see if the tree could be saved.  After thirty minutes of sawing, dragging limbs away, and clearing debris, I was able to release the tree.  It stood itself back up and for a moment I thought perhaps its wounds were not fatal.  However, closer inspection revealed all the limbs on one side had been stripped, cracked or broken off, injuries from which the tree would never recover.

It was with great sadness, that I cut my precious little tree down.  As I laid it on the debris pile, I stroked its glossy leaves and shed a few tears.  Good-bye dear tree. 

Rootstock rose

One of the casualties of the previous winter was my Don Juan climbing rose.  When it was time for spring clean up, I discovered that the graft had died and rotted away.  There was new growth from the rootstock but I didn't know what kind of roses  would bloom from those canes; grafts are made on rootstock that is soil hardy, but not necessarily attractive plants or blooms. 

On the advice of Master Gardener rosarian, Paul Saeger, my intention was to dig and discard that rose bush, but I got busy and then the summer was dry.  (I don't dig in the dry soil in my backyard since it is high in limestone and clay--read "concrete.")   That rootstock rose just kept quietly growing canes on the trellis.

While out in my gardens enjoying the fall blooms this week, I noticed a huge red rose peeking out from the lush overgrowth of moonflower vines that were running rampant over the climbing rose trellis.  That rootstock has produced a velvety red, fragrant rose on a climbing cane that rivals the Don Juan rose for which it was originally just intended to provide root support. 

I'll be keeping my "Rootstock" rose.

This little piggy

I haven't talked about this much, but I am seriously addicted to creative yard art.  Whenever I go to yard sales or thrift stores, I am drawn to items that I think would look fabulous in my back yard.

Recently, I found this awesome little ceramic pig at a yard sale.   I was immensely attracted to his silly grin; then I started grinning when I learned that he was on sale for just 25 cents because he (or perhaps, she) had met with an unfortunate accident that had resulted in the amputation of his right hind leg. 

I brought my new pig home and tucked him into my garden.  That broken leg is hidden in the foliage.  I think she (or maybe, he)  is thrilled with his (or her) new home.

However, my pig needs a name!  What do you suggest?

Sometimes we just want to be left alone

After we built our back deck, I purchased three August Beauty gardenias to plant next to it.  I imagined myself, sitting leisurely on a deck chair on late summer evenings, sipping tea and enjoying their delicate beauty and fragrance.

As I often learn, reality does not always live up to my fabulous plans.  That summer, white flies invaded my back yard,  establishing huge colonies on the undersides of the leaves of my baby gardenias.  Before long, sooty mold began growing on the honey dew extracted by the white flies, covering the foliage with a nasty black film.  No amount of washing or insecticide seemed to deter the white flies from their new home.

By the end of their first summer, one small shrub was completely dead and the others were significantly deformed from losing so many of their branches.  I dug up the two surviving shrubs;  I gave one to a good friend who was willing to try resuscitating it. 

I took the other twiggy shrub and stuck it in the ground in the back corner of my yard.  I carefully explained that "she" was now completely on her own.  If she wanted to live in my backyard she was going to have to survive on rain water and compost. 

It has been six years since I abandoned that gardenia; I can't say that the shrub has thrived but it has slowly filled in the gaps, grown new leaves and established itself in the backyard soil.  This year,  it bloomed for the first time.   There are very few flowers as elegant as a gardenia!

Just like people, plants just want to be left alone sometimes.

Parsley or Butterflies

The other day I was making a fancy tuna casserole that called for a fourth cup of parsley.   I grabbed my garden scissor and skipped down the back steps to my herb garden to cut a handful of fresh parsley, except there wasn't any parsley!  The few remaining sprigs were being devoured by four very healthy looking caterpillars.

In years past, I have grown parsley and fennel in multiple places in the garden so that the eastern black swallowtails and I could share it, but this year I was a little lazy and only planted it in the herb garden.

There is no way I'm going to deprive the butterflies of their baby nursery so I made the recipe without parsley.  When the caterpillars move on to make their chrysalis, the parsley will grow back for me.  Butterflies and their offspring are always welcome in my backyard.

God's perfume

Bob was helping me with some pruning in our backyard the other day and as we were hauling the pruned limbs to the street, I noticed a sweet perfume wafting across the entire yard.  As I glanced around, I couldn't identify where the fragrance was originating or what could be producing it.  Then I realized that the tea olive is in full bloom.

I purchased my tea olive (Osmanthus fragrans) shrub several years ago because it is evergreen from the ground up and matures at about 20 feet.  This is perfect to provide some privacy for my back deck and hide the less than attractive area under the deck.  I was told it was fragrant but fragrance was incidental to the shrub's purpose for me.

However, I am reversing myself--the fragrance is THE reason to grow this amazing shrub.  The flowers are tiny, white, and barely noticeable but one shrub fills half the yard with a sweet, delicate perfume that is like nothing I have ever smelled before.  I would wear this perfume if it were bottled. 

I have a second tea olive in another corner of the back yard that is still not mature enough to produce much fragrance yet.  My new project is going to be planting a tea olive in the two other corners of my backyard so that I can smell God's perfume everywhere I go.

Thinking outside the pot

Two of my best "flower pots" this summer were not planted in pots; one of them is planted in the seat of an old chair and the other is an old wheel barrow.  Planting in chairs and wheel barrows are both fairly common ideas but there are lots of other items that make great planters:  old buckets that leak, old boots or shoes, wood boxes or crates, old toy trucks or wagons, anything in which you can punch a hole in the bottom could be your next best container garden.  Think outside the pot!

House guest

My husband sent me a text message while I was at work today asking me what he should do with the snake in our bathroom.  He has a quirky sense of humor so I figured he was joking.  Then he sent me this photo!

Our little house guest was an 8" brown snake.  There are three brown snakes native to Alabama and I couldn't begin to identify the specific species that decided to try indoor living.  I frequently find these little guys in my garden and am always pleased to see them as they consume lots of garden pests.

As much as I like to see them in the garden, this little snake is not welcome in the house.  I scooped him up with a garden trowel and returned him to the gardens where he belonged.  I think I heard him say "thank you."

This is also my backyard

Guntersville State Park

This week I had the privilege of visiting two state parks in North Alabama.  It is rather embarrassing to admit that I had never been to Guntersville State Park before this week.  I didn't get to spend too much time outdoors there since I was attending the fall Master Gardeners Conference but I enjoyed a driving tour around the park.  I will definitely be going back to explore.

After the conference, my friend, Karen took me to another spot in our Alabama backyard that I had never even heard of before--Bucks Pocket State Park.  This tiny park tucked away on Sand Mountain made me feel as if I just beamed myself up to the high Smokey Mountains.  We drove down into the "pocket," driving through the deep gorge along a rock-filled creek, then up to the top of a ridge overlooking it. 

Bucks Pocket State Park

I love the plants and trees that manage to anchor themselves in these impossibly rocky conditions, apparently thriving by driving their roots deep into the fissures of the rock. 

As a citizen of Alabama, I'm proud of our state parks and love exploring our shared backyards.

Karen at Bucks Pocket State Park

Those osage oranges

This afternoon I took my annual trek out to the osage orange trees to harvest some "oranges" for my fall decorations.  This year was fun, because instead of hiking, I rode Lily out there.  This was much faster than walking.  I just experienced one small challenge to this year's harvest; I learned that not only do deer like the flavor of osage orange fruit, Lily likes them too.  She "told" me that if I wanted to make her carry them home (they each weigh about a pound) I needed to share one with her.  In her opinion, they taste good but they are little hard to bite into and very chewy.  She decided that she preferred the molasses cookie I gave her when we got back home to the barn.  I was able to stuff 15 osage oranges into my assorted saddle bags;  five for my friend, Karen; five for a science teacher at the high school; and five for me. 

If you want to learn more about osage oranges,  read my blog post for September 8, 2013 entitled "Weird and wonderful."

Container picks and pans for 2014

Blue Daze evolvulus

Just as I experimented a little with bedding annuals,  I decided to try a few different plants for my containers this summer.  In addition to my go-to wax begonias and diamond frost,  I added new guinea impatiens, hypoestes, evolvulus, and corkscrew rush.

I give mixed reviews to the new guinea impatiens.  Some of the plants did well and others just faded into the planting.  It was an inconsistant performer, even in adjacent, matching containers. 

The cork screw rush was a total disaster.  It never established itself and by the end of the summer, it has either gone dormant or has died.  I will keep it through the winter, in hopes that it is just a very slow starter. 

In contrast to the the cork screw rush, its companion plant, a Blue Daze Evolvulus has been a stunning addition to my back deck.  I love the bright blue flowers that are still blooming vigorously. 

hypoestes with wax begonias

Another wonderful shade plant that I will be using in my containers again next year is hypoestes.   The flowers aren't much to talk about, but the foliage is absolutely amazing.  I chose Pink Splash this year; the leaves have vivid pink spots.  This plant blended well with the begonias and diamond frost and tolerated heat and dry spells without missing a beat.

Confessions of a bird feeder snob

I have two bird feeders, but not all wildlife are welcome to them. 

Squirrels were my first enemies.   It wasn't so much the seeds they took, but that they were also eating the bird feeder; scratching and chewing right through the wood and plastic.  (My personal opinion of squirrels is that they are rats with fuzzy tails!)  Keeping them out of my bird feeder quickly descended into warfare.  I tried greasing the pole--they ate the grease.  I tried mixing red pepper with the bird seed--they liked their seeds extra hot.  I hung a slinky on the pole--they thought it was their personal amusement park.  Finally, I purchased a slick, plastic squirrel guard endorsed by the Audubon Society.  It was hilarious to watch the squirrels.  They would race up the pole, only to be trapped under the clear dome; puzzled that they could see "their" feeder but couldn't get to it.  They would jump from the ground, only to be dumped off the slippery slope as it tipped beneath their weight (and they were chubby from all the bird seed they had stolen from me in the past). 

While the dome worked great for the pole feeder, it didn't work quite as well on the hanging bird feeder.   I installed the dome above the feeder per the instructions that came with the dome.  The squirrels quickly learned that they could hop onto the dome from the tree branch, which would then tip (under their chubbiness) and sling them right onto the bird feeder where they could fill up their tummies and their cheeks before hopping down to the ground.  My response was the hang the feeder higher from the ground.  Sadly, this was a mistake because the next squirrel to arrive was afraid to jump that far to the ground so it climbed up inside the dome and chewed through the cord fastening the feeder to the tree, both feeder and squirrel crashed to the ground.  The squirrel survived; the feeder did not.

Since then, I have discovered the virtues of fishing line; 25 pound test line will hold the weight of the feeder, but is too fine for a squirrel to grasp with its greedy little claws.  If the feeder is suspended longer than the distance a squirrel can stretch its rat-like body and hangs at least four feet from the ground, it is safe from rodents.  

Once I won the war with the squirrels, I realized that there are some birds that do not play nicely at the bird feeder--English sparrows.  They are cute, but they would descend on my feeder in flocks, emptying it of seed in less than 30 minutes.  Other bird species never had a chance. 

Some internet research revealed that the University of Michigan did a study on this problem.  They discovered that English sparrows do not like to fly under or between wire.  For $30, I could purchase a "halo" designed to fit on my feeder that would keep 90% of English sparrows out of it.   Being a frugal person (read:  cheap), I examined the photo of this halo and decided that I could make one.  My halo is made from clothes hangers and florist wire and works just as well as the "real" thing.

My bird feeder may look a little odd to you, but now I enjoy visits from dozens of species of birds; my backyard is often filled with the glorious sounds of birds singing, and even when the flowers aren't blooming, we can enjoy brightly colored birds flitting from the trees to the feeder and back again.