My Christmas flowers

My husband's grandmother had a huge Christmas cactus that bloomed profusely and right on time every Christmas.  I tried to grow one and sometimes got a few scraggly blooms, but never at Christmas time.   Then I tried poinsettias.  I would carefully choose a plant that looked healthy with lots of brightly colored bracts.   Within days of bringing it home, the bracts and leaves would begin falling off so that by Christmas time, I basically had stems with a random leaf attached here and there.

Then a friend brought me a small bromelid one summer.  She told me to keep water in the center of the leaves and let it grow.  Without fail at Christmastime, this bromelid produces this amazing flower show. 

During the summer, I keep my pot outdoors in the shade, only watering it during dry spells.  When the nighttime temps drop below 40 degrees, I set it on a table near a window and wait for Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all of you.  May this time be precious and filled with joy for you and yours. 

Aahhh . . . the fragrance of frazier fir

While my gardens are resting (or drowning) this winter, I enjoy bringing the fragrance of living things indoors at Christmas time by purchasing a cut Christmas tree.   My favorite is always a frazier fir.  Not only does it have that perfect Christmas tree look, the fragrance of fir fills my entire house.    I put baskets of the trimmings from the tree all through the house, mixed with pine cones, and holly.  I wondered what an entire forest of frazier fir must smell like.

Fire ants for Christmas

This past summer I came up with a clever idea for some Christmas gifts using succulents in creative containers.   They were looking pretty good by late fall.  I made the decision to put them in the cold frame until it was time to give them away because the cold frame mimics desert conditions (very hot during the day/cool at night).  This week,  I decided to get them out to do whatever pruning needed to be done to get them ready for gifting.  They looked wonderful until I picked them up.  Suddenly, my hands were covered in fire ants!  The ants had decided my cold frame would be a perfect wintering place too.  Even though I fed those pesky critters an excellent pesticide, I can't risk giving any of my friends or family fire ants for Christmas.  Time to go shopping for some traditional gifts.

Meet my new assistant

Emily had the audacity to move herself and her two horses to Tennessee so she could attend graduate school.  This was a terrible tragedy for me, because without her horses, how could I possibly properly fertilize my gardens, not to mention, that I was seriously attached to Magic and Cheyenne.

With Bob's approval, I realized it was time for me to fulfill my own dream of owning a horse of my own.  Emily helped me find the perfect horse for me (and my gardens).

Meet Lily!  She is a McCurdy Plantation Horse, a breed that is unique to the state of Alabama.  McCurdy's were bred to be smooth-gaited (no bouncing), intelligent and calm, and sturdy enough to ride all day long.  Lily is eight years old (young adult), technically her coloring is considered gray, but she is obviously white.  She loves treats and being petted.


I'm looking forward to many adventures with Lily in the years to come.  

In the meantime, Lily and I will spend the quiet gardening months of winter getting to know each other.  

Black Friday

This is my version of black Friday--making sure the compost pile at the barn is completely flipped by Thanksgiving.   This pile was about half composted when I finished turning it.  By January, when I want to start my winter veggies, it will be ready to use. 

No, it isn't weed free, but when I dig it in and apply a nice layer of leaf mulch, I rarely see any weeds actually germinate.

Thankful for my cold frame

This winter is off to a chilly start in central Alabama.  The forecast for today is a whopping 25 degrees below normal.   The weather guys are saying that we had snow flurries during the night.  If this is a sign of things to come, we might be in for an exceptionally challenging winter.

This is definitely a cold frame winter.   I hired a handy man to build my cold frame several years ago.  It features an old glass door as the lid.   I stained the wood to match my decks and painted the trim the same color as my shutters.  The interior is lined with "frost fabric" to provide additional insulation.  We placed it on the sunny, south side of the house to take advantage of solar heating.   I also keep a remote thermometer in it
during the winter so I can monitor the temperature from inside my warm kitchen. 

The original purpose of cold frames was to provide passive warmth so plants could be grown directly in the soil,  making it possible to have veggies during the off season.  I use my cold frame as a green house to keep my container plants during the winter (although my house is filled with containers too).

The cold frame will stay about 8 degrees warmer than the outside air during the night and when I add some blankets, it will hold 10-12 degrees warmer than the outside.  Even on the coldest days, the cold frame must be opened during the day because once the sun hits the glass, the temperature can easily top 100 degrees. 

If the forecast is correct for tonight, it will be the earliest in the season that I have ever needed to put blankets on the cold frame.  Bbbrrrrr

Oh no!

I was quite proud of myself yesterday afternoon.  I had anticipated last night's forecast for a hard freeze by getting my cold frame prepared;  the plants all staged to go into their assigned winter homes earlier in the week so all I had to do yesterday was to close the cold frame.  It went without a hitch. . . .

 . . . until 3:00am this morning.  I was sleeping, toasty warm in my bed, when the sound of the furnace kicking on woke me up.  It suddenly dawned on me that I had left my beloved pencil tree on the back deck!  I had repotted it and left it out there to drain well before bringing it into the house.

I leapt out of bed, grabbed a sweater ran down the stairs, and out the back door to rescue my poor tree.  It wa
s too heavy for me to lift easily, so there I was, barefoot and in my pajamas, dragging a tree in a pot across the deck, over the threshold and into my kitchen.  It was a good thing that it was dark.

I am quite sure I heard that tree breath a sigh of relief. 

Smashing pumpkins

Nothing should ever go to waste.  This is especially true when it comes to my gardens and backyard.  My son purchased a large pumpkin for our fall decorations.   It looked great but now that we are preparing for winter decorating, the pumpkin needs to move on to its next purpose--PIE!!

The easiest way to open a pumpkin is to smash it on the sidewalk!   After smashing it, I scooped out the seeds, then cut the shell into smaller pieces to be roasted (350 degrees for about an hour until fork-tender). 

While the pumpkin was roasting, I washed and dried the seeds.   Then, I melted some butter on a baking sheet, spread the seeds on it and popped them in the oven when the pumpkin came out.  After about 15-20 minutes, the seeds were roasted to a lovely, golden brown.  Once salted, they are a delicious snack.  My granddaughter, Olivia, just couldn't get enough of them.

Meanwhile, the pumpkin was cool enough to scrape from the shell.  After pureeing it in my blender, I measured it out in 2 cup increments and poured it into freezer bags, ready to make fresh pumpkin pie.  This particular pumpkin produced 10 cups of pumpkin puree. 

The remaining shell pieces went out onto the compost heap.  Every bit of our pumpkin is valuable.

Mulch harvest

Its time to harvest mulch!  In my opinion the best mulches are the ones that God designed--leaves and pine straw.  I have both in my backyard and it is time to rake and mow them all up.  My awesome husband, Bob is my go-to guy for the leaves.  He mows them up and dumps them in my giant mulch pile. 

As huge as my own pile is, this is not nearly enough mulch for my ever-expanding gardens.  My neighbors are generous contributers (although some of them don't know it).  Every weekend, folks in my neighborhood diligently rake, mow and bag hundreds of bags of leaves and pinestraw.  Then I drive around and fill my car with the bags and pile them up in my backyard.  I pay close attention to the types of trees growing in my neighbors' yards as I have definite favorites.

My favorite mulch is pinestraw.  It stays put, lays flat, and spreading perennials can easily grow through it.  I keep pinestraw mulch in a separate location and use it for my front gardens.   My second favorite mulch is the leaves from any non-nut bearing tree.  I prefer to have them chopped up with a mower or mulcher so they will stay put better in the garden.  I will use oak leaves (most of my leaves are oak) but I know I will end up having to weed out lots of baby oak trees in the spring.

Distracted

I had a post all planned for today but I was seriously distracted when the mailman brought my first seed catalog for 2014!  I rarely buy any thing from these catalogs but I sure enjoy looking at all the possibilities.

Those catalog photos look absolutely amazing.  I just wish I could duplicate the results!   Dreaming is good.

Why travel?

The ridges, mountains and hillsides of Alabama are a riot of color this week.   I cannot imagine any more diversity, even on the mountains of Tennessee or the more famous northeastern United States.

I have five large trees in my yard, as well as many smaller trees and shrubs.  No two have exactly the same color leaves in November. 

My oak tree is a stately brown, skirted by the flaming red of dogwood trees.   In the backyard, there is a bright yellow silver maple, a burgundy red maple, and a majestic evergreen long leaf pine.  The most spectacular tree right now is the sweet gum tree.  It's leaves turn  yellow, red, orange and purple.  When the wind blows, as it is today, the leaves are an ever-changing kaleidescope of color.   These photos do not do justice to the amazing scene. 

Why travel to see fall leaves when all I have to do is walk out into my own backyard?

Tropical fruit in AL

One of the wonderful benefits of living in central Alabama is that we can cheat a little on our plant zones.  We can grow things that are out of their normal zone by making some minor adjustments in that plant's habitat.



Bob's Owari satsuma is one of my favorite examples of "out-of-zone" plants.  My husband grew up in north Florida, where he enjoyed fresh citrus from his grandmother's little trees that she carefully nurtured "out-of-zone."   After learning that some citrus has been developed for more northern climates, I purchased Bob his very own citrus tree for Father's Day.

We planted his little tree in a big pot, with a rolling stand and then waited . . . and waited . . . and waited for three long years to see if his tree would produce its mandarin oranges in our backyard. 

Last year we harvested our first crop of 33 oranges.  This year I picked a whopping 67 oranges from the tree!   An extra bonus to growing my own oranges is the fabulous scent of the orange blossoms in the spring.

Growing our own mandarin oranges does take a little effort.   I spray it with compost tea all summer,  regularly add compost to the soil, and keep it well watered all summer long.   If we have a frost warning while the fruit is on the tree, it must be hauled into the garage (the tree/pot is heavy).   While the tree itself is quite hardy, it cannot tolerate temperatures below 25 degrees so it must spend a couple of months in the garage.  

We are considering planting our tree in the ground this spring.  If we decide to do this, it will be on the sunny, south side of our house to protect it from north winds.  We will also have to construct a PVC frame so we could blanket it during the coldest nights of our Alabama version of winter.

No matter what we decide, I am thrilled to be growing citrus in my Alabama backyard!

Ornamental? Vegetable? Sponge?

The Luffa acutangula vine is the best multi-tasking plant in my gardens.  Its 20 foot vines with huge leaves and fragrant yellow flowers completely covers my less-than-attractive chain link fences.  The early "fruits" are delicious to eat and the large "fruits" produced at the end of the season make wonderful sponges that are excellent for many different uses.

I first learned about this plant at a Master Gardener meeting.  One of our members told the story of an uncle who used to cook "Chinese okra" that he grew himself.  After he passed away, they found a large jar filled with seeds.  I took some of the seeds and planted them the following spring.  It was "love" right from the start.

After searching databases on the internet, I learned that "Chinese okra" was luffa acutangula,  most commonly used in asian cuisine and loofah sponges.  I have  a friend from China so I showed her the fruits.  She immediately recognized them as something her grandmother purchased in the local market in her city.  The Chinese word is pronounced "s'gwa." 

Everything I've learned about growing
and using acutangula has basically been from trial and error.  The seeds require warm soil for germination.   No matter what date I sow them, germination never occurs until mid-May or later.  I've also tried starting them indoors--that works well until I put them in the ground, and then the plant waits to grow until mid-May when the soil is warm enough. 

The vines will grow very long and the fruits are very heavy so the plant requires a sturdy trellis.  I like to grow them on the chain link fences surrounding my backyard.

The fragrant, yellow flowers are about 1 1/2" in diameter, blooming in the evening.

I let the first of the fruits grow to full size.  This takes most of the summer.  After the vines set about 10 large fruits, I start picking the new fruits when they reach about 4 inches in length. 

The small fruit are quite tender.   I usually slice them and steam them with a little onion.  They are mildly nutty in flavor.

In the fall, the large luffas are ready to pick when they begin to turn brown and dry out.  It takes some effort to peel the outer coating but the sponges are fantastic--I use them for bathing, cleaning, painting, and for anything that requires a mild abrasive surface. 

They produce an abundance of seeds.  If you would like some luffa acutangula seeds, I would be happy to share.

Getting started on 2014

Depending on your perspective, I am frugal and thrifty or a hopelessly cheap tightwad.  This character trait (or flaw) also applies to my gardening habits.   My goal is always to garden with a minimal dollar budget.

Being frugal means "always thinking ahead" so now is the time for me to start working on next year's gardens. 

The most important project in the fall for me is to prepare cuttings from expensive annuals.   When I make my initial purchases,  I always choose annuals that are easy to propagate.  The goal is to only purchase a particular plant one time.

If a plant is the type that will grow roots from its leaf nodes, propagation by cutting is easy.  Simply cut a healthy, 4-5 inch stem near a node, cut off all but the top leaves, and if those leaves are large, cut them in half to maximize plant energy going to root production.  I like to dip the cut stem in a little rooting hormone but it really isn't necessary if you don't want to spend the money on it (cheap, cheap, cheap).  I use fine compost for rooting but a nice potting soil will work too.  Poke a hole in the soil with a stick first so the stem is not damaged when you insert
it in the soil.  Set the stem deeply so that at least one node is covered.  Keep the soil moist and wait.  Some plants will root within days, others can take up to two months.  You will know the plant is rooted when the stem resists a gentle tug and the plant begins growing new leaves.

My favorites to propagate in this way are mosquito plant, coleus, wax begonia, lantana, euphorbias,  and sweet potato vine.  You can also use this method on some shrubs and roses but woody stems are trickier, requiring more time and attention. 

Frost report

After three days of anxious thermometer watching, we finally had a little frost last night.  I wrapped some pots in plastic tablecloths, brought some into my kitchen, moved others from decks onto the ground and let the rest take their chances.  I'm happy to report that all survived with no damage.  The new forecast has temps rising for the next week so my "frost watch" is over for now.

I hope all of your plants are thriving too.

Evergreen chysanthemums

This is the time of year when everyone purchases a pumpkin or two and pot of chrysanthemums to display on their front porch.  While I have nothing against this practice, I've always been disappointed with the potted mums.  Although the blooms are dense and pretty, they don't last long and the plant is soon withered and gone.

Several years ago, while shopping at Petals from the Past in Jemison, I noticed a fabulous display of mums growing right in the ground by their shop.   There were hundreds of blooms wrapping around the background shrubbery.  The plants available for purchase were a little expensive so I only bought three that year and three more the following year. 


I planted my six little mums around the base of my crepe myrtle tree.  My husband smiled sweetly and sent me to the store to purchase some "real" mums for our fall colors.

He doesn't send me to the store any more.  My six little mums have multiplied a hundred times over into a carpet of lovely fall blooms.  They bloom for about 3 weeks and the rest of the year provide a lovely evergreen ground cover to complement the crepe myrtle tree.  I wish I could tell you the exact variety but unfortunately the labeling stake is lost in the planting--its in there somewhere, but I can't find it.

Frost watch!

The forecast for central Alabama this evening is for a low in the upper 30s.  It is a little early for a frost but with a forecast this close to freezing I must think about my plants.   There is no question that the tropicals must come indoors--they become unhappy at temperatures below 40 degrees.

The challenge is for my annuals and tender perennials.  I know this cold snap is just temporary, the weather will warm up and stay moderate for weeks to come.  If we have a frost tonight, I will lose flower beds, a couple of tomato plants, and some lovely containers that would otherwise live for at least several more weeks.

I have two real options.  One is to cover as much as possible with sheets, tablecloths, and blankets.  This option works but any foliage that touches the fabric will probably receive some frost damage anyway.

The option I am choosing is to water everything well this morning.  This will give the plant a chance to be at optimum strength to withstand some frost.  There will still have some foliar damage, but the plants will have a fighting chance. 

It is also pretty breezy today.  If the breeze continues through the night, the wind will offer some protection from the frost as well.

Good luck to all my gardens and gardening friends.

Glorious morning glories

On September 17th I posted a story about my heavenly blue morning glories.  I thought they hadn't grown this year, but discovered several blossoms shining in the morning sun.

In the month that has followed, my morning glories have outdone themselves.  The vines have engulfed everything around them and each day hundreds of blooms brighten my morning.

Now that the days are getting shorter and cooler, the blooms sometimes last all day so my morning glories are now "all-day glories."  They are glorious to behold!

I love live oaks

400 years old

The Wedding Tree--600 years old.

This branch sagged to the ground, appearing to have grown legs.

These trees do not grow in my back yard.  We live just a little too far north to grow these amazing trees.  Live oak trees grow short trunks and support massive lateral branches.  They also host resurrection fern and spanish moss, creating an ecosystem all of their own.  Given space and time, they grow to immense size and age.  While on vacation last week, I was privileged to visit Florida's Eden Garden State Park.   This old estate has some of the most beautiful live oaks I've ever seen.   Even though they aren't in my backyard, I thought you might enjoy seeing photos. 

Best of show

Some of the best plants in my garden are the unexpected surprises that come from gifted plants and seeds.

Last fall I picked up a plant labeled as "turks cap lily" at a swap.   The first summer it looked sweet, with goofy little red flowers that never quite opened.  This year it grew into a loose-growth shrub and has been covered with those delightful red flowers all summer long.  It is STILL blooming.

Of course, I was not satisfied to merely enjoy my silly bush.  It was time to do some research to find out what is growing in my backyard.

Right away, I learned that this plant is not a lily or even a turk's cap lily.  This is a perennial shrub that is native to the southeastern United States and although one of its many common names is "turk's cap,"  this plant is really a hibiscus.  Its petals just don't unfurl.  For those who are interested, its Latin name is "malvariscus arboreus."  (I like "turk's cap" better.)

The flowers are actually edible, with a sweet taste similar to honeysuckle blossoms.  I found one

blogger who posted a photo of turk's cap blossoms as a topping for pancakes!  They also produce a berry that is supposed to make good preserves.  My shrub hasn't produced any berries yet.

Butterflies also love my turk's cap shrub.  They just add to the glorious show.  This shrub definitely wins "best of show" in my garden this year!

Ssshhh . . . there are naked ladies in my yard

There are actually naked ladies all over town.  My husband's grandmother introduced me to this delightful fall flower--she called them hurricane lilies because they always seemed to bloom after a hurricane.   I've also heard them called surprise lilies and red spider lilies.  For the plant purists, they are lycoris.   They are originally from China but thrive so well here that they are almost entirely self-sufficient.  Officially they prefer well-drained soil but
grow just about anywhere here in central Alabama.  The flower stems seem to magically appear overnight, bloom for a few days, and then disappear until next year.  Watch carefully, however and you will see the grass-like leaves of the lilies sprout shortly after the flowers fade away.  Enjoy all the naked ladies dancing around town this week. 

Symphony in C Major

Several years ago dear friends gave us a set of Corinthian Bells for Christmas.  I've always enjoyed the sound of wind chimes in my yard, but it was immediately obvious as I unwrapped the box, that these bells were no ordinary wind chimes.  The first obvious difference is that they are extremely heavy,  I used a chain to hang them from a sturdy  branch in my oak tree.  They are also tuned, which means each tube is a note in the key of C major.

In spite of their weight, even a light breeze catches the paddle resulting in a quiet melody that hums throughout the front gardens.   On windier days, the bells ring out in a glorious chorus.  During this time of year, when my windows are open, the symphony can be heard easily indoors, as well as out.

This is my never-ending symphony, orchestrated by God himself. 

Flowers worth waiting for

Some flowers make a big splash in my garden; blooming with abandon; getting raves reviews from all who see them.

But some are shy, quiet plants; growing quietly in the shady corners.  One of these little jewels is my toad lily.  I have no idea why anyone would name these lovely blooms for a toad, but a lily is a lily no matter what inspired its name. 

My toad lily is small, only about 12 inches tall; and most of the year, it is only  a modest arching stem but come the fall, the
toad lily launches this amazing display of tiny, orchid-like blooms.  It is definitely worth waiting for!

Sort of my backyard

Some of the most beautiful flowers are the ones I didn't plant, feed, water, or prune.  They are the fabulous native plants that grow on the roadside, along a fence line, or in the ditch.   I picked these stunning blooms along the fence line at the horse pasture.  The bright yellow plumes are goldenrod (which is falsely accused of producing allergens), the dark purple clusters are ironweed, and the lavender puffs are ageratum.  Take a closer look at the wild areas near your home--God's gardens are in full bloom!

Fall is coming

Oak leaf hydrangea

Goldenrod

American beauty berry

Hearts a bustin'

Not all fall colors are leaves.  Here are a few of my favorite signs of fall appearing in my gardens this week.  All of them are native plants and all but the golden rod are plants that I originally transplanted from a friend's woods.

Sharing . . .

Do you see the cocoon?

One of the exciting aspects of growing native plants is sharing those plants with the native fauna that depend on them
for their survival.  I was overjoyed to discover that gulf fritillary butterflies have been visiting my passion flower vine.  The caterpillars are growing fast and I even discovered a cocoon hanging on my fence.    I'm happy to share my vine with them.  There is plenty of passion flower vine for all of us to enjoy.

True blue

Every year I plant morning glories along with the moonflower vines on the chain link fence that is visible from my kitchen window.  This year the moonflowers outdid themselves but the morning glories did not grow, or so I thought.  This morning, I was delighted to see a bouquet of my favorite, heavenly blue morning glories dancing above the foliage!   (You can see my kitchen window in the background of this photo.)

"My" spider web

I was cleaning up the tomato garden (blight got them), feeling a little blue because I couldn't save them, when I looked up to see the sun shining through the strands of this beautiful spider web.   There is always something beautiful to see in my garden, even if I didn't have a thing to do with creating it. 

Sometimes it rains and sometimes it doesn't

It hasn't rained on my gardens in 12 days.  In the grand scheme of things, this isn't a big deal.  We've had plenty of rain this summer so the soil is generally moist.   However, my annuals are very unhappy right now.  The very fact that we have had a wet summer is the reason they look so miserable.   Because they have been watered by the abundant rain on an almost daily basis this summer, they have never had to send their roots deep into the soil to hunt for water.  Now, at the end of the season when they should have had a deep, broad network of roots to find moisture and nutrients, they are unable to cope with the adverse conditions they are confronting.

Gardening teaches me wonderful lessons on life.  Watching my annuals struggle to survive with just a little less water reminds me that life's little disappointments are good training for me.  If I never learn to handle the small problems of life, I will never develop the necessary skills to survive when the serious issues arise.

God gives us many tools and opportunities to prepare for adversity.  We have access to the Bible and church families to help us grow and mature, but if during the "good times" of life, we do not read the Bible or develop strong connections with our church, we will not have the resources we need to manage during the "tough times" that inevitably come.

We never know what will happen in the future.  Sometimes it rains, and sometimes it doesn't. 

Spiders, spiders, everywhere

Have you noticed that there seem to be a lot more spiders and spider webs than normal this fall?  Some experts are suggesting that the mild winter combined with a wet summer has created the perfect environment for spider food (insects) and so, more spiders.   There is no quantitative study to verify this idea but it sure feels true to me. 

Spiders are good for my garden--they eat lots and lots of insect pests.  I have to remind myself of this truth every time I find myself engulfed in one of my friend's sticky webs.