New purpose for old plates

What is the best border for an herb garden?  Plates!  I collected these from yard sales.    The concept was not original to me--thanks Master Gardener Trisha Williams for this fabulous idea.

Five best reasons to become a Master Gardener

When I "retired" from my last full time job, I decided to take the Master Gardener course.  I have always loved to garden but I killed a lot of plants.  I figured this would be a good way to make some progress on my not-so-successful hobby.  Little did I know that becoming a Master Gardener is also a life changing event.  The Shelby County Master Gardener classes are being offered again, beginning on August 6, 2014.  Here are my five best reasons why you should become a Master Gardener with me.

5.  Master Gardeners like to share plants with one another.  I have plants in my garden that I could never afford or even find except through my MG friends.

4.  Master Gardeners get opportunities to tour private gardens and nurseries that I would have never seen any other way.

3.  As a Master Gardener, I am a volunteer assistant to the Extension Service.  My certification gives me the opportunity and skills to help others with their gardens.

2.  The Master Gardener training is fantastic.   The textbook is filled with useful information.  I actually had to buy a second large binder to contain all the additional information the instructors brought to my classes.   Many of the instructors are college professors and experts in their subjects.  Some of these subjects include:  fruits, soils, propagation, landscape design, weeds/pesticides, annuals and perennials.    Every year, I have additional opportunities to learn from more wonderful MG instructors.

1.  The best reason to become a Master Gardener is that I have made lifetime friends through this class that I cherish.  These friends not only share my love of gardening, but they have become the friends I walk through life with. 

To learn more about the Shelby County Master Gardener Association, check out this website:  www.shelbycountymastergardenersassoc.com

To apply for the Master Gardener classes beginning in August:
http://www.aces.edu/mg/be_a_master.php
http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1155/ANR-1155.pdf

A case of mistaken identity

My husband and I have been watching the BBC Sherlock series.  We love figuring out who "did it" as well as enjoying the 21st century version of Sherlock Holmes.

This week I had a mystery of my own to solve in my backyard.   Many years ago I purchased a "domesticated" version of an oakleaf hydrangea.  The label at the garden center said it was a "Snowflake" hydrangea.  The shrub has become the specimen feature of its garden area with huge white blossoms that begin as a delicate green, mature to shining white through the summer and dry to a lovely golden brown in the fall. 

Snowflake oakleaf hydrangea

A few years after I purchased it, I learned that the Snowflake oakleaf hydrangea was bred and developed by the Aldridge family of Hoover.  I was thrilled to discover that my shrub was not only a native to Alabama but native to my own community. 

This past week, while preparing to write a blog post, I decided to research the history of Mr. Aldridge and his famous hydrangea.  You can imagine my shock when I saw a photo of a Snowflake hydrangea blossom.  My hydrangea looked nothing like it!   So, what IS growing in my backyard???

My Harmony oakleaf hydrangea

Plants do get labeled incorrectly on occasion.  Garden centers have thousands of plants coming through their facilities.  Sometimes the tag from the grower is incorrect, sometimes the garden center mislabels one, and sometimes a customer moves a tag and the garden center doesn't notice the error.  It just happens.

I still wanted to know what is growing in my backyard so back to the internet I went, searching images of oakleaf hydrangea varieties, eagerly looking for a blossom that matches mine.    I believe what is gracing my garden is called "Harmony" oakleaf hydrangea, a variety recognized for its huge, dense blooms, that are often so large that their supporting branch tips over.  

The case is solved.  Sherlock would be proud.

Blue in not enough

The blueberry season is bursting all over.   The flyover barriers seem to be working.  Every other morning, I pick between five and seven cups of blueberries.  Picking blueberries is challenging for me because I have learned that I shouldn't pick them when they turn blue.  I have to wait another day until they are not only blue but swollen with sugar to nearly twice their size from when they initially turn blue.  It is so hard to resist picking a blueberry too soon.  It just isn't enough for the berry to be blue, it must also be fat! 

Berries on the right were picked too soon.

Here is the south we grow a native rabbit-eye blueberry that doesn't require as much cold in the winter.  However, it is quite clear from my amazing crop of blueberries that even rabbit-eye blueberry bushes enjoy a colder winter. 

I don't can and have only limited freezer space so I'm eating blueberries for breakfast, toss them on my salad at lunch and will be making blueberry deserts for the next few weeks.  It's a good thing that I love blueberries!

My angel has a new halo

This spring I moved some tall dahlias to a place where they could stretch out.  The plants and blooms are a little smaller this summer, probably because they are recovering from the move.  This little bloom caused me to smile this morning (and grab my camera).  I hope my angel's new halo brings a smile to your face today, as well.

Ready for the birds

Birds are welcome in my backyard, most of the time, but there is one corner in my backyard where birds are not welcome right now--my blueberry bushes!

This year's blueberry crop is extremely heavy.  They like a cold winter which I'm sure has contributed to the abundance.  However, I do not like to share my blueberries with the birds.

This has been an ongoing battle.  First, I tried rubber snakes.  The birds were not in the least bit intimidated.  The following year I draped them in leftover wedding tulle.  The birds just hopped up underneath the tulle and had their feast without fear of predators.

Last year, I finally found a method that seems to deter them.  Many birds do not like fishing line so I use a fishing line barrier to keep English sparrows out of my bird feeder (a story for another day).  I decided to try it on the blueberry bushes.  I stretch fishing line across the tops of the bushes to stakes and the fence.  Just to give a little extra insurance, I move one of my wind chimes there and add strips of fabric and some sparkley yard art to the fishing line. 

Last year this technique worked like a charm.   The blueberries are starting to mature--I'm ready for the birds!

NOT a weed

We all know that a weed is a "wrong plant in a wrong place."  I categorize plants that aggressively spread themselves as weeds also.  With that definition clearly established, my butterfly "weed" is NOT a weed.

This perennial required effort and patience to establish in my rain garden.  I rescued it from the fence line of a horse pasture right before it was going to be bushwhacked.  After tenderly teasing it out of its original home, I transported it to my own garden where I dug a soft, roomy hole filled with compost for its roots to spread and grow.   It did not bloom again for three years.

Each year my butterfly "weed" grows a little larger but propagating it has also proven to be a challenge.  It does not seem to want to re-seed on its own and I keep missing my opportunities to collect seed in the fall.  The second method that is recommended to propagate this plant is root propagation.  I've tried it a couple of times without success.  This is probably because I am unwilling to go digging after a main root to cut; I don't want to accidentally kill the only butterfly "weed" I own.

While reading an article on attracting butterflies to my garden, I was surprised to learn that my butterfly "weed" is a member of the milkweed family.  Not only do butterflies like the flowers, this plant is a larval host for both monarch and queen butterflies. 

I often see this plant in the margins of meadows and woodlands when we are out riding the trails.   I don't recommend digging them up as this lovely flower is readily available at good nurseries.  It just needs a new name because this plant does not meet any of the criteria for "weed."

Welcome home

I have just returned from a week at the beach with some good friends.  I enjoyed the rest and the beauty of the ocean but there is truly "no place like home."  After being gone for nearly a week, I can see how much my gardens have flourished.  My water lily greeted me with its largest bloom ever.  This photo doesn't really do it justice.  We will not discuss all the weeds you can see in the background.

Pitiful peas

This spring was anything but typical around my backyard.  Winter was long and cold so spring was slow to come.   My gardening friends and I estimate that spring was delayed by 2-3 weeks this year as it took longer for the soil temperature to warm up sufficiently to germinate seed and sustain new growth.  Summer, on the other hand, arrived right on time.  This was fine for the summer season plants but the spring plants were a bit overwhelmed by the sudden and (for them) unexpected heat wave.

My English pea "crop" suffered the most from this weather pattern.  Germination was low and just about the time that the plants began forming flowers and peas, summer's heat arrived to bake the vines.   I picked enough peas for one small serving for each of us.

I had some excellent help shelling them from our youngest granddaughter, Olivia.  She has just turned two so she loves "helping."  Shelling peas with Grandpa was great fun!