Happy Halloween

We love the fun American traditions of the holiday; who doesn't love to play dress up and acquire huge quantities of candy that you can measure in pounds!

The loss of our cedar tree and Alabama Power's aggressive pruning on our oak tree created a new challenge for our Halloween traditions; where could we hang our happy ghosts?  With a little ingenuity and some fishing line we discovered that we could suspend our ghosts under a street light in such a way that the ghosts appear to be free-floating rather than dancing under the trees. 

Since I no longer have young children to dress up, I've turned to playing dress up with our long suffering pets. 

Happy Halloween from our front yard to yours!

Starting over

Losing my massive silver maple tree in June was stressful to my gardener's heart.  I think I actually went through a grieving process.  My sadness was profound enough that for the first few weeks, I could not even bring myself to stroll through that part of the garden.

New beginnings

Finally, as summer drew to a close, I knew it was time to begin anew in those beds around the tree stump.  Much to my surprise, there were many plants that had recovered well from the shock of the tree removal and were actually thriving in their new sun-filled environment.  Seeing those happy, healthy plants gave me the impetus I needed to begin again.

Loss

Of course, the first order of business had to be the removal of weeds and small trees that had joined the garden in an opportunistic frenzy.  I added some swamp sun flowers that a friend had shared with me, they are going to be VERY happy in that sunny spot.  Two other friends shared rooted shrubbery from their gardens which are now nestled at the base of the old tree stump.

Original shade garden

It still isn't beautiful, but I can envision a future in that space now.  It feels good to start over.

Worth the wait

I saw and tasted my first persimmon when our Master Gardener class took a tour of Auburn's experimental station in Jemison 10 years ago.  The fruit tasted like nothing I had ever experienced before. 

When I went hunting for them in the grocery store, I discovered them in a small basket in the exotic produce section, for $1.00 each.  This was not going to work for my frugal soul so the next logical step was to grow my own.  Persimmon trees were not available at the local big box store.  The first nursery I searched had a potted tree for (drum roll sound) $80.  I was seriously disappointed but not defeated.

At the time, Cedar Creek Nursery was just a new start-up but the folks there were (and still are) willing to help.  They had a source for persimmon trees for $25 but there were none available at the time.  I waited for six months but finally the call came, there was a shipment of persimmon trees for me to choose from!  I chose the perfect little tree, brought it home and lovingly planted it using all the good techniques for tree-planting that I learned in my Master Gardener classes.

I was told that it would take just three years for my Fuyu persimmon to begin bearing fruit.  When three years passed, I began looking for persimmons--no joy that year, or for the four years after that.  I began to wonder if I had purchased the one dud in the crop. 

This spring, after the worse drought in my lifetime, the persimmon tree decided it was time.  All summer, I watched and waited while the persimmons grew.  When the first two ripened in late September I was crushed to discover that the birds had been waiting too.  How did they know how wonderful persimmons taste?

I learned that persimmons can be picked a little early and allowed to ripen indoors.  This works but it takes days longer to ripen than if they were on the tree (but I don't have to share with those pesky birds).

I wish I could tell you exactly what a persimmon tastes like.  It has the texture of an apple, and the color of a ripe peach but the flavor is uniquely its own.  Now that I will have a tree full of persimmons each year, I will have to discover creative ways to incorporate them into my diet. 

For now, they are just amazingly delicious!  They are worth the wait.

My heart's-a-bustin'

Tucked in the back of my native shade garden grows a thinly leaved, leggy-looking shrub that merely disappears into the background for most of the year.
However, when late September rolls around, this nondescript little shrub literally bursts into show-stopping glory.

Its Latin name is Euonymus americanus but it goes by a plethora of common names:  strawberry bush, bursting-heart, hearts-bustin-with-love, or my favorite, heart's-a-bustin. 

These berries are irresistible to deer so you won't find this display in the woods from which my plants originally came.  It takes a protected suburban garden to show off its magnificence.

My heart's just a bustin' with joy!