Mark brought home two large mum plants for either side of the doorway. This has been sort of a ritual for the past few years and, I have to admit, it sure makes the place look like fall. The ones he brought this time were still just buds so they are opening slowly and should last for quite a while. Each time I enter the Little Bayou House, I have to stop and smile. Fall has come!
Have you ever wondered why mums have become the "Queen of Fall Flowers"? I do ponder such odd things and often have to research a bit to satisfy that nagging thought. Why? Who made the decision that chrysanthemums represented fall? Not that I am complaining...just wondering. Well, my research did not satisfy the ponderance. Everything states that they are known as the "Queen" but not much else. Most of the authors give a history of where mums originated, how Texas has homecoming mums and how we all like them but nothing is said of why they have been dubbed as queen. Why not daisies? The roadsides are full of yellow daisies. Why not purple ageratum? That stuff is amazingly brilliant, drought tolerant and long lasting. Why not goldenrod? Oh yeah. Goldenrod gets the bad rap of being an allergen even though that is hogwash. Still, it perplexed me as to why mums?
Even with all of the rambling about homecoming and colors, there was no real reason ever given. I guess I should just enjoy the blooms without questioning the titles. They are favorites! Do keep in mind, however, that mums are toxic to dogs! Eating one could cause a lot of major problems so it is best to keep your pets away from the fall decorations. (Not that old Mr. PJ would ever eat a flower but you never know!) So, long live the queen!
This afternoon, I headed out to pick the figs. This is a twice daily chore as I try to "beat the birds". No, I do not wallop the thrashers stealing the figs but I try hard to out race them to the ripe ones. There are only a few more days that this comedy will take place as there are few figs left on the trees. Between the birds and me, we have picked the trees clean. After finishing this chore, it is my habit to walk through the garden to check for any remnant veggies. It was there that a small red dot caught my eye and made me while away a good half hour.
One of the garden boxes has a mishmash of plants. One volunteer tomato plant, six marigolds, one chrysanthemum, two mints, a few chives, a couple of purple basils and one struggling rose cutting are all growing there. In the midst of all those leaves, a red dot scampered. Aha! A ladybug had found the mother lode of aphids and was a happy camper! I watched as the ladybug raced around the leaves in search of aphids. It would then chow down on its prey before starting anew. The race was on!
On closer inspection, there were many ants on the same plants. At first, I assumed the ladybug was merely trying to outrun the ants but it kept coming back to run atop them again and again. Then I realized that the symbiotic relationship between the ants and aphids was how the ladybug found its meal. Ants literally "farm" aphids. As the aphids suck the juices out of my plants, they excrete "honeydew" which the ants love. The nectar rich resource is food for the ants. In return, the ants protect the aphids. (There have been cases known where ants will tote aphids with them if they have to move their nests.) The ladybug, on the other hand, dines upon the aphids, themselves.
Usually, the ants and ladybugs tolerate each other and pretty much ignore one another. Neither are predators to the other. They both happen to be interested in the third insect..the aphid. Personally, I would rather have the ladybugs than either the ants or aphids! Chow down, Ladybug!
Have you ever wondered just why some things are better than others? Perhaps not "better" in the sense that one outdoes the other but "better" because they are favorites. Take for instance, marigolds and chrysanthemums. The mums seem to far outweigh marigolds when it comes to choosing flowers to fill a fall garden. The stores are filled with the potted plants that are simply covered with buds all waiting to burst forth with an explosion of color. Or not. Mark bought me four chrysanthemums earlier this month. They were nice, healthy plants that sported about ten thousand buds. I was excited to have them as I love flowers. Things did not go so well with the mums as nary a bud opened into a bloom. The buds stayed as little hard knots until finally the plants just gave up hope. Three of the mum plants promptly died. One lives on but still has not had the strength to push any petals out of those tight buds. I am disappointed to say the least. He was so sweet to think of me by buying the plants and to have them wither and wilt was a most horrible feeling.
Fast forward until today. In the garden, there are some die-hard marigolds. These are volunteer plants that come up year after year. Long ago, I had bought a packet of seeds from the local dollar store. Thinking that they probably were old seeds, I dumped the entire packet into one garden and promptly forgot about them. I mean, my goodness, the whole box of seeds was a buck and there were most likely five thousand seeds in there! Needless to say, the seeds sprouted, grew, bloomed and made more seeds. I picked seeds. Thousands upon thousands of seeds were dried and stored. Gallons and gallons of seeds. Geez! Those things did not give up easily! Winter came and the long lives of the marigolds soon ended. I was not too worried as I had seeds! Tons of seeds! I would just replant in the spring. Nope. I did not need to replant. Seeds that were dropped sprouted in every nook and cranny of the garden. I was happy but confused as to what to do with about four gallons of seeds. I gave them to everyone who would take any.
That was years ago. I still have two gallon bags of seeds in my seed bin. There is no need to ever replant. Marigolds just keep sprouting and keep blooming and keep making seeds. Now, I have a mixture of colors and types but they still fill the gardens with their delightful golden blooms. (And I keep picking seeds each year as this helps them to keep blooming.)
So, what makes those chrysanthemums any better than my marigolds? I guess it is all about that elusive splash of color that they would bring. Marigolds are just that...gold. Chrysanthemums come in a range of colors that rival the rainbow. For those who love a variety of hues...go for it. I will stick with my marigolds. They do all the work by themselves!
