Loving my Gardens!

Every day, I take several hikes around the garden.  Sometimes, it is to see what chores need to be done, sometimes, I walk to ponder some problem but most of the time, I just amble about looking at what is growing there!  My gardens make me happy when I see them flourishing!  This year, however, things look a mite bleak.  With the warm weather, I had planted early.  Things were starting to pop up everywhere and I thought for sure that the plants were going to thrive.  Then during the first week of April...grasshoppers!  Millions of the baby Eastern Lubber grasshoppers hatched out and devoured my entire garden in a matter of hours!  The beautiful squash plants were gone!  The bean plants eaten!  Even the potato plants were damaged!  The vegetable garden does not look so nice after this attack!

Still, today, as I wandered the pathways, I found beauty.  I decided to stick to the path through the flower gardens!  The Day Lilies are trying their best to put out new blooms.  The same grasshoppers had eaten all of the first attempts but now...blooms!  One of my favorites is a pale yellow Day Lily that my sweet daughter-in-law, Joanna, gave to me!  I am so happy to see this has survived the buggy onslaught!

Just a bit further down the path, the Deutzia Scabra is covered with fluffy white blooms!  The softly sweet aroma made me hesitate a bit near this bush.  As I stood looking at the feathery white fronds, I thought of the farm.  Mom and Pop had the original of this bush..mine is a cutting from theirs.  I thought of how many of my plants originated in other gardens.  This makes each that much more special...memories are tied to these plants!

My walk took me on the little wood bridge over what used to be Puddlepond.  My dear little pond had met its demise through a hapless accident with a pitchfork and a cottonmouth moccasin. Since the plastic liner had acquired several unfixable holes, I turned this pond into the new herb garden!  It is working out well and the plants are  actually quite happy as the holey liner holds just enough moisture!  The herbs all look healthy so I am guessing that grasshoppers do not eat herbs!

On the fence, the Confederate Jasmine is in its last stages but the Gloriosa Lilies are beginning to take up the slack.  The red lilies contrast quite nicely against the white jasmine.  These both are hand-me-down plants..the jasmine from my Grandparents and the Gloriosa Lilies from Mom and Pop.

I continued my stroll until just before dark.  Both dogs, Ezzy and Sunny, decided it was time to go inside for their supper so that ended my garden escape.  Well, almost..with the windows open, I can still smell the sweet scent of the jasmine and roses one the Bay breeze!   Oh, how I love my gardens!!!

Pond Invasion!

I was out catching grasshoppers..(remember..I am feeding two babybirds)..when I noticed something a bit strange about the goldfish pond. Actually at the moment, it is more a goldfishless pond than a goldfish pond. We lack fish. Which is ok by me, as I always had to feed the fish and clean the pond so you could see the fish. Now, it is more a frog pond! Yep, new name.. The Frog Pond! But as I said, I noticed something strange. The top of this pond is now covered with lilypads. There are a few blooming but mostly it is just the lilypads. I did not have my glasses on but I could make out some tiny little splashes here and there almost like raindrops. This could not be..there was not a cloud in the sky! I walked a bit closer. Perhaps because I had grasshoppers on the mind or perhaps because the eyesight is not what it used to be, but there appeared to be tiny green insects hopping about on the lilypads! Ok..I decided enough was enough..put the glasses on and stop staring at a big blur! Once the spectacles came off the top of the head and down over the eyes like they are supposed to be worn, the mystery was solved!

There, in the newly named Frog Pond was..of all things..baby frogs! Hundreds of tiny, green frogs no bigger than a minute! They were everywhere! On the lilypads, on the irises, in the water and even in the water lilies themselves. From all indications the tiny green amphibians appear to be tree frogs. Hundreds and hundreds of tree frogs! I must admit that I am elated and hope that no birds or beasts take a liking to baby frogs for supper. Earlier there was a turtle in the pond scooping up larger tadpoles but perhaps the frogs will be a difficult catch for a slow-moving tortoise! At least I hope...

While out and about, I noticed a problem with the day lilies. For some strange reason, the blossoms do not open properly. Each morning, I have to manually open the buds. The tops are always stuck together and the bloom will not open fully. I am wondering if this has anything to do with the drought that we are enduring this summer. Perhaps there is not enough moisture to allow the blooms to fully develop or perhaps when the bud was small, the lack of water stunted the growth..I just do not know. Early each morning, I have to go out, separate the petals on each bloom. Once I do, they seem to burst open! I hope this is not something that is going to happen each year, but at least they are blooming. On the other side of the house, nary a blossom from the day lilies. Even the leaves look bad..but then most every plant in the yard is beginning to wither. The drought is definitely taking its toll on the garden and yard, so if anyone has any rain to spare..send it our way! Please!

New Meaning to Invasive Species!

I usually do not worry about "invasive plants". I figure that these plants might just be employing the old "survival of the fittest" mode of living. I yank out those that I do not like, leave the rest. So far, this has worked well.....so far. Then today..one species of plant really rubbed me the wrong way..or rather poked, scratched and stabbed me the wrong way! I had noticed that the Day Lilies on one side of the terraced gardens in the front yard were looking a mite sickly. These plants were not nearly as lush and green as their counterparts on the other side of the terrace. Hmmm..not good. I had the brilliant thought to pull and relocate the bulbs. I gathered a hand fork, trowel and box and set to work to remove the bulbs. I knew that there was the nasty Cogongrass intermingled with these Day Lilies but had always just weeded it whenever it showed the green blades. I use the word blades here in the true sense as in knife blades. These things will cut you given a half of chance. Not so much after they break the ground but the new shoots that are just under the surface are razor-sharp. I started digging and soon found that there was an interlacing of Cogongrass roots. Not good..not good at all.

The Cogongrass is a prolific weed that when it blooms can send thousands of seeds through the air much like a Dandelion. These seeds then sprout and once rooted grow rhizomes that have sharp spur-like sprouts. These spurs are so sharp that when you reach down to pull the roots, your hand is literally attacked! I kid you not when I say it feels like being attacked by the spurs of a mad rooster! As I weeded today, my hands and arms were bleeding in several places. Still, I pulled. The Day Lilies are now all in a tub of water awaiting their new home. I must first go through their rhizomes to remove any residual Cogongrass rhizomes..not a fun job!

There is a herbicide that I can use on this plant but personally I am more afraid of the spray than of the Cogongrass. This spray, I have been told, contains arsenic. I am not sure just how much arsenic but I refuse to contaminate my little piece of this Earth with another poison. Arsenic can seep into the well water, and since we have a well..hmmm..makes sense not to poison that. Arsenic can runoff into the Bayou and Bay..hmmm..not sure I need to poison that. Arsenic can be absorbed into vegetables and fruits..hmmm..again, I do not plan to ingest arsenic. It can also be absorbed through the skin..wow..sounds like something that I just plain do not want to use! So..I pull. I bleed..but I pull. Hey..there we go..new name for this job! Weed and bleed!

Now the new meaning to "invasive"! While digging out the Cogongrass infested Day Lilies, I came across several of the lily rhizomes that were pierced by the Cogongrass roots. Instead of moving around whatever was in its way, it stabbed right through. Sort of a brutal torture tactic was inflicted upon my Day Lilies. This made me aggravated. I ripped out roots with renewed vigor! I was a woman on a mission. I will save my Day Lilies! Some way..some how..without arsenic! There has to be another way! Until I find it, I will continue to pull..and continue to be scratched.

Miracles of Garlic

Garlic is one of the most used plants in my garden. Its pungent taste adds so much flavor to so many dishes that it makes an appearance in my kitchen almost daily. Meats, fish, chicken, soups, stews, gumbos and vegetable dishes just would not be the same without a good helping of garlic. It is strange in a way, that I use it as much as I do. Although my dad grew garlic in his garden, I never remember it being used in my mom's kitchen. Dad grew it as a natural insecticide. He always maintained that if you planted it beneath fruit trees there would be no worms in the fruit and no borers in the tree trunk. I cannot vouch for this, since as a child, I was more interested in eating the fruit than protecting it from bugs! Yet, I use garlic a lot. Not only do I cook with it, but I have found the many medicinal uses outweigh the common complaint of halitosis! It is one of the main ingredients in the herbal concoctions that I brew for respiratory ailments (colds, flu, bronchitis, etc). Garlic has natural antibiotic properties making it one of my first choices in the herb garden. Another use for garlic has been discovered in the realm of my garden area! Stinkbugs were invading the tomatoes, ugh! Hard knotty places appear where the bugs eat the juices out of the tomato rendering the fruit useless. I had to come up with a garden friendly insecticide to get rid of these things! On a whim, I mixed garlic juice and water (one part juice to ten parts water) and sprayed the plants. My son said the garden smelled like a pizza but the bugs were leaving as fast as they could. Remarkably, I have not seen but three stinkbugs since! Now if I can just find something to get rid of the tomato worms!

The summer heat is about to take its toll on the rest of the garden, though. We recently pulled out most of the spent plants and replanted, hoping for a late summer crop. Today, I noticed the okra and green beans poking their heads above the dirt but the squash have refused to wake up. It is amazing to me that the flower gardens are still doing so well. The Ruby Lilies, Gloriosa Lilies and Purple Phlox are all doing beautifully as are the Day Lilies. The roses have started to wane a little so perhaps I need to fertilize and prune them. Maybe if we get a rain, things will grow a little better. Hmm, speaking of rain, we are watching the first tropical storm of the Atlantic season. It is predicted to stay away from this area but we are always watchful of any in the Gulf. Hopefully it will not intensify in to hurricane strength. Tropical storms do give us much needed rain without the destructive winds, not a bad thing.