Looking Good, Plants, Looking Good!

  With all the rain of late, it seems that the yard has its sights set on becoming a rainforest.  I guess every kid has to have a goal for when it becomes an adult so the garden must feel that it has every right to become whatever it wants when it grows up.   The backyard especially has become lush with new growth.  Weekly trimming with the snips has had little effect on the plants.  They are determined!

  This afternoon, a short stroll through the garden on the north side of the house brought delight as the false indigo was blooming right alongside of the red buckeye.  Both small shrubs were beautifully adorned with blooms...the buckeye with red and the false indigo with a deep, deep purple.  The exciting part was seeing just how many honeybees were visiting the blooms!  Hundreds of bees were busy collecting pollen from the shrubs.  Somewhere nearby there has to be a honeybee hive.  How fun would it be to find that wild hive and urge them to come live in the garden!

  While I have no knowledge of any problems with the false indigo, I have heard rumors that buckeye is not the best for bees.  Skuttlebutt has it that the toxins in the seeds are also in the blooms and can eventually cause problems for the honeybees.  It seems that bees (and most other critters) are smarter than humans when it comes to knowing what is safe for them to eat.  Since the buckeyes grow wild here, there is no reason for me to worry.  For that matter, both the buckeye tree and the false indigo were dug from the creek bed so I feel that neither will harm the local critters by being in my yard.  Besides!  They look rather pretty!

False Indigo

  So far, this has been a weird growing season for many plants around the Bayou.  Perhaps the unduly warm and wet winter (or lack of winter) had something to do with the confusion.  None of the fruit trees have bloomed at the "correct" time and the flowers have just gone amok.  I never know when I will find something crazy going on around the gardens!  Just today, I remarked to Son while he was up repairing the roof that the False Indigo was in full bloom and that it was not the right time.  Being his usual self, he never stopped work but replied "Well, at least it was truthful."  It took me a moment to catch onto his bit of witticism but I guess in a way, he was right.  The bush was living up to its name...maybe?  Normally, this bush blooms anywhere from late February to mid-March.  Not this year! Here it is late April and the thing is gorgeous!

  False Indigo is a neat little shrub that can be found growing wild down in the creeks around here.  Years and years ago, Uncle Alfred (God rest his soul) and I were strolling down near his creek when I spied the pretty bushes blooming.  I asked what it was and he replied with his usual "A Ditch Daisy!"  We had a good laugh and then he told me all about the bush.  He even helped me dig up a few of the smaller saplings to take home.  I now have a lovely bush growing next to the Frog Pond!  The only downside is that as the blooms fade, they shed tiny dots of dried up tubular petals or whatever they are.  The Frog Pond now wears a lovely coating of purple flowers. 

  The actual name of the bush is Amorpha Fruticosa.  To my way of thinking, its moniker of "False Indigo" is a lot easier on the tongue so I will stick with it.  I like the little bush merely because it reminds me of a happy time spent with Uncle Alfred.  Since his place is not longer as it used to be so many years ago, I am sure that I will never have the opportunity to snatch another.  Thankfully, these are easy to root from cuttings!  Now if I can only get my False Indigo to be truthful about its blooming seasons!

Hidden in plain sight!

  Sometimes things in nature can mimic their neighbors so well that at first glance you can hardly tell one from the other. Well, at least it seems that way with my bad vision!  This morning as I sat at the kitchen table drinking my first cup of coffee, I admired the lovely False Indigo bush that was blooming just outside.  One of my favorite things about spring and summer is the fact that I can keep my windows open and practically bring nature inside with me.  My breakfast is made that much more enjoyable by having such a happy view.  

  This morning, however, the view was a bit puzzling.  The False Indigo bush seemed to have dropped several of its limbs all the way to the ground!  (Again, bad eyesight!)  I stared at what I thought was the fading blooms.  Hmmm?  Did I really just see a few of those flowers move? Something told me that I really had better take a hike outside to investigate!  So, out the back door I went!  As I moved closer, I came to realize what I thought were branches of the bush was something entirely different.  Grasshoppers!  Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers to be exact! Several sticks on the ground were covered with the small black and red grasshoppers and made them look almost identical to the waning blooms of the False Indigo!  Oh, geez!  If there were that many grasshoppers on a couple of sticks, that meant that the lower part of the hill was covered with critters!

  It was a mere coincidence that the grasshoppers looked so similar to the blooms.  These critters were not intentionally trying to disguise themselves.  They do not have very many predators that causes them any need to hide.  Still, I thought it was rather interesting to see how "invisible" critters can become when tucked in among the plants.  This, also, caused me to ponder how many other critters may be hidden among the leaves!  Nature provides many hiding spots and most animals know how to use those to their advantage.  Each hike about the gardens probably puts me in close range with many critters that I do not see.  Their eyes, however, most likely watch my every move!  The garden has eyes!  

What's in a Name?

Amorpha Fruticosa L...a big name for a small shrub! Sometimes I wonder about the naming of plants and animals in the world. Just how, for Pete's sake, are we ever supposed to remember something like Amorpha Fruticosa L.? It is not one of those names that stays on the tongue or in the brain more than about a split second unless you have studied to become a botanist! And that..I have not! So I call my Amorpha Fruticosa by the much simpler moniker of False Indigo Shrub. This, in itself, can be most confusing as there is a "False Indigo Plant" as well! The two share no traits other than the name. My False Indigo is a small shrub that I dug up from the creekbed years and years ago. It is a lovely little shrub that stays sort of lanky. It never gets "girthful" as Son would call it. The trunks of the shrub have never reached more than approximately two inches in diameter. It does, however, make tons of stalks which gives it a nice, graceful appearance! And..did I mention, it has a confusing name??

Until this spring, I had thought I might contact some Notable-Person-in-Charge-of-Naming-Plants and ask them to change the name! Considering the confusion that could arise over the two "False Indigo Plants", I figure that a name change would be quite desirable! Usually, this shrub is in full bloom during the month of February which gave me the idea to call it "Mardi Gras Bush"! It seemed that for years, the bush would invariably bloom the same week as the holiday regardless of the fact that Mardi Gras season is never a set day! It also contained all the "colors" of the season..purple, green and gold! Hence..Mardi Gras Bush! This seems to me a far cry better than trying to remember the true name and much simpler than trying to distinguish between two plants with such similar names! In my brain, my idea was perfect and I was sure that the Notable-Person-in-Charge-of-Naming-Plants (whoever that may be) would be tickled pink when I explained all of the reasoning behind said change! Think of the marketing surge that would come about merely by the name change! Why..anyone who participates in the revelry of the Mardi Gras Season would surely want one or a dozen of these shrubs to decorate their landscape! I am a genius!

But now that has changed simply because of a fluke in the growing season! The weather has not been agreeable with my name-changing plans! With the warm winter and other craziness going on weatherwise, my poor, little bush is totally discombobulated! Here it is the end of March and it is just now setting blooms! Something is surely amiss here! This should not happen! My plans for changing the name of the bush have gone kaput all due to a mild winter! I suppose I should just be happy that the shrub has decided to grace my yard with the presence of showy blooms and not complain about the name. Amorpha Fruticosa L., the confusing name that just would not go away!.......(Secretly...I still like the name Mardi Gras Bush!).....Maybe next year...hmmmmm??

More Random Thoughts From the Bayou

To be or not to be..that is NOT the question of the moment! The question is more aptly stated as "Is it or is it not?" Sometimes things acquire a name that has nothing to do with its origin, use or just plain, old "nothing to do with it"! Take for example the "English Dogwood" This bush is not a dogwood..it is a "Philadelphus Coronarius". It is also known as the "Mock Orange" and lo and behold..it is not even kin to the orange tree! So just what is it? I have the answer to that question! It is a wonderful addition to the garden! Growing up, there was quite a large English Dogwood in the middle of the front yard. As with any plant tended by my dad, this bush did well and each Spring bloomed profusely. The white flowers with yellow stamens cascaded to the ground on long willowy branches. My Mock Orange is not near so big as his was, but still it blooms each year. The blooms come just after the Azaleas start to wane so it is a very welcome sight.

Another plant with a fake name is the "False Indigo Bush". Whoever dreamed up these monikers? Did they just run out of names so they had to start calling bushes by the names of other plants? Did the "namer" just wake up one day and exclaim.."Well. there are no names left on the list..let me just use some that were already taken and see I can confuse everyone!" And if it is a "False" or "Mock" plant does that even make it a real plant? Think about it..if something is false then it is not true..if it is not true then it is a lie..if it is a lie then it is not real.. if it is not real why would it be named? If it is not real, then perhaps it is not even in my garden! Oh my..true logic at work there!

Turning to the animals at my place..Is there really such a thing as "Double Trouble"? The answer...Yes..and their names are Ezzy and PJ! My son and daughter-in-law have been here for a week..this threw the dogs together for a week..this in turn meant each picked up the bad habits of the other. Hmmm..thought..why in the world are good habits never learned? Seriously, these are not bad dogs..just the opposite. Both are a bit headstrong but they are happy together and that is all that matters. Friends stay friends through thick and thin.

Ok so this thought applies to most everything but as I look at my yard, it seemed most prevalent here for the time being..Why are projects easier when you are thinking than doing? In my mind's eye, I finish a project quicker and more efficiently than in real life. Take building an arbor..this should not be a most difficult undertaking. Still, boards fill the area but have not been set into place. True the boards have only been here for a few days, but still..in my mind, this was already built! Now it is almost as if I am trying to put down a floor not an arbor for vining plants! Perhaps my grapes and green beans should learn to crawl horizontally instead of vertically!

Last but not least..the sewing room find! How in the world will I ever use 100yards of sage green tulle? Darling Daughter ordered this several years ago and never used a bit. I lug this 5 foot tall roll of fabric around every time I try to clean. It is huge! Is there any known use in the entire universe for 100 yards of sage green tulle. I doubt it..