As rain pelts the rooftop of the Little Bayou House, one has to wonder if spring is already here. The temperature sits right at 70 degrees and does not seem to want to make any slid downward tonight. Perhaps later in the week, a cooler night or two may make an appearance but, for now, the weather is screaming "Spring!" Not only are the temperatures higher than usual for February, our fruit trees have also decided that winter is over. In fact, Old Man Winter never made it this far south and now Lady Spring is popping in for a visit. Let's hope she brings a sweater or two just in case Old Man Winter is not through with us yet!
This afternoon, a stroll about the gardens left me in awe that so many blossoms were on the fruit trees. One in particular bothers me, however, as I was in hopes that the tree would have a nice crop this year. In the east garden, a small peach tree is dotted with the dark, rich pink blossoms. This tree produces the sweetest peaches that I have ever eaten. Years ago, my uncle brought me a bag of peaches from Georgia and on a whim, I poked a seed in a flower pot. (Now, I wish I had done the same with the whole dozen of seeds.) The seed sprouted the next spring and grew quickly into a lovely tree. After planting the sapling in the ground, it promptly made dozens of peaches that spring. Last year, the tree was loaded but the squirrels and raccoons ate most of them so Son has promised to devise some system to keep the critters from raiding the tree if it makes this spring. Now, I am not so sure that is going to happen. If we get our late freeze that Mom used to call the "Easter Freeze", the tiny peaches will be ruined before they fully develop. Mom always use to warn Pop about planting his crops too early because of this very reason. He still planted and we wound up covering about sixty acres of small plants before nightfall. At least, I am only worried about this one peach tree! Yes, the rest of the fruit trees are blooming, as well, and, yes, they will freeze, too, but the pantry shelves have no peach jam. I was in hopes that this tree would give me enough to remedy that situation!
Even with the worries of losing the fruit, it was a pleasant surprise to see so many blooms on my walk today. Usually, February is our grey month. Grey skies, grey clouds, grey gardens...nothing has color but pink was the color today! Lovely pink peach blossoms ruled the day! The lovely Lady Spring chose to accessorize with pink blossoms!
So I am guessing I had better get myself into a work mode after being a tad lazy for a few weeks. With the old dog not feeling the best, as of late, I have had to put off any chores that could wait. I busied myself inside the Little Bayou House but the yard has literally been forgotten. Today, however, I did get to stroll a bit to the back part of the property. It was there that I found a few reminders that it is getting onto time to start tending the gardens.
Down behind the shed, I found that the dewberry vines are in full bloom. Near the canebrake, the peach trees are covered in blooms. Next to the back deck, there are buds on the pear trees. These are all sure signs that warm weather is here and it is time to plant the garden, mow the grass and trim the bushes. I did manage to get the trailing roses cut back...well, all but two. I was in full swing with those snips until I noticed that the Cherokee Rose was full of buds. Nope. Its not happening. The rose can just stay rambling until after the blooms wane. Another fine sign that it is outdoor chore time is that the potatoes are sprouting above ground already. The garden is bare except for that one row.
So the afternoon was spent making plans to get it in gear, plant the garden, clean the yard and welcome the warmth that comes with this time of year. Why! Hello there, Summer! I see you peaking around the corner. Time to shake a leg! There are chores to be done.
Things can get in a turmoil when get they get toppled. A bit of discombobulation throws everything into a tizzy. Our one day of winter, has the trees so confused that some are starting to bud. Yep. One day of winter is all it took. The temperatures dipped to freezing overnight but by this afternoon, the bright sunshine made the trees think spring has sprung.
I was out clearing the garden space and pruning back some of the fruit trees but when I came to the peach trees, I was flabbergasted! Those goofy things were setting buds and a few blooms had already opened. Well, I have news for them! According to the weather people, it is going to get cold here again in a couple of days. I sure hope those peach blossoms have winter coats otherwise there will be no peaches come summertime.
Weather here on the Bayou can go from one extreme to the other in a matter of hours. While we do not have the frigid temperatures nor the mountains of snow, we do get "cold spells". These, however, never last long and we go back to nigh on summertime. I get confused so it is no wonder that the plants do the same. Hang on there, peach trees! Winter ain't over yet! You are going to be shaking in your boots and there is nothing I can do to help you!
Imagine my surprise when I found the peach trees in full bloom. The goofy trees are thinking it is springtime and have burst forth with their lovely pink blossoms. While this is encouraging in the fact that spring is near, it is disheartening to know that most of these are likely to be lost with a late freeze. My meanderings, today, had taken me down behind the canebrake to where the peach orchard once stood. Time, deer and wood borers have all taken their toll on the poor trees leaving only a few hearty enough to bloom. With those blooming now, it is likely that we will not see any peaches this summer.
While back in that "neck of the woods", the old dog and I decided to venture a bit further down into the creek bed. The recent rains made it soggy and slippery but I wanted to check for any unusual mosses that may have sprung up since my last visit. I did not have the opportunity to even search for one moss due to what I did find. A tick had creepy-crawled up my pants leg and made its way onto my hand. Ok, time to get the dog out of the area! Old Mr. PJ does not need ticks and surely does not need to cart any back into the Little Bayou House.
Once inside, I did a quick check on the dog but found nary a critter. The monthly flea and tick medicines must be doing the trick for him but it was best to check him regardless. Then, a nice hot bath and body-check led me to believe that the tick was an isolated incident and I had not been infested! The tick that I found crawling on me, today, is a wake up call for me to be diligent when out traipsing the woods. I will confiscate a pair of Son's long, white socks to wear with jeans tucked inside. While this may not be a fashion statement, it will, at least, give me an easy way to do a quick check out in the field. Ticks are no fun! The dog, however, will most likely be banned to the yard for the duration of warmer weather. There is no need to put him in the ticks' territory!
I have been surrounded by insects here lately due to our lack of a winter. Bugs of all types are taking over the Bayou and the surrounding areas. It seems as if we are going to be in for a summer of critters attacking the garden and us! Yesterday, I was out doing some last minute gardening before the storms set in for the duration of the weekend. Last night, today and tonight, the storms are strong and are pelting the Bayou with heavy rains and high winds. The tide has water way up in the yard so I am housebound. Yesterday, however, I found a critter that is always housebound. It lives in its very own little mobile home.
While out back behind the canebrake, I noticed that one of our peach trees had died. I knew it had peach borers in the trunk that would slowly kill the tree but had not expected it to do so yet. This is just another hazard of too many critters and my refusal to use toxic chemicals. I went to examine the tree to make sure that nothing else had caused its demise when I noticed a tiny critter slowly moving about the trunk. This little critter had nothing to do with the tree's untimely death but it did catch and hold my attention for a spell. A serious infestation could cause major damage but one critter is nothing to cause alarm. This was a bagworm. A bagworm is the larva of the bagworm moth...go figure. Bagworm moths lay their eggs and once the larva hatches, it begins to build its house. Most gather leaf fragments, stick shards or other material such as sand to "cement" together to build their tiny mobile homes. Since the materials used are usually from the same tree or plant where the worm is living, the house also serves as a perfect camouflage. These little guys are also sometimes called "log cabin worms". If the worm cuts small twigs for its home, a perfect cabin is created. Sometimes a specific spiral pattern will be formed making the house a piece of art! Other bagworm cases so closely resemble small cones that it is hard to distinguish the worm case from an actual cone.
I snapped a few photographs for the "Find the Critter" game for the grandlittles then let this little guy (or gal) go in peace. I may regret that decision later on if I find that soon I have to deal with a bajillion bagworms in the fruit trees. My mantra of live and let live may come back to bite me!
