Here lately, the days are being spent being a nurse to an ailing, aging dog. Mr. PJ is feeling poorly so he is the utmost priority of each day...and night...a lot of which is just sitting with him. I think he truly misses his family at this time of his life and so the extra attention is needed. There is just not much else I can do. It breaks my heart to see him like this. Crazy as it may sound, I have fully grown attached to him in the short time he has been on the Bayou. This hospice care leaves little time for any other endeavors, however. One thing the old dog still loves to do is walk about the hillside. Granted, it is a slow walk with many rests but it seems to calm him. So, I take the camera along on our slow-paced journeys.
It does not help much that it has been hot and humid for the past few days. With the air conditioners going full blast inside, the hikes seem to be even warmer than usual. This morning as we rounded the bend on the sandy path far down behind the shed, I noticed some trumpet vine blooms gleaming in the beams of the sunrise. Since Mr. PJ was on one of his rests, I decided to get a photograph. After several attempts and only coming up with weird, foggy pictures, I decided to check the camera. Yep, just as I expected. The transition from the cool air inside to the hot, muggy air outside caused the lens to cloud over. I wiped it clean and tried to focus the camera once again. Nope, it was foggy again. Three times of wiping that lens finally did the trick and I got a clear photo.
Once inside, it was weird comparing the two photos. The fogged lens added a golden-green haze to the picture while the cleaned lens gave a clear photo. What was weird was the fact that I preferred the messy photo over the clear! It sort of goes with the mystique of the Bayou and seems perfect to my foggy brain. Yep, I do have a quirky sense of what is nice looking. So, the humidity and heat won out on this photo shoot this morning.
It is hard to think of woodpeckers and hummingbirds being similar. Without even looking at the obvious difference in size, the birds seem to be total opposites. The hummer is tiny, delicate and graceful as it flits from flower to flower. But when thinking of a woody, the traits of a large, sturdy bird that has to be rough and tough to pound its head against pine trees come to mind. These two birds cannot share a common thread...or can they?
Out back, a red trumpet vine has about taken over the blackberry fence. It has gone so far as to travel across the plum trees and up an oak. Tomorrow, the thing will meet its demise as it is irritating me even though it is covered with its trademark red, funnel-shaped blooms. Those blooms have attracted honeybees and hummingbirds in droves and this is where that similarity between the hummingbirds and woodpeckers was first noticed.
The hummingbirds use their long beaks and tongues to sip the nectar from the bright red blossoms. Woodpeckers seem to crave that sweetness as well. They peck a small hole in the base of flower and then lap up the nectar. So...nectar is not just for hummers and bees!
This afternoon as I was on a lubber grasshopper hunt, a red-bellied woodpecker caught my eye. It was going from flower to flower on the trumpet vine. I pondered at first if the bird was feasting upon insects that had crawled into the flowers but closer inspection revealed that the bird was indeed drinking the nectar. It was fascinating to see something new...at least, new to me. Nature is amazing.
Sometimes things are just irritating. Besides rubbing you the wrong way, they can be downright aggressive. Weird thing is here, I am talking about a plant. Aggressive plants do not belong in my garden! Nope, they are not attacking me...they are attacking everything else in their way. These things are not invasive as they are native to the eastern part of the country but they aggressive to the point that they are taking over the place. It all goes back to that "Give it an inch and it will take a mile." Trumpet Vines are like that. Let one root, one seed, one tiny speck of a plant get established and they are virtually impossible to eliminate. I need to do more eliminating....right after these things finish blooming.
Therein lies the problem. The blooms are gorgeous and the butterflies and hummingbirds love them. Since I adore all three...blooms, butterflies and birds, I have a serious problem yanking these things out from the ground. I love seeing the bright red, tubular blossoms dangling from the vines. I do not like seeing them dangle from my fruit trees, house, blackberry vines and shed. The vines can do major damage to other plants since they wrap around and choke it. Tiny roots extend from the woody part of the vine well away from the rootball. These root tendrils attach themselves and do severe structural damage to woodwork on buildings. The underground roots can buckle concrete and pavement. Plus, the vines can be a skin irritant to some folks. (At least, I am fortunate in that part since I am the one to wield the ax to chop the vines.)
Come October, the blooms will fade and I shall be chopping once again. In a year's time, the vines have taken over the entire back portion of the yard. This is where the fruit trees and berry vines are planted so seeing the red Trumpet Vine blooms was not something I really wanted to see while out on my hike. Seeing the hummingbirds fight over the nectar at least eased the frustration. I have a huge job ahead of me next month!
Being tired of the endless snipping and clipping of the wisteria vines, I cropped them back nearly to the ground. The arbors stand bare and I am hoping they stay that way. As matter of fact, if I have my way, the arbors are the next thing to go to the wayside. Instead of the constant repair required, I shall enjoy a bit of freedom! The wisterias will be allowed to grow a bit longer if I can train them to tree form and not rampant growing vines. If they refuse to be constrained a bit, then...chop, chop and out they go!
Now, another vine has bit the dust. Red trumpet vines had taken over the kumquat trees and had even crawled all the way to the top of an oak tree. It was time to put a halt to these as well. The snips came into play again and the vines were cut to the ground. The roots will have to be watched so these do not send up new shoots but perhaps if they are caught early enough, I can keep them under control.
Red trumpet vines are lovely (just like wisteria) but left unfettered, they can become invasive. These things can swallow up whole buildings if given the chance! The red or orange blooms make it hard to eliminate the plants. Hummingbirds love these things and anyone who does a bit of birdwatching, would have a hard time killing the vines merely because of that attraction. The plants can grow from seeds, cuttings, layering, by runners or just about any other method available. The seed pods are about six inches in length and have a number of seeds. Imagine a vine some forty feet long with tons of branches. Those branches are full of blooms. Each bloom produces a seed pod filled with fifty to a hundred seeds. When the seed pods dry, thousands of seeds go airborne and become scattered about the area. Out of those thousands, most will take root and produce new vines. The vines are cold hardy, drought hardy and not many critters even bother eating them. If things are not held in check, the red trumpet vine can soon choke out any other plant life. (Think the dreaded kudzu here. This vine's life story is not unlike the horror tales connected to kudzu.)
While that is all said and done, I will miss the trumpet vine. The clusters of red tube-like flowers bring a bit of brightness to the otherwise drab woods. Even the blooms that drop to the ground remain bright red for days. It saddens me to make short work of things of beauty but this beauty can become a beast if allowed. SO...snip, snip, chop, chop! The vines received a good trimming.
