The sweet smell of success!

Yesterday, I mentioned that Son and I mucked around in the marshes hunting for Swamp Lily bulbs.  I am happy to say that we found a good many and that a few were in places that could be dug.  Contrary to popular belief..digging in mud is not particularly easy!  I am sure glad Michael is strong!  Each shovel full of mud was heavy and the water made a suction that gripped the shovel.  When he would lift up that suction would make a huge slurping sound.  Eww!  Not to mention the foul smell that Bayou mud contains!  To get an idea..think wet, decaying matter.  Yep..it smells!  But living on the Bayou, has made me a bit oblivious to this odor and, so, it was not bothersome.  What was bothersome were the gnats!  Even though it was coolish when we went into the marsh, the gnats seemed to dislike our disturbing them.  They took the opportunity to grab a bite to eat whilst we played in the muck.  

The Swamp Lilies were plentiful!  In the back of the Bayou where it literally turns into a swamp, there were thousands of the bulbs!  These are just starting to shoot up their leaves making it easy to find them.  Michael dug about two dozen of the long, slender bulbs before we decided to make our way back up the hill.  I had brought a large, plastic bin to haul the bulbs but decided that we should at least put some of the mulchy mud in around the bulbs to help them acclimate to the new soil.  Again, I was glad that Michael was along for the hike!  This thing was heavy!!!  I carried the shovel..he carried the bin, mud and bulbs!

These bulbs will soon be on their way to Missouri to be planted in my cousin, Helen's, garden.  She and her sisters, Ann and Margie, will soon be here to visit.  They will tote the bin and bulbs back home with them.  (I sure hope that swamp smell doesn't cause queasy stomachs on the long ride back! Perhaps I better find the lid to this bin!)  Knowing Helen, she will most likely share the bulbs with her sisters and then a little bit of the Bayou will not only be in Missouri but Georgia and Virginia as well!  I am thinking these bulbs might better be potted instead of planted in the ground!  My Swamp Lilies from the Deep South might find cold winters a bit rough!  Oh...and about that foul odor?  Once the lilies bloom, the sweet yet spicy scent will make my cousins forget all about that Bayou mud stench!

The Unreachable Garden!

Here it is already turning a bit cooler and I have a beautiful garden in bloom! A wide expanse of lovely white lilies is in full bloom and I know that the aroma must be wonderful! There is only one problem...I cannot walk in this garden to observe its beauty. It is quite unreachable at the moment. Actually, the only time that I can visit this portion of the property is in the dead of winter when it is barren. At that time, there is nary a bloom..no sweet aroma..nothing. You see, this garden is in the far back of the Bayou..back "where the snakes crawl and alligators creep" and lets just say that I have enough savvy to know not to tread there!

I am talking about the beautiful Swamp Lilies aka Spider Lilies that only bloom in the boggy confines of the deepest part of the Bayou. The fact that these lilies bloom just out of reach makes the allure that much stronger. I long to go pick armloads of them so I can fill vases after vase in the Little Bayou House. The sweet, almost Jasmine-like scent would then fill each room like no other air freshener could! Their bright white petals with red stamens would brighten every corner! It would be like I lived in a flower shop!

These wild lilies grow from very large bulbs that for part of the year are actually underwater. Most of the summer, the high tide fills the back of the Bayou..during the late fall, the North winds keep the tides from being near so high and this allows the lilies to push their stems through the mud. The buds quickly develop until in just a few days they are swollen enough to burst open. There are usually around five blooms per stalk so from a distance the entire thing appears to be white. I love my little "Secret, unreachable garden!" As much as I like to share the beauty of the Bayou, it is sort of nice to think that this garden is blooming just for me! Perhaps, though, I will try to dig up a few bulbs this winter just to see if they will grow in the structured gardens in the yard. If not..I will continue to enjoy them just where they are!

Wildflowers or Weeds?

I love to wander in the woods near where the Bayou turns into a creek just to look at plants. There is an amazing variety of plants that grow in this bog. It is quite difficult to get into this area and in summer there is always the chance that you might encounter a snake or two, but to me, it is well worth the effort. Each month there is a different show of color hiding beneath the canopy of trees just beckoning me. More than once, I have wandered in with a shovel and bucket to dig a few specimens to be transplanted in the gardens at the house. I am always careful to leave ample plants as to not deplete my wonderland.

Veronia is one plant that I moved to the garden. It is a tall plant that blooms profusely but also makes thousands of seeds. This in itself can be a problem in the garden but since I deadhead as soon as the blooms fade, I should be able to contain it. I love the deep rich purple of the blooms of this tall (mine is about five feet tall) plant.

Another transplanted beauty is the Marsh Mallow. (Not to be confused with marshmallows from S'mores fame!) The Marsh Mallow is a member of the Hibiscus family and is usually pink or white with yellow centers. They get about three feet tall and seem to be impossible to kill..my type of plant!

Blue Flags or Wild Irises are also abundant in the creek bottom. These, although I have dug them and moved them to the gardens, are reported to be highly toxic to both humans and livestock. I decided that I was safe having them in the garden since I knew about this and the only "livestock" around are the dog, Ezzy and the cat, Ms Put. Ms Put would be smart enough not to eat a poisonous plant and Ezzy, well..let's just say I have to watch her. She will chew anything!

A very fragrant plant, the Swamp Lily, also called Seven Sisters Lily, String Lily and sometimes Spider Lily, is to be my next acquisition. The back part of the Bayou is a solid mass of these lilies with bulbs some four inches in diameter. They remind my of a night-blooming lily that was outside of the bedroom that my sister and I shared as children. We would push our beds next to the windows during the summer (no air conditioning in those days) and would always love it when those lilies bloomed!