Learning...Always Learning

   For as long as I can remember, I have wandered the woods, creek beds, bogs and marshes in search of new plants and critters.  This interest in what Mother Nature provides was instilled in me by my granddad.  Being the youngest of a brood of five, it is possible that my folks needed a break so I got to spend lots of time with my grandparents.  It delighted me so all was good.  Granddad always had some "lesson" to teach me and those stuck...most of the time.  Still, I find that some of the names of plants may have been just local lore and not the true name.  For the bulk of my life, those names have stuck and probably will always be there.  I do, however, find it interesting to learn the actual name and a bit more about what I find.

  After a pea-soup thick foggy morning, the day unfolded to be bright and sunshiny.  The bluest of blue skies literally glowed after the winter greys.  This meant that my afternoon hike gave new light to a lot of things.  Down behind the canebrake, my path took a sharp left and then an equally sharp right to the creek bed.  There I was greeted by a cluster of small trees with lovely white blooms. The small trees twisted their ways through the palmettos to reach the sunlight making photographing a tad difficult.  Still, I was determined.

  Growing up, I was taught that this was "Knotweed" blooms.  When you are with your grandpa and he tells you something...you listen.  So, Knotweed Tree has been the name for all of these many (many) years.  Now, I find that Granddad may have been using a local name and not the "real deal".  Recently, I was shown an article that described the tree and called it Buckwheat Tree.  Sure enough, those pictures did look a lot like my photographs!  So, I am assuming that I should try to remember the "new" name.  It will be hard to "relearn" something after so many years but that is a part of life and learning is a good thing.  Never stop!  Buckwheat Tree!  Buckwheat Tree is named after the buckwheat plant from which we get buckwheat seed and, guess what...it is in the knotweed family!  Sort of ties things all in together...Knotweed Tree aka Buckwheat Tree.  Maybe not...maybe just me.  Maybe Granddad knew this.  I like to think he did, anyway.

Magical Night Gardens

  It seems as if some gardens are prettier at night than during the day.  Let a full moon occur and every white bloom in the garden literally glows.  Some flowers bloom exclusively at night but even those that are day bloomers take on a different appearance. While there is not much in the way of gorgeous flowers in the garden this late in the summer due to the heat, there are those that insist on carrying on with their budding.  The Madonna Lilies are towering over my head and have dozens of huge, white trumpets, the four-o'clocks wither flat each day but early evening brings their fragrant, hot pink buds bursting open and the moon flowers now cover the jasmine arbor and delicately unfurl their plate-sized blooms at dusk.  Throw in a few night blooming cereus buds and the almost nonexistent daytime garden is a wonderland at night.

  This evening, I stepped out the front door to catch a quick glimpse of the moon flowers in bloom.   A slow, drizzling rain made the intoxicating aromas of the garden blooms hang heavy around me.  A few moths were busy visiting the blooms before the rains strengthened and made feeding impossible.  There also were a couple of billion mosquitoes there!  All of that beauty had to be absorbed in a matter of minutes before I raced back inside.  My nighttime garden would have to wait until I am able to whip up some herbal bug balm.  Tonight's visit was just sampler.  My magical night garden will soon be at its best!

 

  

A New Find!

It always excites me to stumble upon something new and beautiful on the hillside.  My son and I were out searching for an elusive Yellow Jacket's nest.  These wasps have been bombarding us every time we go fishing and I am afraid it will not be long before one of us gets stung.  Yesterday, Ms. Ez was particularly bothered and was snapping at them right and left so it will most likely be her that has the bad luck.  A sting in the mouth will not be fun!  But as I said, our search..while not productive in finding the wasp nest, did turn up a nice find!

On the west side of the house, there is the remains of a rotted Black Gum Tree.  This old log was intentionally left as it is the home of many critters..some I like...a lot I do not, but since it is far from the house, I had no qualms about letting it stay where it fell.  Today, I noticed the log was being intertwined with a lovely vine!  The most beautiful white flowers were just covering the area!   I told Michael that come this winter, the vine will be moved to the arbor!  He just shrugged his shoulders and muttered something to the effect of "adding it to the list".  I cannot help it!  When I find an interesting plant (especially one that blooms!), I just have to move it closer to the gardens!  I can enjoy it much more when I can see it without having to gallivant around the hillside!  When I made that declaration..he looked at me incredulously!  I know, I know...I wander the hillside relentlessly but it really would be nice to have it on one of the arbors!  When I reminded him how much easier it would be to mow the area without having to worry about "my" vine, he agreed that we would move it!

The vine in question is a Sweet Autumn Clematis!  It has a lightly fragrant flower of brilliant white petals and tufts of yellow and white stamens.  The thin vines are covered with dark green leaves that are almost heart-shaped.  Another name for this plant is Virgin's Bower.  A bower is a vine-covered, sheltered area which could easily refer to this vine.  The virgin is in reference to the purity of the white flowers after the long, hard summer.  After the flowers fade, they are replaced by golf-ball sized seed heads that are almost as interesting as the flowers are beautiful!  Each seed in the cluster has a long, fuzzy tail!

I am excited about possibly having this in the garden next fall.  Hopefully it will do well and perhaps even reseed itself enough to cover one of the arbors!  The Confederate Jasmine will bloom in the early spring along with the wisteria, next will be the Seven Sisters Cluster Rose and then the Autumn Clematis will wind up the growing season!  The arbors will be continuously covered in loveliness!  What a wonderful find!