They Just Keep Growing

   Hurricanes and tropical storms "donate" a lot of things to us.  The tidal surges reach well into the yard (sometimes as far as inside of the Little Bayou House) and deposit anything that happened to get caught up in the water.  Once the surge reaches our shore, whatever was south of us stays.  It is not a fun cleanup, by any means.  The trash, lumber, downed trees, boats, pieces of houses, furniture...just about anything imaginable gets all tumbled together with marsh, vines and other debris.  This has to be sorted and then disposed of properly.  A very tiresome task that has to be dealt with before the next storm rolls into the area.  

  What does NOT get separated and discarded is the seeds and other minute plant material that soon take root and grow rampantly in our rich soil.  There are far too many invasive plants that come to visit and never leave.  I try to eliminate as many as I possibly can but it is a daunting chore.  I am not about to traipse out into the middle of an alligator and cottonmouth infested marsh to pull up some stupid plant that came from parts unknown.  For instance, we are now being inundated with Sesbania, also known as rattlebox tree.  This small tree started after Hurricane Katrina dumped a few pods but then Hurricane Zeta upped the ante by spewing thousands of seeds everywhere!  At first, I thought "A couple of those won't be bad.  They are pretty things and surely I can keep them under control."  WRONG!!!  While I am able to do a pretty good job of thinning the ones on dry land, those in the marsh just keep multiplying.    Each of those "rattlebox" seed pods can hold up to twenty seeds that scatter everywhere when the pods burst.  It is just my observation but I think every last seed must be viable.  

  Am I to just embrace the beauty of the tree and its blooms or do I try to eradicate these along with the dreaded cogon grass that Katrina gave us?  If I am to attempt this, how???  Like I said...I'm smart enough to stay out of the reach of the gators and moccasins but how do I reach those trees?  Wonder if there is a market for these things?  Hmmm?  The bajillion seeds could be potted and sold.  I would be rich!  Anyone want to buy an invasive tree? 

The Pollen Makers

  The Pollen Makers...coming to your town soon!  Yep, here in the Deep South, we are experiencing that lovely "yellow" time of year.  It is definitely early but pollen is floating around causing everything to be yellow until the daily rain comes to wash it away.  It is also the time of year that a lot of folks are never without a tissue and their allergy pills simply because, once they see the yellow, they think they will soon be sniffling. 

  Just yesterday, a friend asked about the "yellow flowers" that could be seen from the roadside.  "Up in the trees, there are these bright yellow flowers!  What are they?  They sure make the woods pretty!"   Those, my friend, are not what you think.  The pine trees are doing their reproductive thing and have put out their soft cones.   From a distance, the funky "soft cones" do indeed look a lot like yellow flowers.  Soft cones are pollen producers (male cones) and depend on the wind to disperse the pollen to the female cones or hard cones.   Pine trees produce both soft and hard cones.  The soft cones (which people think are flowers) are on the lower branches of the trees with the hard cones on the upper branches.  This is to keep the pollen from just falling on the female cones and promotes fertilization with other trees.  

  Once my friend heard that these were not flowers but what were causing all of the pollen, an immediate dislike of the "flowers" occurred.  "Ugh!  Pollen!  All that does is cause allergies!"  Once again, an explanation was due.  Nope.  Pine pollen does not cause allergy attacks.  The pollen is actually good for you and can be found in health food stores and down the vitamin aisle of the drug store.  Trying to explain this to my friend was a lot like talking to a brick wall.  The worst thing pine pollen does is make your car yellow.

  So, the yellow flowers are not flowers. Not all pollen causes itchy, watery eyes and sniffles.  And some folks just do not listen to reason.  

Oh, so yellow!

Occasionally while out wandering around on the hill, I come across plants that I have seen time and time again but still do not know exactly what in the world they are. I have no clue as to the name or species. Even when I try to research the plants, I can always find some small detail that leaves me in doubt of an exact identity.Today, I found a couple of those plants. Both are rather pretty plants with nice yellow flowers.

First is a quite tall plant. It has decided to call my daffodil garden home and is sort of spilling out amongst the blueberry bushes. It is about two feet tall with sort of slender, pointy leaves. The stems are not round but almost squarish. The bloom has four petals and a tiny ball in the center. The individual stamens fall off almost immediately after blooming which I find rather strange. (Of course, this could be due to the drought.) There are also square buds and reddish sepals left after the petals fall from the plant. These stay for quite some time and eventually dry. I am thinking that this might be in the primrose family but I really do not know.

The other plant is much smaller. It is more like a groundcover but does not spread profusely. It seems to contain itself in small clumps. The leaves look like little tufts of grass. On this plant the bloom is very distinct. The three-lobed petals spoke out from the center button much like the blades of a fan. These centers are actually multiple little "knots".The bloom is much darker yellow than that of the aforementioned flower. These are growing in sandy spots in the yard. I try not to run over them with the lawnmower when I mow because they add a nice bit of brightness to the yard.

Perhaps some reader knows the identity of my plants..any suggestions as to their true names would be appreciated! Until I find the answer, I will just continue to enjoy their yellowness in the yard!