billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
I haven’t spotlighted the farm family lately, so thought I’d weave in a series doing this. Here’s Baloo, our Cardigan Welsh Corgi. He’s a security officer extraordinaire and has gradually become a solid citizen around the equines. Hello, Cody!
He’s a good pal to Clem and Bear, a very loving dog, and a fierce announcer of anything and everything happening around the farm.
Thanks to my daughter for the photos. She’s now doing pet portraits! Feel free to contact me if you’d like to hire her. :)
This really lovely bee balm is one of the new native species I’ve planted in the new pollinator bed. One of the plants had a few spent blooms left over from earlier in the summer and bees have already found it and foraged it, which means it should be a big hit next year.
More info:
Scientific Name: | Monarda clinopodia |
|---|---|
Genus: | Monarda |
Species Epithet: | clinopodia |
Common Name: | Basil Bergamot, White Bergamot, Basil Beebalm |
Plant Type | Herb/Wildflower |
Life Cycle | Perennial |
Plant Family | Lamiaceae (Mint Family) |
Native/Alien: | NC Native |
Size: | 3-6 ft. |
Bloom Color(s): | White, Pink |
Light: | Sun - 6 or more hours of sun per day, Part Shade - 2 to 6 hours of sun per day |
Soil Moisture: | Dry |
Bloom Time: | May, June, July, August, September |
Growing Area: | Mountains, Piedmont |
Habitat Description: | Mesic, forested slopes (Weakley 2015). Common in NC Mountains, rare in Piedmont. |
Leaf Arrangement: | Opposite |
Leaf Retention: | Deciduous |
Leaf Type: | Leaves veined, not needle-like or scale-like |
Leaf Form: | Simple |
Life Cycle: | Perennial |
Wildlife Value: | Important for Wildlife |
Landscape Value: | Recommended and Available |
Plant
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Grabbed a better photo today - I am loving seeing these beauties each time I drive into the farm gate.
More info:
Best grown in rich, humusy, medium moisture, well-drained soils in part shade. Tolerates full sun as long as soils are kept uniformly moist. Also tolerates full shade. Stoloniferous but not too aggressive.
Meehania cordata, commonly called Meehan’s mint or creeping mint, is a stoloniferous, mat-forming mint that resembles in appearance the common lawn and garden weed known as gill-over-the-ground or ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea), but it does not exhibit the very aggressive tendencies of the latter. It is native from western Pennsylvania to North Carolina, Tennessee and Illinois, where it typically occurs in rich woods and wooded slopes. This is a low-growing perennial with trailing square stems and opposite broadly heart shaped green leaves (to 1” long) with crenate margins. Hooded, two-lipped, lavender blue flowers bloom in mid to late spring. Flowers (to 1” long) are somewhat large for the plant, appearing in upright 3-inch spikes on stems rising to 4-6” tall.
Genus name honors distinguished American horticulturist and editor Thomas Meehan (d. 1901).
Specific epithet means heart-shaped in reference to the leaves.
No serious insect or disease problems. Some susceptibility to slugs.
Ground cover for shade gardens, woodland gardens or shady border areas.
First, he received his first acupuncture treatment this morning and he loved it - much licking and chewing and then eyes closing as he went into the zen zone, plus much giving of thanks to his vet and to me after she left. I’m happy we have an additional supportive therapy to plug into his repertoire.
The vet did her own pre-acupuncture exam and today he is weak on the right (vs the left on Friday) and she feels he has slight lameness going on in the left rear. But she trotted him out and there was no wobbling at all, so that was good for me to see, even if it did scare me a little.
He scanned well after the acupuncture and he’s already set to get another treatment in two weeks.
As this vet drove off the farm, I got the message from his other vet that the EPM test came back positive. He’ll start the treatment for that ASAP.
I’m relieved to have a definitive diagnosis, and happy his two vets will confer and put everything together to get the best treatment plan possible as we move forward. He’s in good spirits, enjoying the attention, and mostly looks better than he did last week. He’s got chiro and hoof trim coming up so basically everything should be in good shape for him as we get rid of the protozoa!
Now that fall is here I’m starting to put new native species in, so they can develop strong root systems over the winter and come up raring to go in the spring. Everything I’ve planted in the fall has done extremely well with no pampering except insuring the plants get water through the winter. Usually the rainfall takes care of that.
This week, I added a lovely native shrub, swamp doghobble, to the shade bed. It will be the backdrop for a number of the other plants already living there and eventually will grow tall enough to hide the drainage ditch and pipe we have on the back side of the bed. With its leaves turning red in the autumn, it will also add some color!
More info:
Swamp Doghobble is a 3 to 6 feet tall deciduous shrub with alternate leaves. The shiny stems are a mix of green and red. In the spring, white, bell-shaped flowers appear on 3- to 4-inch racemes. Leaves turn red in the fall.
It prefers a moist, cool, acidic soil. It can be grown in full sun, but must have good moisture. Does not tolerate drought or windy conditions. Although winter hardy to Zone 5, this shrub should be planted in a protected location and given a good winter mulch in cooler areas. Can be evergreen in warmer zones.
This twiggy, spreading plant sends out suckers to form colonies. Although it has no serious insect or disease problems, it is susceptible to root rot and leaf spot.
