What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 19: bloom update

I wanted to show the blooms on a few of the plants I’ve featured so far. They’re really lovely!

 Yellow pitcher plant is stunning!

 A close up of the May apple blossom.

The columbine is like shooting stars.

May apple larger view.

The golden Alexanders are easily doubled in size from their feature post and blooming like mad.

My mulch should be delivered soon and I can clean up the beds, but things are going wild right now. Debbie Roos, our native pollinator garden guru at the county extension office, advised in the classes I’ve taken to try and plant things that will bloom in all three of our main growing seasons here in central NC.

I tried hard to make sure I did this when selecting the plants for these two beds, and while my judgment about size/height of plant and spacing wasn’t always on the mark (hence my need to move many tall goldenrod), I did nail the constant bloom thing.

Once the early spring bloom begins in these beds it is nonstop until at least November, and even on into winter there are many seed pods for birds to forage.

Debbie taught a garden design class last year that I took well after I’d planted these first two beds, and I learned a lot about how to go about designing the aspects of the garden I’d not quite nailed the first time around.

She gave us large sheets of white paper and had about a hundred different colors of post-it notes, and after viewing slides of many, many native NC pollinator plants, we did a quick garden design on our paper. I have mine saved to do the next big native plant bed, which will be across the walkway from the front bed you can see above. It’s a huge space, and Debbie suggested starting in one section and planting out from there. I’ll probably start it this fall, since my experience has been that everything I plant in the fall season does super well with much less attention.

A project to look forward to!

No Use Crying Over Spilt Milk(paint)

Yesterday I walked down to Arcadia with a large yogurt container of just-mixed fuchsia milk paint, excited to be painting Artemis hive, which is of course empty and awaiting its nuc which is coming mid-late May.

I’d tung-oiled it two days before, and while that was satisfying, not nearly as much fun as putting color on, so I was excited to get started.

Echo hive is doing very well, and the girls were busy foraging when I got to the apiary. I set up my painting stuff and got to work. I realized I’d made the paint a bit too watery, but milk paint is so forgiving it’s not a big deal. If I’d been closer to the house, where the powder was, I might have added some more to thicken the paint a bit, but since I had plenty of paint and could do several coats, I opted to forge on.

I got one side painted when somehow the yogurt container slid from my hand and bright pink milk paint flew everywhere. ACKKKKK!

After a few moments of total frustration, I realized that because we’d put cardboard down to smother some weeds around the hive, the paint was pooling and not totally lost. Instead of cursing, I just continued to paint, dipping the brush in the pink pool and applying it as I would if it were still in my container.

I really didn’t think I’d be able to complete the entire exterior of the hive boxes (you don’t paint the insides) but guess what - somehow there was enough to do it, and even enough to add a second coat to most of the areas that needed one.

After not crying over spilt milk paint, this is what I have:

You can see the paint splattered on the bottom box legs, which initially I fretted over, but decided to let go. I also made a mistake and painted the handles which I’d meant to leave natural, but oh well. Thankfully milk paint is nontoxic and water based and the rain will wash away the paint on the ground with no ill effect and a bit of time. I’ll do a second coat today and build the color up, but even as is, I love it. Note the chicken feeders we use for providing water to the bees. We filled the bottom with stones so they can perch and drink without drowning. We have two of these and refill them as needed with no trouble at all. I noticed birds using them yesterday too!

Here’s a shot looking back toward Echo hive. I chose these colors because I love them separately but even more together. I also have a sapphire blue that will go on the third hive. 

After using up all the paint I could sop up from the ground, I took my cherry soda and went to my chair in Poplar Folly. The view:

Paint on boots.  And sky.

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 18: Virginia sweetspire

I needed something for the corner of Poplar Folly that could grow tall enough to be a screen, has pretty flowers, is native and a pollinator, and if possible offered some color. Virginia sweetspire hit the spot. The long willowy flowers are pretty and loved by bees, it can grow to 8 feet, and in the fall its leaves turn a deep burgundy red. Perfect!

Ours are young still, but have at least doubled in size since planted, and we’ve enjoyed the flowers and the fall color already. They’re doing well in the spot we put them.

There are two in this corner and my hope is that as they grow they’ll fill it in. 

More info:

Wasowski, Sally and Andy 

Itea virginica

Itea virginica L.

Virginia Sweetspire, Tassel-white, Virginia Willow

Saxifragaceae (Saxifrage Family)

Synonym(s): 

USDA Symbol: ITVI

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

Virginia sweetspire is a mound-shaped, slender-branched, deciduous shrub to 8 ft. Small, white flowers bloom in 4 in. spires that droop with the arching branches. Flowers open from base to tip so that the plant appears to bloom for a long time. Leaves turn red to purple in fall and persist well into the winter. This plant is semi-evergreen in the southern part of its range. 

The long tassels of white flowers and red fall foliage make this an attractive ornamental. Most effective in massed plantings, as single plants tend to be scraggly. 

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 17: our beloved oaks

So, technically the oaks aren’t coming up in the garden, they lived here before anyone did and they offer me inspiration, comfort, shelter, art, and more on a daily basis.

Yesterday I was filling a water trough in the back pasture when I looked up. What a sight, all the oaks leafing out, their tassels blowing in the wind, floating in water, clustering on the ground. It’s a sight, and a joy, to see them leafing out.

Between the oaks of various species, the tulip poplars, the sweet gum, maple, and pine, we live in an enchanted forest of sorts. While fall is my absolute favorite season, and spring second favorite, I love the shapes of our trees’ winter branches against the sky, and in spite of biting insects and heat, our summers are like living in a jungle thanks to our magnificent trees. We can’t see anything outside the farm when the trees are fully leafed out, and they filter the sounds of other people and their comings and goings.

Looking ahead, I saw our home, which includes the barn, and I thank the goddesses that it’s so close to our house. This is my ecosystem. I love it.

And on a different note, or maybe just an outlying part of the ecosystem, I finally hung my apiary sign yesterday. A lovely artist from Etsy made it for me last fall. It’s been hanging in the garage for some unknown reason ever since.

She painted her interpretation of my favorite pollinator plant, spotted horsemint, monarda punctata. 

What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 16: persimmon

We have an old persimmon tree on the strip of our property that goes up the gravel lane we live on. Every fall I watch for the splashes of bright orange that mean the fruit on the tree is ripe, and for weeks after, I find wildlife scat full of persimmon seeds. It seems to be a popular food for many creatures.

I’ve never gathered any of the persimmons myself, but think of doing it each autumn that comes.

When Duke Energy took down some of our tulip poplars in Poplar Folly two years ago we began to replace those trees with other natives that don’t grow so tall, which means they won’t ever be in danger of being cut down. Persimmon was one option that is both native, wildlife-friendly, and a pollinator, so we put one in. Here it is today:

I believe it too is a slow-growing plant, but it’s more than doubled its size at planting and I love seeing its progress. Technically we need another persimmon to pollinate for fruit, so we’ll likely add a few more this fall now that we’re seeing this one thrive.

Unlike the two young redbuds we put in at the same time, the persimmon has had no problems at all. I’m not sure what happened to the redbuds - it’s possible they just didn’t get enough water the winter we planted them. Poplar Folly is too far back for hoses, so all the watering down there has to be done with a wheelbarrow and either buckets or the wheelbarrow water bladder I bought. Most things only need dedicated watering their first year, and I track the rainfall to make it easier on us and on the plantings. Some things, like the seed I just sowed, will be left to their own hardiness and the rainfall we get. 

I’m happy the persimmon is doing so well.

More info:

Diospyros virginiana 

Common Name(s):

 

• American Persimmon
• Common Persimmon
• Eastern Persimmon
• Persimmon
• Possum Apples
• Possumwood

Phonetic Spelling

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Description

American Persimmon is a deciduous tree in the ebony family that is native to central and eastern USA and is found in all areas of NC.  It is slow-growing and thicket forming and can be a nuisance in fields. The trees are usually separate male and female and both are needed for fruiting to occur. Flowering is in spring to early summer with fruit ripening in the fall. A string of cool days is usually needed for maturation. The 1-2 inch fruits are orange and very sweet when ripe. They are a source of food for many types of birds and mammals.

Moist, well-drained sandy soils provide the best conditions for growth but the tree will tolerate hot, dry, poor soils and clay, including urban conditions. It blooms and fruits best in full sun to partial shade. A deep taproot makes it difficult to transplant.

Cultivars are available that may make a better tree for the home garden. However, the specimen can be grown as an ornamental and fruit tree or use in naturalized areas for wildlife.