Swamp leaks its secrets during drought

Spider can climb trees too, but the swamp rabbits could outclimb her.

It was called Island Road, a puzzle since there was no lake or river. The island turned out to be a large agricultural field that lay behind the house, hidden by woodland. The only way to it without wading through swamp was a raised field road built by a farmer to access this big chunk of fertile alluvial soil. The cropland lay just a few feet higher than the surrounding wetlands. One side was bordered by a wide straightened stream the locals called the channel. The field road to “the island” was gated and the farmer held a key and he handed one to me. It was like having my own wildlife preserve.

The shack can be seen in the distance. The swamp lay behind it.

 

I lived just in front of that gate in a shabby, uninsulated tenant shack, but those eight years were some of the richest of my life. Permission to explore the 1600 acres that surrounded the shack was the gift of a lifetime. Through every season, almost every day (unless there was a driving rain) we headed out for a ramble. The swamps lay behind me and the higher land across the road. Eventually we came to know all the nooks, crests and paths. It was our pleasure and privilege to watch the seasons change in the many plant and animal communities we came to know intimately.

Tadpole inexplicably found pokeweed berries and rolled in them. Pearl is amused.

We, I should explain, are the pack, composed of one human and a troop of dogs. Dogs are the best company for meandering rambles. They live in the moment and bring no angst with them from the world of bills and clocks. Our communication was mostly wordless. I could turn them with a whistle and wave of my arm. They would make me aware of other creatures, sometimes by body English and other times by the art of barking.
The troop size varied by how many dogs had been thrown out at the local bridge, where unscrupulous sorts also threw out garbage, dead appliances and even dead livestock. I picked up the dogs, doctored them , neutered them, and fattened them up. If they blossomed into adoptable dogs, I worked with local rescues to assure these blue collar dogs would end up in white-collar homes. If they stayed too fearful of strangers, or had persistent health issues, they could stay with me. A few dogs declared right away that they wanted only me as their person, and I agreed it was so.
I’d never lived adjacent to a swamp, never thought I’d want to, but if you ever doubted water was life, this was proof. What is the best adjective for that habitat? Teeming. Abundant. Rife. Fecund…
…until that fall. The current fall drought we are experiencing reminded me of this similar one – that fall when I still lived in the Luray bottoms. That fall it grew so dry that we were able to walk areas of the swamp that were usually hip deep in black water, areas I had only been able to navigate before by picking my way along incredibly long and meandering beaver dams.
Some places were deceptive – still a little spongy, and if I didn’t keep moving, I’d begin to sink. Other times what looked solid was just a thin crust that my booth punched right through and I’d find myself up to the knee in muck. My farmer friend Van David Harris had warned me many times about parts of the swamp where you could “git marred up to yer straddle”.
Seeing the swamp stripped of its watery cover was enlightening. Some of the sedges I thought were growing in the water were actually perched atop barely covered stumps. Now they look like wild hairdos atop columns of bark.
There are no common bald cypress trees in this swamp. The larger trees that stood in the water were tupelo gum (Nyssa aquatica). The shape and color of the trunks changed just at submersion level, where they became quite tubby. Many, even most, were hollow, I suspect from being gnawed by beaver at some point. The opening to the hollow was usually half in and half out of the water, forming a dark cave when the swamp was full. Now we could walk right up to peer in, and speculate what other creatures had taken refuge there besides swamp rabbits. On many occasions we had witnessed swamp rabbits (Sylvilagus aquaticus) swim into them and climb up high inside the hollow trees, causing much doggy consternation.

Swamp rabbits always live near water and use it as a means to escape.

The dry swamp revealed a network of narrow ditches just a few inches deep. They ran through the bottoms of the pools, completely invisible when the pools were full of water. The randomness of their directions were in sharp contrast to their puzzling uniformity in width and depth. I followed them, now full of crispy leaves underfoot, and found they often led to beaver lodges, now high and dry. The beavers must have made them, but there was no evidence of digging.

Beaver create wetlands which supports a wide array of wildlife…and they are damn cute.

I made a call to Dr. Allan Houston, wildlife biologist at the Ames Plantation research center in Hardeman County. He explained that the uniform ditches were created by constant use and are called beaver runs. Just as you may find animal paths of uniform width through the fields, these are beaver paths underwater, and the width is just the width of their bodies.
The lodges were impressive – made of mud and sticks, with two holes for entry and exit, both below the usual water level. I was tempted to make a peephole and peer inside, but felt it was rude to tear up someone’s home while they were gone. I hoped they’d be back when the water returned.
Besides, maybe it was time to let some of the secrets remain so. The drought had taken its toll on the swamp and its residents, but it had rewarded me with its revelations. On my way back to the house on the dusty field road, I did my best rain dance. The dogs were tired and thirsty and did not notice.

Carlos sniffs Clover’s butt while Jethro takes a good roll on some deer scat.

Swamp leaks its secrets during drought originally appeared on GardenRant on September 28, 2019.

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It’s Not Just Your Gardening Skills That Will Let Your Garden Flourish

The post It’s Not Just Your Gardening Skills That Will Let Your Garden Flourish appeared first on Miss Smarty Plants.

Gardening is one of the most relaxing things in the world. It’s a chance to get out in the open, without it having to involve any real physical exercise at all. Plus, a really nice looking garden is so underestimated, and we really do think that people should be putting more effort into the way it looks. That doesn’t mean that you have to be out there all hours of the day, tending to it in ways that only a YouTube tutorial will show you how.

And that doesn’t mean that you have to spend time adding in fancy garden ornaments, and clogging up your garden. It simply means that you have to have an eye for the way it looks, and take pride in that. Only simple work is needed in a garden to make it truly wonderful, but it’s not always the work you’re doing directly to the garden that’s going to help.

To properly manage and maintain your garden, there are a few other tools that you should consider. We’re going to suggest some of them to you today, and show you how we think they can help with the management! 

A Bit Of Technology

You might be wondering how technology is going to help you here, but it really can. The first way it can help you is by inspiring you in terms of design. There are so many garden design ideas on Pinterest that you could use to inspire you. The other way it can help you is through some of the apps that you might be able to use. There have been some created that will show you the cycle of maintenance that you should be following to achieve the best garden possible.

But because this idea is not as advanced as it could be, a lot of the apps are filled with spam and could harm your computer. If you follow this link https://setapp.com/how-to/how-to-uninstall-apps-on-macos, it will show you how to remove any apps that you think are going to harm the computer, but there will be ones that do the job perfectly, so make sure you’re having a look to see which one suits your gardening needs! 

Creative Design 

Creative design is so important for some of you, and to get that creative flare, you might benefit from bringing in a professional gardener. They can advise you what colours would work well where, how to position plants and trees for optimum growth and just generally how to get that perfect look. Although you might have been doing all of your gardening up until now, having that different view to show you new things is always going to be valuable. 

A Helping Hand

Another form of a helping hand here, but if you feel like your garden is just too much to manage on your own, then why not get some helping hands in the form of grandchildren, or nieces and nephews? Gardening is so much fun for kids to do, and getting them involved and showing them how to manage a garden and take care of things can be a valuable life lesson. 

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There is No Planet B

Louisville Climate Strike

There were student-led Global Climate Strikes all over the world last Friday, inspired by the lovable 16-year old Greta Thunberg. An estimated two hundred people rallied in Louisville. The Louisville kids were lovable, too. I felt unqualified to be among young people so passionate and unjaded.

Is it time to follow their lead or do we roll our eyes and remind them they have so much more they need to learn?

The kids delivered moving speeches, imploring the powerful to take action. “There is no Planet B,” one sign read. I was deeply moved and thanked many of the kids.

The most memorable remark, however, came from an old man, passing by, who saw my sign, “Mr. Mayor…How hot do you like it? More Trees!”

He asked me, “Why bother with trees?” I pointed out how much cooler it was in the shade of the park tree we were standing under. “Air conditioning is a whole lot better,” he said.

I don’t think he knew what he’d stumbled into, earlier, when he walked into Jefferson Square Park across the street from the mayor’s office. The old man, around my age, had no idea how profound his words were. His simple statement was the head-scratching difference between reality and vision. There are a lot more people comfortable with air conditioning than planting more trees.

Oh, to be young again, courageous and undeceiving.

There is No Planet B originally appeared on GardenRant on September 26, 2019.

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Gardening When You Really Don’t Wanna

The most dreaded thing I’ve ever had to face was to be dragged along while my mom took my sisters shopping. Any time this happened, it was beyond awful. A purgatory of boredom and sadness, it could last anywhere from endless to eternal.

Picture it this way: I’m an otherwise happy, well-adjusted 6-8 year old boy, but I’m being held hostage in a cavern of clothes racks at some store for the 6th or 7th hour and my arm is being held straight up above my head. All the blood it ever contained has drained from it hours ago, my wrist is gripped white-knuckled tight by an unbelievably strong, terrifyingly frustrated, and appallingly unsympathetic mother, and she is yanking my arm right and left to emphasize each and every syllable–my whole body violently following each yank–as she repeats some variation of a sentence that starts with “Mister, you had…” and ends with …”something to cry about.”

Any expedition to go buy clothes was like this. Totally unendurable. But the worst of the worst death marches were treks for Easter outfits and shoes. Easter outfits? I want to cry right now just thinking about it. What absolute zero is to physics about describes the absolute misery caused by Easter shopping. But shopping for shoes was even worse.

There is no telling the amount of pain that went into making this photograph possible.

If I remember right, the main issue with shoes was that one of my sisters had skinny little feet and, for her, there were always several choices of adorably cute shoes. Amazing how much time could leave the universe deciding which pair. Ridiculous. But so much worse was this. My other sister had wide feet and needed “corrective” shoes. This was the double whammy that consigned me to dangle from one arm in store after store after store as my mother led us all–wild in sorrow–in an ever widening migration of despair, shoe store to shoe store in what we all knew was a vain pursuit of a cute pair of wide “corrective” shoes.

The sound of this misery–moaning, whining, complaining, crying, and my mother’s hissing, cursing attempts to make it stop–steadily built to a crescendo of unhappiness that NASA should have recorded and then perpetually beamed into space so as to deter hostile aliens from ever having any interest in our planet.

Anyway, this is how I spent somewhere around a quarter of my childhood.

And this same level of misery about describes a quarter of my gardening chores. That’s right. Gardening ain’t all wine and roses. You see, I’m not in it for the motions. I don’t garden because I like to push a mower around the yard in a certain pattern. I never have a hankering to go turn a compost heap, or haul brush to the woods, or spread 15-20 yards of mulch. I don’t like trying to figure out why my well-pump isn’t working, and it’s been a very long time since I found something compelling about digging a hole.

Those activities are merely a means to an end, and the end is a beautiful garden with all the benefits therein: a backyard oasis, a refuge for wildlife, and a safe place to enjoy the sweetest kind of peace on Earth. Bonus credits for a contented wife, adulation from strangers during garden tours, and for a green vegetative kind of privacy that allows open, carefree peeing in the middle of the backyard at any time on any given day during the growing season.

Yes. All this, not pulling weeds, is why I garden.

And yet even as we speak I have sacks and sacks of bulbs to plant before the ground freezes. And it’s football season. It’s been a hard year, I’m kind of gardened out, and no matter how much I try to focus any ESP powers I’ve got, those bulbs just are not going to plant themselves. This, all because I heard Brent Heath speak back in May, got all excited, and placed a big order.

So I will do what I’ve always done: make excuses, put the task off, and try not to think about it too much. And I will do these things for week after week. In certain times when I’m feeling the urgency more greatly, I’ll quietly wish for an injury or a breakdown that will serve as an adequate excuse for failing to get them planted. Eventually however, the day will inevitably come when there’s no room for even one more second of procrastination.

And there I’ll be, on my knees, cold, slimy soil chilling me to my bones, a bitter wind rasping at my face, trying not to smell the dog crap that got on my jeans because it was camouflaged in the leaves, and suffering strange, phantom jerking motions in my right arm. Inside, on TV, The Ohio State Buckeyes are defeating Michigan again. There’s guacamole on the counter. Beer in the fridge. But I’m outside, cursing that smooth talking Brent Heath.

Another time it’ll be summer. 100 degrees out. And I’ll be cutting down a skanky old crabapple and every single twisty, pokey, gnarly, and ugly branch will have made up its mind to fight me every step of the way. Whatever I want, they’ll want the opposite. They’ll gouge at my eyes. They’ll gash my skin. Nasty, itchy stuff will fall down the back of my shirt. I’ll be sweating, bleeding, and pissed off. There will be no easy angle to position for any single cut. Brush will tangle underfoot. Each of a hundred logs will not stack without a brute force battle of wills, and not one piece of brush will go into the truck and stay there until I’ve discovered–by endless repetition only–the mystical combination of cuss words that will unlock the kingdom. And it’ll suck.

A crabapple displaying full on winter interest in the middle of summer.

Or, it’s mid spring in Ohio and like a complete freakin’ idiot I again jumped the gun and planted out a bunch of tender stuff. I get home from work after dark, it’s 35F and raining, and they’re calling for a hard frost. And, like a damned soul in a Renaissance painting, I’ll inconsolably drag myself outside, and for the next fours hours I will–in fits and starts–construct the world’s twelfth largest shanty town in the backyard from whatever little bits of scrap wood, chunks of rock and rubble, some string, tape, old sheets, blankets, and filthy leftover plastic sheeting I can find in a panicked effort to save a bunch of annuals, tropicals, vegetables, and some expensive fern that Tony Avent said was hardy to Zone 7b, (at least) from a cold, lonely, continental, Z6a, untimely death.

Fun times.

Here’s what follows that: You drag yourself back inside, take a forever long hot shower, down a few shots, and, sitting there as surly as sin, you think really dark and dirty thoughts. Other people aren’t doing this shit. Other people live in condos. They have their thermostats set at “Giant-Ass Carbon Footprint.” So warm they’ve been forced to strip down to teddies and speedos. They’ve over-eaten a fabulous dinner and drank a bottle of wine they don’t even know enough to appreciate. Yep, you were having a cold, wet piece of plastic that smelled mind-blowingly bad whipping back and forth across your face as you, both hands engaged, tried to tack it down over a row of tomato plants, and those condo people were doing that. And you loathe them.

And, yet, you garden on.

Honestly, I’m mystified. Where does the fortitude come from that gets gardeners outside to suffer through odious tasks under miserable circumstances simply because they need to be done? I don’t know. Really don’t. But I’ve done it. Over and over and over again. And my gardening friends have all done it too. I don’t know, reminds me of something that parents used to toss off at you with a smirk: “Hey, it builds character.” Maybe gardeners have that.

But, I will say this. Winter is long and it dies hard. It rears its ugly head again and again before it’s finally defeated, and there ain’t no better tonic for that than the almost tearful joy a garden full of blooming bulbs brings. They fill the heart, God bless them, combating cold and gray with color and fragrance.

And then comes summer. Hot and humid. Sometimes you just want to run from the house to the car, from the car to the office, and then back again. A/C to A/C. An inside, artificial existence devoid of anything that stokes our human nature. But under a shade tree you’ve tended for years, you can enjoy a tall drink and the hordes of butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds that come to visit that Lantana you saved. And then can pick some of your own tomatoes right from the vine and bring them in for the BLTs you’ll have for supper.

Some other time you’ll find yourself looking at the empty space where a scabby, rusty crabapple once lived, and you will take huge and vicious satisfaction in knowing that it was living its hideous existence and then you sawed it down. It was ugly and now it’s not. It’s gone. And you’re totally responsible. And, yet, you live as a free man. You feel no guilt. Nope. You feel joy. It poked your eyes. It raked your skin. It hurt your back. But all that’s over now. You’ve got a drink, and you’re smiling almost fiendishly as you enjoy the lovely aromas of ribs smoking in the crab’s smoldering wood.

You just try not to think too much about the stump you chose not to grub out. Nor that day sometime in the future when you’ll roll in a 400-pound, balled and burlaped, plant du jour that some speaker at some conference got you all excited about. Yeah. Sure enough. That day will come, and it will be woeful. But that’s just how it is. That’s how it’s meant to be. To have this, you gotta do that. And you’d have it no other way.

Gardening When You Really Don’t Wanna originally appeared on GardenRant on September 25, 2019.

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Make It the Best Flower Delivery

The post Make It the Best Flower Delivery appeared first on Miss Smarty Plants.

The online flower delivery business is blooming. Technology has widened the scope of delivery across the globe. Giving bouquets of flowers to loved ones has now become easier. Even when you are far away from someone who is celebrating a special day or occasion, there is no more reason why you can’t send them flowers. As you have access to internet you can send them a flower delivery.

So have you tried availing of an online flower delivery service? Find a florist online and read more about flowers for special occasions.

Wide Range of Options

Sometimes it happens that you run to a florist but unfortunately they do not have the flower you want or they ran out of it (especially when the flower you want is not among the common ones you see on a daily basis). Of course, you would want something special for loved ones on a special occasion right? Getting them online ends this dilemma. All you need is browse the internet and find an online service that has the flowers you want.

Millions of flowers are sent to sick relatives and friends, to loved ones spending anniversaries, to cheer up lonely people, send congratulations and happy birthdays, to mention a few. No matter what occasion it is, flowers are great gifts to let them know they are thought of and remembered.

One of the Ionantha peach tillandsias used for a boutonniere.

Advantages of Online Florists

You can compare easily: Purchasing flowers online allows you to browse the florists’ catalogues so you can choose and easily compare your options. Some florists will also help and make suggestions, however.

For convenience: Convenience is one of the perks of getting the service of online delivery. Nowadays work when schedules are toxic and people have busier lives; running to the malls or to florists makes it difficult and time-consuming, especially when the kind of flower you want is something uncommon. With this online service, you can readily place an order without leaving your home or office.

Availability of specialized bouquets: Specialized bouquets for any occasion is another perk that you do not usually get you’re your local store florist. With online services, you can view the different arrangements offered, and you just have to pick your best choice and send. Personalized or customized bouquets are done based on specifications you prefer. Other stuff can also be added to the customized bouquets, i.e., greetings card, balloons, stuffed toys, chocolates, etc.  

Reasonable prices: The price is also one reason why people would go online for flower delivery. Online florists pay low overheads so prices of their services are not too high either. Special discounts are also given by online florists.

Product range: Online services most often have a catalogue of their flower arrangements and bouquets, this make choosing the right look easier. One can easily have a visual on the type of flower, colors, fillers, and packaging options.

Keeping up with time: When you make it a habit to use online delivery service for your flower gifts, most often you become a frequent customer on the outfits you have chosen, due to this you become entitled to freebies and some perks from the company.

Flowers and Meanings

The meanings of flowers have been recognized for centuries and in some countries giving flowers according to their sentiments has been practiced. Nearly every sentiment is symbolized by a flower. The red chrysanthemum, for example, means “I love you.”

In the 1800s, learning the symbolism of flowers has been a popular hobby. Nearly all homes had guidebooks on the language of flowers, alongside the Bible. But flower definitions shifted based from the source – religious and folklore, for example.

Some flowers, including poppies, lilies, and roses could also express emotions based on color. For example, the various colors of carnation have all their different meanings. Pink means “I’ll never forget you”, red says, “my heart aches for you” so on and so forth. Likewise, white violet is for “innocence”, while the purple one has another meaning. The red rose is used to express love, while a red tulip is a confession of love.

Flowers could also mean “yes” or “no”. If flowers are handed over using the right hand, it means “yes”. But if it’s handed over with the use of the left hand, it means “no.” In this sense, how flowers were presented and in what condition mattered.

How flowers were presented and in what condition were important. If the flowers were given upside down, it means a negative idea has been conveyed.  In the same way that ribbons and how they are tied also means something. A wilted bouquet also has a different story!

Having all this in mind, choosing the right flowers for the right occasion and purpose, perhaps the meanings of the flowers you plan on picking would help you which flower to choose. To aid you in picking the right flower for special occasions, visit sites like this: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/gardening/g2503/surprising-flower-meanings/.

Does It Help?

The online gift-giving economy is getting stronger and smaller, distributors and suppliers have to bind together and find efficient means of getting quality goods to the consumers. Overhead costs are minimized and operations run longer than local florists. Business runs 24 hours a day for online businesses, thus, transactions can be done anytime and this is an advantage to those last-minute customers.

With the advent of technology, people’s way of life has changed and so does there way of doing things. However, romance and gift-giving remain the same, but the way it is done have adapted to the changing times. The online flower delivery system is one such adjustment. Check out the best options for the online service best suited to your needs begin to consider your options.

The Internet is not a solution to the world’s problem today, but at least it gives a pretty solution to the dilemma of flower delivery. Everybody is all for better ways of achieving their personal as well as professional goals, including romance.

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Why Your Garden Isn’t Healthy and What To Do About It

The post Why Your Garden Isn’t Healthy and What To Do About It appeared first on Miss Smarty Plants.

Just like people, gardens can catch a cold. Bugs, fungi, and parasites can all infest your yard, damaging and even killing the plants that you’d like to nurture. It’s natural and organic, but it’s certainly not pleasant. 

Keeping your garden healthy is a challenge, but it’s also essential if you want yours to look anything like the ones that you see in the magazines. Take a look at these reasons why your garden isn’t healthy and what you can do about it. 

You’re Not Using Enough Mulch

Mulch is a type of ground covering that you can use to keep the areas around trees and bushes looking pleasant and fresh. But mulch actually does more than provide aesthetic benefits: it prevents the development of weeds. When you have a layer of mulch covering the ground, it’s much more difficult for weeds to take root or make their way up to the surface and sunlight. 

You’re Infested With Slugs

While slugs are a vital part of your garden ecosystem, they have a habit of multiplying in certain conditions, and their numbers can get out of control. When this happens, they munch their way through all the leaves in your garden, leaving carnage in their wake. 

How do you get around this issue? Your best bet is to fill a container with beer and then leave it in areas of your garden that attract slugs. Beer gives off a particular scent that the slugs love, drawing them in. In the morning, you’ll find them accumulated in the container and away from your plants. 

Your Trees Are Diseased

Trees can suffer from a variety of diseases. Worse still many of these are fatal. The good news, however, is that for some illnesses you don’t have to leave a tree to its fate. You can intervene. Oak wilt treatment, for instance, lets you deal with oak wilt disease, something you can manage with the right approach. You can also treat a variety of other conditions that trees in your garden might contract. 

Your Plants Are Crowded

Plants need a certain amount of space to thrive. If they detect that there are other shrubs nearby that might outcompete them for resources, they go dormant until a new opportunity arises. As a gardener, you don’t want this. You want a full, lush garden, replete with plants of your choosing. You don’t want a situation in which particular shrubs refuse to come up. 

The solution is to find a way to make plants less crowded. If you’re planting a new bed, leave plants further apart that seems natural. The plants themselves will grow and mature, growing closer together in the process to produce a full bed. 

You’re Not Using The Right Tools

Healthy gardens require gardeners to have the right tools at their disposal. If you don’t have the correct equipment, you’re not able to do the tasks that’ll keep your garden healthy for years to come, such as planting and pruning. 

Is your garden healthy, or could it be improved? 

The post Why Your Garden Isn’t Healthy and What To Do About It appeared first on Miss Smarty Plants.

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How To Keep Growing Great Veggies Through Winter

The post How To Keep Growing Great Veggies Through Winter appeared first on Miss Smarty Plants.

Having a vegetable garden is a beautiful luxury and something that can be enjoyed all year round because you can adapt to the different seasons with different vegetables. During winter though you have to take a bit more care with your vegetables as they grow slower, however, they are just as tasty, rewarding and nutritious. Winter veggies are even more worth the effort as they provide you with organic, fresh ingredients for hearty winter soups and stews on those cold days.

Focussing on seasonal vegetables is also a sustainable approach because mentioned, winter vegetables grow slower, need slightly less water, and don’t overdraw on the nutrients in the soil.

Most winter vegetables will thrive even if it is a little frosty, but some ‘don’t do as well as others. So, what are the best vegetables for you to grow in the winter? 

Onions & Garlic

Onions are easy to grow and will virtually look after themselves over winter. However, they have a long growing season and won’t be ready for harvesting until next summer. Then there’s garlic which is another straightforward one, and there are lots of varieties to choose from for autumn planting. Garlic also has a long growing season but is well worth the wait. You can get some delicious winter-hardy types of spring onion which make a tasty accompaniment to winter salads. Unlike onion and garlic, they are a reasonably quick-growing crop, and if you plant them in early autumn, then they should be ready by early spring. Perpetual spinach also makes an excellent crop that will produce huge yields of tasty leaves. Then there are broad beans which can be harvested in spring up to a month earlier than spring-sown plants; peas which are particularly hardy and will give you a head start next season and asparagus if you have plenty of space.

While growing winter vegetables outdoors will make good use of your plot, there are some things that when you’re trying to grow them will need a little extra protection from the cold winter months. Then there’s also the option of indoor growing, which still has its fair share of challenges but, thanks to innovation and technology there is now a plethora of options for doing this and plenty of veg you can still enjoy growing throughout the winter. If you don’t have the room indoors then grow tent kits are a good option as green, red, and chili peppers can all grow quickly and easily in an indoor grow tent, with tremendous yields.

Cauliflower and broccoli, are both fantastic to grow indoors, and green beans and white beans are some of the easiest to grow as well as tomatoes which as it’s easy to produce loads of them and they also have a million uses and are relatively easy to care for – so they’re a great choice when it comes to choosing what veg to grow. Just make sure that you have a good grow tent setup and you have proper ventilation to prevent any mold or fungus getting to your veg. 

If you’re not going for the indoor option, then you will have to provide a little extra care for your vegetables to make sure they grow as best they can. To do this, you’ll need to look at protecting your veg with mulch made from grass cuttings, wood chips, straw or other organic material layered around the vegetables and garden bulbs. This keeps the plants warm and adds the potential for extra moisture absorption. Also make sure that you cover rows with garden cloth, tarp or fleece when severe frost is expected; especially for young seedlings. It is also possible to cover individual shoots with plastic bottles (cut in half) overnight or place a shade cloth over raised beds.

When watering the vegetables in winter, this can be really tricky, so it’s essential to choose your times wisely and water the garden during the warmest hours of the day during winter. The roots absorb moisture slower than in summer, and the warmth helps keep it flowing through the entire plant system. Remember though, don’t water leaves if the temperature drops below zero or if temperatures this low are expected overnight as this may cause severe frost damage.

Be aware of the wind too as sometimes it can cause havoc for fledgling greens when a simple wind barrier could make a massive difference in a susceptible space. Place mini fences, layer bricks, with spaces between, into a low wall, or place shade cloth around the vegetable garden to keep the wind from ripping up those precious young plants.

Once you have your veg all ready to go, then there are so many recipes that you can enjoy with them. You know already how important it is to eat plenty of vegetables, but in winter it’s even more important to keep you healthy and can help you withstand cold, chilly winds of the harsh weather.

Spinach

Spinach is a nutritious leafy vegetable, which helps to prevent premature aging, vision loss, boosts immunity and has inflammatory properties. It also protects the body from a number of diseases and maintains the brain functions and the nervous system, especially in patients of advanced age. The antioxidant properties of the spinach help in the prevention of cancer and help to relieve chronic abdominal distress. It’s definitely one to be included in all your winter recipes. 

Carrots

Carrots are another one which can be enjoyed all year round but as they contain vital vitamins and nutrients such as vitamin A, B, B2, B3, C, D, E and K, carrots are beneficial for eyes, preventing cancer; diabetes and helps in maintaining a healthy heart. Carrots are also good for maintaining good skin, hair, and nails and regulating menstrual flow. 

Beets

Then there’s beetroot which is a vibrant and colorful vegetable and offers numerous health benefits. Moreover, they are incredibly delicious and contain iron, Vitamins A, B6, and C, and many vital minerals. These micronutrients help in the liver detoxification process, lower the risk of diabetes, obesity, heart diseases, and helps increase white blood cells. Apart from this, it boosts your immune system and helps fight inflammation.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are specifically found in winter and are an excellent and inexpensive food item which should be included in your winter diet list. Rich in fiber, beta-carotene, vitamins A, B6 and C, and antioxidants sweet potatoes offer several health benefits. As an added benefit, they are relatively low in glycemic index. They help you keep full for longer because of their fiber content. Apart from this, they help to prevent constipation, heart attack, flu viruses, common colds, and also aid in the formation of blood cells. Good source of magnesium in sweet potatoes helps fight against stress and helps in relaxation. 

Broccoli

And finally, broccoli is one you should be adding too as it’s highly nutritious and prevents the thickening of arteries. Broccoli is loaded with beta carotene; it strengthens the immune system. Broccoli is one of the richest in calcium, vitamin C, vitamin K, zinc, and selenium. Its high fiber content makes it ideal for someone who wants to lose fat. The best way to eat broccoli during the winter is by adding it in soups, salads and rice and warm stews.

So, even if you can’t get them ready for this winter, get eating as much winter veg as you can, and you’ll be desperate to start planting it ready for next winter. Winter veggies will keep you warm, keep you full, keep you satisfied, keep you healthy and; if you grow them, they’ll keep you busy. 

The post How To Keep Growing Great Veggies Through Winter appeared first on Miss Smarty Plants.

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On finding a cool plant – confessions of a box-store shopper

I Hate my Arborvitae Hedge

I’m here to vent.

In order to provide some privacy and block the primary view from my house of a parking lot, I did the only thing that my co-op’s rules would allow – use plants as screens. But even ardent plant-lovers like myself can see the troubles plants can cause when tasked with providing screening in small spaces. Especially when planted along sidewalks, but that’s another rant.

Problems caused by plants include getting too big, growing where you don’t want them (especially over sidewalks), and requiring resources like water and labor by the gardener.

Worst of all are plants used in single-species hedges, where varying growth rates and longevity can ruin the utility and appearance of the hedge, like mine in the sad photo above.

In the case of these ‘Emerald Green’ Arborvitaes, a stretch of hot/dry weather killed two of 11 (eight in the front and three in the back) and did the same to a similar percentage of Arborvitaes in my neighbors’ hedges (photo right).

So naturally we complained about it on the local Facebook group, which was  both comforting and instructive.

Some commenters suggested the problem was bagworms, but seeing no evidence of that, I’m inclined to agree with this comment:

Drought and possibly heat. A landscaper told me a few years ago that arborvitae are dying because our summer temps are getting hotter for longer periods of time, which isn’t what they like. Plus some of the winters are mild enough that some pests, which would normally die in winter, are able to live year-round.

I checked my plant notes and discovered this written on the ‘Emerald Green’ page: “NOT drought-tolerant.” Well, there you go.

So it looks like I hadn’t watered enough. (How are we to know? Conifers don’t warn us!)

With increasing temperatures and longer droughts, who wants to plant trees that can’t survive – even years later – without supplemental watering? Not me, so instead of buying two more of them, I’m just moving a couple of them from the back yard.

The Facebook discussion also shed light on a reason that just two of eight trees in a row bit the dust: they somehow collude to sacrifice just enough of them so the others may live!

Sometimes if one tree gets really sick it will dump all its nutrients into the soil for the trees around it so it dies but the others don’t. There was a Radio Lab about how mycorrhizae are a network between trees. But I’ve also seem all eventually die, one by one.  

Oh, no!

Then just when I think I’m getting a handle on what happened, I read this:

If it is the one on the lowest ground I would say last years excessive wetness killed some of the roots, followed by our recent hot dry spell which finished it off. I’ve seen it in several hollies and some trees. Plants don’t tolerate excessive moisture followed by heat and drought. If it is in a low spot Magnolia virginiana might be a better choice.

Or how about just construct a privacy screen and skip the plants altogether?

I Hate my Arborvitae Hedge originally appeared on GardenRant on September 18, 2019.

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What butterflies, bees, and clickbait have in common

Checking in with the Smithsonian Gardens

Choosing a Pest Control Company

We’ve all heard the horror stories from a friend or neighbor who had a bad experience with a service.  It doesn’t really matter what the service was. It could have been a mechanic, a dry cleaner, or mower.  We all know someone, or have experienced for ourselves, lousy service. Choosing a pest control company is no different.  There are good ones and bad ones.

As Pest Management Professionals (or exterminators in older terminology), we often hear these stories of pain from new clients. The previous service provider over-promised and under-delivered. The technician tracked dirt in the home.  Sometimes they neglected to treat part of the property. Or perhaps their demeanor was less than professional.

Whatever the case may have been, have a quick read about our tips for choosing a pest control company.

Integrated Pest Management

Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, is a set of best practices for the industry. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a definition for IPM.  It reads in part:

“Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management that relies on a combination of common-sense practices. IPM programs use current, comprehensive information on the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment. This information, in combination with available pest control methods, is used to manage pest damage by the most economical means, and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment.

The IPM approach can be applied to both agricultural and non-agricultural settings, such as the home, garden, and workplace. IPM takes advantage of all appropriate pest management options including, but not limited to, the judicious use of pesticides.”

What does that mean for you? It means that the Pest Management Professional (PMP) you choose to work with should use this approach.

In practice this can look a few different ways.  For example, in residential settings, we rarely treat for flies of any kind. We understand that flies have a particular source, and once that breeding site has been eliminated, they’ll go away. Because of this, we counsel potential clients to control the problem themselves without the use of chemicals.

What IPM means for you is that a real professional knows when to spray something in or around your home. It also means they know when not to spray. It’s peace-of-mind that they know what they’re doing.  They’re going to help you solve your problem, not just charge you to spray something.

Customer Service

Just as important as knowing what to do is knowing how to communicate it!  In other words, the company you choose to work with should be able to explain what is causing your pest problem and how to fix it.  They should explain things in a way you understand.

You should also be able to reach your service provider. Most importantly, when you call in, you should talk to a live person in a local office. Are your calls are being fielded by a call center in another state? There may be lag time in responding to your request.

Lastly, what is their policy about service calls?  Are these included with your services? Check to see if you’ll be charged for follow-up visits.

Professional Affiliations

There are a number of professional organizations that establish best practices for the pest control industry.  The company you choose to work with should be affiliated with one of these local or national organizations.  Often these organizations provide training, educate about best practices, highlight new products hitting the market, and host conferences. Affiliation is a sign that the organization is committed to maintaining their professional edge.

Here in Pennsylvania, there is the Pennsylvania Pest Management Association (PPMA) that many reputable businesses are associated with.  On a broader scale, look for affiliation with the National Pest Management Association (NPMA).  The NPMA offers different levels of certifications for professionals. These range from a base of industry knowledge and practices, to more specialized certifications in working in schools.

Reputation

What do others say about the organization you want to work with?  Checking out their online reviews and asking friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers for recommendations is important. Make sure you’ve done some homework about what services others have been pleased with.

A word to the wise here, too – no relationship with a service provider is going to be perfect.  There will be times you are disappointed.  Read the online reviews from the provider you’re interested in working with very carefully.  Specifically, did they respond when someone was upset? And if they did respond, how did they respond? Was it respectful and helpful?  Or did they cast blame on the unhappy client?  Did they bother to address the concern at all?

Knowing what you are getting into by looking at their responses on the front end might save you a lot of headache (and possibly money!) down the road.

Conclusion

There are a number of things you should consider when choosing a pest control company. An Integrated Pest Management approach, customer service, professional affiliations and some homework on their reputation will hopefully help you make an informed decision.

 

If you would like to talk to us about our Pest Control services, contact us here.

The post Choosing a Pest Control Company appeared first on Tomlinson Bomberger.

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Saps for Trees

Scott Beurlein Wins 2 Gold Awards at GardenComm 2019!

Saturday night in Salt Lake City was awfully good to GardenRanter Scott Beurlein. First he collected a gold GardenComm Media Award for writing his magazine column. In the photo above are, from left, Dee Nash, Carol Michel and out-going GardenComm president Becky Heath.

Here’s Scott celebrating with his wife Michele, my table-mates for the awards dinner.

Then moments later darned if he didn’t win another gold, this one for blog-writing, right here on GardenRant! His winning post was “Gardening for Health,” which he followed with “Gardening for Health, Part II.”  Check ’em out!

Congratulations, Scott! And thanks for making us proud.

Scott Beurlein Wins 2 Gold Awards at GardenComm 2019! originally appeared on GardenRant on September 9, 2019.

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Top Tips For A Perfect Lawn

First Comic Film was about Gardening

I have a back-to-school post! Readers may remember my posts about the History of Landscape course I took last semester at the University of Maryland (as a free-tuition retiree – yay!). As on-topic as that course was for this blog, the course I’m taking this semester seemed unlikely to produce a single garden-blog post.  But I’m glad I didn’t bet money on that.

The course, in the Film Studies Department, is “The Silent Era,” and began with a short about watering the garden.

That’s because the first public screening of a film at which admission was charged (on December 28, 1895 at  a high-class Parisian brothel) was by the Lumière brothers and the 10 short movies shown included “The Sprinkler Sprinkled.”

According to one source:

The world’s 1st comedy, “The Sprinkler Sprinkled” was shot in Lyon in the spring of 1895. The film portrays a simple practical joke in which a gardener is tormented by a boy who steps on the hose that the gardener is using to water his plants, cutting off the water flow. When the gardener tilts the nozzle up to inspect it, the boy releases the hose, causing the water to spray him. The gardener is stunned and his hat is knocked off, but he soon catches on. A chase ensues, both on and off-screen (the camera never moves from its original position) until the gardener catches the boy and administers a spanking. Louis Lumière used his own gardener, François Clerc, to portray the gardener.

The professor showed us several examples of this joke in print in that era, calling it a meme of the era. So as the first filmmakers were looking for subjects, it’s no surprise that they settled on this popular joke.

  That’s all, folks!

First Comic Film was about Gardening originally appeared on GardenRant on September 6, 2019.

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Spiders and snakes and coyotes, oh my!

Facebook has its negatives, but does offer insights. Without running a formal poll complete with statistical analysis, you get a feel for the general population’s reactions to certain things. Some posts go ignored while other posts garner dozens, even hundreds of excited comments, and no, I’m not talking about politics. I’m talking about reactions to unpopular creatures in the natural world.
Photos of snakes generate enormous response, and unless you are on a page that is slanted toward wildlife conservation, you get a whole lotta haters. Many comments are assertions of how fast that snake would be chopped into little pieces, or riddled with bullets. Others are panicky statements of pure horror at the very site of the vile creature. Spiders get the same kind of love (not)!
Granted, gardeners are usually the exceptions and I do like to think we are more cognizant of the workings of the natural world, but truly, I’m confused by the reactions of so many. Could it be possible that the majority never learned the simple concept of predator/prey balance in nature? Was my education something truly exceptional? Remember I’m from Mississippi, so that’s unlikely. (Don’t send me hate mail! I love my home state but once again, we are ranked very near the bottom.)
The concept is simple. When a prey population gets plentiful, the predator population that feeds on them prospers. Once numbers are reduced, the predator population ebbs and the prey population surges again. This system of checks and balances worked pretty well until man got in there and started playing favorites. Predators were not favorites.

This was likely justified in pioneer settings when a hawk eating your chickens might mean your family went hungry, and I would still feel entitled to use lethal means if necessary to combat any creature preying on my pets or livestock, but indiscriminately killing those predators minding their own business is just dumb. Gardeners accept the roles of beneficial predator insects, but even some of them seem to have a harder time extending that appreciation to spiders and snakes. These valuable allies help keep in check the populations of plant damaging insects and rodents.

I was lucky and had a mother that loved spiders. She told us that spiders eat lots and lots of flies and mosquitoes that were worse enemies by far. What is the saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Yet a common reaction is to knock the spider to the ground for a quick stomp or make a run for the spray can, but not my mama.

Years ago, as I was working on a piece about spiders, she told me a story that happened before I was born. A big yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) had taken up residence on the porch and she taught her two little boys (my older brothers) to catch grasshoppers and throw them into the web for the spider to eat. She said they spent many happy hours catching bugs to feed their spider friend. One day a man knocked on the door to deliver the cleaning, and told her cheerfully that he “killed that big spider for you, ma’am.” She didn’t have the heart to tell him he had done her no favor. The moving thing to me was that I could still hear the sorrow in her voice for a spider killed half a century ago.

It isn’t the only reason I am truly fond of spiders. Driving leisurely down a deserted country lane years ago, I saw something the size of a small mouse trucking slowly, but purposefully across the road. I stopped the car and walked up to see it was a large wolf spider, carrying dozens of tiny babies on her back. As I bent over her, she reared toward me brandishing her front legs and her babies fled down her back legs and into the grass. How could I not feel a rush of appreciation for this small creature that so bravely threatened me as her children raced to safety? I bowed in respect as I stepped back, and she settled back onto her eight legs. I was astonished to see the baby spiders run back to climb her legs and resume their positions on her back, and on they went. I was mystified on how she was able to summon them back once she felt it was safe to continue, but I know what I saw., so was certain she had. A little research confirms that spiders can and do communicate with one another using smell, touch, sight and sound. Do a search for acoustic signaling in wolf spiders and be amazed!
Besides their touching familial relationships, I return to their usefulness. I wonder what the ratio might be of mosquito bites to spider bites? Sure, a venomous spider bite can be painful, and even occasionally serious, but should one investigate the deadliest creature in the world, mosquitoes rank No. 1. By far. Humans rank second, by the way. If you break it down by country rather than globally, in the United States the biggest category of deadly animal is listed as “farm animals”. Yes, cows and horses, yet you don’t see people virtually shouting on Facebook that “the only good cow is a dead cow!” I’ll give you that it isn’t easy for a cow to be lurking under your potted plants on the deck. Spiders can do that.

Snakes can do that too, but the odds of being bitten by a venomous snake in your lifetime are one in 37,500. Being struck by lightning is one in 15,300. Actually dying from a venomous snakebite is extremely rare. In the United States, only one person in every 50 million will die, according to figures from the US Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. That works out to be about 6 people per year. In that year, more than 37,000 people will die in car and motorcycle wrecks. Car wrecks are sometimes caused by deer, which leads me to defending another predator, the coyote.
Wolves, bears and cougars suffered a bad rap first. The virtual eradication of these large predators in the eastern US contributed to deer populations erupting into such huge numbers that they are now costly and devastating pests in many suburbs.
Coyotes moved in as they were decimated and are filling a needed predatory role, yet many hunters happily brag on their efforts and successes killing coyotes, feeling justified because of their mostly negligible impact on deer populations. Guess what, coyote-hating deer hunters? We need more predators and fewer deer – lots fewer deer.
In the gardening world, we know that the topic of marauding deer dominates many forums, but beyond that world, the negative impacts should not be ignored. In a typical year, deer are struck by motor vehicles more than a million times, killing more than 100 people. That is more than the combined total of deaths caused by sharks, alligators, bears and rattlesnakes. Vehicle damage totals more than a billion dollars, and you can add on another billion for the damage done to farm, forest and landscape. Yet cute pictures of little fawns in the yard don’t seem to inspire comments on how fast it would be chopped up into tiny pieces. Folks might offer to shoot it when it gets past the cute fawn stage, and certainly more deer hunting would be helpful, but hunting isn’t as effective as it could be when the focus is on taking out the trophy bucks. Shooting more does would help. Hunting laws do encourage that practice these days, but the trophy buck mentality still wins out.
By the way, I’m from hunting stock and whole-heartedly condone hunting when done legally and ethically. As a carnivore, I feel better about that free-range locally harvested meat on my plate than I do about the store-bought meat that lived caged until killed for my consumption. I realize this offends those that are vegetarian or vegan and some will lambaste me for my carnivorous ways. If you choose to do so, it is my choice to respond this one time with a thought gleaned from reading Joseph Campbell’s writings. I am paraphrasing here but it went something like…”don’t kid yourself. Life is a process of killing and eating other living things, whether animal or vegetable. It is whether we do it with respect and gratitude.” Period.
I also know that there are people who have lost loved pets to coyote and cannot bring themselves to see any good in the killer. I can only ask you to refrain from condemning the entire coyote clan for that personal tragedy. Darn right I would I kill a coyote that threatened my dear four legged family members, but I would never consider that a reason to shoot a member of the pack that keeps their distance in my valley. So far, my dogs and cats have managed to peacefully co-exist. The only strife has been the howling rivalry at dusk or during moonlit nights.
Look, I get that something in our genes makes us jump when startled by a spider in the tub or a snake suddenly writhing underfoot. I’ve been known to levitate out of a john boat when I discovered a snake under the seat. I’ll admit to the lurch in my adrenalin when I make a turn on a woodland trail and get a glimpse of a coyote’s yellow gaze, but here is what I don’t get. Why is that most people don’t go on to the next logical thought – that these creatures have valuable roles and for the most part, are harmless. Why are so many people that frightfully unenlightened? Do they ignore data because they enjoy killing harmless creatures? If they are of religious persuasion, do they think the Creator made some terrible mistakes along the way? Maybe I’m the one skewed, but it seems to me the more dangerous animals are the human beings that continue to choose ignorance.

Spiders and snakes and coyotes, oh my! originally appeared on GardenRant on September 4, 2019.

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Butterfly Meadows and a Recycled Resource