The Garden Thread that two people wanted

[LilyBLily]

Your garden is full of genuinely exotic plants. Your photos are always fun to see. The fountain is very clever.



 

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

What's that white-barked tree in the background?

It's a leopard tree. Apparently indigenous to Australia. Pretty bark, but they can make a mess with the leaves. They have hard, dark brown flat seed pods, which make quite a noise when they fall on the carport roof  ,

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Your garden is full of genuinely exotic plants. Your photos are always fun to see. The fountain is very clever.

Thanks. We are fortunate to have a sub-tropical climate and most plants grow quite easily. People joke that if you push a walking stick into the ground in Durban it will grow. 

The donkey tail grew well in the fountain, but we had a dry winter and the plants round the base died off so I've just planted some Wandering Jew that seemed to survive the drought. We've also had a problem with moles that have managed to make the fountain lopsided.  Haven't figured out to right it without breaking the fountain 

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Got a nice crop of papaya growing. They can grow really big. Unfortunately the monkeys enjoy them  I can put nets around the lower bunches, but the higher ones will require a ladder and a bit more skill.

[LilyBLily]

We have our first snow on the ground. Quite a contrast to your papayas!

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

We have our first snow on the ground. Quite a contrast to your papayas!

It certainly is. Christmas is always bitter-sweet here in SA as I lived in the UK until I was 24 yrs and my most treasured memories are those of my childhood and of snowy Christmases and roaring fires. Although I've been in SA for 50 years it still never feels like Christmas when sitting round a swimming pool.  But I don't think I could cope with the cold weather now. Will have to turn the aircon down low and pretend there's snow outside 

[Vijaya]

Jan, I can only imagine how discombobulating it can be to have a warm Christmas in the Southern hemisphere when all the popular Christmas songs have snow and mistletoe... I grew up in India where Christmas is a non-event for most, given most are predominantly Hindu. But we had our quiet celebrations at home. It'd be cold. I never saw snow until I came to the US and I still think it's magical.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Jan, I can only imagine how discombobulating it can be to have a warm Christmas in the Southern hemisphere when all the popular Christmas songs have snow and mistletoe... I grew up in India where Christmas is a non-event for most, given most are predominantly Hindu. But we had our quiet celebrations at home. It'd be cold. I never saw snow until I came to the US and I still think it's magical.

Have to get used to different traditions as well. We don't have holly and mistletoe but tend to use poinsettias as a Christmas flower. We have the ordinary one and the rams horn growing in our village. 

[LilyBLily]

Nice.

[Vijaya]

Lovely! Here in the lowcountry of Charleston, SC, our parish decorates a tree with shells, starfish and sand-dollars. Picture in this post: https://vijayabodach.blogspot.com/2018/12/merry-christmas.html

Let me see if I can post the picture directly:

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Lovely! Here in the lowcountry of Charleston, SC, our parish decorates a tree with shells, starfish and sand-dollars. Picture in this post: https://vijayabodach.blogspot.com/2018/12/merry-christmas.html

Let me see if I can post the picture directly:

Lovely idea. We also make sandcastle 'snowmen' 

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

My neighbour's ponytail palm is in flower again. We have a few more dotted about our retirement village. 

[Jeff Tanyard]

My neighbour's ponytail palm is in flower again. We have a few more dotted about our retirement village. 

Does that have any kind of aroma?

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

My neighbour's ponytail palm is in flower again. We have a few more dotted about our retirement village. 

Does that have any kind of aroma?

My neighbour's one doesn't have a fragrance as we just pulled one down to try it, and I've never noticed it on others, but they are too high to get close. However, Mr Google says they do have a fragrance 

[LilyBLily]

Quite amazing and lush.

Currently, I have many snowdrops blooming and the daffodils near the house are up several inches. Snow is coming, but they don't care.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Orchids flowering in our gazebo garden. Not sure the name of the orchid. Staghorn fern below them. 

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

We've got lots of the purple flowering cacti, but this is the first time I've seen a green one. 

[Jeff Tanyard]

Stuff is blooming around here, but I've been sick, so I haven't been outside much.   

Hopefully I'll get well before the flowers fade so I can enjoy the spring a little.  The season arrived a week or two earlier than usual this year, but we also had some brutally cold and dry stretches during the winter, so I guess it averages out.

In the meantime, I'll just enjoy all the wonderful alien-looking plants Jan posts up.   

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Stuff is blooming around here, but I've been sick, so I haven't been outside much.   

Hopefully I'll get well before the flowers fade so I can enjoy the spring a little.  The season arrived a week or two earlier than usual this year, but we also had some brutally cold and dry stretches during the winter, so I guess it averages out.

In the meantime, I'll just enjoy all the wonderful alien-looking plants Jan posts up.   

So sorry you haven't been able to get into the garden to enjoy the flowers. I hope you'll soon be up and about again. 

[Vijaya]

Jan, you take lovely photos. Lots of stuff blooming in South Carolina and I love the jasmine. The air is so fresh and fragrant. Lots of pollen too. Bees are busy!
Jeff, get better soon before the bugs decide it's really nice out too. I'm already getting bitten by no-see-ems.

[LilyBLily]

We have a ton of daffodils blooming here in West Virginia; and hyacinths; purple anemone blanda; blue, pink, and white scillas; snowflakes; and the beginning of the grape hyacinths.

The deer have been eating my hyacinths before they open and smell so strongly. Was it just this morning that I cranked a window and coughed at the deer to make them go away? Deer are silent except for that warning cough they give, so when I want them to vamoose, I cough. They took off, but they'll be back at night to rampage through my tender little plants, alas. 

[Jeff Tanyard]

Deer are silent except for that warning cough they give, so when I want them to vamoose, I cough.

This is one of those Bud Light presents "Real Men of Genius" kind of things.   

I'll try to remember the coughing thing next time I have a deer encounter.   

[Jeff Tanyard]

Here's some current flower pics for y'all.  All pics taken in the afternoon of April 4th.

Azalea:





Black Cherry:





Bearded Iris:





Dogwood:

[LilyBLily]

Lovely photos.

All the ornamental fruit trees opened up at once where I was visiting in northern Virginia this weekend and the cars in the parking lot were covered in visible yellow pollen. Meanwhile, I was sneezing my head off.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Lovely flowers. Glad you were able to get into the garden. 

[Jeff Tanyard]

Here are some photos taken on the afternoon of April 14th.

Light blue Bearded Iris:





Yellow Bearded Iris:








Holly flowers:   





As I've mentioned before, the holly is a particular favorite of mine due to the flowers' aroma.  It's also a favorite of the bees, and when the tree's in bloom, they're all over it.  I like to stand under the branches, inhale the aroma, and let the constant drone of buzzing bees lull me into a pleasant zen-like state.   


Wild strawberry:





Before anyone gets too excited about the strawberries, here are a few unfortunate facts...

When they're about the size shown in the photo, they don't have any taste.  (I've eaten several of them, so I have a pretty good sample set.)  If I give them more time to grow bigger, then the squirrels and other critters will eat them before I can pick them.  And they're growing in the shade, so they're unlikely to fully ripen anyway even if the critters weren't an issue.  So they're basically just an interesting weed.   

I have no idea how they got there, by the way.  I certainly didn't put them there.  This is only the second or third year I've noticed them.  I can only guess that some animal pooped out some seeds after eating some strawberries somewhere else.   

[LilyBLily]

I am not convinced those are the true wild strawberries, the fraises du bois that I picked as a child and that taste absolutely lovely. There's another item that looks very like them but actually is larger. Kind of darker and furry, too. I will talk to my family plant expert tomorrow and get that name. I know he has eaten the lookalikes and said they're flavorless. Also harmless.

[Post-Doctorate D]

When they're about the size shown in the photo, they don't have any taste.  (I've eaten several of them, so I have a pretty good sample set.)

So, black nightshade berries you'll taste but spit out rather than eat, but wild growing berries in bright red poison warning colors you'll eat because they look like little strawberries? 

Well, I'll just warn you that if you get one of those "I've been hired to kill you" eMails, I think you best not eat anything resembling strawberries for 72 hours.  Just saying . . .

[Jeff Tanyard]

When they're about the size shown in the photo, they don't have any taste.  (I've eaten several of them, so I have a pretty good sample set.)

So, black nightshade berries you'll taste but spit out rather than eat

They didn't taste good.  Sort of queasy-sour like tomatoes, and I don't like tomatoes.   

...but wild growing berries in bright red poison warning colors you'll eat because they look like little strawberries? 

Well, I'll just warn you that if you get one of those "I've been hired to kill you" eMails, I think you best not eat anything resembling strawberries for 72 hours.  Just saying . . .

I'll keep an eye out for hit men.   

[djmills]

I was given strawberry runners and (stupid me) I planted them. The strawberries were large and sweet and my hens loved them. I never ate any, after tasting one.
The strawberries attracted leeches and slugs, and a small lizard.
Next thing they had runners and the runners had runners. They took up an entire side garden. I tried pulling out most of them. More grew so I poisoned them. Three months later I now notice two or three trying to grow again, so will also poison them when the rain stops.
I believe strawberries are a noxious weed. :-)

[Vijaya]

One person's weed is another's delight. I happen to like dandelions too.
Jeff, beautiful pictures. I love sitting out on the porch to write and listen to all the critters. We also keep bees and you're right about how calming it is to watch/listen.

[LilyBLily]

Despite claims, most poisons stay in the ground--and show up in the crops we eat, too. I accidentally poisoned two entire trees just trying to kill some poison ivy with the wrong poison. Possibly a third tree on the other side of the yard, as well. Oops.

As for the strawberries--https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentilla_indica

[Jeff Tanyard]

Joro update time!  I know y'all have missed hearing about my new favorite spider.  ;)

*dons amateur naturalist's hat*

Last fall, I witnessed a mature female constructing her egg sac.  When it was done, she died basically immediately, her role on Earth apparently completed.  I kept the egg sac in mind, though, and figured it wouldn't hurt to look at it from time to time, especially since it was in a convenient place for me to see.

Today, for the first time, I noticed a couple of little baby spiders hanging out just outside the egg sac.  They're too small to identify, and I had to use a magnifying glass to confirm that they were even spiders at all, but I assume they're Joros.  I'll look again tomorrow and see what I can see.

I don't know when these things typically hatch in China and Japan, but here in the Piedmont region of the Deep South, it looks like the last week of April is the due date.

That's my contribution for science for today.   

[Jeff Tanyard]

I usually can't take pics of tulip poplar flowers while they're on the tree.  They're too high up, and I can't reach them, so I have to wait until a whole flower falls on the ground to get a photo.

There's a low-enough one this year, though, so here's a photo:





Gardenia buds are forming.  Should bloom in a few weeks.

[Vijaya]

Beautiful. My gardenia has a couple of flowers--heavenly!

[LilyBLily]

A Joro birth event coming soon! Cool.

Beautiful photo. I grew up with tulip poplars and love seeing the flowers. There are a couple of the trees on my property now but they are young and next to the road, and the road crews come through and attack them every year. So I don't expect many blossoms from them.

I've been nursing along a couple of dogwoods--surrounding them with fencing to keep the deer away. It's a wonder that there are any dogwoods at all, given their current eating habits. Evidently this part of West Virginia, green as it may seem, has suffered a lot of drought this century. That accounts for them eating the mountain laurels down to nothing. Obviously, if the laurels had been their regular food I wouldn't have five-foot-tall laurel skeletons. Something changed. Maybe the same with the dogwoods; I have some mature ones, but the deer keep eating the saplings.

[Jeff Tanyard]

Last night's thunderstorm tore a large branch off the black cherry tree.  The berries on it are still green, not ripe, and now they're wasted.   

There are plenty of berries left on the tree, so I should have some to snack on when they ripen, but it's still frustrating.  Why couldn't the storm have knocked down a useless sweetgum branch instead?

[Post-Doctorate D]

Last night's thunderstorm tore a large branch off the black cherry tree.  The berries on it are still green, not ripe, and now they're wasted.   

How heavy a branch?  Is it a clean break?  Can you graft it back on?

[Jeff Tanyard]

Last night's thunderstorm tore a large branch off the black cherry tree.  The berries on it are still green, not ripe, and now they're wasted.   

How heavy a branch?  Is it a clean break?  Can you graft it back on?

It's big.  No, it was torn off by the wind.  No, I can't graft it back on.  This is typical of our spring/summer weather here.  Branches and whole trees get felled by thunderstorm wind all the time.  There are still dead limbs stuck high up in the trees from previous storms.

I just wish this broken branch had waited until after there was no longer any fruit on the tree.

[Jeff Tanyard]

I took another look at that tree and its broken branch, and it turns out it's not a branch.  It's the whole top portion of the tree.  Approximately the top eight feet of the tree was snapped off like a matchstick or something.  No house damage from those Tuesday night winds, though, which is the important thing.  People in other areas--such as those that saw tornadoes--weren't so lucky.

The wind is still blustery today.  It's quite pleasant in the shade, though; 80 degrees and low humidity.  Nice day to enjoy the outdoors if you're in the shade and can tolerate the wind.

Also, the gardenia is in full bloom.  The smell of gardenia flowers is one of my two favorite garden aromas along with the holly flowers.  I'll try to get a pic tomorrow.

[Vijaya]

What a waste, Jeff. Thank goodness for the gardenias--love them so much.

[Jeff Tanyard]

Pics from the afternoon of May 23rd.

Hydrangea is in full bloom:





Gardenia:





Fun fact:  There's a brown thrasher nest somewhere under the gardenia.  It was there last year, too.  When I approach the bush, the birds get a little nervous, and I can hear the occasional rustle of them moving around.  I can also hear the little ones cheep when one of the parents returns with food.

Fun fact 2:  The brown thrasher is our official state bird.  We named our short-lived NHL hockey team after it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_thrasher

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Thrashers

Baby Joro spiders are already hard at work controlling the insect population:





I think that trophy is a tiny winged ant, but I can't tell for sure. 

Looks like there's also a cast-off exoskeleton; babies grow up so fast!   

This spider built her web very close to where the whole bunch of them were clumped together after leaving the egg sac, so that's how I know it's a Joro.  She simply decided to stay in place instead of going ballooning like most of the rest of her siblings.

[Vijaya]

So pretty and how fun that you have a Thrasher nest. And I do love spiders...

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

We feed the woolly-necked storks that live in our retirement village. But they have become very demanding. My neighbour didn't have anything for them this morning and they kept tapping on his door. When he went out he discovered they had almost destroyed his fern in their anger/frustration  Other neighbours have also complained about them ripping up plants if they don't get fed.

[Jeff Tanyard]

We feed the woolly-necked storks that live in our retirement village. But they have become very demanding. My neighbour didn't have anything for them this morning and they kept tapping on his door. When he went out he discovered they had almost destroyed his fern in their anger/frustration  Other neighbours have also complained about them ripping up plants if they don't get fed.

Yeah, that's not cool at all.   

[Jeff Tanyard]

Spent some of Tuesday afternoon pulling up some sticker vine.  Man, I hate that crap.

I wear my welding gloves so the thorns won't be too bad, though an occasional one still gets through.  I wear my goggles, too, because the vines are growing up through some bushes, and I have to stick my face in there to get to them, and I don't want some leaf or branch to poke me in the eyeball.

I highly recommend the welding gloves, by the way, for pulling up thorny weeds.  I don't even do any welding; I bought these specifically for this purpose.  Got mine at Harbor Freight.

[Jeff Tanyard]

In the previous comment, I mentioned wearing my goggles when doing yard work that requires me to stick my face in a tree or bush, so I figured I'd specify what I use for anyone who's curious.

I wear DeWalt safety goggles.  They use an elastic strap instead of legs over the ears, and that's an advantage if you're also wearing a hat or ear muffs or whatever.