Christmas Extended – For the Birds

Pine cones, peanut butter, birdseed and ribbon

Christmas celebrations end for us on January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany. The wise men have finally arrived, the last gifts have been given and the party is over. But maybe not quite. When I take the Christmas tree down, I put it outside and decorate it for the birds. The ornaments are simple, but tasty, peanut butter smeared into pine cones and then rolled in bird seed.  A tie can be ribbon, yarn or twine, no matter.

Suet for the birds

I use an mesh onion bag to hold a piece of suet. Birds really appreciate suet to help them keep warm, although temperatures yesterday were again over freezing.

Suet and pine cone bird feeders

I tie these ornaments on my Christmas tree which is propped up by the brush burn pile. So far I have only seen bluejays taking advantage, but maybe that’s because blue jays are about the only bird I can identify. Except for robins.

Good Berry – Bad Berry

Cotoneaster

When I walked through the garden the other day I realized how many red berries I have in the fall. Three years ago I noticed for the first time that my holly, ‘Blue Princess,’ and my cotoneasters had finally started producing berries. That berry production has gotten more prolific and beautiful each year.

Hollies are dioecious plants, which means they need separate male and female plants to cross pollinate and produce fruits. While there are many holly cultivars I chose Ilex x meservae ‘Blue Prince’ and ‘Blue Princess’ because they are among the hardiest of the hollies and ‘Blue Princess’ is considered one of the heaviest berry producers.

Both of these hollies are hardy in Zone 5 which is winter temperatures down to minus 20 degrees. They like moist but well drained acid soil and sun, although they will tolerate some shade. Full sun will give the best berry production. ‘Blue Princess’ and ‘Blue Prince’ will both attain a mature size of about 12 feet or more with a spread of up to ten feet. Fortunately they grow slowly only about six inches a year. In six years my ‘Blue Princess’ grew to about four feet tall and three feet wide. The ‘Blue Prince’ is smaller.

I love being able to prune off a few berry-laden branches for Christmas decorations, but I planted the hollies because I wanted more shrubs in the Lawn Bed. I am not ready to give up perennials, but as I get older I am looking for ways to cut down on the labor of maintaining perennials, dividing and cutting back, and weeding. Shrubs are so various with countless foliage forms, textures and colors, and even colorful blooms and berries that I think they add great richness to the garden.

About the same time  the hollies I planted two cotoneasters as groundcovers to provide a foil for the conifers I had in the Lawn Bed. They don’t grow very tall, only one or two feet for most varieties and the leaves are small and dark green. They are hardy and very attractive in every season.  I couldn’t wait for these to cover the ground individually and planted them much too close together. They have now merged and I’d be hard put to say which is which. One of them produces large quince-like blossoms in the spring. I just learned that the name ‘cotoneaster’ comes from two Latin words meaning similar to quince.

All cotoneasters (cuh-TOE-knee-asters) produce small red berries in the fall which will attract birds, if they are very hungry. They will not attract deer which makes me very happy.

Highbush cranberry

A third red berry that attracts birds in my garden the American highbush cranberry, the native Virburnum trilobum. This shrub is about 12 feet high in my garden and gives me no trouble at all. In the spring it produces flat airy blossoms that contain both fertile and infertile flowers. It is because of the flowers that I planted the highbush cranberry next to the Cottage Ornee. It also has very attractive palmate leaves.

The berries turn red in September and they are really beautiful. The birds love them, but I recently learned that they are not only edible for humans, but that they will make a very nice jelly.The berries are easy to pick because they grow in thick clusters and there are no thorns.

The berries can be harvested as soon as they are red, even though they will be crunchy at first. Freezing them before preparing them for processing will soften them up. I have been told that they taste very much like the cranberries, Vaccinium macrocarpon, that are so indispensable on the Thanksgiving table.

The birds are certainly thankful. Most of my berries, without any help from me, are gone by Thanksgiving.

Autumn olive

While I welcome holly, cotoneaster, and viburnam berries in my garden I have other red berries that are a source of dismay and frustration. The first is autumn olive, Elaeagnus umbellata, which we bought from the Conservation District many years ago. I planted three or four at the edge of the lawn, happy that they were fast growing and produced berries for the birds. They actually produce berries for me too, but I have never used them even though many people cook them up into a jam.

It did not take us long to see that the wind, or the birds, were seeding autumn olive in the field east of our planting. Over the years our planting died out except for one remaining bush. We are trying to eradicate the autumn olives in the east field.

The other dismaying berries are hips of the pasture rose which was here before we bought our house. We are constantly removing these briary, prickery roses and it is a never ending battle. They are very pretty and I have used sprays of their small red hips in holiday decorations, but mostly I arm myself with a heavy shirt and dungarees and leather gloves and try and cut them back at the root. Again and again.

Shrubs that produce beautiful berries give our gardens a long interesting season, and may attract our beloved birds, but if we are wise, we will be careful when we make our choices. We don’t want to invite trouble when we plant for color and for the birds. ###

Between the Rows   October 29, 2011

Do You Feed the Deer?

50 Beautiful Deer Resistant Plants

It’s been a rough year for the vegetable garden at the End of the Road. There was lots of rain in the spring which was great for all the gardens. Then rain became scarce and if I have learned anything in my years of gardening it is that vegetable gardens need regular watering to thrive and be productive.

However, a new problem this year was bunnies! We haven’t had problems with rabbits in the past, but this year we have seen them frolicking on the lawn, running across our road, and gazing at the chickens. This would be fine if they stopped at frolicking, running, and gazing, but they love beans and broccoli. They have joined the deer who ate all the pea plants this year as well as squash and the tips of my rose bushes.

With all these problems in the vegetable garden I was surprised that there were so few depredations in the ornamental gardens. That mystery was solved when I received a copy of Ruth Rogers Clausen’s informative book “50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants: The Prettiest Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs and Shrubs that Deer Don’t Eat” with stunning and useful photographs by Alan L. Detrick published by Timber Press ($19.95). A quick look through the different categories in the book showed that my gardens are full of deer resistant plants.

Deer have become a greater problem for gardeners because the deer population has increased about twenty times over in just the past decade. At the same time towns and suburbs have spread out into deer habitats. The deer have retaliated by refusing to give up their habitats without a fight. Even my brother in a New Jersey suburb battles deer. At least I can leave my land open for hunters who I have always found to be respectful and happy to enjoy my woodlands, even if they don’t bag a deer. I also wish that the hunting season were longer, especially since natural predators like coyotes seem to be in a period of decline.

Clausen has provided a generous list of deer resistant plants that can be used in a varied garden. While she says that no plant is completely deer-proof, generalizations can be made. Deer seems to find plants with fuzzy leaves such as lamb’s ears, and licorice plant unappealing. I have to admit that although my summer squash have hairy leaves this did not entirely deter the deer this year.

Deer also find some plants like euphorbias and hellebores poisonous. The castor oil plant can make a glamorous statement in the garden, in the ground or even in a pot, but the deer will keep their distance.

Highly scented plants like culinary herbs or fragrant flowers like lilac and lily of the valley confuse deer enough they don’t stop to nibble. At the same, deer apparently know  that plants with tough foliage like peonies and Siberian iris, as well as ferns and grasses will likely be indigestible.

We are fortunate that so many beautiful plants are of absolutely no interest to deer. Let me list some of the perennials I have in my garden that are deer resistant: peonies, yarrow, lady’s mantle, astilbe, cimicifuga, salvias, Siberian iris, epimedium, and I’m trying real hard to get a false indigo, Baptisia australis, going. I also have daffodils, snowdrops, ornamental onions like the Allium ‘Globemaster,’ and autumn crocus. My herb garden is deer-proof with basils, oregano, rosemary, sage and thyme.

Clausen gives information about hardiness zone for each plant as well as size, cultural information and most helpfully a deer resistance rating. “A rating of 7 indicates that deer sometimes nip off flowers but leave the foliage alone. . . 8 indicates that just one or two flowers may be nibbled or destroyed, but the plant is otherwise left alone, as with peony . . . 9 indicates that deer occasionally browse young spring foliage, but mostly ignore the plant . . . and 10 indicate that deer very seldom browse foliage or flowers and usually avoid the plant altogether” as with Japanese painted fern.

Clausen also gives Design Tips for each plant along with suggestions for plant combinations. I think this book is a real winner.

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In my calendar we have hit the middle of summer which means Fairtime. I hope I will see some of you at the Friends of the Heath Library Book Sale tent next weekend. The Heath Fair runs from Friday evening on August 19 through Sunday afternoon. You can get great food at the Fireman’s Barbecue and at the Green Building (which is currently painted red) where homemade pie a la mode is my favorite dessert. After the Fair on Sunday, August 21 you can attend the Free Harvest Supper at the Town Square in Greenfield from 4:30 – 6:30 pm for one of the best meals you will ever have. Produce is donated by area farms and volunteers turn it into scrumptious dishes. Musicians play and everyone has a great time. The meal is free, but any donations made will fund Farmer’s Market vouchers distributed through the Center for Self Reliance so hungry families can have the fresh fruit and vegetables we all need to be healthy.  ###

Between the Rows  August 13, 2011

Stop Thief!

Over the past couple of days three of my 6 fancy chrysanthemums and some morning glory seedlings in my  little circle garden (which guards our mower from a huge boulder) have been eaten or pulled out. At first I couldn’t figure out who would pull two of the mum babies out and hide them, but we have got bunnies around this year – for the first time.

I never thought bunnies liked mums.  Or morning glories. When I saw that all the beets in my Front Garden were eaten, that was understandable, but a surprise. I didn’t think bunnies would come so near the house.  We are setting to work on traps, net fences, cayenne and Deer Off. I hope we can stop this thief from further depredations.

A Dying Luna Moth

Injured Luna Moth

The large Luna Moth is a beautiful creature.  The Luna Moth (Actias luna) here was badly damaged and missing its long tail, but it was alive when my friend found it in her back yard. She put it in a casserole dish and began her researches.

Her moth was a female and even in its ravaged state it began to lay eggs. Ordinarily females will lay between 100-300 eggs about 4 to 7 at a time on the underside of leaves.  This moth had to make do with laying them on the dish.

Luna Moth eggs

I apologize that this photo is a little out of focus. My attempt at a close up was not successful.  These eggs are about the size of a pinhead, smaller than a beet seed.  Our poor lady could not lay them on the underside of a leaf, but she laid these down with whatever glue she naturally produces to make the eggs stick to a leaf.  That is something else I never thought about, that all the insect eggs that are laid on leaves need a ‘glue’ to make them stick.

Eggs incubate for 8 to 15 days and then each caterpillar begins its journey through several developmental stages (instars) before spinning a cocoon and pupating for about 2 weeks.  Their life span is short.  They do not eat, but mate and die in about a week.  This moth was discovered on June 3 so it must be very near it’s death.

I have not seen any Luna Moths, but I have noticed more butterflies than last year which makes me very happy.  The swallowtails haven’t started eating my dill, but they are welcome to it.

Turkeys in the Road

Yesterday we again saw turkeys walking across the field; they came right up to the end of the road. Turkeys are no longer a rare sight in our neighborhood, however – - -

one day I was visiting a friend and he showed me this – and asked if I could guess what it was.  I could not. It is a well filled turkey crop, that part of a turkey that is an important part of its digestive apparatus.  This wild turkey had been eating corn and beans that had spilled in the barn. When the turkey was butchered everyone marveled at the turkey crop which has to be very strong to hold all the grain it eats, but looks so thin and fragile.

Don’t forget to check out the Giveaway for Starter Vegetable Gardens by Barbara Pleasant in my earlier post. It could be yours!

Ominous Skies

Turkey Buzzard

During our  visit our son-in-law took us to view the playing fields,  the woodland trails and the new community garden that are a part of Sienna Plantation, where they live. There were no children on the playing fields, but we were stunned by the flock of buzzards enjoying their own game. In this case a dead armadillo.  There were over 50 buzzards near the dead animal which did not seem like a very good ratio, but maybe they know how to share politely.  I was only able to get one photo of a buzzard in this dead tree against a cloudy Texas sky.

To see what other skies are on view this Skywatch Friday click here.

Weasel – Trapped!

Saturday morning I substituted for our wonderful Assistant Librarian, Lyra, who is on maternity leave and tending lusty young Jupiter. Needless to say the three chickens I had lost to a weasel during the week was a topic of conversation with library patrons. I said we put out a rat trap and a Havahart, but did not think that peanut butter was the kind of bait to attract a weasel. Everyone agreed that peanut butter did not sound like weasel food – and one knowledgeable patron confidently suggested liver.

When I got home I learned that another chicken had been killed. The traps were empty. Liver was our next strategy.  We found frozen liver at the supermarket and briefly balked at the $3.50 price tag. If successful we were only going to use an ounce or two; if unsuccessful we were going to give the chickens away and save them from certain death.  Finally we did toss the beef liver into our basket.

Sunday morning Henry gritted his teeth and tromped out to the hen house through more inches of new fallen snow.

He came back in the house and made me scream; the weasel had been seduced by the bloody liver. I will say no more about the weasel’s fate.

Groundhog Day

I have no affection for groundhogs, but Groundhog Day is one of my favorite movies.  Made in 1993 it has come to be lauded as one of the best movies ever made. “The film is number thirty-four on the American Film Institute‘s list of 100 Funniest Movies, and was named the number eight Fantasy film inAFI’s 10 Top 10. Roger Ebert has revisited it in his “Great Movies” series. After giving it a three-star rating in his original review, Ebert acknowledged in his “Great Movies” essay that, like many viewers, he had initially underestimated the film’s many virtues and only came to truly appreciate it through repeated viewings. In 2009, the American literary theorist and legal scholar Stanley Fish named the film as among the ten best American films ever.

In 2006, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”  I like to think I recognized its value way before that.  It’s even better than “What About Bob?” another Bill Murray classic.

On his fascinating blog Transparency Now media critic Ken Sanes has an essay detailing the plot of  the movie which has our ‘hero’ trapped in one day and through his journey from anger and bewilderment to compassion and understanding.. ” Slowly, he goes through a transformation. Having suffered himself, he is able to empathize with other people’s suffering.”  I should mention that this is a very funny movie!

Check out what Wikipedia has to say and imdb.com gives reviews from professionals and amateurs.  Readily available on Netflix.

Ellen Sousa in The American Garden

Northern Sea Oats in my Garden

The November/December issue of The American Gardener: The Magazine of the American Horticultural Society arrived the other day. As I was browsing through it last night I was surprised, but thrilled, to see Ellen Sousa, who lives in Central Massachusetts, quoted in Kris Wetherbee’s article Garden Cleanup Reconsidered.  Ellen’s own landscape is not only a Certified Wildlife Habitat, it is a Monarch Waystation so it was no surprise to hear her say, “instead of doing the traditional fall scalping of perennial beds, we leave tall plants such as coneflowers,  agastache, asters and ornamental grasses standing right through the winter. Their seeds feed overwintering birds such as juncos, chickadees, and song sparows when snow has buried most other natural food sources.”

Happily for me I discovered Ellen, garden coach, teacher, and writer when I first began blogging. I recommend the New England Natural Habitat Gardening blog to everyone, and now I am looking forward to her book The New England Natural Habitat Garden which will be out next year. Not so very far away.

Ellen also writes for the group blog, Beautiful Wildlife Garden, with some of my other favorite bloggers, Gail Eichelberger, Barbara Pintozzi and Helen Yoest, all of whom I got to meet in Buffalo this summer! Hooray for the Garden Bloggers Meet-up.