I was thinking today as I was walking:  it's camping, hiking, outdoor season.  You need to know about poison ivy!!!!  I  have a very personal relationship with poison ivy.  We've been acquaintances for years.  Too many years.

 

Rather than my rewriting what I wrote last year, I'd like you to practice a new skill.  

 

Go back to the main menu, and scroll down to Searching the Site.  Put in poison ivy and you'll see several articles I wrote on the subject.  If you're interested.....

 

HAPPY SUMMER OUTINGS!!!

 

First of all:  it's called "a mess of beans"

 

And the beans are called "rattlesnake beans"

 

Neither of which I understand.  Don't care. 

 

This is a mess of rattlesnake beans from our garden.  They are the BEST beans ever.  They are heirloom seeds from my friend at Ingles in Blairsville.  They reproduce true year after year.  And they just keep on producing all summer!!!  

 

I am a HAPPY GARDENER!!!

 

See the butterfly?  It is a Tiger Swallowtail, Pterourus glaucus.  Isn't it beautiful!!!  

 

We love our Echinacea plants, and so do the butterflies.  And the bees, and the grasshoppers, and the hummingbirds.  They love it for the nectar.  Lots in our yard!!  They love lots of different flowers for nectar.

 

They are a little more picky when it comes to host plants.  Not just any plant will do for raising babies.

 

The female butterflies lay their eggs on the leaves of willow, some cherries, and tulip poplars.  Lots of those in our woods too!!!   The caterpillars emerge and eat the leaves.  They grow and grow until they make their chrysalids.  After a few weeks they break out and are beautiful butterflies.

 

We often see Tiger Swallowtails early in spring.  They hang around the apple trees, sipping the nectar and pollinating the flowers.  I was surprised to see one this late, but I just read that they have 1-3 broods a year, spring-autumn.  So there you go......your science lesson for the day.

 

See, growing pretty flowers in our gardens serves more than the singular purpose of "pretty," they also attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.  And while they are using the flowers for food, they are also pollinating them for fruit production.  Everybody wins!!!

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aren’t these beautiful?  

 

They are Dr. Wyches heirloom tomatoes.  We grew them from seeds this year, and they are doing great. 

 

Oh, yeah, they taste good too.  I’m just more about “pretty.”

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

The Echinacea this year is BEAUTIFUL!!  It's all the way across the front of our house and down the stairs to the bottom deck.  

 

Best of all:  the deer don't seem to bother it (too much.)

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!

 

 

 

 

We (Southerners) LOVE our Hydrangea bushes!!!

 

Fascinating plants, hydrangeas.  When the soil is acid (low pH) the blossoms are blue.  When the soil is alkaline (high pH) the blossoms are pink.  When the soil is neutral (pH 7.0) the blossoms are white!!!!I

 

OK...I remember a story about my grandfather putting rusty nails in the ground around the hydrangea bushes to make them turn blue.  I remember those bushes in Nanny's back yard.  The blossoms were BLUE!!!

 

Another interesting thing about hydrangea bushes....there are several different types.  The most commonly planted are called mopheads:  the big floppy ones, like in the picture above.  Another popular type is Lacecap.  Instead of a big fluffy ball, the flowers are flat with a ring of blossoms around a central core.  I better take a picture to explain THAT.

 

 

OK...There are mountain hydrangeas, oakleaf hydrangeas, paniculata hydrangeas, and some others....

 

They are all beautiful, and blooming everywhere NOW!!!  Be on the lookout.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No, really....this is the picture I wanted you to see.  This is what the birds, bees, and butterflies see when they are in my garden.  Beautiful flowers, lots of nectar, easy meal!!!!

 

Black eyed Susans are a major source of nectar, loved by the pollinators.  That's why we put them in the garden, besides just being pretty.  In order to produce fruit, flowers must be pollinated.  Did you know that 1/3 of the food we eat has to be pollinated?  Probably more for me, cause I live on rice, beans, and zucchini.  And soon, peaches, blueberries, and apples.  They all depend on being pollinated.

 

I just read an interesting tip for attracting pollinators:  plant similar flowers in clumps to make their visit more efficient.  They can collect a lot of pollen without travelling so far.  Makes sense to me.....

 

And of course there is this reminder:  Minimize pesticide use.  Keep a few Dandelions; they are a great source of pollen for the birds, bees, and butterflies.  Poison that kills bad bugs also kills good bugs, including birds, bees, and butterflies.  Jon's theory is that those worms on the kale add protein to our diet.  YAK!!!  I'd rather wash them off with a little soapy water.  But either way, we don't want to eat poison.   Nor do we want to feed it to our friends, the pollinators.

 

Come see the garden.  It is BEAUTIFUL right now.  You may even get to pick some blueberries.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I am in the land of Crape Myrtles!!!!!  And they are blooming everywhere!

 

Lagerstroemia is the genus name, but we all know them as Crape Myrtle.  There are lots of colors, ranging from white (Natches) to pink and magenta, to lavender and red!!!!

 

They are great small trees, and adapt well to street dwelling.  So they are planted along residential streets, in median strips, and in commercial parking lots ALL over Norfolk and Virginia Beach.  Everywhere we go, we see them.  

 

I wish I could say which one is my favorite, but to do that I would have to eliminate ALL the others, so I can't.  I just LOVE them ALL!!!  Each one makes me happy.

 

Be on the lookout where you are, and notice the Crape Myrtle trees.  If you can get up close, give them a smell:  it is a glorious thing!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Today is the Summer Solstice.  And the Farmers Almanac has an interesting article about it.

 

Go to:  Summer Solstice  and learn some facts, lore, and other cool stuff about the longest day of the year.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Look who's blooming!!!!  Calla Lily.  My friend at the Ingles in Blairsville gave me a slip last fall.  I overwintered it in the basement, and brought it out this spring.

 

It grew beautiful big leaves, and here's the blossom.

 

Isn't she beautiful!?!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!