I am leaving today for Virginia.  My three sisters and I are getting together for the first time since Momma died in March.  Our plan is to go to the beach cottage at Nags Head, on the Outer Banks of NC.  We're going to ride bikes, walk on the beach, and drink wine for lunch.  We're going to look at the old pictures, and tell all our great "Momma stories," and laugh and cry together.  Just the girls.  

 

Here's a picture of us when Momma turned 80, in 2003.  We were all a little younger then, but it's a good picture of us all dressed up.  From left to right:  Betsy, Julie, Momma, me, Linda.

 

I'm sure I'll find some fun things to blog about, but give me a few days.  Talk soon.  

 

Love, Gerry

I bet you didn't know it was septic field month? Our septic systems are often the least understood system in our homes. 

We all have question about how to treat them, make sure they don't fail, and if we should pump them out once in a while.

Here are three of my favorite flyers from CDC/EPA to help you out with these questions...

 

 

 

 

I know fall is coming when the Black gum trees start their color change.  They are one of the first species to change color in the fall.  And here she is, right on schedule.

 

Tomorrow is the Autumnal equinox, when day and night hours are nearly equal.  Astronomically, it is when the Sun is directly above the equator.  Astrologically, it is when the Sun enters the sign of Libra.  It will occur this year on September 23rd, at 3:51 am. 

 

OK, back to Black gum, or Sour gum trees, botanically known as Nyssa sylvatica.  (I don't know how I can remember that from 1975, but I do.)  I love what these trees do in the fall.  Their shiny leaves turn scarlet, and the berries turn blue.  

 

You can see them all over the neighborhood.  Bears and birds love the berries, although they remind me of sucking on a lemon.  I have a friend who makes a lemonade-like drink from Black gum berries, but she adds a TON of sugar to make it taste good.  I'll leave the berries for the bears and the birds, Thanks.

 

I just love seeing the color change and dreaming of cooler weather.

 

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!

 

 

 

 

 

THAT!!!!!, my friends, is precisely what you DO NOT want to see on your Tomato plants.  It is a Tomato (or maybe a Tobacco) hornworm, fully grown from eating my tomato plant!!!  It is as big as my index finger!!!  Well, it was, before Jon squished it!!!  

 

It is the larva of Manduca quinquemaculata, the five-spotted hawk moth.  The caterpillars feed on various plants from Solanaceae:  tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, tobacco, potatoes.  You definitely do NOT want them in your garden.  They can demolish your tomato crop overnight!!!!  We plant Borage near the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants to deter the moths from laying eggs on those host plants.  It works!!!  We've had NO hornworms in the garden.  This one was on a cherry tomato plant on the deck, away from the garden.  And, as you can see, the plant was just about finished.

 

Tom asked me the other day, "What is that big, fat green caterpillar on my tomato plant?"  We knew immediately, because we've seen so many before.  

 

Oh!!!!!  Here's another interesting thing about them.  There are parasitic wasps that lay their eggs inside the skin of the hornworms, using the hornworm bodies to feed their babies.  You can see them sometimes as little white cocoons on the outside of the green hornworm.  It's kinda gross, but, everybody has to eat something, right?  I know it happens, I just don't want to see it happening in MY garden.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

This is Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana, in the family Verbenaceae.  It is a native shrub in the southern US, and is often used as an ornamental shrub to attract birds to the garden.  This one is growing out of the sidewalk at the Methodist Church in Blairsville.  It was probably planted by birds or deer.  They love to eat the berries.  

 

When Beautyberry is in bloom, it's not that noticeable.  But, when the berries ripen to this bright purple all along the stems, you can't miss it!  It's in this beautiful stage now, so be on the lookout.  I hope you see some in your travels.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I showed you the Devil's Walking Stick last month, in bloom.  

 

Now those blossoms have done their job, and the trees are fruiting.  

 

All I really said about it was that it has a nasty thorny trunk.  Let's learn more about it.  

 

Its botanical name is Aralia spinosa, in the family Araliaceae.  Other trees, shrubs, vines in this family include Sarsaparilla, Ginseng, and English Ivy.   Aralia spinosa is also commonly called Hercules-Club.  They grow in woods and on riverbanks from southern New England to Michigan, and from eastern Texas to north Florida.  We've seen them all along the roadsides in our travels to Atlanta and Chattanooga, and my sister in Yorktown, VA has seen them along the roads there.  

 

Be sure to notice them in our neighborhood. There are several on Five Forks Drive across from Naples Lane, and some down Stonebriar, near the Crabapple sign.  They are really beautiful right now, with their dark purple berries.  The berries are pretty, but NOT EDIBLE.  So just look, DON'T TASTE.  I say that as a reminder to myself.  ALWAYS check the field guides, before tasting anything in the wild.  And, even then, be cautious and positively identify whatever it is.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Hahaha!!!  Made you look.

 

This is a winter project from a couple of years ago.  My sister challenged me to a knitting project.  She sent me the pattern, and I knitted a praying mantis.  You can't go wrong with purple and green, for a giggle.  This one is 10 inches long.  It lives in our living room, and hasn't caught a single caterpillar.  ;)~

 

HAPPY CRAFTING!!!!

 

 

 

We saw this Praying mantis in the sage today.  Beautiful!!  It was about 4 inches long, and didn't move for a long time, well, long enough for me to go inside, get my camera, come back out to the sage, and take a few pix.

 

We've seen them in the gardens before, sometimes eating our precious Monarch caterpillars.  I don't really love that, but it's the way of Nature.  Everybody has to eat something.

 

I read about Mantises, and learned that there are over 2,400 species in the Mantidae family of insects.  They live all over the world, and got their common name:  Praying mantis, because of the way their forelegs are folded while they remain stationary, waiting to catch and grip their prey.  And I loved this description:  Mantids are "mostly ambush predictors."   That paints a pretty picture, doesn't it? 

 

I hope you get to see one in your garden, they are so pretty.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Everybody loves to hate Kudzu.  Well, hopefully I'm going to give you a couple reasons to love it, or at least, not hate it.

 

Kudzu, Pueraria montana, is a trailing vine that resembles giant garden beans.  Each leaf has three leaflets, and are sometimes as much as four inches wide.  It has purplish pea-like flowers that grow in clusters, and are very fragrant.  Kudzu is blooming right now.  You can't see the flowers at 45 mph, but you can definitely smell them.  Roll down the windows when you're near it, and you will get the smell of grape Koolaid.  

 

Kudzu originated in China and was brought to America in the late 1800's.  Originally, it was introduced as an ornamental and forage crop for animals.  Farmers were encouraged to plant it for erosion control, and to stabilize the soil.  It was widely planted for erosion control by the Civilian Conservation Corps under President Franklin Roosevelt.  Apparently they planted some near Murphy, NC.  Because it's all over.

 

We stopped near King Ford, and I took this picture, so you can see the blooms. My picture doesn't show the plant, but you KNOW what that looks like.  I want you to see the blooms.

 

Reasons to love it #1) It has not yet invaded Five Forks.  #2) It smells pretty.  #3) The young leaves, roots, and flowers are edible. (Don't trust me; do your own research, if you're interested.)  #4) The flowers are used to make jelly.  (I've seen it at the Blairsville Farmers' Market.)  

 

Funny story...When my sister first came here years ago, she referred to the Nantahala gorge as the Kudzu National Forest. Love it!!!

 

So now, when you see Kudzu, you know more about it, and you don't have to hate it; you can see value in it.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

In July, I wrote about the Sumacs blooming.  I have read about four similar kinds of Sumac in our area.  I only wrote about three of them.  And I promised to show you a picture of the fourth one, the Staghorn Sumac, Rhus typhina.

 

See why it's called Staghorn?  The branches, twigs, and blossoms are hairy, and resemble the velvet of deer antlers.  

 

I've been looking since July for one that was in a safe enough place to take its picture.  They are blooming all around, but none safe enough to say, "Hey!!!!  There's one, let's stop and take a picture!"  So this picture is from the Internet.

 

I wanted you to see it, so you can identify it when you're out and about.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!