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It has been sometime since activity in our lovely little group here and so decided to share some Spring Pretties and hope that others will share their Fall or whatever Season they are in right now here too!
I took a photo of a Powton® Sapphire Dragon Tree Growing nearby and what a magnificent Tree it is. I am so impressed that I will now follow this tree through the seasons and watch it's progress over time.
Of course I can not forget to mention the purple wisteria vines now out on show and attracting lots of bees. I think that they are so beautiful but understand how difficult they can be once established and in the ground for many years. I have a friend in Victoria whose whole pergola and small shed next to it was choked by this vine leaving him only one alternative and that was to remove it. What a shame but we do need to keep in mind where we plant strong vines and big trees like the Wisteria and the Powton Tree above.
Spring brings birds into the garden, where they nest and feed on all the wonderful spring inspired feasts to be found.
I have a pair of pink and grey gallahs nesting in the Washington palm in the garden. They are so guarded over their nest hidden in the old fronds of this huge palm. I am so entertained watching them either sitting together on the one small branch that protrudes from the palm or one sitting there and the other keeping watch in the gum tree nearby. They really do work together as a couple and it is so wonderful to watch them and hear their unique cries to each other.
As you can see they have really buried the nest right into this palm and they share it with many other smaller birds too, who are also nesting this time of the year.
I think I will have to call the palm the 'maternity hospital for native birds'.
The wall flowers have been stunning over winter and now they are gradually making lots of seed pods for replanting. I love these beautiful little flowers and hope to keep them going through summer if I can.
Well I hope you liked this small taste of my Spring and hope that you share your season with us all soon too.
Cheers for Now..Milli09
Yesterday I accompanied Alan's class on a field trip to the Idaho Botanical Gardens! We got hit with rain showers off and on so we had to hurry through the gardens but we had a good time and I still got plenty of good photos.
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The Idaho Botanical Gardens are located at the site of the old state penitentiary. Some of the walls and guard towers are still there and make for interesting back drops. This old stone wall borders the rose garden.
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I think this is an ornamental cherry? The tour that we took was called "Flower Power" but our guide didn't talk about this tree. But I thought it was pretty so I took the photo.
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Our guide did talk about this tree. It's a legume, in the pea family. You can tell by the seed pods (on the right hand side of my photo out of focus), and the flowers have the unique legume family shape. The flower is closed to protect the pollen until a bee lands on the lower lip, then it springs open so the bee can access the pollen as this bee is doing in my photo.
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The roses in the rose garden aren't blooming yet but it's still very pretty. Large mounds of sweet violets are blooming at the base of rose shrubs, and that white flowering tree is a perfect back drop for the greying garden bench. When the sun peaked out from behind the clouds the scene glowed!
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I kind of like this view through the garden arches.
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This vignette is obviously inspired by Monet, and it will become even more obvious in a month or so when the irises bloom. The yellow flower on the right is a euphorbia. It's pollinated by bees and so it's yellow to attract the bees, however bees don't see the color red so when a euphorbia flower gets pollinated its center turns red so that the bees will ignore it and move on to a euphorbia flower that isn't pollinated. Clever, yes?
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This little froggy stole the show for kids.
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The kids planted marigolds in a new bed in front of the Children's garden that is currently being constructed. That's Alan on the left hand side, I told him that we should come back in a month to see how his marigold is doing (not to mention that in a month the roses and irises should be blooming!).
After they planted the flowers they dissected a daffodil so they could examine its inner workings. That was the end of our tour and right then it started raining so we had to run to the buses. We drove to a nearby park with a covered picnic area, but by the time we got there it had stopped raining so we were able to eat outside and the kids could play before going back to school.
I hope you enjoyed my photos!
My friends and family back home in California are talking about the first spring bulbs that are starting to bloom, and here in Idaho's Treasure Valley one of my neighbors told me last night that she saw hyacinth foliage starting to push up through the soil. I checked my bulb beds and there's nothing yet. Still, she thinks we might have an early spring this year, and in talking with local gardeners it seems as if the Treasure Valley is warming up from a USDA Zone 5 to a USDA Zone 7.
Then last night I opened the current edition of Organic Gardening magazine and saw a blurb on Project BudBurst in which we can be citizen-scientists and help track these things! It looks pretty cool, they want people to report to the website when they see the first flower or first first leaf emerge of many different kinds of plants. Of course they want to know where people saw the plant (latitude/longitude) and a description of the site (exposure, slope, etc.). Soon they'll have live mapping for tracking particular species and people will be able to load up photos. It looks pretty cool! If this interests you then please check out the website.
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst/index.html
It seems to be specific to the US so if you live elsewhere the please see if there's a similar program in your country or region.
Yesterday evening I attended two lectures given back to back, one on xeriscaping and the other on nativescaping. Xeriscaping is landscaping in a manner that reduces water usage that may or may not include native plants, whereas nativescaping is designing a landscape using native plants.
The xeriscaping lecture was first and although I didn't learn much that I didn't already know it was nevertheless good to hear it again, plus it was good to know that my plans for my new home's landscape are on the right track. Here are seven principles that she discussed:
1) Start with a good plan/design. Make sure you understand your property's slope, exposure, microclimates, needs of existing plantings, as well as your own needs. And of course know any restrictions put on your by your home owners' association if you belong to one--and if you do then get on to the board so you can change the rules to allow for xeriscaping. Read the labels of plants before you buy a plant to be sure you can meet its needs and understand its mature size.
2) Prepare and improve your soil. ADD COMPOST! If your soil has too much clay then compost will help break it up, if your soil has too much sand then compost will act like a sponge to hold water. Do a soil test and add any other components your soil needs.
4) Use mulches to reduce evaporation and to discourage weeds. She doesn't recommend soil fabrics because they make it difficult to amend the soil, instead use finished compost and top it with bark. She recommends making sure the color of the bark will compliment the color of your house.
5) Limit your lawns to only where it's truly functional for you. C'mon, how much lawn do you really need? Wouldn't you rather increase your lush, colorful, and beautiful garden beds? I have two young boys so I need a lot of lawn, but even so I'm still planning on removing large sections of my lawn to increase my garden.
6) Plant in zones. She recommends having an "oasis" of water loving plants that you love near a high usage area close to your house, like outside the front door or off of your back deck. Then there should be a zone surrounding your house of medium water reliant plants, and then farthest from your house should be the driest plants. She recommends cutting out an irregular shaped edge around your lawn where it touches your driveway and sidewalk, and replacing the turf with heat loving plants because the paving materials reflect a lot of heat into these areas. If you use straight lines for your border, instead of irregular lines, then be sure that there's a focal point at the end of these lines like your front door or a sculpture. And of course you should read plant labels before selecting a plant to be sure you plant it in the correct zone and to be sure you plan for its mature size.
7) Regularly maintain your landscape. Xeriscaped landscapes need some tending to get established but then they should require less maintenance. Plants that are in the right site for the conditions they need (exposure, soil, drainage, water) are happy and won't be bothered by pests, all they'll need is a little bit of weeding and maybe some pruning--but mostly they'll just sit there and look pretty for you.
The next lecture was about nativescaping. Here we are in the desert and he planted his own lawn with native grasses that he waters and mows once every three weeks! Most of what he said applies specifically to our area but I'll share a couple of universal things with you.
1) Maintenance versus stewardship. Maintenance is keeping a landscape just the way it is and just the way you imagine it should be, stewardship is working with the landscape to make it the best it can be. For example, if you have a plant that's not doing well in its spot and requires a lot of maintenance then maybe you should replace it with something else. Or if you have a large meadow filled with wildflowers and some weeds move in, maybe it's better to let a few weeds go rather than to risk trampling down the flowers to go pull it out. If the weed is a native plant then it probably has some benefit in the landscape and you should recognize the benefit rather than curse it as a weed.
2. THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I LEARNED ALL NIGHT! When you read about a plant's attributes don't confuse edible with tastes good. He said, "I said you could eat it, I didn't say it was yummy." LOL! Good advice.
I highly recommend that you learn about native plants in your area and try to plant them in your garden when possible. I was really surprised to find out how many garden worthy native plants we have here in the Idaho desert, and even more surprised that I've never seen these plants in nurseries! If you use native plants in your own garden you will not only decrease the amount of maintenance needed, but you'll also provide food for your native birds and insects! Don't we all want to see more birds and butterflies in our gardens? I do.
Happy gardening!
