July 2007 - Page 4 of 9 - Bumblebee Blog

Bzzzz July 18th, 2007

Living out here in the country, I feel a yearning to learn the names of things, the nature of things and understand the cycles of life around us. I want to be a naturalist! (Not a naturist.)

I suppose before there were Barnes & Nobles with nifty identifying books and prior to when Al Gore invented the Internet, we had to rely on our parents, grandparents and teachers to tell us the names of things. Now, Google can help us put names the creatures in the world around us.

That is, if you believe everything you read on the Internet.

Giving a name to an animal, a bug or a plant is the beginning of knowing the nature of that animal, bug or plant. When you can name it, you can refer to IT, add to your library of information about IT. It provides a pinpoint reference for what IT is. You can explain IT to others and feel on a first-name familiarity with IT. IT becomes a part of you.

At least, that’s what I think.

In the seven years we’ve lived here on this property (about 21 or so acres), I’ve made some on-again, off-again efforts at putting names to things. Now, with my nifty new camera by my side, I can photograph IT and then do research to identify IT that doesn’t have to rely on my aging memory.

And with this nifty new blog, I can check to make sure that I’m not off track about what IT is. I can ask people like Ruthie to help! Or maybe even Julie, the uber-naturalist, would drop by and straighten me out!

Out here in the country, the farmers give their own names to things. For example, Farmer Rudy, who tends our hay field, calls some of the vines in our trees monkey vines. Now, a quick Google search tells me that there are, indeed, some plants called monkey vines. But the vines he’s referring to have little or nothing to do with the monkey vines mentioned on Google.

So just what ARE those darned monkey vines?

Similarly, the locals call these beautiful, wild flowers that twine up high through the trees trumpet flowers, no doubt because of their trumpet-like shape.

trumpet%20flower.jpg

Mystery Flower Identified – Trumpet Vine (Thanks Carol and Ruthie for the ID!)

But IS this a trumpet flower? We have dozens of them, providing bright spots of color in the foliage in the hot months of August.

Now, I’ve already threatened to have my own little butterfly gallery. So here are two more candidates.

mystery%20butterfly1.jpg Mystery butterfly #1

I’m pretty sure this is a butterfly and not a moth because of the knobby ends on his antennae. He’s a small, light green fellow. There are many of his mates that hang out with him at our butterfly bush–an aptly named bush if I ever met one.

mystery%20butterfly2.jpg

Cabbage White Butterfly (Thanks Ruthie for the ID)

Similarly, this little white butterfly sporting the black spot is plentiful here at the Bumblebee Garden. I consider myself fortunate to have captured his image because they are usually flitting around rapidly, seldom landing for very long.

mystery%20butterfly2b.jpg

Cabbage White Butterfly

Not, I actually DO know the names of some things here at the Bumblebee Garden.

For example, I know that the box turtles around here are generally Eastern box turtles.

Eastern%20box%20turtle.jpg

Eastern Box Turtle

One of the things I love about living out here is how people have respect for turtles. After a rain, it is not unusual to see dozens of turtles slowly crossing the road. People invariably drive around them. And it is not a rare scene to see someone stop a car and gently move a turtle off to the side. In fact, I have NEVER seen a squished box turtle. And there is PLENTY of other road kill around here.

Finally, I definitely know about these wild creatures.

Papillons

They may look like tender fluffs of fur, but these animals are FIERCE. I just have to say the word “deer” in a normal tone of voice and they are on TRIPLE HIGH ALERT, darting from window to window, ready to stalk and chase down the offending creature. When I open the door, they RACE out and chase down the deer–at least until they hit the edge of the woods. They do not do woods.

They also know “squirrel,” “bird” and anything that begins with “Is that a…”

So there you go.

Anyone who wants to help advance my naturalist education, chime right in and give me the name for IT!

Posted In: Gardening

Tags: gloriosa superba Rothschildiana

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Bzzzz July 16th, 2007

I need a plant detective…

In trying to mend my lackadaisical garden record keeping ways, I am staring a list of the plants in the garden, along with their general requirements and propagation methods. Unfortunately, though, my inconsistent habit of keeping the garden center tags is catching up with me. Plus, pass-along plants don’t generally come with tags. So I need some help.

I have two plants that I cannot find names for. Can someone please post a comment and enlighten me?

Mystery Plant #1

This is a plant that I bought at the garden center and planted last year. It is in front of the house, which is mostly north-facing, so it gets only a bit of sun during the day.

Although it started out as small starters in 3″ pots, it quickly bushed out into a nice, spreading plant, but without becoming out of control. It is about 6″ high and has a nice clumping habit.

It has tiny, variegated leaves with spiky edges. In the spring, it sports tiny yellow clusters of flowers just above the foliage. And this is a nice feature: It stays green all winter long here in zone 7.

Does anyone know the name of this useful little plant?

Mystery Plant #2

The second mystery plant was recently given to me by our family friend Lucia.

First, you should know that Lucia loves all plants. She does not discriminate between those that are weeds and those that are finely-bred and valuable specimens. She also NEVER EVER knows the name of a plant or its origin. She passes along a plant with the generic endorsement, “It is boo-ti-ful. You will love it.”

As a result, I always fret about her gifts and whether they will turn into monsters.

She also has the tendency to tell me WHERE to plant something. And if she doesn’t like how I plant it, she digs it up and re-plants it. Sometimes, she comes over our house and I don’t know she’s here until I hear the waterhose turn on. She’s outside in my garden!

Despite all that, she is a good-hearted person and we couldn’t get along without her here. I don’t have the heart (nerve) to tell her to stop telling me what to do.

Nuff said about Lucia…

Mystery plant #2 is one of her recent gifts. It is a small plant that she says will spread. (Oh, goodie.) She also says that it likes shade and will grow to be about 1′ high.

The leaves are rather pretty–green with veins of red underneath and showing on top. The stems also are green and red.

The plant looks a bit fragile and spindly to me right now, but she says that it will fill out as it gets established. I have planted several of them in a shade garden I’m starting near the driveway turnaround.

Do I WANT this plant to get established? What the heck is it?

On the Subject of Record Keeping

Many of the garden bloggers that I’m reading reference reference going back to their blog postings to see when plants bloomed or harvests occurred in previous years. So it seems that many are also using their blogs as their record keeping tool for the garden. I haven’t seen anything particularly formalized in this respect, although I have seen one garden blogger (can’t find her now) who actually keeps a TO DO list, complete with crossed-out chores, on her home page!

I began this garden year keeping a spiral notebook of each day: what was planted, what chores were completed, etc. That lasted about 10 minutes. So I’m looking for a better method.

For example, a client of mine recently bought a house with a beautiful yard and garden already in place. The owner had lovingly made a drawing of the whole yard with landscaper-like notes. And, GET THIS, he also had an Excel spreadsheet cross-referencing all of the plants in the drawing, along with when they were planted, requirements, propagation methods and other information.

I think that I don’t want to go the Excel spreadsheet route, but I am interested in something a bit more formalized that what I’ve been doing. (Which would be nothing.) I would be fascinated to hear how you keep your own garden records.

Help anyone?

Posted In: Gardening