Forecasting Winter

What does this wooly worm say to you about winter? (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Forecasting Winter

Shortly after moving to Missouri, one of my neighbors tried to explain the rules behind woolly worm forecasting. As I recall, all black means a rough winter ahead; honey brown bands mean mild periods where the bands are on the worm. If the woolly worm has spiky protrusions, watch for ice. If it’s well, “woollier” than normal, better bundle up.

If the first wooly worm I found in my garden a couple of weeks ago is any indication, we should have an above normal warm winter. The wooly worm was all brown, a sign that the winter will be milder than usual. I think.

Although woolly worms may be the most well known, there are other interesting forecasters in nature:

Higher and larger ant and termite mounds mean a colder than normal winter. If they’re rushing back and forth in straight lines, rain is coming. When they go in search of food in random patterns, the weather will be good.

About this time of year I think about this winter forecasting sign and say to myself I would like to meet the person who sat around watching ants and then comparing their behavior to winter patterns. Then again, maybe not.

Bees nests built higher than usual means cold weather ahead. They also cluster around, and in, the hive when stormy weather is approaching.

It’s true honeybees cluster – they don’t hibernate – inside a hive when stormy weather is approaching. As a beekeeper, it’s one of the ways I know bad weather is moving in. Bees also move up the hive through winter, eating the honey above them. My bees mid-September were already in their second of their three hive boxes so I moved them down to the first floor. That makes sure they have enough food for winter.

Is that a good predictor of weather? Probably not, it’s what bees do when daylight gets shorter.

If you need to know the temperature, count the number of chirps in a 14-second time span of cricket chirping. Add 40 to that number and you’ll be within one degree. In fact, many insects tend to be more active when it’s warmer, including the sounds they make.

If flies land and bite, rain is imminent.

When Katydids begin their chirping chorus, you can expect the first hard frost in 90 days.

Seeing more spiders than usual? That supposedly means abnormally cold temperatures ahead.

If spider webs are flying in the wind, there will be no rain. If a spider puts up a web, the upcoming weather will be fine. If the spider removes it, a storm is on its way.

There is also the Ozark tradition of opening a persimmon and checking the seed. A spoon shape inside indicates above average snowfall, a knife shape signals colder than normal temperatures and a fork shape means warmer than average temperatures.

My cats do a pretty good job of simulating this sleeping cat quilt and forecasting the weather for the upcoming day. If they don't get out of bed, I know it's cold outside.

Charlotte

Along Came A Spider

A Missouri garden spider weaving her zig zag web. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Along Came a Spider

It seems they show up all of a sudden, black and yellow garden spiders weaving webs in all sorts of inconvenient places.

I like spiders. One isn't charmed by E.B. White's "Charlotte's Web" without having at least a literary affinity to these amazing creatures. Did you know spider web silk is, weight for weight, stronger than steel?

Now that I have honeybees, I tend to patrol webs to release bees. I'm not always in time so a number of my bees have become stored food for baby spiders-to-be.

If you study any spider web, you will see they are not necessarily picky. Almost anything is fair game to get tangled in their web.

Spiders are the insect patrol and clean-up crew in gardens. According to Missouri Department of Conservation, spiders eat more insects than birds and bats combined. Because of this, spiders are a boon on agricultural lands, destroying huge numbers of crop-damaging insects. Since each spider in a field may consume a least one insect per day, their cumulative effect on insect populations is significant.

This wolf spider has set up her web outside my den door, look how hairy-looking she is. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Spiders, along with ticks, mites, harvestmen and scorpions, belong to the class Arachnida. Unlike insects, which have six legs, spiders have eight. They have no antennae, and they have two-piece bodies. A spider has silk-spinning structures called spinnerets at the back end of its abdomen, and it usually has eight eyes of various sizes and shapes.

On one of my visits to work in Washington D.C., I stopped by the Smithsonian to see the Orkin bug corner at the Natural History Museum. The exhibits included a very detailed ant farm - more like an ant mansion, behind glass - several exhibits of termites and the kind of damage they can do to wood; a cockroach home and, by far the kids' favorite, the tarantulas. Think furry garden spiders only 10 to 15 times larger and quick-moving, which is part of their gruesome appeal.

The day I was visiting, the docent was an older lady who reminded me of my grandmother. She also wore a white lace collar over her dress and those old-fashioned, flower button earrings against her bluish gray hair. All of a sudden I heard her say in her quiet voice "and then the tarantula uses its fangs to s-u-c-k the brains out, just like a milk shake."

"EEEEEWWWW" came loudly in unison from kids surrounding her. I'm sure they could be heard all the way down to the first floor by the mastodon elephant replica.

This hay spider is ready to welcome Halloween. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Scientists predict that as our climate gets warmer, snakes will grow as long as buses and horses may shrink to the size of cats.

Although I find them fascinating, I know way too many people who don’t appreciate spiders in their gardens. We need to rethink how we co-exist with these wondrous creatures.

Charlotte

Thought for Today

So pretty, Missouri yellow wildflowers blooming along a roadside. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Thought for Today

I have a friend going through a difficult time in her life. As i listened to her challenges, I was struck by the thought that we have become a society that enjoys tearing people down instead of lending a helping hand.

"People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt and die." — Plato

How about we all strive to be the people who nourish?

Charlotte

How to Dry Zinnia Seeds

Zinnia flowers drying on newspaper before I store them for next year. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

How to Dry Zinnia Seeds

You can dry zinnia seeds through the growing season but there’s a tendency to do so in fall, maybe after the first frost.

I have been drying zinnia seeds for many years so I can attest it is easy to do. Start with picking off the dry flower heads, those have seeds that are already drying while still on the plant.

Spread the flower heads on a newspaper or paper towel on a tray in a dry space until all flower heads are dark and dry to the touch.

You can then store the flower heads as is so that you can plant the same zinnias in a patch. You can also remove the seeds and spread them out for a few days until they are all dry before storing.

If there is one annual in your garden, this is the one to plant. A variety of pollinators love it and they are so easy to plant. They will grow in most soils and require little water. Did I mention the bright colors?

One of my last zinnia bouquets for this growing season. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

I’m ready to plant these dried seeds, I’m going to save several seed heads so I can have patches of the same colored-zinnias. That way I can enjoy a different color each day of the week, like these flower days of the week kitchen towels!

Guess I need to get through fall and winter first…

Charlotte

Blue Dayflowers

Blue Dayflowers are one of the true blue flowers. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Blue Dayflowers

If you’ve ever looked for sky blue perennial flowers - or any blue flowers - you know they are few and far between. Unless you start paying attention to your garden “weeds,” where you may find one of the prettiest true blue flowers around.

Dayflowers tend to appear mid-summer in my mid-Missouri garden, a little pop of blue showing up among flower beds and borders. This native from Asia is now prevalent through Missouri and listed as a Missouri wildflower.

Part of the spiderwort family, Commelinaceae blooms May through frost. The plant is named after Jan and Kaspar Commelin, distinguished Dutch botanists. According to Edgar Denison in “Missouri Wildflowers,” there was a third botanist who died young. The two larger petals represent the two surviving brothers and the smaller one the botanist who died at a young age.

A group of blue dayflowers adding color to a garden corner. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

What I love about these flowers is that they require little water and easily grow in both sun and shade.

The stems will sprawl through a flower bed, nicely filing in an area with their leaves. I found myself adding starts all through my garden this fall hoping they will return next year.

Who can argue with an easy to grow perennial that easily adds a dash of true blue to a garden?

Charlotte

Volunteer Cantaloupes

This volunteer cantaloupe grew itself with a little help from an old wooden arbor.

Volunteer Cantaloupes

I was going to title this how to easily grown cantaloupes but decided I can’t take that credit, either. These cantaloupes grew themselves, my best guess seeds that inadvertently ended up in the compost I added to the garden bed.

For years I had head cantaloupes were hard to grow in Missouri. Anything is hard to grow if one is trying to raise plants where the most one grows is rocks and there is little to no soil. After building and amending garden beds, my challenge was to encourage soil production through composting and mulching.

There were no plans for much to grow in this particular area this year besides buckwheat as a cover crop. When I saw a few rabbits in the garden area, I took that as a sign the garden bed was getting close to being ready for planting. It can take several months to years for the soil composition to be right for plants.

When the first vines started to appear, the leading speculation was these were cucumbers from last year. Since I love cucumbers, I let them grow, adding an old trellis to keep them off the ground.

One morning, my handyman took a look at the vine and said if it was a cucumber, it was a mighty round one. A few weeks later the verdict was this was definitely a cantaloupe!

To make sure the cantaloupe bottom didn’t rot, I placed a small piece of cardboard under it. Good thing because once picked, there was a black spot on the bottom where the cantaloupe was against the cardboard.

Cardboard tucked under the cantaloupe kept it from rotting as it was sitting on the vine.

On the other side, a small crack had developed, about an inch long with a star-like pattern. A quick scoop of the knife and the spot was clean.

The other end had a 1-inch crack starting, which was easy to remove once fruit was picked.

Now to prepare the cantaloupe for easy eating access. I remove the peel, then cut slices into smaller pieces so the cantaloupe can be used as the base for a fruit salad or all by itself.

Cut up cantaloupe stored in refrigerator makes for a delicious treat any time of day.

You bet I save the seeds, only this time I will store them to deliberately plant them next year!

Charlotte

October Gardening Chores

Fall is a good time to scope out where garden structures will add support for nearby growing plants. I can’t relocate or kill this wild grapevine so now up it goes! (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

October Gardening Chores

It’s going to seem odd but it is now time to start enjoying garden bounty. With the longest 2018 spring in Missouri recorded history, produce is appearing in my garden. Finally.

1. From cherry tomatoes, onions, a variety of herbs and a volunteer cantaloupe, I don’t have much to gather this year but I will enjoy what I have. Besides harvesting, this is the time to freeze extras for later use.

2. Pick herbs before they have flowered to capture the full flavor. I also wait until after they have flowered and cut the new herb sprouts to dry for later use. Except for basil. A little packrat took all of my basil drying in my garage. I caught and relocated the pack rat and am now waiting for more basil to grow.

3. Start pruning and checking for any hitchhikers on plants that are coming inside for winter. To cut down on leaf drop, bring plants in a month before turning on the heat, which is usually early October.

4. For single plants in separate pots, consider combining them, watering well and the bringing them inside. Even if they only last for a couple of months, they will help to extend the growing season.

5. Water. Perennials, established trees, evergreens and azaleas need one inch of water a week. Water into the ground so the water hydrates plant roots. Keep watering until our first hard frost. For USDA hardiness zone 5d, that is usually around Halloween.

6. Stop fertilizing and pruning. Wait until January-February after the plants are dormant and you can better see their form.

7. If you have trees with fungus or other issues, collect those leaves and burn or bury into the ground. I leave most of my leaves on flower beds except for diseased ones, don’t want to spread that fungus.

8.If you haven’t cleaned up flower beds of spent plants, here’s your last chance to gather seeds. Birds will take the rest after frost. Leave the rest to clean up in spring. By then, most of the greenery will have broken down and become part of the garden mulch.

A volunteer cantalope grew in my berry patch this year, the vines weaving over an arbor. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

9. Plant spring bulbs. Add a little bone meal at the bottom of the hole to slowly feed the bulbs. Plant bulbs close together if you don’t mind digging them up in a couple of years to separate. If you would rather not, give them some space in between. Mark where you planted them so you don’t dig them up next year when planting something else.

10. Leave the falling leaves where they are. If you are worried about your grass, run the mower over them. 11. Plant trees and bushes; make sure to water daily until frost.

12. Leaves return Nitrogen to the soil and make a wonderful amendment to flower beds and help retain moisture.

13. Stop long enough to enjoy the beauty of fall as leaves turn, native plants bloom and temperatures turn crisp and cool. A hot cup of tea sounds good about now!

Charlotte

Lily Pad 2.0

Norman the frog hanging on to the side of the blue escape shelf now in one of my ponds. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Lily Pad 2.0

One of my favorite sounds to hear in my garden is that of frogs. I love the deep resounding notes of the bullfrogs and the melodious drawn out chirping of spring peepers before they jump back into the water or hide under water lilies as I walk by.

As I was going to a yard sale last year, I spotted something I thought my frogs might use, a blue escape shelf normally placed in swimming pools. If a wild animal falls into a pool there is no way for it to swim out safely so these escape shelves are designed to attach to a pool corner for a safe exit.

I don’t have a pool but I do have a small pond so I installed the shelf earlier this spring thinking it might come in handy if a turtle or rabbit fell in.

I now have two “frogs” in my little pond, one on each side of the tiny watering hole. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

For the past 3 months, the escape shelf has been occupied by a young bull frog. All day, actually, from when I go out in the morning to feed the goldfish to before sunset when I wrap up garden work.

I walk by him a good few dozen times, dragging all manner of items - shovels, pick axes, boxes of plants, water in buckets, swinging the garden instruments over the pond to clear the small walking path. The frog - I have named him Norman - sits on his new blue lily pad, unflinching.

A few times he may reverse direction, or scoot up closer to the edge of the escape shelf but rarely does he jump into the pond.

This is typically how Norman spends his days in my pond, sitting on the blue escape. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

I stopped the other day to say good morning as I was feeding the fish. No response. No movement, his little green back still turned towards me as he sat.

One of my cats prefers to watch a mouse game on my cell phone and birds singing on my laptop. I suppose it only makes sense that now a frog would prefer an escape shelf to the traditional lily pad.

Charlotte

Visiting Spring Bulbs

Missouri bulbs gifted to my brother in bloom settled into their Virginia flower bed.

Visiting Spring Bulbs

The anticipation was exciting and it had nothing to do with Christmas. My brother in Virginia was doing some garden remodeling and asked if he could send back some of the daffodil bulbs I had gifted him over the years. That way the bulbs could visit "home" for a couple of years and once his new flower beds were ready, the daffodil bulbs could make the trip back to their new garden spot maybe with me in tow. Well, no maybes about it, I will be returning with the bulbs, our family loves nothing more than to spend time together in the garden.

Need you even ask was my original answer. Actually I brought a suitcase full back when I visited earlier in fall and already had those settled in. During that gardening time together, we had discussed whether I should set up a special garden beds for the bulbs.

After much thought, my brother said no, "I'll just go shopping when I'm ready," meaning he will browse my garden and pick out the daffodil bulbs he wants back when he's ready. I suspect he will also be checking out another favorite perennial, day lilies. He’s never been very interested in tulips, and neither have I. Mice tend to snack on the bulbs and most tulips don’t bloom well the second year except for one tiny patch that has now bloomed for several years in a row at the side of my driveway.

I didn't hear much for several weeks. then my sister-in-law broke the news that two boxes were heading my way, and they weighed 70 lbs.

How many bulbs in 70 lbs, I would ask. No one seemed to know including my gardening friend Tom. "Oh, you're in trouble now," was his only answer so I decided not to worry about it until the boxes arrived.

Two boxes of bulbs from Virginia weighing 70 lbs ready to vacation in my Missouri garden.

The boxes were intact and undamaged so I peeked inside the bags. Surprise, there were more than just daffodil bulbs.

The daffodil bulbs had decided to start growing.

Spring bulbs sprouting need to be planted in the ground so roots can keep bulbs fed.

Another bag has iris rhizomes so those will be tucked into a flower bed and heavily mulched until spring. After they get established, they will be moved to their final garden spots next fall.

To plant, I will add compost to the bottom of the planting holes along with bone meal so the bulb roots will have access to nutrients. They already have a head start since all bulbs have roots and some green shoots.

Although the green tops may be nipped once cold weather moves in, the daffodil bulbs should settle in for winter and continue to store food in the bulbs for use when they bloom in spring.

Settling daffodil bulbs in ground mixing soil with compost, then watering after they are covered.

The temperatures for the next week are forecast to be in the 60s so good time to get all of these visitors settled into their temporary accommodations.

Welcome home, daffodils!

Charlotte

Fake or Real Christmas Tree?

My favorite kind of Christmas tree, outside, living and covered in a blanket of snow!

Fake or Real Christmas Tree

When I married someone who wanted to go out into the woods to cut down a tree to decorate, I frankly balked. As a gardener who regularly planted trees, the thought of cutting one down for a mere few weeks didn’t make sense so we compromised. One tree could be cut down as long as we planted one to even the score.

Since then, there’s been an interesting shift in terms of what is considered to be environmentally friendly. Today using cut trees is considered eco-friendly because they are a renewable and biodegradable natural resource.

Real Christmas Tree Benefits

On average, it takes about seven years to raise a Christmas tree to marketable size. During that time, it is absorbing carbon dioxide and filtering the air and releasing oxygen. It is also providing watershed protection and habitat for birds and other wildlife. Christmas trees are also planted and raised as a crop by tree farmers. Unlike other row crops, a Christmas tree plantation remains green and growing year-round. If there was no market for real Christmas trees, that land would probably be developed for something else so there’s something to be said for keeping another piece of land in a green strip.

The artificial Christmas tree that stays out all year around, this time of year in my kitchen, surrounded by vintage salt shakers in the shape of dolls, teddy bears and trains.

In contrast, artificial Christmas trees are made primarily of metals and plastics, which are all non-renewable resources. The plastic material, typically polyvinyl chloride (PVC), is a potential lead source. The potential for lead poisoning is considered high enough that California requires a warning label on all artificial trees made in China, and an estimated 85 percent of artificial trees are made in China. Additionally, these trees must be transported 8,000-plus miles to their U.S. destination, which emits additional CO2.

On average, an artificial tree is used for seven years before it ends up in the landfill. Regardless of how many years it is used, it is still going to end up in a landfill far longer. In contrast, a real Christmas tree can be composted, submerged in ponds for fish habitat or made into wood chips.

I still contend a tree should be planted for every one cut down, even ones cut from tree farms.

Artificial Christmas Tree Option

Although these artificial tree use are national averages, they are not typical for my family or friends. Ou artificial Christmas trees have been used for closer to 25 years including surviving breaking in kittens and frisky cats. 

Now there are a couple more good uses for artificial Christmas trees. My 18-year old cat Margaret used to like to climb the family Christmas tree so she would get one all her own, without lights or ornaments, tied to a post. Somehow she knew it was hers and would spend hours underneath it napping or waiting for someone to walk by she could ambush with a paw, or jump on moving feet.

Now that she’s older she still likes to nap under the Christmas tree so artificial trees make nice cat toys. She’s no longer interested in climbing so the extra tree top is becoming a door wreath.

Margaret has also turned the tiny artificial Christmas tree I have in my kitchen into her equivalent of a dinner bell. When I'm not paying the attention she thinks she deserves, Margaret will climb on the stool next to my kitchen island and nudge the little Christmas tree sitting on the silver platter until it falls over. Do I think she does it deliberately? Now what do you think?

Artificial trees can also be made into swags, wreaths andgarlands, and you can hang one upside down and join the latest Christmas décor trend. Or let your cat do it for you.

Have a very merry!

Charlotte

Forget Something?

Because some days one just doesn't know what to do with a long white tail.

Margaret Cat Fall Cat Nap

Friends and family know Margaret cat well, she has been my life buddy going on 18 years now. An alumni from the local animal shelter, she was found as a kitten in a cardboard box on the side of a county road with her legs duct taped together so she couldn't get out.

She was smart even then. As the story goes, she saw the shelter dog mascot running around. She figured out how to open her cage so she could get out, too.

I adopted her minutes before she was scheduled to be killed because the animal shelter supervisor didn't like cats and was tired of trying to keep Margaret locked up.

At my house, her inquisitiveness and intelligence is encouraged. If she sees something out of a window, she will come to get me to let me know I should follow her and see what is outside. She wakes me up every morning, is the last one to tuck me in at night.

Margaret is part Siamese, which means she has long legs and that deep voice. And yes, she likes to talk. Sometimes she has a lot to say about life in general, or what the other cats have been doing, especially if I have been gone for any time. In other discussions, she is clear about something she needs, like an ear scratching. She is most eloquent when she decides its time to go outside for a walk around the deck; she prefers that I come with her so she can end the tour sitting in my lap. When I'm running late, she keeps my priorities straight and reminds me to feed her.

This particular day, I was starting to move my deck plants inside for winter. Some are large trees on metal caddies, a messy process dangerous to small animals with dangling appendages who like to stay close to me. Before I started, I tucked Margaret into her favorite napping basket in a sunny window and we discussed the schedule for the rest of the day. Napping was high on the list.

Once I thought she was settled in, I grabbed the broom and started to leave. Something made me turn around. 

That tail.

I suppose if I thought I was a little person in white fur, I might forget I had a tail, too.

Charlotte

December Gardening Chores

Hopefully by December we will have a hard frost and flower beds can be mulched to keep soil temperatures even. I pile oak and hickory leaves on mine, or let leaves fall where they may.

December Gardening Chores

The calendar says it’s the end of the year but it doesn’t seem like it yet, leaves are hanging on trees and I’m still sneaking tiny mum bouquets out of my garden.

As soon as a hard frost hits, it will be time to mulch, not before. Mulching maintains the soil at an even temperature. During winter, the point of mulching is to keep plants in hibernation. If you still have leaf piles, move those into flower beds, those will easily make good mulch.

I live in USDA's zone 5b, the growing belt of the US. To mulch trees, make a well around the tree trunk and leave an area the width of a tire between the tree trunk and the mulch. When mulching, don’t pile mulch up to the trunk or you will create an area for diseases. Leaving a little moat around the tree also reduces girdling.

Any broken branches and limbs? Get those trimmed before ice hits, or before someone runs into them visiting for the holidays. You know where they are but people knew to your property are bound to run into them.

Have empty pots, garden carts, rakes leaning against the side of the house? It’s time to clean them off and store them for the season. The rakes, in particular, you don’t want to step on the tines and hit yourself on the side of the head.

Leave the dry flowers for now. Birds will eat the seeds and the dry greenery will provide protection for the young shoots growing at the base of the plant.

Did you plant mums this fall? Remember to water mums every couple of weeks this first year. Once they make it through their first winter, mum roots will become established and won’t require regular watering through winter.

This is a great month to collect dried flowers for decorative outside wreaths. These gray additions are long-bracted wild indigo branches. (Photos by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

If you saved seeds, this is the time to make sure they are marked and stored in a dry, cool place. Some people store them in a refrigerator. I use an old ice cooler in my garage to keep mice from snacking on the bags through winter.

Still have trees you haven’t planted? There’s still time so get them in the ground and water well.  If you are getting a live Christmas tree, dig the hole now so you can pop it in the ground right after Christmas.

Let tap water settle overnight before using on house plants. Tap water can be too cold and may have additives that need to evaporate before being exposed to indoor plants. I fill my recycled milk jugs and let them stand overnight before pouring on inside plants.

Make sure to make notes in your garden diary for next year projects, I seem to remember them this time of year as I am putting things away.

Have bulbs ready to bloom through winter? Paper white narcissus, hyacinths and Amaryllis  are all good choices to bloom when it’s cold outside. The first two can also be permanently planted outside and Amaryllis are repeat bloomers. I love gardening, even in the middle of winter, don't you?

Charlotte

Saving Zinnia Seeds

Saving a few of my favorite annual flowers, zinnias, for planting next year.

Saving Zinnia Seeds

Missouri weather this November has been typically mercurial only more extremely so. Mornings with record lows, then afternoon temperatures are sunny and warm. Or one day it's no warmer than in the mid 20s and the forecast for the next day is in the mid 50s, as it is for this Thanksgiving.

As I was filing up the bird feeders with sunflower seeds this morning, wearing a winter jacket and gloves, I decided not to wait until it was warmer to collect a few seeds of my favorite annuals, zinnias. I planted these late again this year so they didn't bloom until early September but when they did, it was a wonderful addition of color to my fall garden.

Of all of the available annuals, zinnias are by far my favorite annuals to plant. They grow quickly in almost any soil, are hardy in most conditions and offer a wide range of bright colored flowers that are favorites of both butterflies and bees.

I found one of my zinnia patches tucked away to the side of one of my walking paths, the plants themselves already nipped by cold temperatures. I had my garden tool set with me so it was easy enough to cut off the seed heads to dry out for a couple of days in a paper-towel lined basket before storing in a marked paper bag in a dry cabinet for next year.

Do they all sprout again? No, but enough do get a start that it's worth saving a few. Besides, just having the seeds saved reminds me to plant them earlier and to be thankful for everything my garden gives me every year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Charlotte

Frog Showdown

This large ceramic frog met her match with one of the Missouri's native green frogs.

Frog Showdown

Frogs are among the bell weather species. After years of working with biologists, I know that frogs in ecosystems, or the lack of them, are a sign of the health of that collection of plants and animals that depend on each other for survival.

If just the number of frogs in one area is any indication, my little corner of the world is very healthy. I have a lot of frogs living in my one-acre limestone hillside, especially around two small ponds I built to fill in holes that once held driveway concrete.

One morning, as I was heading out for a walk, I spotted the showdown between one of my green frogs and the newest addition to "Froggie Bottom," what I call the pond area in memory of one of the metro stops where I used to work in Washington D.C. 

The ceramic frog had sat at a garden center for years. Finally marked down on sale, I brought it home to keep my other ceramic frog company in the pond area, not giving any thought to how the real frogs would react to the new arrival.

As I rounded the corner, it appeared there was a stare off between the ceramic frog and my resident green frog.

Green frogs, Lithobates clamitans, look similar to a bullfrog but are smaller and have a ridge of skin along the sides of the backs, from behind the eyes to midbodies. Also according to Missouri's Department of Conservation, green frogs may vary from green to greenish tan to brown, with the upper lip and head usually green. There may be faint dark spots on the back, and the legs usually have indistinct dark spots or bars.

Adult males have a bright yellow throat.  The call is an explosive “bong” that sounds like a loose banjo string.

There are two subspecies of green frogs in Missouri. Northern green frog (L. clamitans melanota), described above, and bronze frog (L. clamitans clamatans), a smaller, brownish or bronze frog with yellow lip and head, which is restricted to the southeastern part of the state.

See the green frog now? I have dozens of them living in these tiny ponds.

Who won?

Well, the ceramic frog is still holding her ground.

Charlotte

Tractor Commute

Who said there is only one way to get to a meeting?

Tractor Commute

It was an absolutely beautiful fall morning as I headed north to a meeting near our state capitol, Jefferson City.

As I do every day, I chose my something different for the day as the route I usually take. Turning the routing over to my iphone, I followed the back roads through the rolling fall color-covered hills and fog-covered valleys, enjoying the new route without checking the map every few seconds to make sure I was on the right road.

There were tiny towns I never heard of, and some that were familiar but I had never visited before. I was traveling through after the busy morning commute so only a few school buses lumbered past me, and a truck or two.

By the time I arrived at my meeting destination, I felt like I had meandered through several story lines.

My meeting was at a demonstration farm, a lovely setting at the top of a hill with cows serenading us at one side, chickens roaming on the other side. As I pulled into my parking space, I saw the parked tractor.

Now there was a story I wanted to hear!

Charlotte

Watch the Birdie!

This is a Bird of Paradise flower from a gardening friend who auctioned the plant off.

Watch the Birdie!

Earlier this year, I bid and won a Bird of Paradise plant, (Strelitzia reginae), also known as crane flowers, one of the most beautiful exotic flowers, from a fellow master gardener. Originally from South Africa, I remember seeing these striking flowers all over Honolulu, Hawaii when I worked there with the US Navy.

It can take 5 years before the plant has its first flowers, depending on growing conditions. This was a plant started from seed.

The plant I won needs to be cut apart so my gardening friend let me cut off one of the flowers to enjoy. Excited to have this lovely flower home the same week snow was in the forecast, I put it in a flower vase in my kitchen so I could see it while I was bottling honey.

One of the rules I have in my kitchen is cats, especially inquisitive, trouble-in-the-making yellow cats, are not allowed on the kitchen counters, including the center kitchen island. When I came back to the kitchen with my camera, guess who I found not only standing on the center island but giving the Bird of Paradise flower a closer look?

Shirley Honey where she should not be, on the kitchen island getting a closer look at the flower.

Shirley Honey likes to watch birds outside my living room window but this is not a good bird-watching spot, even if the flower is called a bird of paradise.

After moving her off the counter and finishing my dishes, I found her in her window seat in the den, looking forlorn. She's actually in her favorite spot ready to watch a bird, or lizard, or me go by.

This is a cat perch one of my brothers built out of PVC pipes and canvas. I added an old pillow sham for winter warmth for my 18-year old cat but Shirley Honey has claimed this as her favorite sunning spot.

Shirley Honey in her window seat waiting for a lizard, or bird to walk by.

Watch for the birdie from there, Shirley Honey!

Charlotte

10 Fall Bulb Planting Tips

Garden centers offer a wide variety of spring blooming bulbs for fall planting. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

10 Fall Bulb Planting Tips

Fall is the time to get spring-blooming bulbs in the ground. You will find a wide variety at your local home and garden centers from tulips and daffodils to grape hyacinths and crocus. The following are 10 fall bulb planting tips to make your bulb planting easier:

1. Check for spring bulb sales by early November. Many places want to make room for holiday items and start discounting packaged bulbs. As long as your ground isn't frozen, you can plant spring bulbs until mid-December. Most spring flowering bulbs need 8-12 weeks of cold weather conditions to set bloom.

2. Gently press through bulb bags before purchasing to make sure the bulbs haven't dried up. You want plump bulbs that have stored energy.

3. Pick up a bag of bone meal to sprinkle on the bottom of the area you have dug up to plant bulbs. Not easy to find, all of our retailers had packed their regular bone meal away. No need to buy the variety marked "organic," bone meal is a natural product.

4. Place bulbs in the hole at the appropriate depth - there usually is a chart on the back of the package. Crocus should be planted 3" deep, most daffodils and tulips 5-6," 

5. Place the bottom of the bulb at the bottom of the hole. If bulbs move and fall over or are planted upside down, the growing stalk will weave around and grow towards the sun but the flower may bloom close to the soil line.

6. Not sure where to plant? Take photos of your spring garden so you can look back and identify the possible areas to plant more bulbs. I also make notes to remind myself to dig up bulbs I want to move next spring.

I have photos of my garden in spring to remind me what is planted where.

7. Daffodils and tulips bloom in three main stages in USDA Zone 5b: early, along with crocus; mid-season, when the eastern Redbuds are in bloom and late season, when peony greenery starts to grow. Pick bulbs that will give you flowers through all three stages.

8. My experience is bulbs keep to their original blooming stages the first year or so. With our climate changing so rapidly and erratically, bulbs have bloomed at odd times these past few springs so it's hard to say for certain what will bloom when after the first year. I do know the pheasant eye jonquils are still one of the last spring daffodil-relatives to bloom.

9. When planting crocus and tulips, two of my personal spring favorites, plant where mice can't easily get to them, especially through mole tunnels. Moles don't eat the spring bulbs, they tunnel through gardens looking for grubs. Mice use the mole tunnels to access bulbs for winter food.

I have tulip bulbs now planted in raised flower beds not easily accessible by moles and had a lovely long tulip display earlier this spring. It inspired me enough to buy a couple more bags of mid-season tulips to add to the area for a little pop of red when my native wild columbines are in bloom.

There are more than 20,000 different daffodil species, all deer-resistant and hardy.

10. Have too many wildlife visitors? Then plant daffodils. There are literally thousands of varieties, all of them hardy and deer-resistant. If they can grow in my limestone-covered hill, they will grow anywhere!

What tips do you have for spring bulb planting?

Charlotte

November Gardening Chores

Pile falling leaves on flower beds for winter insulation and returning nutrients to the soil.

November Gardening Chores

I survived moving all of my potted plants inside but just barely, had to escort the usual hijackers back outside – praying mantis, lizards, several garden spiders and one baby mouse.

1. Now that we are all settled inside, I am still moving potted plants around to give them optimum light conditions. My heat isn’t on yet so although the first frost for USDA zone 5b is a few weeks away, this should give the plants time to adjust and not drop so many leaves when the furnace kicks on.

2. Leaves have also been making their way onto flower beds for mulch and a layer that hopefully decomposes into soil over the next few years. I will be adding wood chips from our local recycling center after the first frost.

3. If you want to plant, or move trees, this is a good time to tackle that job. I prefer planting into final spots in spring so my seedlings are now in pots and heeled into the nursery garden bed. That will give me all winter to decide on their final destination.

4. It’s been very dry so remember to water. An inch a week is a good measure, especially for woody plants, such as azaleas and evergreens. When watering, check for damaged branches and remove. Once winter ice moves in, the ice will cause more damage than necessary on those weak and damaged limbs. I take pruners with me so I can also trim out suckers and branches that are too long, especially along where I regularly walk. No point in putting that off until later when the ground is covered in ice and snow.

5. If you haven’t done so already, this is a good time to empty out most of your composters. Most likely candidates to get the new rich soil amendment includes asparagus and strawberry beds.  I also added compost to my deck pots to get them ready for my next crops. I still have red onions growing so I may scatter some lettuce and spinach seeds.

6. Still need to mound my rose crowns with 6 inches of soil or so before the first frost. I have mounds of mulch already piled nearby to scatter on the plants after I add a layer of leaf mulch for extra insulation.

7. My purple coneflowers bloomed well this year so I have trimmed a few seed heads to plant in my nursery bed next year. The rest I leave for winter bird food.

8. Zinnias are finally in bloom. A bit late but that’s because I planted the seeds late earlier this year. I need to get them in the ground much earlier next year. Other annuals such as impatiens will winter over inside in hanging baskets.

9. Have grass to mow? You should be on the downside of the mowing seasons. Make the last cut when you see grass has stopped growing. Let clippings lie where they’ve been cut to restore Nitrogen to the soil. Have fun mowing over the leaves to shred and move them to flower beds.

Cut your remaining garden flowers to enjoy in an inside bouquet.

10. All spring-flowering bulbs planted? Me, neither, just found a bag of bone meal to add to the bottom of the holes. Should have all of those in the ground shortly, though!

Charlotte

Frankenstein Cat

This is Boo Boo before he dashed outside and met up with - well, we're not sure just what!

Frankenstein Cat

I had no intention of adopting this cat. Someone had dumped him in the Presbyterian Church parking lot, where I saw him for a number of weeks darting under cars early in the morning. Not sure if the local animal control officers tried to catch him or not but he was young and fast so not a surprise if they tried and were not successful.

One morning as I was leaving the parking lot, I realized I was the last car parked so I opened the driver's side door to see if I had a cat under my car. Next thing I knew, he had climbed into my car and was sitting on the passenger seat, purring up a storm and so happy to have someone petting him.

After a quick vet visit where he got his shots and a check-up, Bartholomew went home with me until I could find him a permanent home. I have lost count of the hundreds of cats that have gone through my house over the years as fosters but there comes a point where one is emotionally exhausted from the constant goodbyes. 

So Boo Boo Bartholomew Trouble - he earned all of those names - is now a permanent fixture in my house. He still likes to go outside for short walks in the garden with me, checking the flower beds and running back to me in between for some head pats. This particular warm night end of summer, he dashed out the garage door as I was taking out the garbage.

I called for several minutes but he didn't come back inside. Every hour or so I would wake up, go outside and walk around my garden calling him. By morning, I thought he was either run over or lost so I made another garden tour calling him. I found him under a bench on the back side of the house, his fur on his scruff missing and one quarter-size area on his right side with fur missing. He was not himself, growling and hiding once I put him back inside.

The next day, I had to leave him at the vet for what I thought would be a couple of stitches for the small open spot on his side. The vet guessed Boo Boo must have walked into a raccoon, possum or armadillo that attacked him, there were claw marks on the missing fur spot.

When I picked him up the next day, I was startled to find he had stitches down half his side. The vet assistant said once they shaved him, they found several other spots that needed stitching so they cut them out and stitched all of them up in one straight line - Frankenstein cat, as one of my neighbors now calls him.

Boo Boo home from the vet looking like two cats stitched together, just in time for Halloween!

Within a day he was back to his old antics, including - you guessed it - wanting to go back outside for a garden walk. Crazy cat...

Charlotte

Mixing Mums

These two mums are keeping the last little pink rose of the season company.

Mixing Mums

One part of my one-acre hillside garden is finally back in order. The flower beds under the driveway retaining wall are getting re-populated with a variety of perennials including chrysanthemums I started earlier this spring.

Several of the mums I planted were also gifts from a gardening friend last fall, colors unknown.

In part of my garden, I planted some starts next to established mums, assuming I would move the starts later. Now I'm not so sure, I love the combination of the white, daisy-like flowers against the deep burgundy ones.

The daisy-like white mums got some burgundy neighbors earlier this year.

Before I had a chance to move the new burgundy mum starts, another clump of mums bloomed downhill. This clump was quite a surprise, a combination of several different colored mums including yellow, orange and pink.

I was going to try to separate them but then decided to leave them. I like the color mix. Besides, the plants are established and I don't want to risk loosing them through another winter.

This combination of three different mum colors formed a mound in one of my lower flower beds.

Around the corner, another nice little colorful combination of pink and yellow.

I was wondering why I was so comfortable with these color combinations when I realized this reminded me of choosing fabrics for some of our custom quilt projects, especially the custom thrown kids clothes quilt. I often walk through my garden to get color-combination-inspired and here was another suggestion, or two...

Another mum combination turned out to be yellow and pink mums growing together.

What a fun idea to mix the mum colors, I may just keep this going. 

In addition to the eye-catching color combinations, now if I want to take a little sprig of flowers, they won't be so missed!

Charlotte