What a glorious weekend of weather we had. The temperatures were just right, the sunshine was golden and the breezes gentle. After being forced to stay indoors for most of the previous ten days, it was a wonderful release for me to be able to get outside for at least a few minutes each day. I wasn't really able to do anything but sit and enjoy the weather, but that was enough.
Then today the weather turned gloomy and drizzly and kept me mostly indoors again, but even that seemed perfect. How often we have longed in vain for these drizzly autumn days in our recent drought-ridden years. It's a comfort to have them return.
I say I didn't do much while outside on the weekend except sit, but I did accomplish one thing with some assistance from my husband. I refilled my empty bird feeders. I had found my garden to be eerily quiet. The birds all seemed to have fled, except for the House Sparrows which, unfortunately, never desert me. Once all the feeders were empty and no one refilled them, I'm sure they all found other sources of food.
It's an inconvenient time for the birds to abscond, though, because Project FeederWatch begins next weekend. I'll be observing, counting, and reporting the birds that show up at my feeders or to feed at the plants in my garden. Unless I can entice them back in the next few days, there won't be much to report.
I found that some other things besides the birds had changed in my garden during my absence. The big almond verbena shrub near my patio was in full bloom once again, perfuming the air with its sweetness. Likewise the Cape honeysuckle had embarked on another cycle of bloom and had set its corner of the garden ablaze with its fiery orange blossoms. And the white mistflower which I was really beginning to have my doubts about proved to me once again that patience is the essence of being a gardener. It truly looks like a white mist in the middle of the backyard.
Wonderful autumn. It is so good to be able to enjoy it once again.
Showing posts with label autumn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label autumn. Show all posts
Monday, November 4, 2013
Monday, November 7, 2011
Reflecting on the year in the garden
The autumn of one's life is a time for reflection and autumn in the life of a garden is a time for reflection, too. Whenever I look back over my life, I find that I tend to dwell more on mistakes that I've made and regrets that I have than on any paltry successes. It's the same with my life as a gardener. This year, in particular, there are plenty of failures to reflect upon and to dissect, but at least this year, unlike many years, a lot of those failures were beyond my control.
The vegetable garden, just to give one example, was pretty much a bust this year. Some of the crops, like green beans and squash, still did well and the multiplying onions still multiplied, but most of the plants struggled and finally just couldn't cope with the heat and the drought, even though I was providing supplemental water. The corn dried up before it ever produced mature ears. The tomatoes bloomed but never gave me more than a few usable fruits. Even the heat-loving peppers struggled. It was not a good year for plants living in full-sun conditions in Southeast Texas.
I've documented here before how many of my plants suffered through our interminable summer and how some of them did not make it through to fall, so I won't belabor that point again. I think we are all tired of hearing and reading about (and I know I'm tired of writing about) the drought. The point now is to review what lessons we've learned and think about how we can apply them in the future to make better gardeners of ourselves.
One lesson learned is that my use of water is unsustainable. Our water bills were astronomical during the summer as I tried to keep my plants going until the rains came. We are not rich people. We must live on a budget and so I can't continue to spend so much on water. I need to find a way to conserve and use the free water that comes in the form of rain - when it comes - and to use it wisely and economically. I also need to find better ways of delivering the water that I must pay for so that it gets to the roots of plants that need it without evaporating or being wasted. Perhaps most importantly, as I add plants in the future, I must give prime consideration to their water needs and plant only those plants that are water-wise and drought tolerant. I think it is very likely that drought is the new norm for our area, so we have to learn to live with it and accommodate ourselves to it if we want to be successful gardeners.
Thinking ahead to the changes that I want to make this winter, there's a dead apple tree to be removed and possibly a couple of trees in the front yard that could reduce water consumption there and leave more of the precious liquid for the other trees. I've been forced to concede that we probably do have too many trees in our front yard, although the concept of "too many trees" is something totally foreign to me.
There's also a new bed that I want to put in around my little pond. My long-term goal still is to have a yard completely filled with planting beds with little or no lawn and every new bed that I can put in is a step in that direction. Unfortunately, I can't do it all in one fell swoop but have to do it as time, energy, and money will permit.
And, as always, there are a few plants, although not as many as in past years, that are misplaced and need to be moved to more propitious locations.
The fall/winter vegetable garden is thriving so far and I just need to finish planting it. I have three empty beds that could provide lots of good eating through our short winter and spring, but I need to get those seeds into the ground, probably this week.
There are plenty of things to regret about this year in the garden, but I have to remind myself that there have been successes, too, and that, in fact, most of my plants have come through with flying colors. That is just the encouragement that I need as I plan my activities for this fall and winter in the garden.
The vegetable garden, just to give one example, was pretty much a bust this year. Some of the crops, like green beans and squash, still did well and the multiplying onions still multiplied, but most of the plants struggled and finally just couldn't cope with the heat and the drought, even though I was providing supplemental water. The corn dried up before it ever produced mature ears. The tomatoes bloomed but never gave me more than a few usable fruits. Even the heat-loving peppers struggled. It was not a good year for plants living in full-sun conditions in Southeast Texas.
I've documented here before how many of my plants suffered through our interminable summer and how some of them did not make it through to fall, so I won't belabor that point again. I think we are all tired of hearing and reading about (and I know I'm tired of writing about) the drought. The point now is to review what lessons we've learned and think about how we can apply them in the future to make better gardeners of ourselves.
One lesson learned is that my use of water is unsustainable. Our water bills were astronomical during the summer as I tried to keep my plants going until the rains came. We are not rich people. We must live on a budget and so I can't continue to spend so much on water. I need to find a way to conserve and use the free water that comes in the form of rain - when it comes - and to use it wisely and economically. I also need to find better ways of delivering the water that I must pay for so that it gets to the roots of plants that need it without evaporating or being wasted. Perhaps most importantly, as I add plants in the future, I must give prime consideration to their water needs and plant only those plants that are water-wise and drought tolerant. I think it is very likely that drought is the new norm for our area, so we have to learn to live with it and accommodate ourselves to it if we want to be successful gardeners.
Thinking ahead to the changes that I want to make this winter, there's a dead apple tree to be removed and possibly a couple of trees in the front yard that could reduce water consumption there and leave more of the precious liquid for the other trees. I've been forced to concede that we probably do have too many trees in our front yard, although the concept of "too many trees" is something totally foreign to me.
There's also a new bed that I want to put in around my little pond. My long-term goal still is to have a yard completely filled with planting beds with little or no lawn and every new bed that I can put in is a step in that direction. Unfortunately, I can't do it all in one fell swoop but have to do it as time, energy, and money will permit.
And, as always, there are a few plants, although not as many as in past years, that are misplaced and need to be moved to more propitious locations.
The fall/winter vegetable garden is thriving so far and I just need to finish planting it. I have three empty beds that could provide lots of good eating through our short winter and spring, but I need to get those seeds into the ground, probably this week.
There are plenty of things to regret about this year in the garden, but I have to remind myself that there have been successes, too, and that, in fact, most of my plants have come through with flying colors. That is just the encouragement that I need as I plan my activities for this fall and winter in the garden.
Monday, September 26, 2011
The color of autumn
Driving around the Texas countryside this autumn is a rather depressing activity. All along the roadways one sees dried up ponds and dead trees. Hundreds of dead trees. Thousands of dead trees.
Even when I look out my back door, I see dead trees. My old apple tree, which I've reported on here before, now appears to be completely dead. It was badly diseased and a large section of the tree - one-half of the divided trunk - broke away and fell to the ground earlier this year. The other half was still alive at the time and we made the decision to leave the rest of it standing until winter. It's a favorite perching place for the birds, and the woodpeckers, especially the little Downies, are constantly scouring its bark for goodies. I would simply leave it there for the wildlife, but I'm afraid at some point it will become unstable and, in a strong wind, it could fall on the fence between us and the neighbors.
The apple tree is not the only dead tree I see when I look across my yard. True, the apple tree is the only one in my yard that has died, and that, I think, was more due to disease than to drought. But beyond my backyard fence, the big pine trees in the bit of woods that still exist there are suffering badly. I would estimate that at least half of them are already dead and others are looking extremely stressed.
For all of these trees, the autumn rains, if they come, will be too late. It is the same with thousands of trees around the area. At the end of this drought, whenever it comes, we will be looking out on a very changed landscape, and this year, the color of our autumn is brown.
Even when I look out my back door, I see dead trees. My old apple tree, which I've reported on here before, now appears to be completely dead. It was badly diseased and a large section of the tree - one-half of the divided trunk - broke away and fell to the ground earlier this year. The other half was still alive at the time and we made the decision to leave the rest of it standing until winter. It's a favorite perching place for the birds, and the woodpeckers, especially the little Downies, are constantly scouring its bark for goodies. I would simply leave it there for the wildlife, but I'm afraid at some point it will become unstable and, in a strong wind, it could fall on the fence between us and the neighbors.
The apple tree is not the only dead tree I see when I look across my yard. True, the apple tree is the only one in my yard that has died, and that, I think, was more due to disease than to drought. But beyond my backyard fence, the big pine trees in the bit of woods that still exist there are suffering badly. I would estimate that at least half of them are already dead and others are looking extremely stressed.
For all of these trees, the autumn rains, if they come, will be too late. It is the same with thousands of trees around the area. At the end of this drought, whenever it comes, we will be looking out on a very changed landscape, and this year, the color of our autumn is brown.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Autumn reflections
Autumn is a time for reflections - on life as well as on the garden. It's the time of year and the time of life when we are most able to look back over the year in the garden or over our lives and see what has worked out well, or where we have made mistakes and what we can do to correct those mistakes or at least to keep from making them over and over again.
As the leaves fall faster and faster around us, we are forced to think about the passage of time and how gardening is a bit like life itself. As gardeners, we experience life in its full circle every year, from planting and reproduction in spring right up through death in winter, and yet, as gardeners, we know very well that nothing - nothing - ever really disappears from the earth. The tree that disappears from the forest or from our landscape may no longer be recognizable as "tree", but it is still there. Its atoms and molecules may be changed, but Earth and its natural processes will not suffer it to be lost.
Our planet is a closed system and everything that was ever here is still here. The dinosaurs may no longer walk the earth (although some of us believe their descendants fly around it every day) but they are still here. Their molecules have been changed and have migrated into some other form, but nothing is lost. Nothing is ever wasted.
As gardeners, we amend the soil and plant. We water and fertilize and prune - yes, and water again. We are witnesses to the constant changes throughout the gardening year, and, if we take the time to think about it, we can see those changes reflected in our own lives as well. For there, too, we amend the soil and plant and water and fertilize and prune. We strive to learn and grow as human beings, to prune away bad habits and bad thoughts and to fertilize and encourage good ones. We are always seeking to make our lives blossom and to achieve that perfect form which only we can see.
One learns to garden by gardening, but, in a very real sense, one can learn to live by gardening as well. The lessons of the one translate well in facing the problems and vicissitudes of the other. Gardening as a metaphor for life seems very plausible to me on this perfect autumn afternoon of reflections.
As the leaves fall faster and faster around us, we are forced to think about the passage of time and how gardening is a bit like life itself. As gardeners, we experience life in its full circle every year, from planting and reproduction in spring right up through death in winter, and yet, as gardeners, we know very well that nothing - nothing - ever really disappears from the earth. The tree that disappears from the forest or from our landscape may no longer be recognizable as "tree", but it is still there. Its atoms and molecules may be changed, but Earth and its natural processes will not suffer it to be lost.
Our planet is a closed system and everything that was ever here is still here. The dinosaurs may no longer walk the earth (although some of us believe their descendants fly around it every day) but they are still here. Their molecules have been changed and have migrated into some other form, but nothing is lost. Nothing is ever wasted.
As gardeners, we amend the soil and plant. We water and fertilize and prune - yes, and water again. We are witnesses to the constant changes throughout the gardening year, and, if we take the time to think about it, we can see those changes reflected in our own lives as well. For there, too, we amend the soil and plant and water and fertilize and prune. We strive to learn and grow as human beings, to prune away bad habits and bad thoughts and to fertilize and encourage good ones. We are always seeking to make our lives blossom and to achieve that perfect form which only we can see.
One learns to garden by gardening, but, in a very real sense, one can learn to live by gardening as well. The lessons of the one translate well in facing the problems and vicissitudes of the other. Gardening as a metaphor for life seems very plausible to me on this perfect autumn afternoon of reflections.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
A gardener's week - #7
The early part of my week was spent in College Station absorbing as much information as I could from my Landscape Design course. This is a four part study course and this week's session was the first of the four, but the parts can be taken in any order.
The course was absolutely packed with information which just made me realize how ignorant I am on the subject. There were lectures on the historical roots of landscape design and on public landscape architecture and design. And there was a highly entertaining and thought-provoking lecture by Dr. David Creech of SFA and Mast Arboretum in Nacogdoches about his work in China. Apparently, the Chinese are very advanced in their horticultural techniques.
But the greater part of the course dealt with planning and designing the private home garden and, of course, that is what I was there for.
Dr. William Welch of Texas A&M, Dr. Neil Odenwald of L.S.U., and Alan King, ASLA, a professional landscape designer in private practice in the Brazos Valley all spoke to us about and showed us examples of home landscape design.
I learned from Dr. Odenwald that certain design principles are basic to the creation of a landscape:
1. Proportion and scale: Proportion refers to the general relationship among parts. Scale refers to size as related to the human figure.
2. Balance: Gives design stability - actual and visual.
3. Dominance: A dominant idea helps create focus and unity in a design.
4. Rhythm: Relates to movement or perceived movement.
5. Contrast: The addition of components that are in opposition to one another adds vitality to a landscape.
In addition, these design elements are the building blocks of our designs:
1. Line: The edge of form. It provides definition and direction to a design.
2. Form: Physical mass. It is three-dimensional while line is two-dimensional.
3. Texture: The surface qualities and relationship among sizes. Texture is comprised of both tactile and visual sensations.
4. Color: Results from how light is either being absorbed or reflected.
Dr. Oldenwald showed us many visual examples of these principles and elements and invited us to visit his website, OnlinePlantGuide.com to see more than 15,000 illustrative images.
Well, as you can imagine, by the end of the course, I was reeling with all the facts and ideas I had tried to absorb, and I headed home to try to apply them all.
Have you ever noticed that regardless of the weather conditions, weeds are going to thrive? I'll bet you have and so have I, but I was again reminded of the fact when I got home. No rain, but the weeds had completely taken over and I had one big mess! So I've spent the rest of the week trying to repair that mess.
I did find one happy surprise when I got home. My fellow blogger, UrsulaAndres, had sent me some white Texas Star hibiscus seed. It's a plant I've been wishing for and now, thanks to Ursula, maybe I'll have some of those lovely white blooms in 2011. Or maybe 2012.
One disappointment I felt as I was pulling weeds this week was that there just don't seem to be as many butterflies in my yard as I'm used to seeing at this time of year. There are a few Gulf Fritillaries around and some of their larvae are munching on my passion vine now and, occasionally, I see a swallowtail of one kind or another. But overall, the population - except for Sulphurs - seems down. Also, I've yet to see a Monarch butterfly in my yard since early summer. If ever they do turn up here, thanks to another blogger friend, Butterhummer, I have plenty of butterfly weed to offer them. I am longing to see those orange and black beauties in my yard once again.
We can now count on the fingers of one hand the number of days until autumn, that favorite season of the year for many of us, begins. Just a month ago, it seemed this time would never arrive.
The Southern magnolia seeds are ripening and changing color. That means that autumn is almost here!
The course was absolutely packed with information which just made me realize how ignorant I am on the subject. There were lectures on the historical roots of landscape design and on public landscape architecture and design. And there was a highly entertaining and thought-provoking lecture by Dr. David Creech of SFA and Mast Arboretum in Nacogdoches about his work in China. Apparently, the Chinese are very advanced in their horticultural techniques.
But the greater part of the course dealt with planning and designing the private home garden and, of course, that is what I was there for.
Dr. William Welch of Texas A&M, Dr. Neil Odenwald of L.S.U., and Alan King, ASLA, a professional landscape designer in private practice in the Brazos Valley all spoke to us about and showed us examples of home landscape design.
I learned from Dr. Odenwald that certain design principles are basic to the creation of a landscape:
1. Proportion and scale: Proportion refers to the general relationship among parts. Scale refers to size as related to the human figure.
2. Balance: Gives design stability - actual and visual.
3. Dominance: A dominant idea helps create focus and unity in a design.
4. Rhythm: Relates to movement or perceived movement.
5. Contrast: The addition of components that are in opposition to one another adds vitality to a landscape.
In addition, these design elements are the building blocks of our designs:
1. Line: The edge of form. It provides definition and direction to a design.
2. Form: Physical mass. It is three-dimensional while line is two-dimensional.
3. Texture: The surface qualities and relationship among sizes. Texture is comprised of both tactile and visual sensations.
4. Color: Results from how light is either being absorbed or reflected.
Dr. Oldenwald showed us many visual examples of these principles and elements and invited us to visit his website, OnlinePlantGuide.com to see more than 15,000 illustrative images.
Well, as you can imagine, by the end of the course, I was reeling with all the facts and ideas I had tried to absorb, and I headed home to try to apply them all.
Have you ever noticed that regardless of the weather conditions, weeds are going to thrive? I'll bet you have and so have I, but I was again reminded of the fact when I got home. No rain, but the weeds had completely taken over and I had one big mess! So I've spent the rest of the week trying to repair that mess.
I did find one happy surprise when I got home. My fellow blogger, UrsulaAndres, had sent me some white Texas Star hibiscus seed. It's a plant I've been wishing for and now, thanks to Ursula, maybe I'll have some of those lovely white blooms in 2011. Or maybe 2012.
One disappointment I felt as I was pulling weeds this week was that there just don't seem to be as many butterflies in my yard as I'm used to seeing at this time of year. There are a few Gulf Fritillaries around and some of their larvae are munching on my passion vine now and, occasionally, I see a swallowtail of one kind or another. But overall, the population - except for Sulphurs - seems down. Also, I've yet to see a Monarch butterfly in my yard since early summer. If ever they do turn up here, thanks to another blogger friend, Butterhummer, I have plenty of butterfly weed to offer them. I am longing to see those orange and black beauties in my yard once again.
We can now count on the fingers of one hand the number of days until autumn, that favorite season of the year for many of us, begins. Just a month ago, it seemed this time would never arrive.
The Southern magnolia seeds are ripening and changing color. That means that autumn is almost here!
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