Our first in-person GARDEN TOUR is happening this month! We will be visiting a suburban home in the Tiger Point area that has so many interesting combinations of plants and purpose. Just to list a few: a habitat for birds and pollinators, fruiting trees and bushes for people, a vegetable garden, a wooded area of native trees and shrubs, and a water feature.
Our hostess, Nicole, is a wonderful photographer, and her backyard is the background for photos of many species of birds, plants and people. Nicole will guide our tour, and afterward we will enjoy refreshments and a chance to talk or ask questions about the garden. I hope to see some of you there. We are limiting this in-person tour to ten people. Please register (click the picture to access PayPal) to join us!
It’s officially spring, and what a beautiful spring! The azalea blooms were glorious this spring: the bridal wreath was a fountain of white blooms; the fringe trees (or Grancy Greybeard) is like a cloud. The oak tassels are the flowers of the oak trees. Those oak trees are blooming like crazy!
Most of this display comes as a reaction to our strange winter temperature, and our snow. When seasonal conditions are out of the ordinary, or damage occurs from a severe storm or hurricane, plants respond with a greater reproduction rate: more flowers, more pollen, more seeds. This genetic reaction serves to continue the species.
So much is leafing out right now and so much is blooming! A favorite tree for me is the ashe magnolia (Magnolia asheii). I have two in the yard and one growing in a pot. This beautiful native tree is rather rare in our area —- I have only seen them growing wild on a trail off Choctaw Field Road in Santa Rosa Co. They have huge, soft leaves and very large fragrant flowers, white with purple centers. On a sunny site, they tend to grow upright, but in a shadier area, they are sometimes broad and multitrunked.
The ashe magnolias in my yard are in bud, and the other one growing in the pot is already blooming. You can’t see it in the picture, but there are several small beetles on the flower. Magnolias are one of our ancient plants — growing on earth for 95 million years, long before bees and butterflies evolved. So, all species of magnolias are pollinated by small beetles.
According to Ben, our resident entomologist, there are two families of beetles that pollinate magnolias: sap beetles and tumbling flower beetles. I really like the thought of the “tumbling flower” beetle! What a lovely way to spend a life — tumbling from soft flower to fragrant flower, and back! It turns out that the beetles on my ashe magnolia are sap beetles, and that’s OK too. They are harmless, and working hard to give us more ashe magnolias!
I’ve never had much luck with bearded iris in this area, but the Louisiana iris are budding and blooming beautifully this year. These iris are mostly wild hybrids of native iris, found in wetlands across the South. Louisiana iris like consistently moist growing conditions (or irrigation). In the summer after they spring bloom, the new leaves have less height, about 6”. But in the late winter or spring, right before blooming, the leaves grow to 12” or more, the flower stalk even higher! The blooms have deep color — many shades of blue or purple, but they can also range from orange to red, and pink. (One of our favorites at the shop was a variety called “Red Velvet Elvis” — it was a show stopper!)
Several of the native plants that bloom here in early spring have blue flowers — lyre-leaf sage, spiderwort, blue-eyed grass. Almost all blue blooms are pollinated by bees. Bees see blue more than other pollinating insects, having developed photo receptors that include paler colors. And bees are particularly drawn to blue flowers because they carry a lot of pollen.
Butterflies can “solar collect” heat by basking in a sunny place, but bees can generate their own heat by wing movement. This allows bees to operate in cooler temperatures than some other insects. It always amazes me to see the connections in nature: pollen-rich, blue-flowered plants bloom in early spring when temperatures are cool —blue flowers are visible to bees— bees make their own heat — bees are attracted to the pollen —blue flowers are pollenated by bees. Neither the bees nor the plants can operate without each other!
I’m starting to see more and more butterflies as it warms up: lots of yellow and black giant swallowtails, spicebush swallowtails, sulphers, red admirals (one of the first butterflies to visit, and not usually seen much in our area after early spring). For hot weather insects like butterflies, red and yellow flowers are the most attractive. Flower shape also plays a role in pollination. A trumpet-shaped flower makes it easy for long-tongued hummers and large butterflies; a daisy shape allows butterflies to conserve the energy they would use to fly, providing a landing pad to feed; bees can fit inside bell-shaped flowers. There are flower shapes for every kind of pollinator.
In the veggie garden, my beans are up and growing; the squash, peppers, and cucumbers are planted. I’m harvesting all the lettuce in my veggie garden. I’ve had an amazing crop, but it is starting to “bolt” now that the weather is getting warm. The lettuce plants are sending up a tall stalk with flowers. After it blooms and is pollinated, the lettuce will produce seeds, then die, leaving the seeds to carry on the species.
The spinach has already bloomed, and the collards are about to bloom. This means it’s time to start the warm weather veggies. When the lettuce and collards come out of the garden, I will start to plant the “hot weather” veggies: okra, field peas and butter beans. (And gourds!)
Okra seeds germinate quickly if they are soaked overnight before planting. That softens the seed coat so the rootlet can quickly emerge. Okra is such a beautiful plant, related to hibiscus with a showy flower. This year I want to experiment and plant some okra in my other flower beds, maybe with some black-eyed peas to climb them.
Gardeners usually plant vegetables together to attract pollinators from plant to nearby plant. Easy harvesting is also a benefit of near-by planting. If I plant the okra in a flower bed, I might just get a pretty flower bed instead of veggies. I’ll let you know what happens…..
Most of my vegetable garden is in raised beds. I use plastic tubs 2’ x 3’ designed to mix masonry cement. These tubs are 8” deep and they sit on concrete blocks to a height of 16” to 18” (no bending or stooping required). Raised beds can also be made with a wooden frame or concrete blocks to hold the soil. Galvanized tubs or troughs can be filled with soil to grow vegetables or other plants. That makes the gardens easier to reach and care for. What to use to fill raised beds is a frequent question.
Because of the high humidity in our area, drainage is important. So, drain holes are necessary, and well-drained soil is needed. In large raised beds, regular fill dirt (the reddish-colored sand) is a good base. Fill the bed to within 5’” or 4” of the top with fill dirt. Add organic material such as bagged compost or your own compost, plus mushroom compost to a depth of 1”- 3”. The mushroom compost provides the nitrogen that vegetables need, but if you are using soils other than fill dirt, we recommend a mixture of bagged soils: top soil and composted cow manure in equal measure, to fill the bed within 6” of the top; 2”- 3” mushroom compost; and 1” of fine pine bark. (The pine bark should be aged, or the decomposition process will rob nitrogen from the plants.)
The pine bark is added for extra drainage. Well-drained soil seems contradictory to most of us — it seems like if the soil holds more water, the better off the plants will be (and certainly the gardener would save effort). The plant roots are pulling moisture from the soil that carries the dissolved nutrients that feed every part of the plant. Then the excess water is released through the leaves. Too much water in the air (humidity) makes it hard for the plant to release the water. Sometimes a plant that is over-watered has withered, yellowed leaves and looks very thirsty. But actually, it may be drowning.
Vegetables usually need extra fertilization to produce. Mushroom compost will usually supply enough for one crop, if it is fresh. Organic soil amendments (compost, manures, leaves, cotton meal, etc.) will quickly bring the soil to life by bringing in all the soil organisms and worms to break down the organic material into nutrients used by the plants.
In a raised bed or a container, this process is more synthetic. The soil organisms have been removed from the bagged products, so these beds are less self-sustaining. Smaller raised beds may need a little help from a timed-release fertilizer. A 16-16-16 formula covers all the bases. This is usually different from fertilizer found in pre-fertilized potting soil. Often the difference will be found in the amount of nutrient added. Sometimes the above-ground part of the plant looks robust, but the root system might not be getting what it needs to support the top growth. Or if a plant stops growing, it may be that the fertilizer in the bagged soil has been depleted. If you add a complete formula in the right amount, you are giving the whole plant something to grow on.
When the soil layers are in place in your raised bed, the fertilizer should be lightly sprinkled over the bed. Then turn the soil with a shovel or garden fork to make sure all materials are thoroughly incorporated. Water until the soil is moist, but not wet and you are ready to plant. The soil in raised beds will need to have more organic material added with every re-planting, as the previous materials decompose.
Don’t forget our first GARDEN TOUR Sunday, 4-13-25, from 1PM- 3PM! Join us to tour a yard in the Tiger Point area. We will tour this back yard paradise with a wooded area, vegetable garden, fruit trees, plus plants and a water feature that attracts birds and butterflies. Our guide will be Nicole. She and her family have created this paradise in a suburban backyard. After the tour, refreshments will be served while we share our questions and impressions about the garden. This event is limited to 10 people. Please click the picture below to access the signup page. Participants will be contacted with the address.
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