*Fall is Not Easy: a colorful view of the farmlet

October 28, 2012November 8, 201228 Comments

Here on the Farmlet it seems that every fall, just when we start getting some great color, the wind comes and takes it all away. This fall was no exception and to make matters worse I find myself lame and on a walking stick. And for those who are wondering, “YES, I am going to the Dr. tomorrow because it has been a week and I am not improving.”

However, wind and lame knee aside, I decided I would give it my best shot and get out to see if I could capture what remains!

Lil’ Bit tiptoeing through the wet leaves.

A festive chicken yard

The newly revamped front flower bed.

NOTE: It used to be harder to find native plants, shrubs, and perennials, but all of a sudden the deep South is “getting it.” I am back in my element! Not all is native, but the bulk of it will be when I am done!

*Winged Sumac

This is something I have wanted in my garden for some time, but had not found a local source for it. I don’t know how it got here perhaps a bird, or the tornado storm, but it is definitely a welcome native. Do you know why she is called “winged?”

Notes from the USDA Native Plants Database: “Sumac serves primarily as a winter emergency food for wildlife. Ring-necked pheasant, bobwhite quail, wild turkey, and about 300 species of songbirds include sumac fruit in their diet. It is also known to be important only in the winter diets of ruffed grouse and the sharp-tailed grouse. Fox squirrels and cottontail rabbits eat the sumac bark. White-tail deer like the fruit and stems.
Sumac also makes good ornamental plantings and hedges because of the brilliant red fall foliage.“

One burnished tree.

This one can be viewed closer by clicking on it. 😉

~*~

Happy Autumn!

~*~

(I had fun, even if the results are less than spectacular!)

NOTES:

Today’s title “Fall is Not Easy” comes from a favorite children’s book I used to share with my little students during the season. If you have little ones Pre-K to 3rd grades (+ or -) then perhaps you would like to preview this entertaining book. Look HERE
Why is Winged Sumac ‘winged?’ Have a look at the USDA Plant database PDF – HERE and the site information HERE

Native plants support native animal populations (triblive.com)

Photo Friday: looking for weeds in all the wrong places

October 5, 2012December 12, 201242 Comments

For the past two years I have been searching for wild plants to put in my garden. They are weeds to the locals, and are often bushhogged or just simply tilled under. Yet I find them attractive and have scouted for accessible sources to bring them home to my gardens…

The tornado storms of April 11, brought some of them to me, but I continued to look for one. Goldenrod! I think it is the most beautiful thing to see in fall, and so do my bees! They drink its nectar to make stinky (think dirty rotten socks) smelling honey, and bring home it’s pollen to feast on over the winter.

So imagine my surprise when my chicken yard exploded in great yellow, plumes of the stuff!

In the photo below you will see several “WEEDS” That my neighbors would surely not appreciate if growing in their yards.

However we,

the chickens,

wild bees,

my bees,

and butterflies do. And, for all our sake, I certainly do.

And then there is the Eupatorium capillifolium…

The common name is Dog fennel, and it is sold as a background foliage plant in Europe under the name of Elegant Feather.

I am sorry, but mine is anything but elegant at the moment. All spring and summer it is upright and a lovely green, looking quite a bit like asparagus, or culinary fennel.

Usually, by this time of the year it has been cut back down to the ground. This year things got in the way, and feel I let it get out of hand. Or did I?

For the past week I have been in search of the lovely perfume in the chicken yard, which is never a place to be confused with “lovely perfume.” This morning the scent was unmistakably coming from here. Then I noticed the hum, and realized it was a bee magnet!

Buddy was busy sniffing at something in the bush, and found that out the hard way. Poor Buddy.

Here is a closeup of the Dog Fennel blooms,

and others!

Goldenrod

Hm, I have forgotten her name.

Do you know it?

UPDATE: Thanks to my Facebook friend Jodi, I was able to locate and identify my ‘salvia’ as Scarlet Sage. You can find out more about this beautiful flower HERE. Thank you Jodi!

Natural garden or front lawn horror? Neighbours feud over property (thestar.com)

Saturday Snapshots: little miss muffet ~ revised

July 14, 2012December 12, 201229 Comments

This would have been Photo Friday, but other pressing matters came first. Thank you for your patience with me as we return to our regularly scheduled programming…

**~*~**

~~Little Miss Muffet~~

The Lady of Farmlet

(with apologies to Mother Goose)

The Lady of Farmlet

began her chores,

of feeding her chicken and geese.

When along came a spider,

that stopped there beside her,

resting and looking at peace.

The lady of Farmlet

not wishing to harm it,

leaned closer and heard it say:

“Dear Lady of Farmlet

I mean you no harm,

I’m tired and have lost my way.”

So the lady reached down,

picked up that three-inch spider,

and rehomed it straight away!

The End

**~*~**

NOTICE: When this rather large spider showed up beneath the water spout in back of the house I guess it thought it was auditioning for the part of “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.” I broke it to the behemoth gently. 😉 I did not touch that Fishing Spider with my bare hands! I coaxed it into a large can with a stick and then transported it to the back fence where, when last I saw it, it was resting comfortably in a patch of wild violets.

Want to know more about the Dolomedes tenebrosus, or Fishing Spider? Look HERE