Sixty Planted

Today the first sixty garlic cloves were planted.  Usually their planting date corresponds with my Father's mid October birthday but with the early heavy frosts it just seemed right to get the cloves into the ground.  Susquehanna White and Guilford Purple Stripe were the chosen varieties.  These varieties will not be found in any catalog as they are locally grown and named.  We discovered Susquehanna White at a hidden from the road organic garden stand.  A more perfect spot could not be found.  A south facing slope gently rolled down toward the D&H Railroad main line and the mighty Susquehanna River.  I have never before been envious of a garden location.  Guilford Purple Stripe was grown by a retired pharmacist that lived in Guilford.  It has a different growth habit than the rest of our varieties and is used to visually separate the other varieties.  Four by ten and two by ten is the general planting scheme.

This shows the remainder of the bed that will be planted over the next several days.  Another section of fence that is rotated 90 degrees was placed over the two pieces shown.  Since it was needed to close in the garden it is now tied to the fence posts.  All of our beds are five feet wide and our method of push a hole then skip two before pushing the next hole gives us ten plants per row.  The spacing for the rows is push a hole then skip four before pushing the next hole yielding twenty-two rows. 

This unknown to us Aster was just discovered growing near the Arbutus plants.  We plan to carefully dig it from the ground and move it into a garden spot.  Transplanting at this time of year is not usually done since Fall planting frequently results in frost heaved plants.  We must remember to cover it with a cage since the deer eat garden grown Asters to the ground.  The unusual color of the flowers is what drew me to this plant.  Asters are a huge family of native plants and we will try to find the name of this one.  Ed's Delight may have to suffice.

This is our second group of transplanted Arbutus.  We have found that the soil under White Pine trees suits Arbutus.  This is the time of year when the evergreen tree sheds its needles.  New growth pushes the old needles away so the tree always looks green.  Many of these fallen needles will be hand picked so that the Arbutus leaves receive enough sunlight all the winter.  I never realized that native plant gardening required so much work.

 This native New England Aster consists of but a single stalk.  The recent frosts ended many of the Goldenrod flowers leaving asters as the food source for late Monarch butterflies.  Deer left this wild plant alone but heavily feed on the same variety placed in my gardens.

Second Season Native Plants

It is easy to understand the wild eyed excitement over the emergence of early spring native flowers.  Seeing just which ones survived another winter is guaranteed to stoke a fire in the heart of any gardener.  By mid September, with weeds in general control, the asters spark renewed interest for many.  Literally hundreds of asters are native to North America and their proper identification is way beyond our skill set.  The first picture features an aster growing close to the edge of our driveway.  The books are off the shelf while we look for a possible name for this attractive plant.

 
New England Asters are common here as ditch weeds.  Road crews mow them down and still they  flower on stems less than one foot tall.  A group planted in front of our home tower over me.  Deer are fond of their taste and many of our cultivated plants have been deer trimmed.  My only complaint about their work is that the top of such plants are totally flat.  Some roundness on a trimmed bush can be very attractive.

This is another wild plant growing next to the lane.  Its leaves are dark green and the flowers are tiny.  We have yet to find a proper name for this plant.  Last fall we moved several asters into our garden.  We felt that controlled growth would help us identify these plants.  Unfortunately the resident deer found them and ate them.  A cage was placed to cover the remains and enough recovery followed so flowers should soon be seen.

This aster looks like a Robin's Plantain flowering way out of season.   Few of these are here and we simply must intervene and try to help it along..

Light blue petals on a newly opened flower set this plant apart from the rest.  The photo shows a leaf growing around the stem rather than just extending outward from it.  This is typical of other asters.

Here we have a wild New England Aster fighting for existence in a sea of Goldenrod.  We find this combination of colors attractive and intend to copy it in our new garden.  Since Goldenrod overwhelms all other plants, we will give the asters several years of controlled growth before we introduce the Goldenrod.  The final outcome is certain but we have a limited number of years remaining in our stewardship of this land.  We will get to enjoy the color combination with purple overwhelming yellow.

This patch of a small flowered white aster is more than holding its own.  A piece of this clump was moved into our garden last fall.  It is recovering nicely from the deer pruning and we are looking forward to see just how much new ground the transplant has claimed.  We are able to transplant native plants successfully but must then cover them with wire cages to keep hungry animals at bay.  That is a contradiction that we must simply live with.

Undervalued Asters

In our area, asters fill the roadside ditches with beautiful flowers at this time of year.  So placed they are subjected to mowing by road crews.  This assault is taken in stride and those plants are presently in flower just on shorter stems.  The purple flowered plants are named New England Asters.  Purple is an admired color here so we have a wild ditch weed planted in the garden in front of the house.  Wild plants frequently have only a single stem but when placed in rich garden soil large clusters of stems follow.  These have held this ground for years and division would again be in order.  The question of where to plant the resulting divisions is one of the obstacles preventing responsible care of these plants.

One of the issues here is the height of the untended plants.  The long lower stems are now filled with dead leaves.  Without something shorter growing in front, the dead leaves are unsightly.  We did manage to prune the plant in the foreground.  Following the trim the plant looked ridiculous but it looks great now.  It would be sound planning to try and trim all of these plants early next summer.

This is a natural color mutation of a New England Aster.  For years I lusted after plants like this in the ditches next to the road to Norwich.  I was tempted to stop and dig one but that would have been a violation of the law.   Finally a single stemmed plant with this color flowers appeared on our land.  This cluster has been divided and we now have four plants just like this one.  Additional divisions need to be made but first new ground must be prepared for the resulting plants.  We are going to need a lot of new ground.

This plant grows alongside of the lane leading to the back acres.  Moving it has been considered but it remains where nature placed it.  If this plant's location was marked now, we could move it when new growth first appeared next spring.  It would be interesting to watch this wild plant respond to cultivation.  Perhaps next year will find this aster growing in an easier neighborhood.

This aster is growing among the pasture grass near the back woods.  The problem of separating the aster from the grasses has kept this plant growing in the wild.  There is no way that I will risk introducing more pernicious grasses into the gardens.  At the very least this plant would be required to spend a year or two in clear ground to make sure that all of the grass roots have been removed..

Our East Gate of the stone square has been temporarily closed by a Summer Sweet and a modified aster.  October Sky is the name of this aster variety.  Its natural tendency to grow tall has been replaced by an eagerness to grow wide.  A tiny mail order plant has given us three huge plants.  This one clearly needs to be divided again.

It seems that plants that are difficult to grow are prized while these easy to grow ones are largely passed by.  An aster garden is seen by many as one small step above cultivated dandelions.  Other's opinions have never shaped my actions and a larger aster garden is in the works.  These common weeds also serve a vital function now.  As the Monarch Butterflies are getting ready to fly south, few flowers remain to provide them with food at this critical time in their life cycle.  It pleases us to see butterflies feeding on our asters.

As September drew to a close, the wind shifted to coming from the north and the temperature dropped.  It appeared that the butterflies had begun their migration taking advantage of the air moving in the direction that they need to take.  Several factors impacted the Monarch population here this summer.  Sightings were common and that has not always been the case.  The number of butterflies on or near this aster is high.  They had to share the food with both yellow butterflies and bees.  Collisions were common resulting in short flights.  All quickly returned to the aster flowers to feed.   Our season has clearly changed and the number of Monarchs feeding on our plants made this day truly memorable.

Warm February Day

This has been an unusual period of unseasonably warm weather.  Last night's overnight low temperature remained above 50 F.  We may see more than 70 F during the day today.  The White Pine tree sheltering these Arbutus plants kept the ice from forming here.  Snow cover was also thin so these plants are fully exposed to indirect sunlight despite their placement on a north facing slope.  The flower buds formed last fall will soon open releasing the wonderfully scented white flowers.  Yes, we are excited by the promise of what will soon be here.

A less pleasant reality presents itself just down the hill.  A ditch has been established to carry away running water but it fills with plowed snow and ice.  That sends melt water into the lane and substantial ruts result.  The five foot long pry bar with a blade tip was used to attack the ice.  An open section of the ditch and sore shoulders resulted.  Water worked its way under the remaining ice and the driveway surface is not in horrible shape.

Believe it or not this is a picture of great success.  A water bar was formed across the driveway to direct the water that runs down the hill in the direction of the Cardinal Flower.  That first patch of brown snow resulted from the water that was directed and held there.  Cardinal Flower transplants are close by that water.  This spring the water bar will be repaired and expanded.  A depression will be dug to increase the water holding capacity of the area.  Cardinal Flower prefers moist soil and we will try and make that happen somewhat naturally.

Standing water is seldom seen here because of the deep gravel deposit that lies just beneath the soil surface.  When frost fills the soil, water retention is the result.  We do not recall ever seeing this much water here before.  The town road is the high ground here and the water that ran down our hill is trapped.

Reflections on the water's surface create an unusual and attractive scene.  We were fortunate to get these pictures yesterday as the frost has left the ground and all of the water seeped away.  We did walk here this morning to check on the status of our plants.  The water was gone!

Close by we found this New England Aster already underway with this year's growth.  Its purple flowers with yellow centers are months away but we can certainly see another new beginning here today.

September Splendor

We have been having warm sunny days and walking around outside in the garden has been truly splendid!   For someone who has purposely loaded the garden with nectar plants preferred by butterflies and their caterpillars these are the best of times.  Most of the time butterflies take off when you walk by or even if your shadow passes over them.  Just one click of the camera  usually sends them off.  Sometimes they speed past directly in front of you.   The beautiful creature you see here is a Painted Lady butterfly, Cynthia Vanessa.  I have seen painted ladies here before, but never so many as this year.  Several years ago it was Red Admirals that were so plentiful.  Their caterpillars practically ate all the stinging nettles to the ground!

This Painted lady is enjoying the October Skies asters in front of the house.  All of the asters are having a magnificent year and these purple beauties are one of my favorites!

Many of the blooms on my butterfly bush have gone past, but the ones that are still blooming are fragrant and welcoming.  There are four Painted Ladies in this photo.   Each one sits on a plume of pink flowers except for the one that is flying and I think just about to land.

This amazing clump of  Malva sylvestris is in the same bed as the butterfly bush.  I am lot more accepting of the holes in their leaves now that I know mallows are a favorite food of painted lady caterpillars.  We still see some Monarchs, Sulfurs and others, but this year the Painted Ladies have made for a splendid September!

Natural Planting

Only the brilliant red flowers at forest's edge were planted by us.  Everything else is here with no human action of any kind for many years.   The area was plowed as a field or used as cow pasture in the distant past.  The Cardinal Flower may naturally reproduce in this location since we searched for a spot that had everything that this plant requires.  An occasional spring seeps water into this area.  The shade of the bedrock ridge delays the arrival of warm days as winter ends.  Late snow cover may help these plants avoid the ravages of bitter frosts.  We will likely find eighteen daughter plants growing where these three plants grew.  As next summer builds we will look for new plants from seed that may appear as a result of this moist ground.  We find those prospects exciting.

This is one of the recently discovered new plants from seed.  They were placed in pots to see how they responded to being ripped from the ground.  A shaded location and frequent watering have them in excellent condition.  Fall transplants usually do not survive here but these plants have considerable time to put down roots in their new location.

This is hardly a natural looking location but we are doing everything possible to help these plants survive and reproduce on their own.  This is river-bottom ground and it is much warmer here than up the hill.  River fog frequently washes away frost before it has a chance to really form and damage plant leaves.  That should lessen the impact of frost on these plants.  Stones store both heat and moisture.  Cardinal Flower requires both to survive.  A little work on the driveway will divert rainfall runoff in the direction of these plants.  Partial shade from the nearby sumac trees will make this a more gentle location.

These three times chopped leaves finished the planting.  Their job is to smother weeds, retain moisture and decay into a more natural woodland soil.

The triangular shaped rock and I have a history.  The farmer working the land that borders ours places stones removed from the field on the aged stone wall that serves as a boundary.  A huge visually interesting rock was part of the newly dropped stones.  Despite the landowners permission for us to harvest stone here, there was no way that this stone could be moved.  Hammer and wedges split the stone into several slices.  This top piece was walked up the hill to the gravel bank.  That journey required several days since my periods of hard physical exertion must be limited to avoid cardiac episodes.  Several flip overs moved this stone to the top of a temporary wall.  Today the stone was easily moved down into the lawn cart.  The final move was accomplished easily.  The stone will last for years and we hope that the Cardinal Flower can survive in this location.

The area behind the stones is scheduled to be transformed into a no care planting of native plants.  The first New England Aster is in place.  It will be joined by Black Eyed Susans, Anise Hyssops and more asters.  First we need to beat back the invasive field grasses.  That task needs to be completed soon or our new natives will simply be overrun.

New England Aster Color Change

New England aster is without question a wild flower.  It is described as a native plant in many places and we prefer to think of it that way.  Somehow working with a native plant carries with it a hint of magic.  This treasure grows along side of the roads here in great number.  That common occurrence and possible characterization as a weed in some people's minds does not diminish this plant in our eyes.  We have it throughout our gardens.  Some of it we planted and some is self sown.  This first picture features our compost pile.  Two asters were in the way during spring planting and they were placed on the compost pile until we could find them a proper home.  They have been joined be a self sown pumpkin.  Wind toppled the asters but they care not.  This mass of purple flowers is beautiful.

In general, the asters serve as a fall food source for many insects.  This bee like bug is new to us and we do not know its name.  For most of the day clusters of aster flowers are densely covered with foragers.

We also do not know the name of this insect.  Most impressive is the size of its pollen load.

This combination of purple asters and yellow goldenrod just happened in a neglected corner of the garden.  We have a spot down by the road that could profit from a similar planting.  Now grass clippings are in place there to discourage the quack grass.  Its white underground runners will be removed before the asters are planted.  Wild occurrences of asters frequently feature plants with but a single stalk.  They seem unable to hold the upper hand in competition with other invasive plants.  When the asters are well established and the quack grass appears to be gone, we will add goldenrod to the planting.  Left untended, the goldenrod will displace the asters but we intend to meddle to help the asters hold space.

Over the years we have frequently seen pink asters growing alongside of the road.  We have resisted the temptation to steal with great difficulty.  Two years ago a single stem on a small plant produced pink flowers in a garden bed.  Marked and tended, the plant grew in size.  This spring six divisions were taken.  Three were planted down by the road and two were planted in a bed near the house.  A wire cage kept the deer from eating here but was recently removed so that the flowers could be enjoyed by us in a more natural presentation.  It may be that the deer feed on asters only early in the year.  Pruned plants still flower as do the roadside plants that are mowed down by the highway crew.  Garden specimens would benefit from from intentional cutting back.  Left alone, they approach four feet in height and the lower leaves blacken.  One of these years we will give some of these gorgeous plants the attention that they deserve.  This year even with our dry conditions, they look pretty great!

Roadside Asters

Asters and goldenrod provide much of the wild flower color at this time of year here.  We drove far out of our way today to revisit this stand of New York Asters.  It is by far the most impressive group of these flowers that we have ever found.  A small stream winds downhill alongside of the asters.  Their requirement for ample moisture is satisfied by this stream and its presence may explain the size of this group.  Beautiful in their own right, they pale by comparison to our next subject.

New England Asters are also common here growing alongside of roads.  Where roadside ditch water if frequent, their displays are impressively large.  If they grow in a dry meadow, a single stalk is frequently seen.  Their combination of purple and yellow appears to me as the perfect flower.  These photo subjects were moved into the garden long ago.

Given rich garden soil they soon display huge plants tenaciously holding onto a large area of the planting bed.  Frequent division is required to keep the clumps under control.  If one remembers to pinch them back, a more proper mound of color can be created.  Our herd of deer tend to this task in random locations.  We often promise ourselves to attend to pinching back next year but frequently overlook this important job.  Perhaps next year will be the year we see controlled flowering.

This is a naturally occurring color sport of a New England Aster.  We frequently see them growing wild alongside of the roads.  So far we have resisted successfully the temptation to harvest  someone else's beautiful plant.  This one was found growing in one of our meadows.  It was moved into the garden.  With luck, we should be able to take divisions next Spring.  This plant is a genuine treasure.

There are several different varieties of wild white asters.  We call this a Snow Aster but place no faith in the accuracy of our identification.  This specimen is low growing alongside of our lane.  We have other white asters that reach more than four feet in height and are invasive.  This plant may be limited in size by its location in gravel washed from the road.  There is still much to learn here.

A hard frost will end aster season but with luck we may be weeks away from the killing frost.  As a last source of pollen, these flowers are also popular with the bees.  We will all enjoy them while we may.

When we pulled off the road to take the first picture, we disturbed a Great Blue Heron that was working in a pool in the stream.  It flew up directly in front of us with little distance separating people and bird.  These massive birds are truly impressive as they gracefully but powerfully gain altitude.  The pickup truck following us barely passed beneath the rising bird.  Seeing the bird safely pass behind the trees added to the special sights of this day.

Worth A Closer Look

After hard rain during the night, the garden remained wet today.  With the rain we are finally getting some green beans.  It's really not a great idea to pick green beans when the plants are wet, but if you take a closer look, there is another obstacle to moving the fence that surrounds the green beans.

Dripping wet but looking good, a monarch butterfly chrysalis hangs from the wire fence.

After the rain the Autumn Joy sedum has flattened out.  The weight of the water adds to the weight of all those flowers.  Their fragrance is heavy in the air.  It is not a scent that I find appealing.

A closer look at the sedum reveals a "Marge Simpson " spider and her web.  She has been there for several days and seems to find it a good hunting spot.

Fall is the time for lots of  purple and yellow composite flowers in the garden.  New England asters and Rudebeckia triloba add more than color to the garden.  They provide pollen and nectar for the bees that will be used to make food needed this winter.

A closer look reveals the tiny yellow flowers that open a few at a time, giving the flower the maximum amount of bloom time to produce seed and giving the bees the maximum amount of time to visit.
At first glance there is a lot to see in the garden, but if you just stop to take a closer look, you can see so much more!

Gone to Seed

The garden is filled with interesting seeds and seed pods. Here Chinese forget me not seeds have captured milkweed seeds. I'm afraid this is one plant we will wish we had deadheaded. If we brush up against them  the little round seeds are so sticky that Ed and I have to take turns picking them off each others clothes . These seeds are made to stick to any critter that passes by.

New England asters have pretty soft brown seeds.

All of the  poppy seeds are long gone. Some eaten by birds and some planted by the wind. I know when the ground warms next spring my pink poppies will return.

I really can't see that there are any seeds left in this bee balm seed head. It still makes an interesting picture.

These sumac seeds will attract birds to the garden this winter.

Most of the hollyhock seeds are gone. They have been either eaten or planted.

I would not want to have to count the tiny seeds on the stinging nettles. Some might think that allowing stinging nettles to grow here is foolish, but Ed and I both recognize the plant when we see it and it is the food plant for Red Admiral butterflies and others.

The sunflowers have been stripped clean by the birds, but birds are messy eaters and I'm sure the sunflowers will be back too.

For the first time in my memory every black locust tree you see here  has seed pods this year. With all the rain the pods seem to have a black mold on them even as they remain attached to the tree.
 

 Ed has been clearing the beds preparing them for spring planting. No seeds are visible here, but I know they are there waiting for spring and their chance germinate.