Survivors

Rain has not visited our gardens in quite some time.  What water that we have brought to the plants was delivered in a hand held watering can.  Needless to say only a select few  were watered this way.  Neither plant featured here saw any of this water.  Different plants have different methods of surviving a drought.  Our shade providing Sumac trees drop some leaf filled stems every day.  Just how the tree selects who must fall is unknown but every morning new dropped leaves litter the ground.  There is not enough moisture to provide for all so some must go.

This Rose campion flower may define the color called magenta.  The white center is easily seen but the dark colored veins remained unnoticed here until seen in this picture.  Our original source for this plant is lost in memory.  It seems to have always been with us but now survives here strictly on its own.

A striking feature of Rose campion is the color of its foliage.  Some combination of the words grey, white or green are frequently used in written descriptions about this plant.  The combinations of color are stunning and are reason enough to keep this plant.  It chooses where to grow here and seems to prefer the edges of our stone filled paths.  Initially six inch deep trenches were filled with the stone bits sifted out of what would become garden beds.  We planned on the stone paths remaining weed free but that did not happen.  Rain washed rich garden soil into the paths and plant debris rotted down into a black colored compost because of contact with the stones.  Perhaps our richest soil can be found in the area between the planting beds and the paths.  If a plant prefers poorer soil, it can easily grow more toward the center of the path.

Rose campion usually survives our zone 4 winters perhaps because of the extra warmth captured and held by the nearby stones.  With no effort on our part, this plant appears in several different locations.  As can be seen this plant is having a banner year despite the lack of rainfall.

Believe it or not these flowers are descended from Black-eyed Susan seeds that were chemically treated to add to the plain yellow flower color.  Ours were a gift from Elle and she told us that reddish brown colors would fade in time and that new seeds would then be needed.  That was perhaps two decades ago and the stunning colors live on.  Some of these plants do produce solid yellow blossoms but we cut those flowers to prevent them from setting seed.  Our patches continue to appear year after year so some of the plants may be self seeded while others may be perennial.  New plants also appear along the edge of the stone paths.  These are easily moved to areas that need a color boost.

One year many plants displayed solid yellow petals that were lightly marked with brown.  Each petal held two parallel brown rectangles near the center disc.  Every petal in each flower held the pairs of exactly the same sized brown rectangles.  Needless to say the symmetrical order appealed to the math teacher in me.  Sadly this color sport soon disappeared and has yet to return.  The pictured plants remain constant giving us no need to buy new seeds.  These plants may represent the greatest plant gift ever given to us. Thank you Elle.

First Autumn Red

 This first photo was taken a couple of weeks ago.  A storm featuring rain and wind dropped this sumac stem to the ground.  The beginning loss of chlorophyll allowed some of the red pigmentation that was always present in the leaf to be seen.  Usually leaves in this early state of change in color are high up in the tree out of sight.  Their early trip to the ground presented us with this never before seen amazing image.  This time we were in the right place at the right time.

Yesterday this fallen cluster was found.  Individual leaves range in color from solid red to wildly striped illustrating the process of color change.  In response to diminished sunlight, both in duration and intensity, and lower temperatures, these trees blocked the flow of moisture and nutrients to their leaves.  This caused the decline in the green chlorophyll allowing the ever present red coloration to take center stage.

Sumac trees are generally seen as trash trees.  That has not always been the case as the trunk wood includes a lighter colored core that was in earlier times inlaid to accent wooden jewelry boxes.  If one can overlook their current reputation, perhaps the brightest red leaves of the season can now be enjoyed.   We were a few days late driving to these roadside ditch filling trees.  Droopy dryness detracts from the brilliant red that was stunning just recently but is still worth seeing.

The darker red leaves suggests that the change in color happened earlier  on this tree.  Sumac trees are relatively free of the dark rot so common on maple leaves.  Green trees can be seen on the ridge behind the sumac.  Their time of seasonal color is yet to come.  We know of a small cluster of huge old maple trees whose leaves turn bright orange.  We will make a detour today to see if this is their time to shine.  At the end of the season, a wooded hillside near Otselic features a particular variety of oak trees whose leaves turn purple in color.  This valley is wide and the ridge is visible for miles.  The purple colored trees spread across this forest of mixed hardwoods.  It is a sight that is well worth the drive needed to see it.

Snow Can be Beautiful

When we first found this land it provided us with four seasons of outdoor activity each year.  Now in our seventh decade there are some undesirable consequences to playing outside in the bitter cold.  Hands quickly ache and various joints firmly make their displeasure felt.  Even dressing properly can no longer be taken for granted.  I found this scenic wonder when overheating from wearing a heavy coat forced me to return to the house very early in my hike.  This area is seldom visited but was well worth seeing after the storm.

 The falling trees are sumac.  This species is short lived and these have been dead for some time.  Its really a shame that these trees fail so early in life.  Their leaves are reliably bright red each fall.  The seed clusters are also a vibrant red and they serve as bird food.  The unusual angle of these falling branches held a respectable snow load.

A closer look reveals huge sections where the bark has fallen away.  The smooth surface of the branches points to dead wood that has spent several years air drying.  If this wood was in contact with the ground, it would be covered with various life forms that speed the conversion from wood to soil.  These falling trees block a path that in the past saw occasional use.  They will likely be left as is since a new route for the path was used to take these pictures.

Closer to the ground, bark remains solidly attached.  This scar is what remains of a branch that died while the tree was still alive.  I wonder just what rounded the ends of the branch that are now sandpaper smooth?

Batterson Bower

We presently have more garden than we can properly care for so the creation of more might be difficult to understand.  A no care woodland space filled with mostly native plants is our goal here.  Since the young sumac trees have not been growing here very long, soil from our woods and bags of fallen leaves were trucked in to rot down creating a natural woods soil.

Batterson is the surname of the family that operated an inn here in the distant past.  Their business came from travelers making the trek from Sidney to Gilbertsville.  The railroad came up the other side of the valley and Mr. Batterson built a bridge across the river in an attempt to keep his inn afloat. A nearby pine covered picnic area on the bank of the Unadilla River was a popular outing destination.  The Batterson Inn was just a short walk away and he could sell food to those enjoying a day nearby.  Batterson Crossing is still recognized as the name of this spot despite the removal of the bridge almost 40 years ago.  We respectfully borrow their name for our developing garden in the dappled shade.

The large stone is intended to serve as a water source for the moisture craving bunchberry.  Warm stones gather moisture from cool night air so the area around the stone will be more moist.  The stone was also placed to divert rainfall but that water will drain away from the bunchberry.  Those plants were placed so that they were in full view.  They can always spread toward the wetter soil.

This is the view looking to the west.  Our neighbor's well tended former field begins where our sumac trees end.  A strip of bark mulch will be installed as a barrier for his grass.  It will need to be weeded and renewed but it will be effective in controlling the naturally spreading grass.

The stones in the foreground are in storage.  They will be placed to define planting areas that at least suggest a natural setting.  The bags of leaves await their trip through the mower.

There are four plants that we placed in this area.  The larger two plants with spotted leaves was gifted to us under the name trout plant.  It is actually a Pulmonaria native to Europe.  It has no proper place in a native plant garden but is  a well behaved alien.  Its flowers open pink colored then turn to purple.  How neat is that?  The spotted leaves look good for months.  It is hardy and spreads generously but does not claim large areas for itself.

Foamflower is a native that grows in our back woods.  Three newly purchased specimens complete the planting under this cluster of sumac trees.  Foamflower is described as a spreading ground cover but that is not its habit in our dry woods.  We will watch and wait to see how it grows in this location.

The leaves were collected last fall and have been stored in their plastic bags.  Two trips through our hand mower has produced a fine mulch that will not blow into our neighbor's lawn.  A winter under the snow pack will reduce these bits of leaves to a dark rich looking  soil that could have come from a forest.  We will renew the leaf mulch in the spring to smother unwanted weeds.  For now we really like the way this looks.

Brazilian Bower

The expression Brazilian bower was encountered in a long ago forgotten article about creating an elevated green space in Manhattan.  Those two words border on meaningless here but they certainly sound impressive.  This shaded space adjacent to the garden by the road is being transformed into a woodland planting.  I think of it as my Brazilian bower but those words are never spoken out loud.  Sumac leaves create a tropical appearance that more than offsets their impenetrable tangle of roots just below the soil surface.  We are removing unwanted grass growth by smothering.  Large flat stones are being placed both to increase soil moisture and to suggest the appearance of a broken stone ledge.  Bags of collected hardwood leaves provide raw material to create woodland soil and create the desired appearance.

These pink Trout lilies are native to the western United States.  They are far more suitable garden subjects than our native yellow flowered plants.  These flower and multiply while our native specie  spends years trying to reach a deep depth in the soil before flowering.  The appearance of these bulbs helps one understand their early name Dog-tooth violet.

Carefully mixed woodland soil was placed in front of the ledge stone to provide several inches of root free planting space.  After the bulb clusters were placed, a thick layer of screened leaves completed the planting.

This trip back up the hill found me admiring my work while driving.  We have found some success growing native plants in our shade garden.  Its elevated construction results in arid soil.  We hope that this ground level placement near flat stones will result in more moisture in the soil.  Deep leaf cover also retains moisture.  We hope to fill this shaded area with lush growth of native woodland plants.