Arbutus Cleanup

This is our first patch of transplanted Arbutus.  Our goal was to reestablish this native treasure in a natural setting.  The visible tree trunk is a White Pine that provides a new layer of fallen needles each summer.  Their thick coating allows generous amounts of sunlight to reach the low growing plants while their decay deepens the highly acidic soil layer that is so beneficial to Epigaea repens.  If nothing else grew nearby, these plants would likely make it on their own underneath their protective wire cage.  Yes, a galvanized wire cage is not natural but the sheer number of hungry rabbits or woodchucks here may not be natural either.

Unfortunately, the small Oak trees growing nearby are now huge and their shed leaves form a thick layer that totally blocks out sunlight.  No Arbutus plants would survive the winter if kept in the dark.  One solution would be to cut down those trees but that seems extreme.  Still the Arbutus will not survive if kept in the dark.  Those leaves would possibly blow away in the wind but the wire cage keeps them trapped.

 

It was above 60 degrees F today so the time seemed right to clean up this mess.  Down on hands and knees is the only safe way to pick away the fallen leaves.  Pain is ever present and getting up is not graceful.  No fall accompanied this work but several bobbles were seen.  The wire cage fits inside of the low stone wall so that it cannot be pushed aside.  The four interior stones were placed to give me a handhold to reach distant leaves.

An old blog post featured a photo of a young plant sporting reddish buds.  The text identified this as the from seed plant that grew here following transplantation.  That plant and the four moved here have formed a dense mat preventing me from finding the plant that grew from seed.  If we remember to look for pink flowers when winter ends we may finally find it.  Other plants have reached the edge of the cage.  Our plan is to try once more to root cuttings.  We now have three different strengths of rooting compound so success may finally find us.  We certainly are looking forward to the end of winter despite its failure to find us yet this year. 
 

December Cleanup

Lasting snowfall found us early this year.  Tasks that are normally completed in early December were hidden beneath the snow.  When warm days and clear skies finally returned we had a chance to get some of the needed work done.  Arbutus is a native wildflower that might be expected to make it on its own.  These plants were moved here and placed in a location of my choosing.  That left me responsible for seeing to it that favorable conditions prevail.  This spot under a white pine tree seemed perfect.  Pine needles decay producing the very acid soil necessary for Arbutus growth and this ground was near the driveway.  Small detours when getting the mail allowed frequent visits to these plants.

Also nearby are several oak trees.  Oak leaves also decay into highly acid soil but they remain whole for a long period of time.  My concern is that oak leaves will totally block out sunlight denying Arbutus leaves the light that is necessary to keep the plants alive.  So on a pleasantly warm day, the protective wire cage was set aside and the oak leaves were singly picked up and moved away.

In a rather short time, a large number of evergreen leaves were exposed to light.  The fallen pine needles were left undisturbed since a pine needle cannot block out sunlight.  There may be some protection from severe cold by the layer of freshly fallen pine needles.  When the leaves were gone the wire cage was returned thereby keeping rabbits and others from feasting on our Arbutus leaves.

Arbutus is an evergreen plant but we had no knowledge about the expected lifespan of a single leaf.  Since nothing lives forever, we wondered how long it would be before we saw naturally dead leaves on out transplants.  We still do not know the expected lifespan of an Arbutus leaf since the pictured dead leaf did not die a natural death.  A thick mat of oak leaves covered the dead leaf.  The half dead leaf was partially trapped under the totally dead leaf.  It is quite possible that these leaves died as a result of being smothered.

Arbutus forms its flower buds late in the summer.  Being first to flower means the buds and the tender flower within must survive exposure to winter's worst.  Aside from removing fallen oak leaves, these buds were left alone.  Their location near the stone will likely produce an exceptional photo in just four months.  As the days grow shorter and the weather turns bitter, we need the promise of delightfully scented flowers in a relatively short period of time.

A Sunny Day In May, Photos By Amy

A newly transplanted and watered Lady's Mantle is a beautiful study in light, shadow, color and texture.

Here's a mass of fragrant Johnny Jump Ups to brighten an already sunny day.

Yellow Iris and purple alliums are a winning combination here!
  

New oak leaves let the blue sky show through.

With the warmer weather and sunshine the leaves of the oak will grow and change that sunshine and blue sky to cooling shade.   It was a very beautiful day to be outside in the garden.  We all enjoyed it !

Bigger Than A Mouse's Ear

There are those who say that it is safe to put in your garden when the new oak leaves are as big as a mouse's ear.  Oak trees usually hang onto their brown leaves until spring if they can, only dropping them when the new leaves are ready.  New oak leaves are frost sensitive and the tree does not like to expend all that energy to make another set of leaves.  In a year when they have to do that there are frequently no acorns.  Thoreau had faith in a seed and I would love to have faith in a tree.  That would be so simple, but not all of the oak trees agree.  This one is down by the river.  Trees up closer to the garden are not so advanced.

I do see signs of the soil temperature rising.  My favorite pink poppies, sunflowers and lamb's quarters have started to come up.   But this year the weather has been unpredictable at best.  Today has been a mix of sunshine and  dark menacing clouds.  Talk of winds, hail and flash flooding make it hard to risk our new plants.

Again tonight many of the plants you see on this wall have been moved safely into the basement.  We are going to plant these out soon.  Maybe when there's more of a consensus among the oak trees and the meteorologists we can do it.  For now we will wait!