Luck Holds

I have been struggling with my sweet bays since 2010.  I worked hard to try to save them, but this fall, following the advice of a professional, I sent my bay trees to what I thought was an icy death  in the brush pile.  I wanted closure and given the cold weather and frosts we have had, I thought I had it.  Today Ed took pictures of the sweet bays.  Instead of dropping their leaves and dying like any well behaved zone 7 plant might do, they are making new leaves.

Of course the new leaves still have the disgusting disease is that caused me to ostracize them in the first place.  They are lucky to have survived December, but I will not weaken.  Smart gardeners grow healthy plants and  discard the sick ones.  I'd like to think I'm getting smarter!   I would like to think Ed is getting smarter too.  If not I hope his luck holds.  His confession, story follows.

Three highly invasive plants are slowly but surely taking over our abandoned fields.  They are blackberry briers, a rose introduced by the NYS Conservation Department to control erosion and Japanese Honeysuckle.  Since winter has not yet found us, uprooting honeysuckles seemed like a good way to use this day.  Using the Ford Ranger as an anchor for the cable winch and the pry bar to wiggle loose the far ranging roots, five of these monsters were pulled from the ground.

A pry bar is a simple machine capable of producing great force.  Some precautions are required for its safe use.  Thumbs should be always aligned with fingers when grasping the bar.  If the thumbs wrap around the bar, a sudden slip can easily dislocate a thumb or two.  The bar should be solidly placed to prevent slipping before force is applied.  A sudden slip could have caused trouble today.

A head high spindly honeysuckle should have been easy to remove.  Its roots were massive running several feet in various directions.  Many roots had been forced clear and the bush was on its side.  I was trying to roll it to finish it off.  Without warning the bar slipped launching me into the air flying over the bush, clearing it by at least a yard.  Instinctively I landed in a front somersault followed by a feet high half twist that brought me gingerly to the ground.  Flat on my belly facing the bush I felt no pain.  I could not believe my luck.  Approaching birthday 69 is no time for such antics.  Serious injury could have been my lot today.  Still, I cannot believe my luck.  During the vault my ankles were not touching and my toes were not pointed so gymnastic  judges would have scored my move not much more than my age.  Not likely to get smarter, I must rely on luck and instinct.  Still, there is no pain but I suspect several aches find me come morning.

Happy to Start a New Year!!!

December in the garden has been warm and cold. What little snow we have had has not lasted long. The garden has been experiencing freezing temperatures at night in the twenties or sometimes in the teens. During the day the sunlight  melts the snow and softens the ground. White remains only in shaded locations. The plants in the garden have to deal with the constant change of freeze and thaw. It looks like a pretty snow covered garden photograph will not appear this year.

My focus has shifted to indoors and my "lush" house plants. I have never been really terrific at caring for house plants. I am usually content to get the plants through the winter . Most years things go pretty well. There are always a few dead plants to compost, but most of the plants get by fine. This year it has been a battle. The enemies have been spider mites and scale . My plants have been getting their soap and vodka spray. They are running up a considerable bar tab. These are definitely not the kind of lush plants I would like to have. For now the spider mites seem to be gone. You can see from the shiny leaf on my bay tree that the scale is still with us.

My curry leaf plant still has scale too. If you compare it an earlier photograph, you can see it is losing more of its leaves and the battle.  I'm thinking one more shot of alcohol for New Year's Eve, but when 2012 gets here this curry leaf plant may find itself out in the cold. The sweet bays will surely get a reprieve. They seem to be holding their own and waist high bay trees are not as easily replaced.

House Arrest

It is time to accept reality and move our tender plants indoors.  This location inside of the entry door that we never use has proven to be our best location for over wintering plants.  We have other locations with better light but the moving air currents are stronger here.  A high ceiling combined with heaters on both sides of the landing really move the air.  Since this is the best location, only the most favored plants get to spend the cold seasons here.

Three rosemarys line the left wall.  For some reason I thought obtaining a golden rosemary was a good idea.  Golden leaves look like dying  leaves so this plant always looks like it is on its way out. It's walking a thin line, because any plant that begins to look unwell loses this prime location. Two sweet bays, a tuberose, the patchouli and two lemon grass plants complete the group. Here in zone 4, tender plants get a six month sentence indoors. There is a slight chance for early parole if we get good weather in the spring. At some point these tender plants will again become the "In and Out Gang."

Growing Plants Outside Their Comfort Zone

What is it about a gardener that makes them push that zone envelope? Today we savored the sweet success that such behavior can bring. Yes, this Sugar Baby watermelon is tiny, about the size of a softball. We enjoyed it with a relish that only another gardener would understand. Buying a shipped in watermelon would make more sense. Sense has nothing to do with it.

 In all we had a total of three small watermelons. Amy got to have the pleasure of eating the first one. The third one is still in the garden. Its stem is not yet brown. We will snatch it from the garden at the very last minute before it gets frosted.

The potting of the tender plants has begun. Even if the forecast of frost proves to be wrong, it gave us the necessary motivation to get these plants into pots. Plants like lemon grass, stevia, lemon verbena, patchouli,tuberose, sweet bay, rosemary and scented geraniums all need to be moved inside before the cold hits. Room in the house for plants is at a premium so hard choices have to be made. The chosen will find a place in the house. The others  will have to take their chances with the cold.