The Aptly Named Beautyberry

Posted on September 13, 2009 by Meredith

The American Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana, is truly a sight to behold in the fall. The strikingly vibrant magenta-colored berries stand out boldly against the light-green foliage of this open, airy shrub.

But aside from its beauty, what makes this shrub truly valuable is that it is a fall and winter food source for more than 40 different songbird species, as well as other birds. It also is enjoyed by mammalian wildlife, including the opossum and raccoon. Its deer resistance probably depends on your area and the harshness of seasonal weather. In some areas, deer leave the mature plants alone, but they’re happy to nibble on young shrubs and sometimes the berries. In general, though, it’s best to plant the shrub in a protected area if you are concerned about deer.

American Beautyberry is an excellent shrub for understory growth, and understory plants are a key part of successful wildlife habitats. They can provide food and/or places to hide, and despite its airy nature, the Beautyberry does both, particularly when several of the shrubs form a small colony.

In the summer, the shrub has delightful pale flowers. But it is the beautiful clusters of purple berries that really provide that wow factor come fall. There is also a white variety, but if choosing a color most attractive to birds, I’d stick with purple.

The deciduous shrub is typically 5-6 feet tall when mature, but I’ve seen some get more than 8 feet tall. It prefers partial sun/partial shade, but with extra water and attention, it can handle more sun, too. But as an understory plant, it is at its best.

American Beautyberry, according to wildflower.org, is native to all the states of the southern U.S., on up into Maryland, Missouri, and Oklahoma. It thrives in a variety of conditions of soil, water, and light conditions, and it is easily grown from seed as well. A worthy plant for your wildlife habitat!

The Purpose of (Native) Weeds

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Meredith

This post is dedicated to Tatiana of mycoldprairie, who commented on my last post regarding the purpose of weeds.

Well, there are multiple purposes, actually. I want to first point out that exotic invasive weeds, to me personally, have no other purpose than to rape native lands of nutrients, water, and space and to destroy balanced ecosystems (guess what’s in my yard and why I’m grumpy). BUT, speaking of native weeds in particular, they legitimately have a purpose in their habitat, and as many will point out, there’s not really any such thing as a weed, anyway, other than being an annoying plant to a gardener.

What was mentioned in class last night was that weeds grow first in poor soil, and over time as they die off and decompose, they make the soil more fertile for other plants to move in and establish. True indeed. But weeds also can be valuable food sources for wildlife, through seeds, nectar, leaves, berries, and whatnot. They can serve as erosion control and as shelter to birds, lizards, and other creatures. Some even have medicinal value or food value to humans! They do have their purpose, even if you’d prefer they not be in your yard. Speaking of which, did I really manage to not get any dandelions this year? I guess they were scared off by the rampant evil nutsedge that has found its way into my yard. It has become the bane of my gardening existence. But it too has a purpose — apparently Canadian geese and ducks and squirrels and other wildlife like it. Guess I’m not wild enough to join them in such fondness for the WEED.

Oh, and weeds are also there apparently to teach Tatiana patience. She said it, not me! 😀

Habitat Steward Class begins!

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Meredith

Training began last night. Although it was the first night, which typically goes over the basics one might already know, I’m pleased to report that it was a great first class and I definitely learned quite a bit. Two of the lecturers shared some of their favorite native plants, some I hadn’t seen before, and I learned of the purpose of weeds (they have a purpose!). Little tips and tidbits here and there, and I said a lot of “Good to Know!” in my mind. One of the best parts was learning to “Read the Land.” This is something I’ve probably done a little subconsciously, but I know more about studying the state of plants and forests to determine how healthy it is (history, condition, and future potential). On Saturday we are going to visit some local habitats. Can’t wait! Here’s a glimpse of something I created for our first homework. The whole drawing is much bigger — I might share it in the wildlife habitat pages I’m working on. Friends know how much fun I have in Paint — the assignment didn’t require anything as detailed as I made it. I just felt inspired. It’s not great art, mind you. Just some fun sketching a wildlife habitat.

Becoming a Habitat Steward

Posted on September 4, 2009 by Meredith

It’s just one week until I begin Habitat Steward training, 2009 class, and I’m very excited. This four-week training program is a volunteer opportunity for the National Wildlife Federation, and in Austin it is co-partnered by the Travis Audubon Society. Habit Stewards work with the community to educate adults and children about wildlife habitats, as well as help remove invasives and plant habitat gardens. There are similar training classes all over the nation, and you can learn more at NWF’s volunteer page or for Austin at the city’s volunteer page. I just finished my first “homework” assignment, and class hasn’t even started!

The berries of this Yaupon, Ilex vomitoria, are in the process of changing color. During winter, the bright red berries are a favorite source of food for mockingbirds, cedar waxwings, robins, and several other bird species. The berries are only on the female trees — there must be a male tree nearby in order for berries to appear on the female. Cooler seasons can bring food hardships for birds and other wildlife, so planting year-round food sources is a major part of creating a wildlife habitat.

The Formal Corn

Posted on September 1, 2009 by Meredith

The formal corn wears tassels and silk

to an elegant affair. Would you care to have this dance? A pollination waltz, perhaps?

Four honeybees partake in the jitterbug, flitting about from cantaloupe flower to cantaloupe flower. Their heavy pollen sacs don’t slow them down.

Just a few feet away, male sugar pumpkin flowers have finally opened up in the cooler temperatures, but their pollen grains have yet to entice the busy little bees.

Perhaps when the females start to open, the bees will move over to help the pumpkins along.

The cantaloupe grows big, and a ladybug kindly pauses to give a size comparison.

It won’t be much longer before the melon is ripe, and there are more cantaloupes waiting their turn.

Meanwhile, other ladybugs are busy… (gasp) Avert your eyes!

The assassin bug nymph doesn’t notice. He’s too busy waiting for a tasty dinner companion.

Would that it might be this black bug, the larger version of the unknown little red bug…

Their numbers are dwindling, thanks to the ever-watchful predators and (perhaps more so) quick little fingers.

The trellised garden nears the top.

With the promise of a harvest, one hopes that the squirrels that ate their way into the birdseed container won’t turn their little black eyes toward the veggies and fruit.

The jack-o-lantern pumpkin plants get bigger and bigger. The male flowers come and go, but the cooler temperatures bring promises that females will bloom soon.

A checkered garter snake leads the way to another discovery…

that a pumpkin plant is trying to do the great escape…

behind the air conditioner, which broke just last night, thankfully timed with the cooler temperatures.

The “dwarf” papyrus continues on its world conquest, one pond at a time. Its sheer size and weight helped it shift off its support and into deeper waters. Its plan to quickly send out new growth and roots was soon foiled, however. It’s been raised back out of the water depths and is marked for major division very, very soon.

Is that a ghost haunting the house?

It’s too early for Halloween, so it must be tricksy little pole bean seedlings.

An easy move to a planter,

and then nestled in bed…

for another busy day in the garden.

Ladybug Superheroes

Posted on August 31, 2009 by Meredith

Saving the world from organized aphid crime

Our heroes!

Feeding the Hummingbirds

Posted on August 30, 2009 by Meredith

When I started my garden last year, I focused primarily on choosing native butterfly/caterpillar and hummingbird plants, and I kept telling my husband about how different our yard would look next year (which is now this year). But I knew that he wouldn’t really get into it until he saw his first hummingbird. For my husband, hummingbirds remind him of visiting his grandparents in Uvalde, and so the little birds are quite special to him. Now that our garden is growing and we get hummingbirds regularly, it’s fun to watch my husband get such enjoyment out of our garden.

We have many varieties of hummingbird plants now, but the plants are still more or less small, so the main visits are to the feeders, though I’ve seen visits to the Salvia and Flame Acanthus. We had just one feeder up for many months, and then a few days ago, I found a second hummingbird feeder in the back of our garage, and we set it out. I don’t know whether it was the combination of two feeders or the fact that migration is underway, but that very day we had five hummingbirds zooming around. We sat out on chairs and enjoyed trying to identify them. I couldn’t get pictures of them all at once — they were all flitting about trying to push the others away from feeders while trying to sneak in some sugar themselves.

Of the two feeders, I much prefer the UFO-shaped HummZinger feeder over the taller, more traditional feeder. There are a few reasons for this, but primarily the Hummzinger is much, much, much easier to clean, and it has a built in “moat” to keep the ants out. It’s all plastic, which is a bummer, but the design is sound and it feeds da birdies, so I forgive it. It helps keep the wasps out, too. It’s also more affordable than the blown-glass feeders, which my dogs would break anyway. It’s very noticeable how quickly the liquid goes down in the tall one, so I’m not sure if it means the tall one is the first choice for the hummingbirds. This is worth investigating!

We had to visit one of the big building stores yesterday for house repair stuff, and as I wandered through the garden center just to see what was there, I passed by a couple buying hummingbird feeders and food. I decided to offer them some friendly advice, that making your own sugar water is better than buying commercial syrup because red food coloring is reported to be dangerous for hummingbirds, plus making your own saves money. But this couple just looked at me quite annoyed, and the husband stated that hummingbirds won’t come to the feeders unless it has the red liquid, and I could tell by his tone that he considered me to be foolish and ignorant and that I needed to mind my own business. So I said very pleasantly that yes they do come to the feeders without red liquid, and I moved on, hoping that because the wife also said that they would, that maybe she’d actually someday stop buying the red liquid. But I’m not so sure the husband will. Tried to help. Denied. Move on. Clearly this guy is not a friendly garden blogger or garden blog reader!

But I thank him for the inspiration behind today’s post — tips for attracting hummingbirds to your yard, with details on feeders and making the syrup.

Do plant nectar-filled native plants (tubular ones are particularly attractive to the birdies). Here in Austin, some favorites are Turk’s Cap, Flame Acanthus, Red Yucca, Crossvine, Coral Honeysuckle, among others.
Set out hummingbird feeders as well (edit: unless you live in an area with bears — eep! thanks, RoseyPollen). Hummingbirds consume plant nectar and tiny insects for vitamins and protein, and they use a feeder’s sugar water to fuel their crazy energy needs. Hummingbird feeders with perches give tired birds a chance to rest a moment while they feed.

Make your own sugar syrup for the feeders. Don’t buy red commercial products. Use one part white cane sugar to 4 parts water. According to hummingbirds.net, you don’t have to boil the water first, but you do need to replace the feeder’s syrup every three days and replace stored, refrigerated syrup every two weeks. They also state that turbinado sugar and beet sugar are NOT good choices, so stick to the white cane sugar (I laugh because I’m trying to steer my family away from white sugar but I feed it to the birdies? ha). And absolutely NO honey or gelatin or food coloring. I mix:
1 cup white sugar
4 cups water
Clean the feeders regularly (give a good hot rinse each time you replace the syrup; every 3 or so weeks for a major cleaning), but NOT with bleach or soap or detergent or anything toxic. Some sites say to use bleach, but bleach is extremely bad for the environment and potentially reacts with the plastic as well, so I don’t use or recommend it. Vinegar is a great alternative to bleach, but no matter what you use, rinse extremely well.

Other than that, be patient. This time of year, many hummingbirds are in migration. Next month, my family is going to the Gulf of Mexico to hopefully see migrating hummingbirds en masse, so I hope I’ll get a few good pictures to share.

FYI, I looked into making my own hummingbird feeders with recycled bottles. But upon investigation, I learned that the long tubes used for the typical upside-down feeders, homemade or store-bought, tend to leak, causing all sorts of problems. I decided to save the money and avoided purchasing the tubes. I still hope to make my own someday, but I won’t be using an upside-down version.

On My Knees — Hello, Little Spider

Posted on August 22, 2009 by Meredith

Here’s my entry for Gardening Gone Wild’s August Photo Contest, for the theme “Down on Your Knees.” I’m amazed at the beauty of nature shown in all the photographs. Great job, everyone!

This photo is of the tiniest little spider making a web in my aloe vera plant. I never realized I had such a wee resident making its home in there. And I actually had to lay down for this shot!

Welcome and Unwelcome Visitors

Posted on August 11, 2009 by Meredith

Yesterday I had a very pleasant time visiting with Bob of Draco Gardens and his wonderful wife Lynn. They had me cracking up with so many hilarious stories, and they ~~forced on me~~ gave me some fantail goldfish for my pond. Well, to be honest, I was out there to get fish (they have a rather plentiful population at the moment), but somehow they managed to sneak more into the bucket… they claimed it was in case one of the fish died on the way home, haha. I told them that because I didn’t actually need more, that they’d all survive, grow, and make babies for me to bring back to Draco Gardens. Sure enough they all survived! More on that in a bit…

We spent a pleasant time chatting, and we got to talking about the Texas Star Hibiscus, a plant they love and one I just happen to have growing in my pond. I told them about the buds on my hibiscus that hadn’t bloomed yet, and Bob said I’d be posting a picture in my blog as soon as they did. Well, guess what I discovered today?

Look at that gorgeous red. The species is Hibiscus coccineus, and it’s also known as Scarlet Rose Mallow and Wild Red Mallow. It’s in the same family as the Texas Rock Rose (Rose Pavonia), and it’s native to Texas.

From a distance the leaves appear straggly to me, but close up they are quite striking. Elongated, toothed, and a beautiful combination of green and ruby… It’s interesting to note that when this plant was quite small, the lowest leaves were remarkably wide and looked almost as if they belonged to a different plant.

Googling for a bit about the plant, I laughed when I read that in 2004 a Houston narcotics task force raided a landscaper’s home and held him at gunpoint because they thought the Texas Star Hibiscus growing in the man’s front yard was marijuana. This earned them a Bum Steer Award from Texas Monthly magazine — for those of you not in Texas, Bum Steer Awards are given each year to the most idiotic or ridiculous people, actions, and events of the year in Texas and sometimes nationally. Not surprisingly, the list is long (and often includes politicians).

Back to the subject at hand — yes, this photo was taken at the wrong time of day, but I had to capture a picture of the tiny spider standing guard on the flower. Can you spot him?

Here he is:

The buds on my plant are all paired. I wonder if they always appear in pairs. Even the single bloom has a bud with it, as seen in the pictures above.

While photographing the stunning plant, I realized I was being watched by our newest amphibian resident. Being ever the romantic, it’s tempting to name him Prince, but I think instead I will call him Murray, after Bill Murray, who gets slimed by Slimer the ghost in “Ghostbusters.” Why not just call him Slimer, you ask? Because that would be too obvious, of course.

I tried hard to capture a picture of the new fish, but they scooted under foliage anytime they noticed me looming above. I enjoyed watching all the fish school around together. The new fish are quite at home. We’re now up to nine fish, egads! This isn’t a great picture, but you can see one of the wee ones swimming with the “big” fish.

I am so jealous of the gorgeous dragonfly and damselfly pictures that many other garden bloggers get. Without a good zoom lens, I can’t close enough to take a picture without the little guys flying away, if they even land near me. And yet I am happy to have as many as will come eat my mosquitoes and wasps and even some of the plentiful tadpoles. I definitely have noticed a decrease in mosquitoes since having the pond, though perhaps that has more to do with the drought, lol. Maybe bats are visiting my pond at night now. One could hope! Do bats eat wasps and hornets?

Just behind it was this caterpillar-eating menace. Can’t it just eat webworms instead of my future butterflies?

And in my garden, I found this horrifying creature, the terrifying, shriek-causing, hide-all-your-plants-from Gigantic Grasshopper — one of those that are so big they don’t bother to jump at all — they just fly their clumsy fly way out of reach. I knew I was making a mistake taking a picture of it when I should have just killed it — it got away, flying to the branches of an oak tree. Which really bugged me! (pun intended)

I guess that makes mine a garden of good and evil!

Toadally Frogsome Rescues, Dude

Posted on August 3, 2009 by Meredith

Today’s post was supposed to be about my happy veggie gardens, but wildlife had other plans for me. Like our newest pond resident…

I found him peeking out at me from the dog pool. An actual frog for a change — not a toad this time! It turns out that frogs are much harder to catch than toads. He darted under the water and far away each time we came too close for his comfort. We had to lower the water level by taking the dirty water from the dog pool (we give it to our plants; it was extra high from the rain a few days ago). And then we had to be extra sneaky with a big glass bowl, which we ended up bringing up under the frog. Once he was in there, he was quite willing to pose for some pictures. Or just stay like a statue lest we eat might decide to eat him.

I decided to let him move into the pond. He was too cute to resist. Here he is on a pond rock, just before diving in. I’m not up on my amphibian species yet — is he some species of leopard frog?

But the next day I made a different decision. I went to clean the rest of the water out of the dog pond and discovered, to my horror, that the toad eggs laid by the amorous toads of three days ago had already hatched and become tadpoles. Countless tadpoles. They were swimming like mad around the remaining water in the dog pool. Well, this called for a rescue. But they were not going into MY pond, by gosh. I decided to drive them to a nearby big pond.

First we had to get them out of the dog pool. We started by getting as much water as we could safely get from the pool and carting it around to area plants. Then we finally realized that it would be much faster to just pour water through a net into buckets and separate the tadpoles into their own bucket of water. The water got particularly filthy as the water level went down. The dogs tracked in a lot of mud after our rain the other day.

As we got closer to the bottom, we found even more tadpoles — “baby” ones, haha. By the time we got all the tadpoles out, the count was in the thousands. I’m so glad we didn’t attempt to put any in our pond. There’s enough in there already! Bucket filled, let’s go!

Seatbelts on, children!

We drove over to the pond and added a little water from the big pond into the bucket to make the transition easier on the tadpoles. Then we poured them into the shallow water at the pond edge (first shooing away the minnows and other little fish that seemed to think we were there to feed them or something).

We made sure the tadpoles were swimming (not that we could have given them CPR or anything). They looked happy enough, and so were we.

So we celebrated with boba drinks. I worried that the pearls (tapioca balls) would remind me of toad eggs, and so they did. My choosing a green drink was totally (toadally) an accident, though!

See the resemblance?

We had one more good deed of the day — helping jump-start someone’s car in the parking lot. Then it was time to head back home. And the dogs are happy to have a nice clean pool that they can muddy up again.