Isn't She Lovely

This lovely black & yellow Argiope aurantia spider has taken up residence in my garden, no doubt a granddaughter or great-granddaughter of the argiopes who used to build webs right across the walkway. Every year save last year we had argiope spiders in this area of the garden. I don't know what happened last year, but I missed them.

I've read that the Argiope aurantia is also called a "writing spider" because of the zig-zag writing on their webs. As a writer I find that just, well, perfect! This one built her web with a camouflage backdrop of black-eyed susans. Very smart, methinks.

As my readers no doubt know, organic gardening and organic/healthy cooking are my two great passions. One reason I love organic gardening is so I can watch creatures like this one. Soon a tiny spider resembling a wisp of dead grass will make a home on the outer edges of her web. This will be the male. He will make her big and fat, she will eat him, and then she will lay eggs. Ain't love grand.

Anyway, my interest in organic gardening has led me to find less toxic solutions to the usual problems which plague us here in Tennessee, notably mosquitoes, chiggers, poison ivy, etc. etc. I love an argiope spider but I really hate getting covered in chigger bites just walking around my garden in the morning. Plus we have pets, and a koi pond, and I don't want to freak out about what I'm spraying on my herbs and vegetables that end up on the dinner table. So here are my two favorite products (and no, I'm not receiving one penny to endorse this stuff. They really work):

• Garlic Barrier -- This stuff works great on mosquitoes, chiggers, fleas and just general garden pests. It's made of garlic so your garden smells like an Italian restaurant for about three hours but the smell does dissipate. The only problem is that you need to spray everything about once a month or so, but I guess that's true of any product. However, it seems to repel the stuff you don't want and not bother the stuff you DO want.

• Nature’s Avenger Organic Weed Killer Herbicide -- The irony of an "organic herbicide" notwithstanding, let me tell you: this stuff rocks! It smells like oranges and when they say it works fast, trust me, they mean it. Shake it up, spray it, and in a few hours your weeds are shriveling.

It's the perfect organic alternative to RoundUp, which is made by Monsanto, which everyone knows is evil. But even if Monsanto weren't evil and RoundUp wasn't an endocrine disruptor in mice and a cause of genetic damage in small critters (and who knows, maybe big ones too), I'd still recommend Avenger because, to repeat: it rocks. So, that's today's organic gardening tip.

• Bat Guano -- I don't buy a lot of fertilizer because when you have a koi pond your filter gives you a lot of lovely nutrient-rich pond sludge which is the best fertilizer I know. But I decided to give the bat guano a try on my shrubs and, well, holy smokes! My shrubs have taken off like a rocket ship. Also, I didn't have enough for my entire hedgerow, and you can really see which shrubs got the bat guano and which ones didn't.

Anyway, I'm not getting anything for recommending this stuff or linking to Arbico Organics which is the online catalog I use. I'm sure you can find this stuff in a lot of places online.

Morning Commute

Look what I saw on my way to the office this morning:



I'm lucky enough to have a morning "commute" that is basically a stroll through my garden...

Things I Can’t Do Well

Mr. Beale and I are getting ready to go out of town for some vay-kay. Can’t wait to post pics from our trip and see if you guys can figure out where we are!

Needless to say, posting will be light over the next few days (though I truly don’t know how to quit you, so don’t hold me to that).

In the meantime, if you know the secret to any of these things, please let me know:

• Cook brown rice: it’s freaking rice for crying out loud! And I’m a pretty good cook! But for some reason my brown rice always comes out either too wet or too dry or not cooked enough or overcooked or just plain yuck.

My Pitiful Cilantro

• Grow cilantro: This is my second attempt at growing cilantro. It goes like gangbusters for the first month or two and then wilts. Last time I planted it in the ground in a shadier area. This time it's in a pot in the sun. Same results.

Maybe it’s too hot here in Tennessee? I find that hard to believe, since cilantro is a staple of Asian, Indian and Mexican dishes. But for whatever reason I can’t grow it.

• Grow dill: see, Grow Cilantro. I think snails got it last time.

My Rockin' Patchouli

• Figure out what to do with patchouli: I’m growing patchouli in my garden, mostly because I saw it at the Herb Society sale back in the spring and thought it was funny. What Dirty Fucking Hippy doesn’t grow patchouli when presented the opportunity? It’s doing pretty well, the leaves have that distinctive patchouli stink, but I don’t know what the hell to do with it. Clip the leaves and dry it for potpourri? (We are not potpourri people.) Put some leaves in oil? Eat it? Anyone? Bueller?

Springtime

It’s been a while since I’ve done any garden blogging, for obvious reasons. However, two weeks ago I got my first sunburn of the season, cleaning detritus out of the koi pond.

Everything is busting out -- my wisteria just popped open yesterday, my lilacs have unfurled their heavy, heady blossoms, and this shrub, whose name I always forget, is in full bloom. It’s so fragrant that it perfumes our entire porch. I keep meaning to plant more because I love any plant with fragrance, but damn if I can remember what the thing is.

Day before yesterday, in advance of last night’s rain, I set up our rain barrels. I love, love, love rain barrels. I wish I could have hundreds of them; it’s free water, every time it rains. I just love how when I use them I’m not paying Metro Water (Yes, I am that cheap). Another neat thing is that I can water the garden while Mr. Beale is in the shower and he won’t get mad at me for messing with his water pressure.

We have four of them. Ours are old pickle shipping containers, they are big and round and green and hold about 65 gallons. Let me say if I had to do it all over again I’d get one of these with the flat back, though I also think $150 is a ridiculous amount of money to pay for a rain barrel. You can get one from Metro Water right here in Nashville for 50 bucks, and they even tell you how to make your own.

Here’s a great idea: a flexible rain barrel from TuffTech Bags. I think this is an especially great idea if you can position it on some kind of cart. That way you can transport it around your garden when you need to water. One of the problems with rain barrels is that they are gravity-fed, so you’re pretty much stuck watering only those garden beds downhill from your barrel.

If I were smart and a real do-it-yourselfer, which I"m not, I'd devise a rigging system that both held the rain barrel aloft and allowed me to tilt it, so I can empty it completely. Where's an MIT student when you need one?

Hell, if I really had my way I’d design a complex cistern system like the one I read about a few years ago. This guy in Michigan designed an underground cistern and filter system to use rainwater to flush all of his home toilets. There was a backup system to use city water in case of dry months, but dang what a good idea that is. I hate to think of all the fresh, clean water we’re wasting just flushing the commode.

Last night's rain did not fill up my rain barrels; we had more wind than rain, so the barrels filled up only about halfway. Still, that's about 100 gallons of water I can use.

Here are some more signs of spring:

You Don’t Know Elaeagnus Like I Know Elaeagnus!

It’s almost fall and one of the things I love most about this time of year is that my Elaeagnus is in bloom.

Eleaegnus is one of my most favorite shrubs (it’s also known as Russian olive), because it’s evergreen, so it’s great for screening. It also has beautiful silvery-green leaves. But the best thing about it is its fragrant blossoms, and now is when it’s in bloom. Starting in late September the shrubs fill the air with the most wonderful aroma. Few things bloom in fall so this is quite a treat. Plus, unlike privet or some other flowering shrubs which lean toward the noxious, Elaeagnus is a little spicy. I just love it.

So imagine my shock when I learned that landscapers can no longer sell Elaeagnus. Apparently the Tennessee Dept. of Agriculture has listed Elaeagnus as an “invasive” species and retail sale has been banned; landscapers must sell off all their existing stock, and wholesalers will be banned from selling it after next year. So excuse me while I run out and buy a big shrub to fill the giant hole in front of my house.

{pause}

Okay, I’m back. Apparently the TN Dept. of Agriculture issued this list of banned non-native plants: privet is on the list, as are varieties of honeysuckle and mimosa.

I have no problem trying to control invasive, exotic plant species: look how kudzu has decimated the landscape down in Alabama. I just object to Elaeagnus being lumped into the “invasive” category.

I’ve had Elaeagnus for close to 10 years. The stuff is the antithesis of invasive. It grows tall, sure. But it doesn’t send out shoots like bamboo. It doesn’t propagate like some plants do. It stays put. You don’t need a freaking blow torch to keep it from taking over the yard as you do with honeysuckle or privet.

So I can’t imagine what the TDA was thinking by lumping my beloved Elaeagnus in with aggressive colonizers like privet or honeysuckle. I mean come on already!

In the meantime, my internet is down so I'm taking advantage of the free WiFi offered by our wonderful Nashville Public Library system. Don't know when I'll be back to regular blogging.

Ordinary Miracles

Things have been very busy around here, so it’s nice to have some time to reflect on the ordinary miracles of the past week.

First off is this piece of history we uncovered during the demo of our kitchen. Behind the drywall we found this:


I love tearing apart an old house (if 1947 can be considered old) and coming across fun things like this border! A previous owner just put drywall over it, and I’m glad he did because uncovering it was a fun surprise. I try to imagine the woman who wanted this on her kitchen wall (we are not gingham-and-geese types) and am reminded that she cooked her family dinners in very same room where Mr. Beale and I do our cooking now. I think of how she worried over a roast getting too dry, how she yelled at her kids to “close the fridge door!” or pulled out the good china for Thanksgiving dinner. It’s a neat connection to someone I’ll never know, but with whom I share something very personal.

The other ordinary miracle is my garden, which flourishes in the cool, wet summer we’re experiencing in Nashville this year. This is the first time I’ve planted tomatoes and peppers. It always amazes me that one can just add water and get ... food!

Fruiting Body

I'm no mycologist, but I thought this mushroom in my lawn was absolutely gorgeous:

Garden Blogging

My koi pond has returned from its winter slumber, the lillies are in bloom, the fish are hungry and all is well with the world.

A Mother's Day Bouquet

It's just not Mother's Day without flowers, is it?

I took these from my garden during a break in the rain last week. Personally, I'm thrilled that it's peony season again. Back when my mother was still alive, but very sick, I cut some peonies and FedEx'd them to her. I was probably breaking all sorts of Dept. of Agriculture regulations in doing so, but she had said the one thing she missed about living on the East Coast was peonies. They apparently need a cold winter to do well, and Southern California is too warm.

Wild About Wisteria

I love wisteria! Pictures don't do it justice.

I love how it smells. I love the color, that pale lavender but if you look up close there are darker shades of purple on the petals. I love how it sounds... positively humming with bees. I love how it's a crazy-wild sort of plant, with branches reaching everywhere, climbing all over everything, screaming, "Look at me! I'm wisteria, beeyatches!"

I grew up with a wild wisteria in my backyard and I got married under a tamer wisteria arbor at Cheekwood.

I think if I could be any flowering plant it would be a wisteria.

My Garden Is Smarter Than Global Warming Deniers

There’s a massive snow storm hitting the east coast. Cue global warming deniers in five .... four .... three ....

Bingo!

Meanwhile, here at the Beale garden, my lilac bushes and roses have sprouted leaves, my camelias have fat flower buds on display, my daffodils are in full bloom and there are even bright purple flowers on my creeping phlox. I noticed these changes in February.

So, clearly something is up with the overall temperature, an early spring storm notwithstanding.

An Early Spring

Leaves! Buds! Flowers!

In February!!

Yikes!!!!

Today while walking the dogs in 70+ degree sunshine I noticed that spring has arrived early to Middle Tennessee. These pictures are from my garden. While it's not unusual to see forsythia popping out in February, I don't ever remember tree leaves budding out so soon. I can only hope everything survives the inevitable March cold snap.

Tennessee Rose

I realized it's been a while since I've done any garden blogging and with winter just around the corner, I'd better hop to it. This rose is from my garden; amazing what happens when you just add water, eh?

Iris Blogging!

We have a delightful variety of iris in the Beale garden, and for some reason this spring they are exceptional. For the past few years a mid-winter warm spell has caused a few of them to pop up prematurely, but this winter that didn't happen, and they got to save all of their energy for a May display.

The iris was designated the Tennessee state flower in 1933. I'm not sure why. There's even an Iris Festival this weekend in Dresden. One of the things I love about iris is that they come in such a variety of beautiful and unusual colors. Here's a look at a few of the varieties in our garden. I'm partial to the classic blue, of course, but the burgundy is so rich and unexpected that it's a favorite, as well.

Red Bud Blogging!

The best part about spring in Tennessee!

(Click on a pic for the full effect)

Two Days Ago

I took advantage of the 78 degree weather (!!!) on Tuesday to catch up on the yard work. Boy, was I surprised to find this.

Yes, the camellias are in bloom again. In mid-December.

Also in bloom in my garden: a magenta azalea (I tried to get a picture but it didn't come out), all of my rosemary, the eleagnus (Russian Olive) bushes, the glossy obelia, hydrangeas, and some reddish shrub I can't identify. This is the second time around for the eleagnus, which normally blooms in October and has the most delightful fragrance of any shrub I know.

Did I mention it's mid-December?

I know there's a difference between climate and weather, but when even the plants are messed up about what season it is, something's not right.

I also saw a mosquito. In mid-December.

I would appreciate it if we could get back to regular seasons, please. December should be cold, maybe even with snow. You should see your breath in the air, and not because you haven't brushed your teeth in a while. And I just refuse to live in a place with California weather without any of the actual benefits of living in California: namely, the ability to buy wine and alcohol in the grocery store, two Democratic senators, a Trader Joe's within driving distance, and a hockey team that can actually win a game every once in a while.

Just sayin' .

Crisis Garden Blogging

NOAA reports:

100 PERCENT OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE IS CLASSIFIED IN A SEVERE DROUGHT...AT LEAST 91 PERCENT OF THE STATE IS CLASSIFIED IN AN EXTREME DROUGHT...AND 39 PERCENT OF THE STATE IS CLASSIFIED IN AN
EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT.

According to this report, since June 1 Nashville has recorded only 3.87 inches of rain; as for August, we’ve recorded just 0.03 inches.

This is a crisis for a lot of farmers around here, and while I wouldn’t compare the plight of my little suburban garden to that of the people who make their living off the land, it’s pretty sad in my backyard right now.

Yesterday evening a tree snapped in two in our yard. It had been weakened by NES’ neighborhood tree slaughter operation, to be sure, and the drought finished the deed. (And by the way: no, I was not there to hear it and yes, it fell anyway).

So as far as garden survival goes, I’ve moved from a first aid operation to full-on triage. I’ve given up on the flowers, impatiens were pulled up yesterday, hostas are a gonner. Now the goal is to minimize shrub and tree loss.

Pray for rain.