Plant identification is an art, I try to console myself. I studied literature, in depth, for years and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Had I studied plants for that long, I may not have poison ivy right now. So, I enjoy a myriad of amazing flowers and plants when we go on walks, even when I don’t know which flower or plant I’m seeing. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” Juliet argued as she viewed Romeo’s family name of Montague as an obstacle.
I have an abundance of plant and gardening books and belong to local groups on-line; one of my many, new country educations. Even in Missouri, there are Black-Eyed Susans and Brown-Eyed Susans. I believe I have the Black-Eyed variety in the yard. In the daytime, fireflies flock to them to feed on their pollen and nectar, hanging out on and blending into the dark, stigmas of the bright yellow flowers.
Google Lens helps to a point, but is sometimes far off the mark. I have Queen Anne’s Lace, which I remember as a kid in New York. On a wild edible’s page, someone, because we are in the south, batter dipped and fried some. They said the result was not really palatable, but they were the prettiest fried food I have seen so far.
There are so many plants and flowers growing around the yard (scroll through them, above) that we are happy to support the bees and let it all be a bit wild. There is also the matter of many, many tree stumps that need to be removed to make a smooth place to be able to mow properly. Until we get to that phase of the many-tiered list of to-dos done, we enjoy Mother Nature’s show.
In addition to a smooth front yard patch, another space that has been tamed is the garden. It’s actually a corner of the previous owner’s garden, but it gave us more tomatoes last year than we could handle. This year, we found a wonderful and wild garden center in Springfield, , that had so many flower, fruit and vegetable plants that we now have a small variety in the garden. We are currently encouraging tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and peppers to come forth.
We’ve been in a bit of a heatwave, but after life in South Florida, we are managing a few weeks in the 90s, and so are the plants. We added clay from the bottom land to the soil in the garden and this year we are trying ground cloth and mulch, hoping it will discourage weeds and hold moisture around the plants. During this heatwave/dry spell, we are watering every other evening and so far, the plants are happy and fruiting.
I am getting comfortable with our farm supply stores, and there are many. They have a wide range of supplies, from fencing and salt licks to muck boots, a huge range of gloves, pet food, outdoor thermometers and tools (it’s like the garden section of what my son called the blue store or orange store, when he was wee, but a whole store of it). On a recent trip, I got excited as I heard the peeping of baby chicks. It got louder as I walked further back in the store. There were crates of them waiting to go into metal tubs with heat lamps. Their high-pitched peeps called me over. Check out the video (unmute to get happy): click here for peeps.
Summer keeps a constant flow of birds at our feeders, each seed mix bringing in different birds. This is evident on the packaging that keeps it’s promise with bright pictures of the birds that it will draw in, sort of the opposite of See-Monkeys. Learning more and more about bird behavior, Hummingbirds are the absolute gangsters of our bird world. They eat wasps and other stinging bugs, are not scared to get really close to us and check us out or to investigate larger birds in the area. They just look tiny and dainty, sipping sugar water at their little, bright red, flower-colored feeder.
A new favorite bird on site is the owl. Recently we came face to face with an owl on one of our walks and we were so glad to know that it found our creek area a good place to hang out. It watched us from a close perch before moving up higher in the trees. One cool night, windows opened, I was startled by several loud owl hoots. There were at least two birds close to the house. They made quite a chorus of hoots, enough to get the dog grumbling and pacing. I tried to identify the sound on-line and I think we have Eastern Screech Owls, but it was such a beautiful sound, nothing like their name.
I’m not going into details about the bugs of summer, but we do have them. For every biting chigger or tick, we have gorgeous butterflies and dragonflies and twinkling, yellow lights all over the yard at night. A little plantain salve and calamine lotion are a small price to pay for the beauty of summer.
This is all so wonderful; I don’t know where to start! First of all, I really miss lightning bugs (what we in the South call your Northern fireflies), which are sadly absent in South Florida. Love that your garden is doing well, and your wildflowers are so gorgeous. Cute gardening gloves are one of my guilty pleasures; I hit up The Dollar (now $1.25) Tree occasionally and buy a few pairs at a time, which I enjoy giving to new volunteers (who arrive gloveless) in the community food bank garden (clever, right?). Those peeps are definitely smile-inducing. And now I’m craving a tomato sandwich! (“only two things that money can’t buy, that’s true love & homegrown tomatoes” ~ Guy Clark… 🙂
Feedback from a gardener at your level means a great deal. I love the idea of having extra gloves available (I am exercising great restraint with puns here). Even though this is the South, my Northerner terminology slipped through with “fireflies.” I will now listen to neighbors to hear which term they use. Great Guy Clark line! Thank you!