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Sustainability

I know I’m in the minority, but I’m just not a fan of mums anymore. They're great for huge swaths of  temporary color especially in commercial properties, but I'll pass in my own front yard.  I think it’s simply a case of being tired of being tired of planting essentially the same plant year after year, only in a different color or size. I've also noticed that I am veering away from the precise, formal plantings that are typical of beds of mums. Instead, I am beginning to prefer a much more casual, natural look with its unusual twists and its unexpected delights. 

The transition between summer and fall is, for me, a bittersweet time of year. The summer flowers are fading, leaving only seed heads and dried stalks. The tomatoes and cucumbers are struggling, but, on the bright side, my hummingbird feeders are busier than ever, as my tiny visitors prepare to begin their 500 plus mile journey to Central America, where they will spend the winter months.

I have six granddaughters. Four of them are drama queens; Holly is not. She is the most matter-of-fact eight year old that I have ever met. So, when I heard blood-curdling screams coming from the back yard I knew something terrible had happened. Had she been attacked by wasps…or accidentally stepped on our resident black snake and been bitten …or  fallen off the side of the cliff (She is a climber!)?  Racing to the back garden, I found her standing upright with no apparent damage anywhere, having a terrified face-off with a spider lounging in its web.

My youngest granddaughter is an absolute ball of fire. She has boundless energy, endless curiosity and the attention span of a gnat. She seems to be everywhere at once, talking a blue streak, except when we are in the garden and the butterflies flutter in. Then she is mesmerized, standing quiet and still as a statue hoping a butterfly will land on her like it did at the butterfly house ages ago. Watching the expression on her face as she patiently stands, wishing for one to find her, makes me determined to create a butterfly paradise so, just maybe, she might get that wish. 

I had an eye opening experience yesterday. 

Every day I sit by a huge window overlooking my back garden to drink my morning tea. While I sat enjoying the view, a bevy of butterflies swooped into the yard to begin their daily feeding frenzy. They come almost every morning at about the same time for an extended meal and then pop in and out the rest of the day. 

The United States covers an area of  3,119,884.69 square miles, has eight distinct physiographic divisions, nine climatically consistent regions and literally hundreds of  types of micro-climates. There are over 70,000 different soil types and access to water sources is highly inconsistent, even within a region. Having taught Geography for years; intellectually I realized that eco-systems differed from place to place. What I didn’t consider was how difficult that makes the issue of invasive plants. Simply put, what is invasive in one area, is not in another. And. to make matters even more confusing, as climate continues to change, the make-up of invasive plants in an area will also change.

Purple loosestrife has been a hot topic around here lately…