Evergreen Vine, Confederate Jasmine

If you seek a fast-growing evergreen vine, consider Confederate Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides, pronounced tray-key-low-SPER-mum jaz-min-OY-deez).  It is not a ‘true’ jasmine (Jasminum genus). This lovely vine has pointed, shiny, dark green leaves. Small, very fragrant star-shaped flowers appear in summer, giving rise to its common name, Star Jasmine.

Confederate Jasmine can be grown on a trellis or allowed to scramble over the soil as a ground cover. It is cold hardy zones 7b through 11, but grows fast enough to enjoy as an annual in colder climates. It prefers shade from the hottest afternoon sun. Too much shade will produce vine stems with long spaces between the leaves (internodes). The one in the Mary Snoddy garden is planted at the north-east corner of a building, a sun exposure that makes it happy.

Confederate Jasmine is undemanding. It will grow in most soils and is moderately drought tolerant. While it twines naturally, it does not have suckers to adhere to surfaces. If grown on a trellis, the vine will need to be wired to the structure in a few places. A mature vine can be heavy, so select a sturdy support. It can be an ideal privacy-maker if grown on fencing.

Confederate Jasmine can be trimmed to keep it compact. When cut, the vines produce a milky sap that can cause skin irritation. If you choose to root those cuttings into new plants, allow the sap to dry several hours before placing them into rooting compound.  

My favorite cultivar is ‘Madison’ because of its reblooming habit. Variegated forms are available. They grow slower than the non-variegated type and are more difficult to propagate via rootings. Deer don’t nibble on this plant. Bees love the flowers.

Confederate Jasmine used as a ground cover, creeping over a stucco wall.

This Confederate Jasmine grows on a sturdy trellis. Mature vines like this one can be quite heavy.

Gardening Resolutions

It is time for New Year’s resolutions. Our annual aspirations tend to repeat, year after year. Lose weight. Save money. Exercise more. Yet, our good intentions wither in a few weeks and we find ourselves still fat, poor and lazy. I limit myself to these garden-related goals.

1. Take a shopping list to the garden center or nursery and purchase only what is on that list. This prevents acquisitions based on plant lust rather than need. Guidelines like “heat-tolerant evergreen conifer that gets 10 to 15 feet tall” are easier to work with than “Emerald Giant Arborvitae.” 

2. All plants must go in the ground within 48 hours of purchase. This keeps me from stockpiling flora that may die of neglect before I get around to planting them.

3. No more hanging baskets.  In my hot climate, they require regular attention to thrive or even to survive. I hate to water. I have the sad physical evidence to support that statement.

4. Once a tree/shrub/perennial has died three times under my care, it is time to admit defeat and move along. Read on for a personal illustration.

Multiple times, I have purchased a Monkey Puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) and each time it died. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you already know that I love plants with thorns or sharp leaves. It was love at first sight when I encountered Monkey Puzzle. The limbs and trunk are covered in triangular leaves that are as sharp as razor blades. The first of those ill-fated trees consumed my entire annual plant purchase budget. My long-suffering husband bled after he wrestled the eight-foot Weapon-Of-Mass-Destruction into a perfect planting hole. I applied tender, loving care but the wretch died within six months. I refused to say goodbye to my investment, and I applied green spray paint (Krylon rattle cans) to the dead tree several times. The husband finally put a stop to this and used our tractor’s front-end loader to haul the bright green carcass away. When I returned to the nursery which I purchased the tree, they told me that (1) the other four specimens they sold had also been reported dead by their purchasers and (2) “No guarantees. Sorry.” (That garden center is now out of business.)
I may be stubborn but I am not stupid, so the next two Monkey Puzzle trees were smaller and cheaper. The first died within a year. The final attempt was planted into a large container filled with a combination of PermaTill and quality potting soil. It survived three years, dying one limb at a time while inexplicably sprouting new growth. Finally, it succumbed. No more chances, Monkey Puzzle. No more.

Happy New Year to you and yours. May all your 2020 gardening endeavors be successful.

A young Monkey Puzzle tree, in a 24-inch container.

Same tree, dead and awaiting deposit upon the compost pile.

Make Your Own Garden Ladybug

Here is my Christmas gift to you. Below you will find step-by-step instructions for upcycling bowling balls into cute garden ornaments.

If you haven’t bowled for years, but still have equipment buried in a closet somewhere, bring those relics out into the light of day.

Start with a pair of ordinary bowling balls.

Use an orbital palm sander over the entire surface of the bowling balls. (I’ll refer to them as BB from this point forward.) Paint will not adhere to a slick, shiny surface, so sand long enough to have a completely dull finish. Wash the sanding residue off, dry the balls completely, and apply a coat of primer. The primer makes the final paint adhere better and increases the longevity of the final product.

I used a couple of empty coffee cans to hold the sanded BBs off the soil surface, for ease of painting. Here they are, after receiving a coat of oil-based primer.

Paint the entire surface with a coat of bright red paint. Allow it to dry thoroughly and then apply a second coat. I found that it took two days for the red surface to be completely dry. The two finger holes will be for the bug’s antennae . Keep this in mind as you use painter’s tape to section off a center section. The space between the two tape strips will be painted black. The curve of the ball means that the stripe will be wider in the middle. See the photo below.

Painter’s tape defines the center stripe. The tape will wrinkle due to the BB curve. The wrinkles don’t matter, as long as the tape creates a defined line toward the middle, where the black paint goes.

Picture after the center stripe was added.

Allow the black paint to dry completely and then remove the tape. Next, use sections of fresh tape to create templates for adding wing spots. My tape width was narrow, so I needed to use two strips. I decided to use a combination of large spots and small spots. I used a half-dollar coin to outline my large circles, and a slightly smaller coin for the smaller circles. Use an Xacto knife to cut the center holes out before positioning them on the BBs. For attractive dots, use care to cut a clean edge. Ragged cuts result in jagged dots. You will need a template for every dot you plan to add to your BBs. Cut them all at one time. Position them on either side of the black stripe, matching the left side to the right side, just as real ladybugs have mirror image dots on their wings. I found that it was easiest to paint the large dots first, allow them to dry and then remove their template tape, adding the smaller dots as a separate step.

Adding the largest black spots. Use care to avoid paint bleed at the edges. You want crisp dots with well-defined edges. Once the large dots are dry, remove the tape and position the smaller dots between the large ones.

Remove the painter’s tape from around the wing spots. Optional: Add two coats of a clear spray-on lacquer to make the final appearance even shinier and to prevent fading in sunlight.
Use silicone caulking, waterproof tub-and-tile sealer, or outdoor adhesive to fill the thumb hole and finger holes. Before the filler dries, insert two springs for the antenna. My neighborhood Ace Hardware had a great assortment of springs. You can choose short or long. I selected longer ones that weren’t particularly strong, so that wind would make them bobble about. Superglue a couple of wood balls on the ends of the antenna. I painted my wood balls yellow, for contrast. I also painted the thumb-hole adhesive black, so it blends into the stripe and becomes invisible.

Final step is to give your ladybug some eyes. I used superglue and google eyes purchased from a craft supply store (Micheal’s). You can paint on eyelashes or eyebrows to add personality.

Tah-dah! A pair of completed BB ladybugs, ready to be placed in the garden.

Ladybug or Asian Lady Beetle?

It is the time of the year when people cluster indoors to socialize. Other creatures, like bears, choose to hibernate until warm weather. Same thing goes for lady bugs, more correctly known as lady beetles.

How can you tell the ladybugs from Asian lady beetles? Allow me to quote from PestWiki.com: “The main difference between these two insects is the size of the two bugs. Asian ladybugs are larger in size. Ladybugs have a head that is all black with little white cheeks. Their Asian counterparts have more white on their “cheeks” and are more of a deep orange color rather than a red.” The Asians have a white M on their black heads, closest to the round body, while ladybugs do not. The M can be large or small, but it is always present.

What difference does it make whether your polka-dotted insects are ladybugs or Asian lady beetles? Well, ladybugs are good insects. In their immature stage, the larvae look like red and black alligators. These larvae eat enormous amounts of aphids (yay!), scale and other insects, and are considered very beneficial. You can even purchase them for release into your garden. (I’ve heard mixed results on the success of this.) When cold weather arrives, ladybugs seek shelter to hibernate outdoors. They don’t bite. They don’t stink. And they don’t congregate in large numbers.

Asian lady beetles are in the same family, but they are the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad cousins of ladybugs. They like to hibernate inside your home. They will congregate in large groups, usually next to a metal surface that has become heated in winter sun. (See the accompanying photograph.) They don’t have teeth, but they can scrape human skin in a way that feels exactly like a bite. They leave a stinky yellow goo wherever they gather and can stain skin, fabrics or paint. Since they prefer light colors (white, silver, yellow), this staining is a most unpleasant habit. If you spot them inside your home, the recommended removal method is vacuuming. Don’t squash them — pee-ewe. Just don’t forget to dispose of the vacuum contents, outdoors. Their one redeeming quality is that they, too, eat aphids.

Check next week’s blog for instructions on how to create Ladybug art a la Mary Snoddy for your garden.

The white M is clearly visible on this Asian Lady Beetle that joined me in the kitchen this morning.

A cluster of Asian Lady Beetles. Photo by Jerry King of Reidville, SC - Used with permission.

Artificial or Live Christmas Tree?

The battle begins anew each winter. Artificial or live tree? There are good reasons for both sides of the argument: environmental, financial, health, tradition and aesthetics.

The American Christmas Tree Association says that 75% of American households display a Christmas tree and 82% of those are artificial. For some families, taking the drive to a farm and selecting their tree of choice is an annual tradition without which the season would be incomplete. Other “live” options are to decorate a living tree outside one’s home (no gifts underneath) or to purchase a ball-and-burlap tree and plant it outdoors after the holidays. Unless you own acreage, this is only practical for a few years.

Cutting a tree down is not necessarily bad for the environment, unless you chop one randomly from a forest. Today Christmas trees are farmed, just like corn or tomatoes. Trees take about ten years to reach marketable size, but they can be grown on terrain that is too hilly for growing edible crops. The field space left empty when a tree is harvested is soon filled with a seedling tree to start building toward the next harvest. I know a couple who farmed cut-your-own Christmas trees on a small scale in the tiny town of Gilbert, South Carolina. They told me that regular hand-trimming was required to produce strong, dense, well-shaped trees, and they also sprayed theirs with a water-soluble pigment that became permanent when dry to ensure consistent green color. Trees that were not chosen by purchasers several years in a row became too large to sell and had to be removed and discarded.

Real trees are not exactly recyclable, but they are biodegradable. They will decay naturally. Many townships offer curbside tree pick up through January. Their collection is either ground into mulch or dropped into lakes to provide a habitat for fish.

False trees offer uniform shapes (no holes) and branches strong enough to hold the heftiest cut-crystal ornaments without the danger of them crashing to the floor when a dry branch becomes brittle. Unfortunately, many fakes will eventually find their way to a landfill.

The ACTA (represents artificial tree manufacturers) says that the environmental impact of the faux is less than the impact of a real tree IF consumers use the fake for five years or more before it goes landfill-bound. The NCTA (represents growers of live trees) argues that statistic ignores the environmental impact (“carbon footprint”) of manufacturing the fake tree components and shipping them from China. They further point out the water use required during manufacturing, the effect on wildlife, and US farmland and job preservation.

What about the finances of the choice? A Nielsen/Harris poll in 2017 found that the average price of a live tree was $75, while the average price of an artificial tree was $107. In my area, live trees are cheaper and artificial trees are more expensive than these statistics. Still, you don’t have to be a math genius to see that there is a short payback for the fake. Those fakes are usually made in China from PVC and steel components. If the current tariff threat worsens, buyers can expect the prices to increase.

If you suffer from allergies, fake might be the best choice. Live trees exude a wonderful fragrance – and perhaps dust, fungi or mold spores. If you are especially sensitive, rinse a live purchase with a hose and allow it to dry outside before bringing it indoors. The PVC used in most artificial trees can contain arsenic, lead, and other baddies. When new, they can release VOCs (volatile organic compounds) that cause headaches and nausea in sensitive people.

Whether you go real or faux, using LED lights consumes less energy and produces less heat. Please keep live trees well-watered. A dry tree is extremely flammable.

Here at New Hope Farm, we made the change to artificial ten years ago. The spaces between the wood plank floors in our 135-year-old home shrink and grow with temperature and humidity changes. I found that I was vacuuming needles from those cracks as much as six months after the holidays. After the holiday, I felt guilty about discarding something that had once been a lovely, living thing. (Sounds sentimental, I know, but I also have difficulty in discarding seedlings when I’m thinning garden vegetables.) Our current tree is behemoth, seven feet wide at the bottom and three of the four sections are quite heavy. Once up and decorated, it requires no further attention until time to disassemble and haul back to its storage area. I miss the aroma of a live tree, so I compromise by placing vases of greenery in every room. We have plentiful pine, cedar, cypress and magnolia, so when an arrangement starts looking tired, I cut fresh greens and toss the spent materials in the fire, when I get a final fragrant farewell.

This red metal sled conceals a water reservoir used to keep the greens hydrated. Pine and cedar add traditional seasonal aroma. Yellow Nandina berries pair nicely with the yellow-flecked Aucuba. When I refresh this arrangement, I will omit the boxwood, since warm indoor temperatures intensify its cat-pee scent.

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Hurrah for Hardy Cyclamen

In the midst of drab winter, I value anything hardy enough to send up colorful blooms. Such is the case with Hardy Cyclamen. Cyclamen coum are tuberous perennials, cold hardy in zones 6-9. These short plants are perfect for rock gardens, woodlands, containers, or scattering through partly-shaded beds. Plants go dormant during summer months. Because of their small stature, they show best when planted in groups.

Please note, we are talking the species purpurascens, coum or hederifolium here, not Cyclamen persicum, those gorgeous but finicky flowers from florists. I can usually kill those in about six weeks, although two weeks is my record. There is disagreement over the correct pronunciation of the genus, with some insisting on SIGH-cluh-men and others preferring SICK-luh-men.

Cyclamen’s delicate appearance would lead one to believe they are difficult to grow . Not so. My start came from a friend who discovered a drift behind her new home. They were growing happily in loose leaf litter, with the bulbs barely covered. Some even sat atop the humus, with only their roots extending into soil. She shared a few bulbs with me. In four years, they have multiplied into a couple of healthy clumps. I have not irrigated or fertilized them, but have adjusted their soil pH with lime to barely alkaline. In the Mary Snoddy garden, they coexist with hostas, acanthus and Ajuga ‘Black Scallop’ under spotty shade cast by Crape Myrtles and pine trees.

Flower stems are shaped like shepherd crooks, so the top of the flower points to soil, not sky. Both flowers and leaf patterns are highly variable between different species. All forms of the leaves have beautiful designs in silver, darkest green or burgundy.

Cyclamen prefer partial shade cast by trees. Too much rain or irrigation in summer, when the bulbs are dormant, can lead to rot. Plants will self-seed, so be careful not to overdo the mulch around them. They are rarely bothered by diseases, insects or varmints.

Cyclamen were used medicinally in ancient times for various purposes including love potions or to make bald heads re-grow hair. Now we know that raw bulbs are highly toxic and can cause severe digestive upset or even death. Flower petals can be used to brew tea. Play it safe and stick to Lipton.

Tubers should be planted in autumn. Purchase your bulbs only from reputable vendors (shout out here to Brent and Becky’s, a bulb catalog company in Gloucester, VA and Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh, NC). Unethical sorts have collected bulbs from the wild until they approach extinction.

Cold Gold - Winter Aconite

Recent rains and gusty winds brought down the last colorful autumn leaves. It will be a few weeks before crocus, hellebores, mahonias and edgeworthias start blooming. In browsing for new garden additions to brighten the winter scene, I ran across Winter Aconite, sometimes called Buttercup.

Eranthus hyemalis, pronounced er-AN-thiss hy-eh-MAY-liss, enjoy similar light conditions as Hellebores: full sun during bloom period, partial shade otherwise. This makes them an ideal candidate to plant under deciduous trees. They enjoy regular moisture but will tolerate less during dormancy. Golden yellow Winter Aconites bloom early, even before crocus.

The plants grow from tubers which should be planted rather deep (5 inches in good soil, a little shallower in heavy clay) so they are not damaged by cold. Soak the tubers overnight before planting to give them a good start. Winter Aconites are petite plants and should be planted close together in tight groups rather than spaced apart. They enjoy a rich soil and will survive in zones 4-9.

Plants can be propagated by division. Happy plants grown in fertile soil with plentiful moisture may reseed, sometimes heavily. They can be planted in the lawn as well as in flower beds, since the post-bloom foliage will wither and die before it’s time to mow grass in the spring. This is one of the few plants unaffected by the toxic substance, juglone, produced by black walnut trees.

Regretfully, I’ll need to forgo this one. Winter Aconites are extremely toxic to humans and pets. Eating the bloom, leaves or bulbs results in nausea, disrupts heart rhythms and can be deadly.

The photo is of a plant in a local botanical garden.

Winter Aconite at Hatcher Garden and Woodland Preserve, Spartanburg, SC. Anonymous photographer.

Goldenrod good; Ragweed bad

This time of the year is bittersweet.  Sadly, the lovely yellow goldenrods (Solidago) that decorated flower beds and roadsides have been cut down by frosts and freezes. On the other hand, those same freezes knocked out the ragweed that makes me sneeze hard enough to knock the earth off its axis.

Because these two bloom at the same time, goldenrod takes the rap for allergy-sufferers’ misery. The true culprit is ragweed. Goldenrod is pollinated by bees. Its pollen is heavy. Ragweed pollen is airborne and easily inhaled. A single ragweed plant can produce over a billion grains of pollen - lots of sneezes!. There are exceptions, but usually a plant that is bee-pollinated (as opposed to air pollinated) does not have pollen that floats on every breeze, spreading misery to sensitive sinuses.  Ragweed blooms look similar to goldenrod, but they remain green and never change to gold. Gardeners can learn to distinguish between the two because ragweed leaves and branching structure differ from goldenrod.

Goldenrod is easily grown and perennial to zone 4. The roadside ditch varieties have given way to modern cultivars that are shorter, bushier and longer-blooming. These improved introductions spread less aggressively than their wild cousins, but they still colonize the surrounding soil with a fibrous web of rhizomes. Don’t plant them in locations where they can choke out weaker plants.

Goldenrods prefer full sun but will accept some shade. Once established, they are quite drought tolerant. Plants range from two feet to six feet in height, depending upon the variety. They are not picky about soil, and even seem to prefer heavy, acidic clay. The golden color combines particularly well with blue, so an easy combination includes asters, which bloom at the same time of the year. The taller variety looks good with purple Ironweed (Vernonia) and Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha).

‘Fireworks’ was introduced by the NC Botanical Garden and is widely available. It is on the taller end of the spectrum, reaching four feet or more. ‘Peter Pan’ and ‘Little Lemon’ are petite, reaching 18-24 inches.

Bonus points: Deer leave them alone.

Goldenrod blooming in the Mary Snoddy garden

Joe Pye and his Weed

American folklore tells us that a Native American Indian medicine man from Massachusetts named Joe Pye created an herbal treatment for typhoid fever using the leaves of a native plant. Today we know the plant as “Joe Pye Weed.” I don’t know if this is truth or legend, but Joe Pye Weed is a great fall flower.

Once classified as Eupatorium, these herbaceous perennials were renamed into the Eutrochium genus in the year 2000. There are five different species within the genus, but I hereby give you permission to refer to them all as Joe Pye Weeds.

These North American natives are tough. Their preferred growing site is in full sun with damp soil. They thrive in roadside ditches, especially along our southeastern mountain roads.  Under less favorable conditions, the plant height is reduced. This can be a good thing, since they can grow to 8 feet or more in a perfect cultural situation. There are also some dwarf cultivars (‘Gateway,’ ‘Baby Joe’ and ‘Little Joe’) that are easier to include in home plant designs than their taller cousins.

The dusty rose-pink flowers are a favorite of butterflies and bees. They are cold-hardy in zones 4 to 8. Plants can be cut back by half in late May to produce a shorter, bushier plant with more blooms. In winter, cut them off at ground level after the top growth is freeze-killed. You can encourage spread by cutting the dead flowers off and scattering the seeds. You can also divide in fall, but the coarse fibrous root balls take a sharp blade and some energy to separate. Replant divisions immediately, water and mulch.

Joe Pyes are a bit exuberant for tight formal beds, but look fabulous when planted with other fall-flowering plants like goldenrods, asters, some iron weeds, Mexican salvia, and tall sedums. Deer have not browsed those in the Mary Snoddy garden – yet.

Butterflies flock to the blooms of Joe Pye Weed

These Joe Pyes were planted the year before, in wet soil and full sun.

Colors of Autumn

Autumn brings changing leaf colors. Many travelers flock either to the southeast or New England where the predominant tree species produce nature’s gems of gold, orange, red and burgundy. Photosynthesis produces the chlorophyll that makes leaves green during the growing season. Color change is initiated by longer, cooler fall nights which cause photosynthesis to slow and then stop. Hue intensity varies from year to year. Plentiful summer rains allow trees to retain their leaves longer, resulting in better colors.. Conversely, summer drought can cause premature leaf shed and little to no color.

Different autumn hues are caused by three pigments: carotene, xanthophyll and anthocyanin. If you read last week’s blog on pumpkins, you recognize carotene as the substance that makes pumpkins orange. It also gives Sugar Maples their fabulous orange fall color. 

Xanthophyll produces yellow leaves, seen in aspen, beech, catalpa and hickory trees.

Anthocyanin produces red leaves. It differs from carotene and xanthophyll because it requires sunlight for production. Color concentration is enhanced by cold, sunny days. This substance gives red maples, red oaks, tupelos, sourwoods and sweetgums their rich rosy hues.

Some of my favorite plants show all the fall colors. Persian Ironwood (Parrotia persica) and Fothergilla put on a multi-hued show every fall. In the Mary Snoddy garden, a sweetgum and sugar maple grow shoulder to shoulder next to a large Southern Magnolia. The red of the sweetgum looks even more robust in contrast to the warm yellow-orange of the maple. Both colors look more intense in contrast to the deep green of the magnolia. Outside the local library, a Kousa dogwood shimmers with intense colors.

Fall colors are at the brightest when the weather pattern has included a warm, rainy spring, and sunny fall days with cool nights. All the colors look wonderful against the brilliant blue of autumn skies.

A lovely Kousa dogwood at the local library, in fall color

A view of the woods along the Blue Ridge Parkway

A view of fall color in NC, TN

Don't go batty over Bats

Today’s message is almost a guest blog. Several months ago, my friend Lisa Lawrence Brown, presented a program on bats to our garden club. I took detailed notes, and have her permission to share her interesting information with you. Since Halloween is tomorrow, it seemed a good time to pass it along.

• Bats are misunderstood. The vast majority are not bloodsuckers.

• Despite their appearance, bats are mammals, not rodents. They are the only flying mammal.

• Bats are no more likely to carry the rabies virus than any other mammal.

• There are more than 1,000 species, which equates to ¼ of the mammals in the world.

• Some species are endangered due to industry, shrinking habitat, and pollution.

• Bats are not aggressive towards people. They are not pests, but can be messy if they roost in your home or outbuildings. About 50% of bats in the US are considered endangered.

• The expression ‘blind as a bat’ is false. Bats have excellent eyesight but they rely on their “echo-location” to travel at night and find insects for food.

• Ideal nesting spots are rotted trees and caves. Two internet sources said that bat houses were usually occupied within an hour of installation.

Four benefits of bats:

1. Insect control. Every single night, they eat ¼ to ½ of their body weight in insects. An average colony can eliminate 100 tons of insects per season. Canada and Kansas are experimenting with using bats to replace farmland insecticide use.

2. Organic fertilizer. Bat poop is high in Nitrogen.

3. Great pollinators. Without bats, there would be no tequila, since the Agave plant is only pollinated by bats.

4. Bats distribute seeds through elimination.

Three ways to attract bats:

1. Provide a water source. A birdbath is adequate.

2. Use plants that bloom late afternoon or evening.

3. Offer shelter (bat houses). See internet for instructions or purchase a ready-made bat house. Preferred installation is against a building or pole rather than against a tree.

Trivia notes:

• A bat’s metabolism is so active that it can digest a mango in ten minutes or less.

• Bats are not big breeders. They have one pup per season. They enjoy a 30-year life span.

• Bats are fastidious and keep themselves very clean.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Season

When fork trucks start unloading large crates of pumpkins at the big box stores, it is a sure sign that Halloween is soon and Christmas tree displays are imminent. Many pumpkins (45%) are purchased for Halloween jack-o-lanterns and seasonal décor, but they are powerhouses of nutrition for both people and animals.

Pumpkins are members of the squash family. They are orange because they contain beta-carotene, the same healthful substance that makes carrots orange. The flesh contains vitamins A and E, folate and fiber. Though not as popular as sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds are tasty and healthy too. Misshapen or damaged fruit are used as food for livestock (horses, goats, cows, sheep). If you don’t have livestock, you can either compost your old Jack-o-Lantern or put it out for squirrels and other wildlife to enjoy. (Cue the cute YouTube videos of hedgehogs eating pumpkin.) Prevent reseeding in the compost pile by instead placing the seeds in bird-feeding stations. Cut the fruit into pieces to help birds enjoy the flesh.

The world’s largest pumpkin was grown in Germany in 2016. It weighed 2,323 pounds. Despite being huge, it wasn’t very pretty (my opinion), being lopsided and a puny color. Most of us favor the smooth, uniform varieties.

Pumpkins come in various shapes, sizes and a range of colors: orange, red, white, green, yellow, tan and even purple. If you plan to purchase one for carving a jack-o-lantern, it is best to take along your proposed cutting design on a piece of paper to ensure the pumpkin you select will accommodate it. My personal preference is a fruit with a bit of a lean. If the face is carved on the side that is tilted skyward, it is easier to see and enjoy. As you shop, be on the lookout for soft spots, cracks or insect holes. These flaws will make your pumpkin decay faster. Do not carry the pumpkin by its stem or you take the risk of it breaking.

I love the look of the “warty” fruits, but a good friend of mine thinks they are beyond creepy. These “Knuckle Head,” “Gargoyle,” and “Goosebumps” varieties were genetically engineered to have the irregular surface. They are still edible, but not as tasty as their smooth-skinned cousins.

Pumpkins are easily grown but because they are vigorous vines be sure to allow plenty of space or they may overtake the other plants in your garden. Vines will grow in every continent except Antarctica. Like other squashes, plants have both male and female blooms. The females have a small round bump on the bloom stem, just behind the blossom, that will eventually develop into a fruit. Male blooms always appear first and in larger number than the females. If you are hoping to grow a large one, wait until several healthy fruits have started to develop and then remove all but one or two. The others will mature to a larger size than if all the babies were allowed to remain. Pumpkins will start to change color when days become shorter, nights become cooler, and soil moisture increases with autumn rains. Hot summers or unusual moisture patterns can lead to premature ripening.

Americans traditionally serve pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, but at the original Indian-Pilgrim feast in the year 1620, it was most likely served stewed or baked. Stewed pumpkin is tastiest with copious amounts of butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, which takes it off the health food list. Check the internet for dog-treat recipes that include cooked pumpkin.

Trivia: The “Pumpkin Capital of the World” is Morton, Illinois, the home to a Libby plant.
More Trivia: The first Jack-o-lanterns were carved turnips, not pumpkins.
Final Trivia: According to the National Garden Bureau, 2019 is “The Year of the Pumpkin.”

For a wealth of pumpkin information see website www.pumpkinnook.com.

Housekeeping notes: Many of you have sent me private emails informing me of difficulty in leaving comments on this blog. I have researched the problem and made a few changes in my website settings. I hope that this has resolved the issue. If you are not a subscriber, you will still be prompted to add a name for your comments, but you can click on “Comment as Guest” without providing other information or creating an account. Please, do me a kindness and let me know if my changes fixed the problem. If not, you can let me know via a private email to mary@marysnoddy.com. Thanks, readers – You make blogging fun!

I found this graphic and wanted to share. Adorable “no carve” pumpkins from the website www.craftymorning.com/no-carve-minion-pumpkins/

Traditional orange pumpkins

A wide choice of pumpkin colors

Pumpkin patch sales are a favorite fall fundraiser for civic groups.

Scarecrow On Duty

This week I gave my scarecrow, Fantastic Vern, a new shirt and overalls. He looks spiffy, but I plan to give him a facial in a few weeks. Vern has been my companion in the vegetable garden for several years. I grew up watching The Wizard of Oz on television and until this week never gave much thought on how they came into common use. (It’s okay if you want to hum a few bars of “If I Only Had A Brain.”)

 A quick internet search would lead one to think they are mostly decorative (check Pinterest) but their original use was to prevent crows and other birds from eating newly planted or freshly sprouted garden seeds.

My research indicates that scarecrows have been in use a long time and all over the world. The oldest surviving book in Japan, written in the year 712, mentions one. Scarecrows have featured prominently in short stories, novels, comic books, television and film. They have appeared in music performed by John Cougar Mellencamp, Pink Floyd, Melissa Ethridge, XTC, and Michael Jackson. They were in widespread use in the UK, where names vary by location. A few of my favorites: Mawkin (Sussex), Tattie Bogal (Isle of Skye and Scotland), Gallybagger (Isle of Wight), and Hodmeded (Berkshire).

Traditional construction is to tie shirt sleeves and pants legs shut and create a dummy body with straw, then attach it to a wooden cross. I chose to forego this method since eventually hay will rot and stink. Initially I stuffed Vern with empty plastic milk jugs and soda bottles of various sizes. Thunderstorms would rearrange him, so I had to redistribute his stuffing several times. Then I happened onto a marvelous molded mannequin for sale in a local thrift store. The mannequin was tough to get home. Since his joints did not bend, he would not fit in my car’s back seat or small trunk. I got more than a few curious looks as I drove home with a naked plastic headless body standing in my passenger seat with his upper half extending through the open sunroof. Plastic Man fit into the farm clothes fine, but I had to amputate a few toes to force his feet into lace-up workboots. His head is a Styrofoam wig holder covered with burlap and then coated with exterior grade Modge Podge, an all-in-one glue and sealer. His manly hands are leather work gloves that I sewed onto the shirt sleeve with nylon fishing filament.

Do scarecrows really work? Well, I cannot say if they repel seed-eating crows since I start most of my garden with transplants rather than seeds. They do NOT repel deer, rabbits or woodchucks. A farmer friend tells me that birds become accustomed to any inanimate object and recommends mylar balloons tied to the scarecrow or aluminum foil fringe on the clothing to mimic movement. The birds in the Mary Snoddy garden may be immune to Vern, but on several occasions I have been startled by his presence, thinking that I had a garden visitor.

 Gardening should be enjoyable. Fantastic Vern makes me smile

Fantastic Vern, guarding the asparagus.

"Perennial Ageratum" - Invasive Alert

When I moved into my first home, I begged for a start of “Perennial Ageratum” from my mother’s garden. She warned me to “be careful what you ask for” and said that the plants spread “like wildfire.” I assumed that the plant could not be THAT bad, since she had acquired her start from her own mother’s yard. Mistaken assumption.

Perennial Ageratum or Blue Mist Flower (Eupatorium colestinum or Conoclinium colestinum) resembles Ageratum, a well-behaved annual with fuzzy blue powder-puff blooms. Blue Mist is a hardy perennial that spreads aggressively via underground rhizomes and self-seeds. I. When driving through the countryside in September, I often spot it growing in ditches and near old home sites. It can be considered a weed because of its spreading tendencies.

The 24” tall plants will thrive in sun or shade (more blooms in sun), wet or dry, and any type of soil. They will tolerate either drought and soggy wet soils. They are not bothered by insects, disease or deer. Pollinators love them.

In late summer or early autumn, they erupt into a haze of soft blue flowers that look like asters from a distance. I cope with their invasive nature by planting them with other aggressive growers and allowing them to duke it out for ground space. A great combination is Blue Mist and Goldenrod (Solidago). These two bloom at the same time. Add ‘Autumn Joy’ sedum and accent with Mexican Salvia (Salvia leucantha) for a pretty fall combination.

Control the root spread of both Blue Mist and Goldenrod by planting them in plastic nursery pots with the bottoms removed, then sinking those pots into flower beds. Be sure that the top rim of the pots extend slightly above soil surface. This will prevent spreading via roots. Deadheading as soon a blooms fade will help control reseeding.

The photo shows that a tiny seedling can have an impressive root network underground.

Peanut Butter Tree

Clerodendrum trichotomum (pronounced kler-o-DEN-drum trik-o-TO-mum), more commonly known as “Harlequin Glorybower” or “Peanut Butter tree” is considered invasive in some states. It is prone to whiteflies and aphids, and may be troubled with leafspots. It suckers readily. Birds spread the seeds far and wide. The short tree or multistemmed shrub has a loose structure and an unkempt appearance. I grow it anyway.

Why grow something that has multiple issues? Fragrant white flowers appear in summer. When the bloom petals fall, the calyxes remain behind and turn a deep rose. The round seeds are an eye-catching metallic blue. Crushed leaves smell like peanut butter, providing entertainment for young garden visitors. This small tree survives in dry shade but will flower better and have more berries in sun. These benefits outweigh the trouble of pulling out seedlings or cutting off suckers that rise from roots.  The species cannot pollinate itself, so if berries are desired, add a second plant from different parents.

I think Clerodendrums look best when trained to a single-trunk form. The tallest ones in the Mary Snoddy garden are just under eleven feet.  There is a cultivar with variegated leaves, but the leaf coloration tends toward green with only a touch of white, which makes it look more like a sick plant than a variegated one. Clerodendrum trichotomum has a cousin, Clerodendrum bungei with a similar appearance but smells like over-scented soap. The common name is “Cashmere Bouquet.” 

Harlequin Glorybowers are tolerant but, like most other plants, they look best in moist, fertile soil. They are cold hardy in Zones 7-10. The shrub/tree loses every leaf after frost in my zone 7B garden. Its bright seed display fills a flower void in the garden between Crape Myrtles and Sasanqua Camellias, which makes it an autumn standout.

Smells Like Grape Jelly

If you are brave enough to drive around South Carolina with your windows down during fall’s ragweed season, you might catch a whiff of something that smells like grape soda or grape jelly. You might even catch a flash of purple in the sea of green that covers large sections of country and parts of undeveloped city blocks. The green blanket that crawls over anything in its path (trees, tractors, power poles, buildings, shrubs and, I’m guessing, slow-moving people) is kudzu. 

On April 28, 1918, my husband’s great-grandfather recorded in his daily journal, “Planted cudzu vine.” Since we now live on the farm that was then his home, I am thankful he was not successful with the plant that was widely touted to stop soil erosion. Erosion was especially troublesome for large tracts of land that were depleted by repeated crops of cotton. Kudzu was first introduced in the US in 1876, at a Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia that was meant to celebrate our nation’s 100th birthday. During the Great Depression, our government created jobs for workers by paying them to plant acres of the vine. There was no way to know that kudzu would be much more vigorous in the southern USA than in its native Japan. 

Pueraria montana (known by absolutely everyone as ‘kudzu’) has spread across the entire southeastern US. Some jokingly refer to it as The Vine That Ate The South. Kudzu loves southern heat and humidity but is also found as far north as South Dakota and as far west as Washington state. In hot weather, the vine can grow as much as one foot per day. It thrives in any type of soil and never needs irrigation. It may reach up to 100 feet – in ONE season! It kills trees and shrubs by blocking sunlight. It can also strangle trees by girdling their trunks. Current estimates say that two million American acres are covered in kudzu. It is included on every invasive list. The huge tap roots may produce as many as thirty vines growing from a single crown. Vines also root where they touch soil. The pretty purple flowers resemble pea blossoms and smell like grapes. They mature to flat seed pods. 

Control is difficult. Deer don’t seem to care for the fuzzy stems, but goats feed happily. Best results include a combination of herbicides, repeated close mowing, mechanical removal of the root crowns, and prayer. The US Department of Agriculture is investigating biologic controls including a natural fungus.

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Hurricane Lily

One of the common names for Lycoris radiata is Hurricane Lily. Other common names are “Magic Lily,” “Naked Ladies,” and “Spider Lily.” Since Hurricane Dorian recently threatened the southeastern US coast, “Hurricane Lily” seems most appropriate. “Magic Lily” and “Naked Ladies” refer to the growth habit. These bulbs put up their foliage in the season opposite to flowering. Those that are in bloom right now push up narrow, grass-like foliage in the spring. During summer, the foliage dies down and naked stems emerge to bloom in September. Some varieties are the opposite, pushing out foliage in autumn and flowering in the spring. “Spider Lily” comes from their long, prominent stamens.

Companies that sell Lycoris bulbs offer conflicting information about planting depth and name pronunciation. Some say Ly-COR-iss; others say LICK-or-iss. Select your favorite. Many sites call for planting depths of 5 inches. Others say that the bulbs should be planted barely under the soil’s surface. I have tried both depths in the Zone 7B Mary Snoddy garden and received much better results from a shallow planning.  

Lycoris bulbs resent being transplanted. It takes a couple of years for them to appear at their best. Be patient. The wait is worthwhile. Bulbs look prettiest when planted in groupings rather than a soldier-straight line. Plant 3-6 bulbs per square foot, spaced 4-6 inches apart, in full sun to partial shade. Flower stems reach up to 18 inches in height. They make long-lasting cut flowers. 

Lycoris are cold-hardy zones 6-10 and are resistant to pests and diseases. Don’t allow pets or children to eat them because of a mild toxicity.

The long curled stamens of Lycoris.

Lycoris have naturalized in an open meadow.

September Garden Checklist

Here is my garden checklist for things to do in the garden this month and other notes for this time of transition between summer and autumn:

• Perform a soil test and apply lime as directed.

• Keep an eye out for spider mites on conifers and other shrubs. (see photos)

• Save seeds from favorite annuals and perennials.

• Decide which houseplants will move indoors for fall. Trim back to keep them compact. Inspect for insects; treat as needed.

• Order bulbs and get them in the ground before cold weather arrives.

• Remove dead annuals and any dead portions of perennials to prevent diseases and keep the garden looking neat.

• Later this month, plant lettuce and cabbage seed for fall vegetable garden.

• Divide daylillies and share extras with gardening friends.

Other notes for the month:

• Shrubs, trees and perennials planted now will have an opportunity to put new roots into warm soil. Don’t forget to water during dry periods.

• Don’t be alarmed if the innermost needles of conifers turn brown and drop off now. This is normal.

• Be vigilant about removing weeds. Cool season weeds like Henbit will start to emerge soon. Pull them when they are small, before they have had a chance to bloom and set seed.

• Do not prune spring-flowering shrubs like azaleas or viburnums. This would be removing the bloom buds they have set for next year.

• For fescue lawns in South Carolina, now is the time to reseed bare patches.

Spider mites on Holly (Ilex) are most obvious in the morning, before sun dries the dew clinging to the webs.

Spider mite webs are obvious on this Ilex compacta, but a magnifying glass is needed to see the tiny insects.

Moonflower Night Magic

Moonflower (Ipomoea alba) looks like a white Morning Glory on steroids. This heat-loving annual vine is easily started from seed and grows like the wind. It blooms from June to frost in my zone 7b garden. The moonflower’s claim to fame is that the flowers open at dusk and release a faint perfume. The scent attracts night-flying moths and makes it a perfect plant to site near your patio, porch or nighttime entertaining areas. When morning sun arrives, the blooms collapse like parachutes. The flowers stay open later on overcast days.

A single vine will grow to 10-feet tall when provided with a trellis. They can also be allowed to scramble across the ground, but I prefer them to be at nose-level to better enjoy the fragrance. Do not fertilize or you will sacrifice blooms to leaf growth.  They rarely need supplemental irrigation. No need to deadhead, as the spent blooms shed naturally. Flowers can reach six-inches across. 

The accompanying photo shows a pair of vines grown on a 7-foot tower. When the plants start growing vigorously, I guide the soft stems horizontally around the tower so that the entire structure will be clothed with leaves rather than having them clustered at the top and naked near the bottom. Vines twine to climb so they will not damage walls or wooden posts with adhesive feet. 

Moonflower seeds are available in gardener centers and big box stores. The seeds are the size of peas, with a hard covering. I use a pair of nail clippers to snip a tiny hole of this hard shell and soak them in water overnight before planting. Use caution to avoid damaging the “eye” of the seed when snipping. This is where the first root, the radical, will emerge from the covering. The chip-and-soak procedure speeds germination. Start seeds about the same time you start tomato seeds. Any earlier is wasted effort, since the vines grow slowly until night temperatures are warm. Frost kills the tender vine, so it is a summertime pleasure only unless you live in frost-free zones, where they are perennial.

Unlike their Morning Glory cousins, Moonflowers are not invasive. Insects do not bother those grown on a trellis but I have seen evidence of slug nibbles on the vines allowed to trail across the ground.  Because of the large seed size, quick growth and large flowers, these vines are a great plant to start with children.

The overcast morning allowed a photograph before the blooms closed.

Writing Spiders

Writing spiders (Argiope aurantia) have made their annual appearance in the Snoddy garden. These black and yellow spiders are large and easy to spot. Other common names are zigzag spider, corn spider, gold orb weaver, scribblers and a host of others. The name is pronounced Argiope (ar-JY-oh-pee) aurantia (aw-RAN-tee-a), although I found alternate pronunciations on websites. These spiders are found in all 48 contiguous states.

Argiope spiders build large, elaborate webs that often contain heavier threads that look like X’s or Z’s. This gave rise to the common name ‘writing spider’ and also the folklore that ‘if a writing spider spells your name, you are going to die that night.’ My mother passed that tall tale along to me, so as a child I consulted the webs daily to see if my time was up. (Thanks, Mom!) There are various theories as to the purpose of these heavier threads, known as stabilimentum (attract prey, keep birds from flying into webs, add web stability) but none of them are proven. Parents should teach their children to admire from a distance, since Argiopes will bite if handled. The bite is not toxic but hurts like a bee-sting.

Trivia: In the children’s book Charlotte’s Web, Charlotte was such a talented spider that she wrote entire phrases (“Some Pig”) instead of simple X’s and Z’s.

Last week my husband spotted the remains of what appeared to be another Argiope (just a pair of legs) wrapped in silk in one of our regular webbers. He asked me if they were cannibals. A little research revealed that males have an irreversible seizure after mating and they die in less than an hour. The female wraps him up in silk and stores him on the edge of her web for an afternoon snack.  She selects a location for her web where the likelihood of a meal is high and the chance for disturbance seems low. Once this site is chosen, she will remain there every day. Webs are spun from self-produced silk that is stronger than steel of the same diameter. She tears her web down and reconstructs it every night. Webs can be two feet across. Females are approximately three times the size of males. 

The typical life span of an Argiope is one year.  The female leaves a sack of eggs for posterity and dies with the first hard frost. The eggs hatch within the sack during late fall or winter. The babies (300 or more) emerge in the warmer weather of spring. Any that are not consumed by birds or other predators start the cycle again.  

When I began photographing our resident Argiopes for this blog article, I noticed that they always hang head-down on their webs. When insect prey is snared in the sticky web threads, they move lightning-fast to wrap them up into a “eat it later” package. Occasionally they hold pairs of their legs together so tightly that it appears that they have four legs instead of eight. 

Many people have a fear of spiders (“arachnophobia”) but they are beneficial to the environment and should not be killed. If an Argiope builds her web in an inconvenient location, across your doorway for instance, destroying the web several days in a row will encourage her to relocate to a more hospitable site.

Argiope heads are covered with silvery hairs.

Is she writing YOUR name?