December 10, 2013 - Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter
These
weekly garden notes are written by Kim Willis, unless another author is noted,
and the opinions expressed in these notes are her opinions and do not represent
any other individual, group or organizations opinions.
Hi Gardeners
 |
| Barberry in winter. |
Although the sun has peeked out a little today its bitter
wicked cold out there. It is supposed
to get much nastier tonight with wind chills below 0 and light snow so stay
home if you can. Winter has come early
and hard this year and I hope that the prediction for a milder January holds
true. But we have it better than some
areas of the country that’s a fact.
The seed and nursery catalogs are starting to pile up by
my chair and I am spending some time enjoying the pretty pictures. I have been gathering information on some new
plant introductions and hope to highlight some of them soon in the newsletter. If you have a gardener in your life and you
are still searching for that perfect gift for him or her why not give them a
gift certificate to their favorite catalog nursery.
I have a couple of longer articles in this
newsletter. When I get started writing
about something it’s sometimes hard to stop. I hope you enjoy them. And just a heads up- there will not be a
newsletter on the 24th, although I plan to do one on New Years Eve.
Black
truffles
Black truffles are a foodies delight. And just as Vidalia onions have a unique
flavor because of the area they are grown in Périgord black truffles, grown in
New South Wales, have a unique ‘aroma” that famous cooks are willing to pay
$900 a pound to get. With such an
expensive delicacy there are bound to be imposters, so researchers decided to
find out just what made the Périgord
black truffles so enticing and how they could identify imposters.
Out of the 2,500 proteins in black truffles only 9
proteins were involved in the exquisite taste of the Périgord. The study, published in ACS' Journal of
Proteome Research, will allow producers to test black truffles for the favored
proteins and identify their product while discouraging the producers of less
delectable truffles to identify them as Périgord.
Black truffles are also receiving interest from other
researchers. Usually black truffles grow
on the roots of oak and hazelnuts.
Researchers recently identified the symbiotic Pseudomonas fluorescens
bacterium that allows the truffle fungi to grow on tree roots and were able to
get it to inoculate pine tree roots, and allow black truffles to grow on them. This may lower the cost of black truffle
production and allow them to be grown in new places.
Squirrely
Facts
Squirrels are one of the most common critters that share
our yards and gardens. We notice them more than most other animals because they
are active throughout the day like we are.
Squirrels can be annoying and destructive but many people are also fond
of the little beggars. But it is also
surprising how little people know about the squirrels that share our gardens.
There are 3 common types of tree squirrels in the Eastern
US, Fox, Gray and Red. (There are also
northern and southern flying squirrels.)
In the western US there is a Western gray Squirrel and a relative of the
red squirrel called the Douglas squirrel.
And Fox squirrels have recently begun to infiltrate some areas of the
west. People are often confused however
about what squirrel they are seeing because of common names and because the
gray squirrel in particular has several color variations.
Squirrel differences
 |
| Fox squirrel. |
The fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) is the largest American tree
squirrel. It has a reddish brown coat
tipped in black. Its most obvious
distinguishing trait is the rusty colored underside of the tail and slightly
paler gold to reddish coloration of the belly.
Unfortunately Fox squirrels are sometimes called red squirrels because
of their red coloration and this confuses them with the other Red squirrel. When
Fox squirrels are startled they flee quickly, directly away from the
disturbance in as direct a route as possible.
Gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), are a little smaller
than Fox squirrels and while they sometimes are reddish in color the back tends
to be a darker grayish color, at least in the typical color of the species. Gray
squirrels have white or silver colored bellies and a frosting of white hairs on
the tail. Gray squirrels however come in a wide range of color mutations
including white and solid black. When
you see an odd colored squirrel chances are pretty good it’s a color variation
of the gray squirrel.
When a gray squirrel is startled it tends to freeze along
a tree limb or play hide and seek with a predator, trying to see it but keep
something between itself and danger, unlike a Fox Squirrel that just
flees. They are the most common urban
squirrel.
The American Red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) is a
small squirrel. It has a reddish back
with white belly and white rings around the eyes. There is a dark line between
the white belly and red back color and along the tail margins. They are
sometimes called Pine squirrels. There is often confusion over the American red
squirrel and the endangered European red squirrel, which are different species. American red squirrels are abundant and not
endangered. However they are more likely
to be found in rural areas rather than the suburbs or urban environments. They are aggressive and chase the larger
squirrels out of areas that they frequent.
Red squirrels are more likely to be active at dawn and dusk and not as
visible in midday as other squirrels.
Red Squirrels cannot breed with Gray or Fox squirrels but
there is some disagreement about whether Gray and Fox squirrels
interbreed. Most researchers believe
that such crosses are rare although the two squirrels are sometimes in the same
area. Most odd colored squirrels that have been collected and studied have been
Gray squirrels.
Gray squirrels were taken to Europe where they quickly
became an aggressive invasive species.
They are said to be responsible for the near extinction of the European
red squirrel.
What they eat
Most squirrels are primarily seed and nut eaters although
they also eat buds, fruits, insects and birds eggs. They may also eat baby birds in nests and
even carrion (dead things) at times.
Squirrels have a very good sense of smell, so good that they can smell a
worm inside of a nut or acorn. These
infested foods are always eaten first and not stored. Nuts and seeds can be stored in caches in
tree holes and other spots or buried for later retrieval. Red squirrels rarely bury food, but they
store enormous quantities of nuts and seeds in anything that will hold them.
Squirrels are fond of various types of mushrooms and American
red squirrels have been observed draping pieces of mushrooms on tree branches
to dry for storage. Squirrels can safely
eat species of mushrooms that are poisonous to humans and other animals. They can also eat acorns that are high in
tannic acid without harm. Fox squirrels accumulate
porphyrin, a chemical found in acorns, that makes their teeth glow pink to red
under an ultra violet light.
Squirrels don’t remember every nut they store but they
are smart enough to know when another squirrel is watching them hide nuts and
they will often try to fool the observer or will move their nuts after it
leaves. They also watch other squirrels to find out how they get food, such as
at a bird feeder and copy them. Urban
squirrels can become quite tame when fed and often eat out of people’s
hands. This does not mean they are tame
however, and many people have been bitten by squirrels that aren’t afraid of
humans.
Homes and social life
All squirrels establish territories which they then defend
to some degree. Territories may be up to
a mile and a half in size but squirrels also forage outside of their own
territories.
While Fox and Gray squirrels tolerate others of their
race at feeders and other food sources squirrels are not social animals and
prefer to be alone except at mating time.
Red squirrels are very territorial and don’t tolerate any other
squirrels in their territory except during mating season. Mothers do tolerate their babies being around
for a while but chase them away before the next litter is born.
Squirrels use two main types of nests, a big ball of
leaves and other material in a tree called a “drey” and nests in tree cavities (or
in your attic). They usually have
several nests in their territories that they use at various times of the year.
Squirrels don’t hibernate but may stay in a warm nest for days at a time in bad
weather.
Squirrels have a number of calls or vocalizations that
have different meanings. They seem to be
able to understand calls of other species of squirrels and even the warning
calls of birds and other animals.
Squirrels live about 2-6 years in the wild, although some
have lived 20 years in captivity. They
are preyed on by hawks and owls, cats, coyotes and bobcats. Raccoons and opossums are known to raid
squirrel nests to eat the babies.
Reproduction
A female squirrel is called a sow and a male squirrel is
called a boar. Mating occurs once or
twice a year. Gray squirrels and red
squirrels are seasonal breeders with a “heat period” in late December –early January
and again in late June. Fox squirrels
can breed any time of the year but tend to breed at about the same time as gray
and red squirrels. Not all squirrels will breed twice in a year, it depends on
how big the first litter was and how abundant food is.
Female squirrels are very promiscuous and breed with
numerous males during their heat. There is a lot of chasing and fighting during
squirrel mating and it’s a time when many squirrels die because they are almost
oblivious to predators and other dangers. Gestation is 31-35 days and litter
size ranges from 1-8, with 3-4 babies being average.
Male squirrels keep their testicles tucked up inside them
out of sight except during the mating seasons.
This accounts for the old wives tales that squirrels castrate the males
of other species or that females castrate males.
Baby squirrels are born blind and hairless. Mother squirrels often move their young from
nest to nest, probably to avoid predators. They begin coming out of the nest at
around a month of age but remain with their mom and nurse for at least another
month and often until the mothers next breeding period.
While most squirrels will gladly kill and eat the young
of other squirrels a study done with red squirrels found that a female red
squirrel will adopt abandoned baby red squirrels to raise if the babies are closely
related to her, such as being grandchildren or nieces and nephews. Researchers
aren’t quite sure how the squirrel determines the relationship.
People and squirrels
Squirrels were a popular menu item for the early European
settlers because they were abundant and relatively easy to kill. There are many
people that still enjoy the taste of squirrel and squirrel brains mixed with
scrambled eggs is a popular southern treat. While Native Americans ate squirrels they were
not a preferred source of meat. The
Cherokees were said to believe that eating squirrels caused arthritis and other
tribes had beliefs that eating squirrels could bring bad luck.
By the early 1800’s the clearing of land for farming and heavy
hunting pressure were slowly eroding squirrel populations and they were seldom
seen in cities. But by the mid-1800’s
people were beginning to plan large parks in urban areas and to plant more
trees. In some of these large urban
parks gray squirrels were brought in and released to make the parks more “natural.”
They were protected from hunting and people were encouraging children to feed
squirrels to discourage animal cruelty.
The squirrel population quickly boomed in urban areas and
by the early 1900’s squirrels were becoming less popular with people because of
the damage they did to gardens and homes.
During the wars and through the depression squirrels once again became
food for the hungry and populations dipped.
The squirrel populations began to increase after WWII. Washington DC is one of the places that had
and still has a very high population of squirrels. President Eisenhower hated
them. He ordered them trapped and removed from the White house grounds which
sparked protests. President Regan however, was a squirrel
lover. He brought the Whitehouse
squirrels acorns from Camp David and had a Christmas card painted that depicted
a squirrel on the White house lawn. (No word on whether Obama likes squirrels.)
In the 1960’s however, with the influence of
environmental movements and Disney people once again began treating squirrels
as cute creatures that needed to be protected. Squirrels are very common in most cities but
they can become a problem. Besides the
damage they do to gardens, bird feeders and trees a squirrel causes a power
outage somewhere in the US every day. Whether you like them or despise them
however, squirrels are probably here to stay.
Holly
for the holidays and beyond
One of the plants long associated with winter holidays is
holly, said to bring good luck to a home. You may picture holly as having
thick, dark green, glossy leaves that remain green all winter. Others of you may know hollies that you call
winterberry or possumhaw, which lose their leaves in the winter to display
branches lined with beautiful berries.
There are over 600 species of holly, from many parts of
the world. Hollies may be widely divided into groups, English hollies, Ilex
aquifolium, American hollies, Ilex opaca, Blue holly, Ilex meservae, Chinese
holly, Ilex cornuta, Japanese holly, Ilex crenata, possumhaw, Ilex decidua and
winterberry holly, Ilex verticillata. There are other species grown for
ornamental use and each of the above species has numerous named varieties. Hollies species are also crossed to provide
some ornamental hybrids.
 |
| Blue holly |
American and English hollies make excellent landscape
trees. Blue hollies and others are used
as landscape shrubs and specimen plants.
English hollies are often trimmed into hedges. The deciduous hollies are excellent as shrubs
for winter color and for naturalizing.
Winterberries will grow in wetter areas such as rain gardens and pond
side plantings. Hollies are deer resistant.
Most evergreen holly leaves are thick and glossy
green. Many evergreen species have
toothed leaves, with a spine at the end of each tooth. Some however, have smooth, nearly oval
leaves. There are some variegated
varieties. Hollies that drop their
leaves in winter generally have long, oval leaves with smooth margins.
All hollies have one interesting feature. Male and female flowers are born on separate
plants. To get those beautiful berries
you will need at least one male plant for every 10 or so females. Only female plants have berries. The holly flowers are small and
whitish. They have a sweet scent that
attracts bees and other insects to do the pollinating. You can tell male flowers if you look inside
the flower and see yellow pollen. Female
flowers already have a round, green swelling at the base of the pistil that
becomes the berry.
Holly plants may not flower for several years after
planting so it’s important to label the males so you will know if a male dies
and you need to replace it. Pay attention to catalog descriptions or label
information, which tells you what type of male plant you need for each female
you buy. Blue hollies are needed to
pollinate blue hollies and possumhaws are needed to pollinate possumhaws and so
on. Even within a group some plants will
be better mates for each other.
Most holly berries will be red or black, but there are
orange, yellow, coral, pink, blue and white berried varieties on the
market. Some people are not interested
in the berries, only the evergreen foliage and for them there is no need to worry
about male and female plants. There are
a few varieties of hollies that will produce berries without a male.
Birds like holly berries later in the winter, after they
have been frozen several times. This
allows you to get a good winter show and still feed the birds. Birds also like to shelter in evergreen
hollies during the winter.
Holly culture
Both deciduous and evergreen hollies prefer slightly
acidic soil but can be grown in more alkaline soils with the right
fertilizers. They like rich, well
drained soil in full sun. The
winterberry group will tolerate damp areas, although it will also do well in
average garden conditions. Evergreen
hollies like some protection from winter winds, at least while they are young.
The evergreen hollies are slow growing, the deciduous
much faster. In the spring both benefit from some acidic fertilizer. You can use a slow release acidic fertilizer
that is formulated for holly, rhododendrons and so on that is commonly found in
garden stores. Cottonseed meal, pine
needles and other acidic organic mulches are good. Keep holly watered during
dry spells.
Hollies vary as to hardiness; the winterberries and
American holly are probably the cold hardiest.
Check the zone hardiness of any variety that you buy. Some forms of holly are considered to be
invasive, spreading by the berries. All
parts of the holly plant are poisonous so keep that in mind when you select a
planting location.
Remember to fill the bird feeder!
Kim
Garden as though you will live forever. William Kent
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