Hi Gardeners
 |
| T.humilis 'Helene" with wind flowers |
Gosh it’s beautiful here today, sunny and 82 degrees, but dry and
with a nice breeze so it doesn’t feel too hot.
The plants are popping up, trying to make up for lost time. In bloom today
I have daffodils, corydalis, hyacinths and the species tulip T. humilis ‘Helene’,
a beautiful rose pink which is mixed in with white and blue windflowers.
The trout lilies and fritillaria have big buds. Trilliums have popped up and one of them also
has a bud already. The roses are getting little red leaves and are ready for
their spring pruning now. My clematis
are getting green buds, so I know where to prune them too. The honeysuckles and barberry have leafed
out. Apples are getting green tips and I
see green coming on the lilacs.
Th farmers are out frantically planting the fields around here,
trying to get done before the rain comes tomorrow night. It’s very dry here, clouds of dust are
billowing off the road and the fields churned by tractors. It seemed so wet just a few days ago. Now we are under a red flag alert, read more
about that later in the blog. I had to
water the pansies on the deck- a few days ago it was almost too cold for them,
now they are wilting in the heat.
I potted up dahlias and glads this weekend and put them in my
little greenhouse and in just a couple days of this warmth they have sprouted. I’ll
be moving the seedlings that are all around the house out tomorrow. I have a new potted passion plant (maypop) and
a Siberian iris to plant outside also.
I have lettuce coming up in the bed where it was planted last
year, without me planting it this year. The rhubarb has leaves now too. I transplanted about 25 strawberries out of
my old bed to a new one and now we need some rain to get them growing.
Inside my experiment to bring in a bidens plant to overwinter has
worked out, it’s blooming nicely. Bidens has tiny yellow daisy-like flowers and
ferny leaves. I have holiday cacti
getting ready to bloom again too.
I hope this is the true start to warm weather now with no more
sneaky tricks from mother nature. I hope
everyone out there reading this is finally getting some nice weather.
 |
| Corydalis |
May Day
It’s the first day of May.
I vaguely remember in grade school one teacher had us dance around a
Maypole. There were ribbons involved but
I’m not sure of the ceremonious relationship.
It was probably a beautiful May day like today is here and the teacher
wanted to be outside. She probably
couldn’t stand a bunch of squirming kids bursting with energy any longer.
But the celebration of May Day is an ancient tradition throughout Europe
and in Scandinavian countries. It was
once celebrated here in the US too.
Originally it was a ceremony meant to invoke fertility, good crops, lots
of baby goats and sheep, and children for beautiful young virgins, after
marriage of course. Catholics celebrated
the Virgin Mary on this day. It was
often a day of courtship and marriages. The
May pole dance was done by feverish young men and women in hopes of a match. Ah,
spring, when the blood runs hot, and joy seems imminent.
Later in history communist and socialist governments celebrated May
Day as “Workers Day” and workers got a holiday from working in the fields. It’s still celebrated in that way in some
countries.
The flowers of May Day
May brings flowers, even in the cold north and flowers were always
part of May Day celebrations. In France lilies of the valley were often
exchanged, leading back to 1561 when King Charles IX passed them out to ladies
of the court.
In Italy alder tree leaves, golden rain tree flowers, violets and
roses were traditional May Day gifts. In
Greece wreaths of wildflowers were made and hung on doors, where they stayed
until Mid-summers eve, when they were burnt.
In Germany women made wreaths of roses fashioned into a heart
shape and after dusk placed them on the windows or doorsteps of people they
loved. They also flavored wine with sweet
woodruff and strawberries as a celebratory drink. (See recipe at the end of the
blog.) In Romania wine was flavord with
mugwort (not the same as sweet woodruff) and drunk to protect against disease
in the coming year. Men wore lilacs and
mugwort in their hat bands.
In Portugal the yellow flowers of broom were collected on the eve
of April 30 and on May 1 they were placed on all windows, doors and gates. In the Czech Republic it was tradition for
lovers to kiss under a blooming apple, cherry or birch tree.
Hawaiians call May Day Lei Day. Flower necklaces are worn. In England and in early American and Canadian
history little baskets of flowers and sweets were made and left on doorsteps secretly.
At first this was only for people who were lovers- or wanted to be. But later, the custom was expanded to include
people you liked and admired, such as neighbors, preachers, teachers and so on.
The little baskets were handmade,
usually of paper and the sweets inside homemade. Local flowers were added.
The custom of May Day baskets was followed into the 1950’s in some
parts of the country but has been largely abandoned. It’s interesting that it
wasn’t commercialized like Valentines day. May Day baskets would be an interesting project
for kids, making sure to follow the homemade/handmade theme.
 |
| Violets |
May almanac
May is
my second favorite month, almost as good as June. The full moon is May 29th and
appropriately enough it’s called the flower moon. Perigee is the 17th
and apogee of the moon is on the 5th. Other names for May’s full moon are mother’s
moon and milk moon- because new mothers and their milk are everywhere. The
month name of May is derived from the name of the Greek goddess Maia,
associated with fertility.
There
are two sets of notable days in May folklore. The first is Chilly Saints days,
named for the Saints Mameritus, Pancras, and Gervais. The days are the 11th, 12th,
and 13th and it is said that these days will be cold and frosty. In
2017 these days were warm and rainy in Michigan. Let’s hope for the same this year.
The
second set of folklore days is the Ember days.
May Ember days are the 22nd, 24th and 25th. On the 22nd the weather predicts
the weather for June, the 24th predicts July weather and the 25th
predicts the August weather. Example: if
it’s cold and wet on the 22nd of May the month of June is supposed
to be cold and wet. Let’s see how that worked out here.
In 2017
May 22nd was sunny and average in temperature. June 2017 was pretty average in sun and
average in temperature. May 24th
2017 was rainy and mild. July 2017 was
hot and wetter than average. May 25th,
2017 was rainy and cool. August 2017 was
rainy and cooler than average. So the
folklore predictions were pretty good last year, let’s see about this year.
Mother’s
Day, 13th, and Memorial Day, 28th, in May are some of the
biggest sales days that greenhouses have and May is almost synonymous with a
trip to buy flowers. May is planting month around here. Plant something every day! May’s full moon is said to be a great time to
harvest any medicinal herbs that are growing for their maximum potency. It’s
good that Memorial Day is late this year because it’s a date many people use to
signify it’s safe to plant everything. But beware- frost can still happen, although
it isn’t likely.
May
Day, May 1, is today, Cinco de Mayo is May 5th, May 6th
is No Diet Day which is great. It’s also
National Teachers day so hug a teacher.
May 8th is World Red Cross day and Iris day. The 16th is Love a Tree day. The 29th is Learn about Composting
day and the 30th is Water Your Flowers Day.
May is
National Barb-b-Que month, National Salad Month, National Egg month, National
Hamburger month and National Date your Mate month. May is also Older Americans
month, Bike Month, National Skin Cancer Awareness month and Blood Pressure
Awareness month.
May’s
birth flower is the Lily of the Valley.
It signifies sweetness and humility. (But remember its poisonous). It also means a return to happiness and you
are supposed to give them to people you find complete happiness with. The birthstone is the emerald which is a
symbol of re-birth.
 |
| Lilies of the valley |
The basics of planning new landscaping
You may be working with a blank slate, where a home has no
landscaping at all or ripping out old landscaping, but all landscaping requires
planning. Some people have an artistic
knack for getting the look they desire without a whole lot of detailed planning
but others of us need much more in depth planning to make things work. Even the “instinctual gardeners” should do
some planning though.
First you must decide on the look you want - keeping in mind the
reality of the site conditions that you have.
There are “styles” of gardening, formal, informal and now what is known
as “natural” or wildscaping. I suggest
visiting public gardens and looking at lots of garden books and magazines to
get a feel for what you like in a garden.
The style of your house should also be considered, although its my
opinion that you can blend any kind of garden with any house if you wish to do
so. For example, formal gardens with
their straight lines, clipped hedges and blocked, massed color schemes might
look better with large, tudor style homes.
A small cottage style home suits an informal garden with curved lines,
naturally shaped shrubs, and a mixed color scheme. A log cabin might look best with minimal,
natural landscaping with native plants.
There’s nothing that says you can’t have several styles of
gardening on the same property, the front landscaping can be formal and the
back informal for example. Many people
enjoy creating different garden “rooms” if they have the space, so they can
experiment with various garden styles.
Don’t forget to consider how you may want to use the
property. Do you entertain outside a
lot? Do you have kids who need a play area or pets that need a potty area? Will you want a pool? Or all of the
above? Look ahead to long term plans for
the property if you plan on staying there for many years. Will you be building
a garage or shed? Will you be putting
on an addition or remodeling soon? Will
you need to add fencing?
Consider the neighbors and neighboring uses of the property too. You don’t want a garden right next to the neighbor’s
basket ball court. You may want to block
the view of cars on blocks in the next yard.
You might not want to block a neighbor’s scenic view- as this as caused
many a lawsuit. If people use your yard
for a short cut a fence might be a good idea.
Don’t plan intensive landscaping, especially with large trees and
shrubs if you know you will be making major changes within a year or two. You
may want to plant annuals or use potted material in those areas. And don’t forget that some changes will
require access for machinery – so don’t plant things in the path that machinery
will have to take.
Second you must study the limiting conditions of your property.
This includes knowing where power lines, pipes, septic fields, wells and any
right of way passages are. You shouldn’t plant large trees under overhead power
lines or anything over buried cables or pipes.
Don’t build up the soil to make a flower bed around a well pipe. Septic fields can’t have deep rooted plants
over them and right of ways must be kept passable. If you don’t know where buried lines or pipes
are most places have services, often called “Miss Dig” that will find and mark
them for you.
Limiting conditions also includes knowing the ordinances and rules
of your particular municipality, subdivision and so on. Can you have a garden in the front or is lawn
and shrubbery the only option? Are certain species of plants banned? What are the rules for hardscaping and things
like sheds?
 |
| Example of a garden plan |
Measuring
The third thing to do is measure and map. Go out with a good tape measure that can
measure larger areas, say 100 feet. You may have to borrow it. For really large areas you can rent or borrow
a surveyor’s wheel, which you roll across the space to measure it. Record all your measurements. Measure twice for accuracy.
You’ll want to measure everything- the width and depth of the
property, the distance from the road to the house, the distance to each side
and end of the house from the property line, the length and depth of the house,
porches and deck dimensions. You’ll need
to know the dimensions of the space between house and any free-standing garage,
barn or shed.
Measure the width and length of driveways and walks, the space
from the house to any trees, well access, poles, fences and so on. Measure the diameter of any trees and shrubs
and the distance between them. Measure the space between the road and the walk,
the house and walkways. If there are
existing landscaping beds measure the width and length.
After you think you have measured everything you’ll be able to
make an accurate map of the property with the dimensions on it. You’ll need
some graph paper. That’s paper with tiny squares on it that you will assign a
value to, such as one square equals 3 square feet. Using that value is good in the
first landscape mapping, but you may need to divide the property into sections
if it’s a large property, so you’ll have room on the graph paper to go into
more detail.
Count out how many squares represent the property dimensions and
mark them, then locate the house and other major structures from the property
line and draw them on the map. Now
accurately place the walks, drives, trees, well, septic field, and any other
landmarks. Make sure to correctly mark
where underground lines and pipes run.
If you have overhead wires mark where they cross the property too.
Do a good job with this so you can keep it for reference years
down the road. Make some copies, maybe
scan it into a computer, so you can work with a copy and not mark up the master
map. (Some people know how to map like
this in a computer program.) It sounds
like a lot of work, but it’s the best way to plan a good landscape. You don’t have to be an expert artist but try
to be neat and accurate.
You have one more factor to consider and that’s the environmental
conditions on the property. You need to
know what areas are shady and which sunny, if there are areas with poor
drainage, or that are wetlands. A soil test to see what the soil pH and
nutrient levels are and what type of soil you have is a must. Gardeners should also know their gardening
zone before choosing plants for the landscape.
What landscape designers do next is map out where they want
gardens or features and what they want to accomplish at the spot. Does there need to be a tree here for
shade? Does this area need upright,
vertical interest or low masses of color?
Draw these things to the best of your ability on your map, just using
shapes, like a large circle for a tree, small circles for shrubs, rectangles
for formal beds or curved areas for informal.
Make notes on the shapes to remind you of their intentions.
These shapes should be in scale.
For example, if you want to give a tree 10 feet of space, make it so the
large circle is 10 feet in diameter using the values you assigned to the graph
squares. If the vegetable garden is to be 20 feet by 50 feet, make a rectangle
to scale.
Make sure to include any changes to “hardscaping” you intend to
make on your map. That includes decks,
water features, paths, fences, sheds and large statues or other garden
art. Small art pieces don’t need
mapping.
Choosing plant species
Now here’s where we get into more complex diagramming. Until this point you still aren’t choosing
plant species, just tree or shrub or flower bed generically. It’s time to pull out the garden catalogs and
references or your wish list now.
Take each shape you defined on the large map and draw it on its
own piece of graph paper. This time make
1 square equal one foot of real space.
Mark next to the shape whether its sun, part sun, shade, wet or very
dry. Now look through your plant
references and lists to see what will grow in your planting zone and
conditions. Then check the dimensions
given for a mature plant and any directions as to how far apart the plants
should be spaced.
You can now place the plants in your space on the graph paper,
allowing each the space your references say a mature plant needs. Some people like to use colored pencils for
this, shading in a red area for beebalm, yellow areas for daylilies, pink for a
rose and so on. Make a key so you don’t
forget what each color stands for. Now
you can see just how many plants you can fit in the space. Remember to place taller plants behind
shorter ones, or in the middle if the area is an “island” where it will be
viewed from all sides.
For best results choose plants that will thrive in the conditions
that the space on the map has in real life.
Shade lovers shouldn’t be put in full sun and vice versa. Plants who like good drainage shouldn’t be
put in wet soil areas. Also, if you have a color scheme in mind make sure the
species of plant you are choosing comes in that color. Despite many doctored
pictures you aren’t going to get true blue roses for example.
The color of foliage as well as flowers should be considered in
landscape design. Don’t add too many
plants with purple or gold foliage. They
are meant to be accent plants. A
variation in foliage color is nice in informal gardens as is a variation in
plant textures, such as ferns, broad leaved hosta, narrow leaved hosta, spiky
Japanese forest grass, and small leaved Jacobs ladder for a shade garden. Formal gardens tend to use plants in blocks
or rows of the same color and texture, with the occasional odd specimen as an
accent plant.
For those circles on your larger map indicating trees and shrubs which
will stand alone in the landscape you can simply look up the mature size of the
tree or shrub that you want to use and give it the space on the bigger map that
it will occupy. Make sure it won’t affect any of the other beds or objects on
the map. Label the circle with the
species name.
 |
| A rough example of filling in species |
Things to remember: shrubs should not be right against the house,
there should be 2-3 feet of space between house and shrub after the plant is
mature. That may mean planting it 6 feet
from the house now. Unless you are going
to keep things trimmed regularly, and the plant you choose is amenable to frequent
trimming, don’t place shrubs where at maturity they will block windows, or hang
too far out into paths, walks or driveways.
Trees that get more than 15 feet high should not be placed under power
lines, leave a 10 feet wide space under power lines free of large trees.
Trees and shrubs should not be planted over septic fields or tanks.
Edible plants should also be kept away from septic fields. Grass and
groundcovers, and annual flowers can be placed over septic fields or tanks.
Some perennials without deep tap roots could be used over the septic fields,
but not over the tank as it needs to be pumped from time to time. Its also wise to keep trees away from water
and sewer pipes as they can damage them.
If you have a well pipe in the yard do not make a raised flower
bed around it. Ground water is supposed to flow away from the well and the pipe
is supposed to remain above any flooding.
Don’t do anything to block the vents under the well cap. You don’t want to hit the well pipe with a
mower or other machinery, so a mulched area, posts or big stones could be used
around it. A piece of lattice or picket
fence with flowers on the front side could be used to block the sight of the
well pipe.
When you place trees close to flower beds or vegetable garden
areas remember they may shade the bed too much at maturity. Consider if you want fruiting trees close to
a patio or outside living area where they may drop messy fruit. Don’t place delicate plants next to children’s
play areas. Sit there and study your
maps, try to imagine any problems before you actually get out there and start
planting. You can change things later,
but it’s easier to start out right.
Another thing you may want to do is outline bed shapes with garden
hose or rope outside, where they are to go, before you plant. This gives you a better feel for the space. And you can place plants in their pots in a
space before you plant them to see if what you imagined in your head really
works. (Just make sure to remove the pots before planting.)
At first it may look like your perennial beds are rather sparse,
and you’ll be tempted to stuff some more plants in there. Resist the urge until the things you planted
have reached mature size. You can fill
in with annuals for a year or two. Inevitably you will need to make some
changes in the landscape down the line, but with proper planning early the changes
will be easier.
This has been the most basic explanation of landscape
planning. You may want to take a garden
design class if its offered in your area.
There are nuances of artistic design that can’t be covered here. Sometimes a friend will have an artistic
knack or some drawing skills that you can utilize. Planning a garden is fun actually, so jump
right in and do some.
Hummingbird and oriole feeders
I haven’t seen either the hummers or the orioles yet, but they are
getting closer. The hummingbird
migration map says hummers were seen in lower Michigan, so I expect them as the
weather gets a little warmer this week.
I have two feeders out and as soon as I see them the other two feeders
will go out. By mid-May hummers have
usually spread to most of their northern breeding range as have the Baltimore
orioles so if there’s not snow on the ground in your area get out those
feeders.
Hummingbirds are actually present in almost all of the eastern
half of the US, except for the most desolate city canyons, even though you may
not see them. Put those feeders out and
keep them full and fresh and sooner or later they will find you. Once they do, they’ll be back.
Baltimore orioles are orange and black, about the size of a robin
and they have a pretty song. They too
are present over much of the eastern US and if you have what they like they
will certainly visit your property, whether in the city or country. They prefer mature trees and orchards so are
more likely to be found in areas with older trees.
Hummingbirds are creatures of habit and once they find an area
where food is plentiful and there are areas to nest they will come back each
year and the babies they raise tend to come back to the same area too. When you put your feeder out in the spring
try to put it close to where it was last fall.
When the hungry migrants come flying in they’ll buzz right to that spot.
Once you see hummingbirds put a couple feeders out. Hummers are territorial, and they fight over
feeders. Having several feeders allows
more hummers to utilize your property.
Feeders are sold in many stores.
Look for ones that are easy to fill and clean. Feeders don’t have to be red, a small amount
of red around the feeding ports is all it takes.
The nectar in hummingbird feeders is simple to make at home and
you don’t have to buy the red stuff sold in stores. Simply bring some water to boil and stir in
white sugar until it dissolves. The best
ratio of sugar to water is 1 cup sugar to 4 cups water. This approximates the sugar in flower
nectar. Let the syrup cool and fill your
feeders.
Don’t add red food color to nectar, and don’t use anything but
plain white sugar. Some people think
hummers prefer cane sugar over beet sugar and it’s known they can tell the
difference, even though we can’t.
However, I think it’s a matter of what they get used to, since I use
beet sugar and I have plenty of hummingbirds at my feeders. Just use the sugar
prevalent in your area.
Don’t use turbinado sugar (raw sugar), it has bacteria and other
impurities that can harm hummers. It’s
also high in iron, which can kill hummers over time. Honey mixed with water ferments quickly and
will kill hummers. Corn syrup is also
not recommended. Never use any artificial sugars or stevia to make nectar as
those can harm hummers.
Many things (including orioles) like the nectar in hummingbird
feeders. Bees and wasps will be less
attracted to feeders if you use the proper sugar to water ratio and if you
remove any yellow color on the feeders.
Those yellow bee guards on some actually attract bees. Remove them or better yet paint them red with
a non-toxic paint. If you can
occasionally move the feeder a few feet, this confuses the bees but not the
hummers. Keep spills cleaned up and
realize that feeders which leak, sometimes because they are in a windy area,
attract more bees and wasps.
Ants are also a problem with hummer feeders. Once again try to clean up spills of
nectar. There are feeder stands with
moats, you put water in them and ants can’t cross them. Never put anything but plain water in moats
because birds sometimes drink from them.
Some people advise putting something sticky like Vaseline on the pole
holding a feeder. Be very careful that anything
you put on the pole doesn’t get on the birds.
This can prevent them from flying or snare them if you use something
like tanglefoot. If you do this put the
substance down close to the ground on the pole, never close to the feeder.
Its safer to make a cone of light but rigid aluminum. This is put on upside down, so the narrow
part of the cone is tightly against the pole and the flare is at the bottom.
You may be able to cut it from an aluminum cake or pie pan. On the inside of
the cone, near the pole, put a layer of something sticky to trap ants. The trick is to get the cone opening tightly
against the pole so ants can’t climb the pole and squeeze through. You may have to glue it there. It doesn’t
have to be very wide at the bottom.
Beside nectar feeders, hummingbirds like to have natural flowers
they can feed on. Hummingbirds like red
or orange tubular flowers but they will feed on other types and colors of
flowers too. Good hummingbird flowers are trumpet vine, all types and colors of
salvia, abutilon, bouvardia, honeysuckles, beebalm, (monarda), callistemon, delphinium, jewelweed, foxglove, hollyhocks, lupines,
columbine, day lilies, penstemon, cardinal flowers, agastache (hyssop), Blazing
Star (Liatris), Bleeding Heart (Dicentra),fuchsia, kniphofia ( red hot poker), tecoma, petunias, lobelia, Indian pink, (Spigelia marilandica), Canada
lily, canna, dames rocket, four o clocks, flowering tobacco (nicotiania),
cypress vine, abelia, mimosa, weigela, azaleas, yucca, nasturtium, and zinnias.
Oriole feeders
 |
| Oriole at jelly feeder |
Orioles like nectar and sometimes try to feed at hummingbird
feeders. There are special nectar
feeders for them with larger ports and perches.
You can use the same sugar water mixture as for hummers. But the ideal substances to attract orioles
are jelly and fruit. A jelly feeder is
just a simple roofed tray with a dish to hold jelly. There are jelly feeders on the market. Any flavor of jelly will do, but they like
grape and it’s generally the cheapest.
Do not use any jelly with artificial sweeteners.
I slice open an orange and stick half of it over the end of my
shepherd’s crook that holds the jelly feeder to attract them. They love sliced oranges. The color orange or
bright yellow also seems to attract orioles. Some people put nails in a board
and stick orange halves on it. Orioles will also eat grapes, strawberries,
cherries and many other fruits if placed in a tray for them. I have seen orioles eat suet too, especially
the orange and berry flavored suet.
Some people buy dried mealworms for attracting orioles. They love them, but these are expensive and
not really necessary to attract them.
They eat a more varied diet than hummers, with insects also a preferred
food. You want them to eat those
insects, not dried mealworms. Occasionally orioles may feed on plant nectar or
tree saps. They don’t eat seeds, at
least from a bird feeder.
Plants that attract orioles are fruiting plants, like peaches,
apricots, grapes, oranges, mulberries, mountain ash, serviceberry, cherries,
autumn olive, blackberries, and figs.
They prefer areas with mature trees for building their hanging nests.
Red Flag warnings- what they mean
Gardeners who are cleaning up in the spring should be aware of
what a red flag warning is. Red Flag conditions or warnings mean that the
surrounding area has conditions that make wildfires likely. This is dry, warm weather with low
humidity. Windy conditions can heighten
the risk.
In my area of Michigan, we have had extremely low humidity the
last few days- as low as 14%! Rain
hasn’t amounted to much since the last snowfall melted. It’s starting to look green but if you look
closely there’s a lot of dry, combustible material around.
While it may seem strange that in many areas as it gets greener we
enter a dangerous time for wildfires, April and May have a high likelihood for
fires. There are lots of dry leaves,
pine needles, dried twigs and other dead vegetation left from fall and winter
that haven’t had time or the right conditions to turn into compost.
Wildfires can start with someone burning trash or brush piles or
burning ditches or edges of fields. They can start from a cigarette thrown from
a window, hot mufflers on cars and motorcycles, campfires, someone dumping
coals from the grill or even lightning strikes.
The fires get out of control and burn larger areas, and houses, barns,
sheds and other things in their way can also burn. Human lives as well as those of pets,
livestock and wildlife can be lost.
In rural areas a red flag is often hung outside fire stations as a
warning when there is an increased risk for wildfires. The national weather service puts red flag
warnings on the weather map and local radio and TV stations may also announce
red flag conditions. During red flag
conditions outside burning is usually banned.
If your area requires permits for any burning they may not be issued
when there is a red flag warning.
Fighting wildfires is expensive and dangerous. If you are the person whose fire got out of
control you may be in for a large fine.
People also get bills where volunteer fire patrols operate if a fire is put
out on their property, whether they called the fire department or not and even
if the fire didn’t start on their property. Millions of dollars are spent each
year fighting out of control field fires, money that could be spent in better
ways.
Use special care in burning brush and leaves this time of year
even if red flag conditions aren’t announced for your area. Burn in open, bare areas, and never leave a
fire unattended. Have a plan to control the fire if it starts getting out of
hand, such as ready access to a working hose, or a fire extinguisher. Don’t
make the fire too big – divide piles up to burn- and don’t burn on a windy day.
People who live in heavily wooded areas, especially if the woods
consist of evergreen species, should develop a fire break of at least 50 feet
around their homes. This means excluding
evergreen trees and shrubs from the area and planting only low growing
deciduous trees and shrubs close to the house. (Many evergreen species are very
flammable.)
Lawns and flower beds are also good landscaping in a firebreak
area. Keep dried leaves and vegetation well away from the house. If you are in a wildfire prone area you
should be able to hose your roof down on all sides of the house. Make sure outside spigots and enough hose
exists to do this.
For some readers drought conditions may make the threat of fire
last much longer than those of us in rainier climates. But as spring thunderstorms and lush spring
greenery cover the landscape for some of us the threat of fire will diminish.
Last winter’s dead leaves and debris will decompose with heat and
moisture. But until then use care in
garden cleanup. Good gardeners compost, and
don’t burn.
May Wine or May Bowl recipe
Here’s the perfect drink for a beautiful day in May. Traditionally this is often served on May
Day, May 1. In southern Europe the sweet woodruff would be blooming and the
strawberries ripening so they were a perfect match. But this year my sweet
woodruff has barely started growing so if I want May wine it will have to be
later.
You can make this recipe non- alcoholic by using sparkling water
and one of the “fake” wines or some white grape juice. It would be an excellent thing for kids to
make on May Day or a day in May.
Sweet woodruff has a vanilla like taste.
Ingredients- adult version
1 bottle Riesling wine (or any white wine)
1 bottle champagne
1 pint of sweet woodruff leaves and flowers, washed
1 pint of strawberries, washed and sliced
Directions
Remove the sweet woodruff flowers and set aside. With a rolling pin or other heavy object crush
the sweet woodruff leaves and then place them in a large bowl.
Pour the wine over the leaves and let it sit for 1-2 hours. The longer it sits the stronger the sweet
woodruff taste gets. You may want to
start with an hour and see how you like the taste.
Strain the wine mixture to remove the herb pieces. Pour strained
wine into a punch bowl.
Next add the champagne, then the sliced strawberries.
Garnish with the sweet woodruff flowers.
A caution- Go easy with the sweet woodruff.
In large quantities it can cause vomiting and headaches. (So
does just drinking too much wine and champagne.) People on blood thinners should
not consume sweet woodruff, as it contains coumadin.
I saw a butterfly today, that means
good weather is finally here.
Kim Willis
And So On….
Find Michigan garden events/classes
here:
(This
is the Lapeer County Gardeners facebook page)
Newsletter/blog information
If you have a comment or opinion you’d like to share, send it to
me or you can comment directly on the blog. Please state that you want to have
the item published in my weekly blog if you email me. You must give your full
name and what you say must be polite and not attack any individual. I am very
open to ideas and opinions that don’t match mine, but I do reserve the right to
publish what I want. Contact me at KimWillis151@gmail.com
I write this because I
love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my
research each week. It keeps me engaged with people and horticulture. It’s a
hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If you are on my mailing list and at any
time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you know
anyone who would like to receive a notification by email when a new blog is
published have them send their email address to me. KimWillis151@gmail.com
Betturkey giriş adresine buradan ulaşabilirsiniz.
ReplyDeletebetturkey giriş
WSMHZ