Tulips in a Vase or on the Tulip Tree

Tulips in a Vase or on the Tulip Tree

I was the happy recipient of a gift of a bouquet of tulips this Mother’s Day. They held a place of honor in a vase on my dining room table for two weeks. But even though I had to say goodbye to my cut flowers, I can still enjoy a form of tulips outside in my backyard. The Liriodendron tulipifera, better known as the Tulip Tree, has been offering us its own bounty of flowers.

The Tulip Tree is related to magnolias and is indigenous to eastern North America.  It can grow to 90 feet of more! Ours started as a small trunk and proceeded to expand. We used to be able to reach the flowers on the lower branches but as the tree reached upward, so did the flowers. The flowers are called tulips because of their shape and color though they aren’t actually tulips. They are beautiful all the same.

 

Yet everything has its blossoming time. The petals are now beginning to fall, coating the back lawn with color. And now the rest of the garden is starting to expand. I am looking forward to the tomatoes we already planted and to the hibiscus that are just starting to peek out of the dirt. But meanwhile, I appreciate what I can see. When the flowers are all gone, the Tulip Tree will provide us with welcome shade. Ah, sitting outside with nature and being in the moment - another delightful gift.

Here’s more about the beautiful Tulip Tree:

https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-grow-tulip-trees-2132098

Magnificent Magnolias

I like to see the magnolia trees around my neighborhood. Their flowers are full and fancy, the petals soft to the touch, and the fragrance is enticing. I tended to think of magnolias as only southern trees. Not so. They grow in a wide range of areas. In fact, there are some 200 varieties around the world and they all are beautiful.

But there are positive and negatives to most things and magnolias are not an exception. Here are some of the positives:

Magnolia trees definitely have that WOW factor. They are magnificent trees that are hard to ignore.

They are relatively fast growing.

They produce incredible flowers, which come in many colors depending upon the variety, that are a delight to our senses.

They come in many choices including evergreen or deciduous trees.

You can find a variety that suits your location and preferred blooming time.

Some of the negatives:

Spent magnolias flowers literally cover the ground when they fall.

The flowers produce pollen – good for the beetles that feed on them but not so good for allergy sufferers.

Their roots are ropy and can get tangled around the base and they also extend farther out than most trees, which makes them hard to transplant.

They can be large and dominate a landscape, up to 80 feet tall and 50 feet wide, though there are smaller options that are more in the 25 feet tall and 20 feet wide size.

Magnolia wood is soft and is prone to breakage in storms and damage by mowers and string trimmers.

So it is kind of a balance among factors - beauty, maintenance, drama, practicality, delight, appropriateness – at least for us as homeowners and planters. The yin and yang of nature. Most of life is poised between the two. What seems positive at one time may shift to negative at another and vice versa. The magnolia just follows its genetic path being magnificent and troublesome, depending on one’s point of view. Why shouldn’t we enjoy the positive even as we deal with the negative? 

Magnolia basics:

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/landscape/trees/hgic1015.html

Thinking of Spring - Again

Thinking of Spring - Again

Lilies and irises are such beautiful flowers. They aren’t ready to grow around my way yet, though with this warmish winter the daffodils have put up leaves. So it was quite a delight for me to get an unexpected bouquet in the mail. It immediately brought to mind the prospect of spring. I actually like winter and particularly snow but if that isn’t happening then I am eager for spring to make its appearance.

We used to have lots of day lilies in our backyard adding early excitement to a sleepy flowerbed. There were also irises, tulips, snowdrops, columbine, daisies and a host of other colorful plants. That was when the garden was new. Most of them have succumbed to a) too much shade from now mature trees, b) bulb-loving squirrels or c) those wascally wabbits. That doesn’t stop me from dreaming, however, and trying new plants that a) grow in deep shade, b) are supposedly anathema to squirrels or c) are not traditionally known to attract rabbits. Only modest success so far. Did you know that rabbits like to eat hosta leaves?

The gardening catalogs are starting to come in the mail and I pour over them. What flowers will we plant this year? And what veggies will we grow? I think that tomatoes will be on the list again, maybe another watermelon plant, some carrots perhaps, and sweet potatoes, which I can start on my windowsill as I did last year. The plant itself is lovely. If anyone is interested in putting in a sweet potato crop, here is a great article from Neil Shelton at http://www.homestead.org/NeilShelton/SweetPotato/SuperTuber.htm on the origin of sweet potatoes and how to plant them. It even gives recipes!

I’m also thinking about zucchini and green beans.

And lilies again.

And irises.

Any suggestions for easy, shade friendly, animal-proof flowers?

Spring isn’t here yet but it doesn’t hurt to plan ahead. I still hope it snows, though.

Hosta Happy

I am hosta happy. At last, a surviving, flowering hosta. This is not a criticism of the popular perrenial; this is a celebration. Of all the hostas we have planted, this is the only one that has made it to the flowering stage. How can that be? you might well ask. These are hardy plants. They tolerate shade, which we have a lot of in our backyard, though a little sun is welcome. Their leaves are their main attraction but they also flower with lily-like blossoms (appropriate as hostas are in the lily family). I see them all over the place. It seems that everyone can grow hostas.

We can, too, which is a fact not lost on the rabbits. They have been munching on our hostas for a few years, now. Each season the hostas send up leaves and as soon as the plants are full the rabbits take over. We see them bounding up to the hostas and suddenly the leaves are gone, whittled down to short, denuded stalks. I heard that fabric softener sheets keep mosquitoes away so I surrounded a couple of the plants with white, flapping sheets – a cocoon of sorts. It seemed to work, for a short while at least, and then it didn’t. I suspect the rabbits were just taking the measure of the sheets and, finding them non-threatening, continued on their hosta fiesta.

I rescued one tiny plant that was left lying on its side, abandoned for some unknowable reason, and stuck it on the back patio in a flowerpot that had lost its previous occupant. Frankly, I did not expect it to live. But then it did. And it flowered! The rabbits did no nibbling. The squirrels left it alone. The chipmunks bypassed it on their urgent scamperings. Good. Let them all ignore it. I pay attention to it because I so appreciate its survival. I may also buy a companion plant next spring and see if I can grow another undisturbed hosta. I love the wildlife in my backyard but I like my garden, too. Surely we can all find a way to co-exist.

Everything you ever wanted to know about hostas from the University of Minnesota Extension Service:http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/m1241.html