Letting Go of the Bay Leaf: Fall Fiesta Maple

Sunday, June 9, 2019

Mosaic Monday #31 - How Does Your Garden Grow?

Blue Columbine

My April 14 post, Anticipation, had me dreaming about the wild grass and wildflowers that we sowed in the fall. I also speculated about our formal landscaping - would it return? Would there be self-seeding? Would the apple trees bloom and cross-pollinate? And then we have the pines and the aspens we transplanted at the end of the summer. Did they survive? Since I know you have all been on the edge of your seats waiting for the answers, this post will put your inquiring minds to rest.

I began keeping a garden journal on April 21; on a weekly basis, I note observations about each of the plants, and take pictures. I am also tracking key events such as rainfall. I am confident that in years to come, my notes will become my own mini-Farmer's Almanac for planning purposes. Call me crazy, but this approach and its future application gets me jazzed!

If I went all-out with this post, it would contain over 25 mosaics to document plant progress since April. This is good news because it means that most of the landscaping survived the winter, but even I think that's too much. Perhaps I will focus on the most dramatic transformation, or my favorite plants. Let's start and see where this goes.

BEE BALM: I am excited to have several of these plants in our garden since they are a magnet for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Last year, they did not bloom; I am hoping the second year in the ground will make a difference.

Left to right: April 21 through June 2; all other collages will follow

a similar format

COLUMBINE: My love affair with this flower began when I saw a plethora of yellow columbine along the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park. Our garden contains red and blue columbine, although some of the flowers seem to vary from what was on the official tag. Never mind, they are delicate and unique and I never tire of looking at them.

Red Columbine

WILD STRAWBERRY: You might be surprised to know that wild strawberry flourish in this mountain climate; the plant is among the first to sprout and bloom. Of course, this also means they are very attractive to hungry critters in the spring. This plant was chowed down to the ground at the end of April, and has been nibbled at least once since then while making a comeback.

PAINTBRUSH: If you've never seen one of these, the pictures will soon reveal the source of its name. Paintbrush is a sought-after prairie beauty that prefers bright sites with medium dry soils. Its vivid bracts nearly hide small greenish flowers. These plants are seldom grown in gardens because they are partly parasitic and require the roots of a host plant to survive.

GOLDEN CURRANT: an ornamental shrub with fragrant, yellow trumpet flowers, this drought tolerant plant should produce sweet, golden seedy fruit within three years of planting. Given the maturity of these shrubs when they were planted last summer, fruit this year is a distinct possibility.

The currants were the first of our shrubs to leaf out

WESTERN SAND CHERRY: This small shrub has grayish-green leaves that turn purple in the fall. The mass of white flowers along the branches in the spring are followed by large quantities of purple-black fruits in summer. Unfortunately, as you can see in the upper middle photo of the collage below, a couple of the sand cherries show significant withering. I discussed it with our landscaper, and he asked if aphids were present. By the time the damage was visible, if it was aphids, they had moved on. I suspect it was aphids since I have now discovered the little sap suckers on our burning bushes!

WILD GRASS/WILDFLOWER SEED: Last fall, we scattered 30 pounds worth of wild grass seed, mixed with wildflower seed. We were equal parts hopeful and skeptical, given 1) the seed is sown in soil that has been scored to loosen it - so, essentially, the seed is lying on top of the soil, 2) the target areas were disturbed and in some cases compacted during construction, and 3) birds and other critters would have an opportunity before snow fall and after snow melt to gobble up the seed. I am pleased to report that hopeful won out in this case - we have a healthy crop of grass (that we don't have to mow) - the wildflowers will take a little longer to see.

TRANSPLANTS: In my November 7, 2018 post, I wrote that we had transplanted no less than 2 juniper, 18 aspen, 5 Engelmann spruce, 2 Douglas fir and 9 larches. As spring approached, I recalled my days as a pregnant woman - anxiety mixed with joy as I anticipated our success rate. AND? The spruce and the fir are not showing new growth, but the needles feel soft, which means they are still alive. (A dead tree would drop its needles at the merest touch, much like a dried-out Christmas tree.) The juniper have green tips, and 17 out of 18 of the aspen have leaves, with most of them fully leafed out. I cannot say we have enjoyed such a ratio with the larch - only 4 out of the 9 greened up, and one more is questionable. Sigh. Good thing we have plenty of young larch to draw from elsewhere on our property when we try again in the fall!

Upper left: aspen; lower left: juniper

Top and bottom right: larch

ROYAL RED NORWAY MAPLE: If you've been following my blog for a while, you will recall that this maple was subject to some severe "pruning" by elk last fall. It's still a little lopsided, but the overall condition is better than I expected when the elk left it with little more than a "poodle tail"!

FALL FIESTA SUGAR MAPLE: Now, this is a tree! You can take the girl out of the Midwest, but you can't take the Midwest out of the girl! Something about the leaf shape, the contour of the tree, its fullness - ah, that's a tree!

APPLE TREES: I saved the best for last! The Honeycrisp was planted to honor my Father, a life-long gardener who taught me most of what I know about nurturing a landscape (he passed away in April 1998). When I was a young girl, we had Winesap and Golden Delicious trees - so many sweet memories are tied to that small orchard.

As it turns out, a Honeycrisp needs another apple tree for pollination, so it seemed only fitting to dedicate the second tree, a Goodland, to my Mother. It was a blessing that my Mom was here last September to harvest the first apples from her tree. As I watch the bees and other pollinators buzz about the blossoms, I think of my parents, and I wish my Dad could have been here for one of his famous "garden tours", only this time I would be giving the tour. This post is for you, Dad!

Elk also "pruned" the Goodland but it has made a full recovery

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.
Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.
The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Monday (U.S. Mountain time).
Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.
Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.
As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.
Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.
Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us.

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

October Oasis

Fall Fiesta Maple in our back garden

Oasis? In Montana? Yes! Oasis is defined as "a pleasant or peaceful area or period in the midst of a difficult, troubled or hectic place or situation". Pleasant? Check. Mother Nature graced us with several weeks of blue-sky, 60-degree weather. Peaceful? Check. Visitor bookings were slow, at only four days. Difficult situation? Check. The world has plenty of troubles; I keep my head down and focus on my 2018 goals. It might be a bit of head-in-the-sand, but it's my refuge, my safe haven and my sanctuary. Come join me at the oasis.

ONE: COLOR

Orange has always been a favorite color, so it's no surprise that I enjoy autumn, with its many shades of ginger. Decorating for Halloween is a bonus that involves an outside display of pumpkins, corn stalks, hay bales and mums.

Inside, my focus is our dining room table. We've had this Halloween tree for many years; normally the kids would split up the 'ornaments' and place them on the tree. A little sad that I do this on my own now …

Of course, Mother Nature outperforms all of us with Her decorating.

Cotton clouds over the house

Upper left: sand cherry; Upper right: burning bush

Bottom: Larch framed by scudding clouds

TWO: CONCOCTIONS

Kung Pao Chicken

My cooking mo-jo revs up in the fall - maybe the cooler days and a craving for comfort food is the gas for that particular engine. (And it helps that weekly cooking is one of my 2018 goals.) Spousal Unit and I have created a bit of a routine with the cooking thing - I look up recipes on Pinterest and he reviews them for process, ingredients and overall interest. If a recipe passes muster, he buys the ingredients during his normal shop. Then, it's a joint session in the kitchen with his fine assistance as Sous Chef. We've had pretty good luck lately with our choices; only the Savoy Cabbage recipe failed to make it onto the 'keeper' list. (links to all the recipes except the bread are at the end of this post)

A family recipe for Pumpkin Bread

Lemon Fettucine Alfredo

Pad Thai with spaghetti squash

Savoy Cabbage Casserole

THREE: CREATURES

The trail cam has not delivered much this month; I tried out some new locations that were a bust, apart from the ubiquitous deer, some dim shots of a coyote and dark visions of a hare. More interesting was the parade of turkeys near the fire circle, which I captured in the video below; this mama was quite intent to get her young'uns across the open space!

And then there are creatures of the Halloween kind … a couple of weeks ago we made an inaugural stop in the Tailing Loop Winery, and lucked out that someone had organized a jam session as part of a Halloween party. As musicians rotated on and off the stage, the harmonica player would be struck with inspiration, grab a mike and wail away. Check out this video of his talent.

Of course, following last year's post about Halloween and the Whitefish costume contest, I am sure you all have been tortured by pins and needles, waiting for this year's entry. Wait no longer … behold James Bond and his date from the Spectre movie. Surely you see the resemblance?

Now, folks, we were not the only loonies to adopt an alter ego …

FOUR: CROSS-STITCH

Progress continues on my 30 Christmas cross-stitch ornaments. I snatch some moments during car rides with Spousal Unit, but I usually double down while watching Dancing With the Stars (I favor Juan Pablo or Milo for the mirrorball) or football. When I most need to escape, cross-stitch is my retreat.

FIVE: CHANGE

But change is definitely afoot. I recently ordered my Day-Timer pages for 2019, and I thrilled to a fresh motif, a vibrant color scheme and the clean sheets. Just a coincidence that January says "Seek Peace"?

Autumn is prime time for planting, and we've transplanted no less than 2 juniper, 18 aspen, 5 Engelmann spruce, 2 Douglas fir and 9 larches. Throughout the winter months, I will dream about my babies; only in the Spring will we get a grade on the quality of our process.