Alice’s Log

Simply adding evergreen boughs to a left-over summer container and accenting with branches of winterberry makes for a nice winter planter.  The recent snow storm frosted the boughs, and sure enough, a blue bird helped himself to the berries this morning.

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) is a deciduous holly that is native to Missouri.  It just happened to be growing alongside our road, convenient for harvesting some of the branches.

Winterberry grows to 6-12' tall and wide in average to moist soils.  Though it can tolerate some shade it will produce the best fruit with full sun.  This shrub makes a great hedge, a shrub backdrop, or in a rain garden.  Dwarf varieties are available.

Like it's evergreen cousin, Winterberry is dioecious, meaning that both male and female plants need to be present for berries to form.

We all love finding a new plant, especially one in a plant group you can easily grow.

This is Streptocarpus "Pretty Turtle", a member of the African Violet family.  Generally Streptocarpus are an utter failure in my home, but this is different.  If you can grow violets, you can grow this one.

The beautifully spotted leaves put this plant in the "must have" category.  The real bonus will come when it starts to bloom.  Short spikes will emerge bearing 1" long bell-shaped lavender flowers.

Like violets, this plant likes morning sun.   Keep moderately moist, however for me that means run dry before thoroughly watering.  The key is to not let it get bone dry (that will dry the edges of the leaves) or keep too wet (root rot).  I water mine weekly by using the sink sprayer, but the water temperature must be warm to tepid or spots will mar the foliage.   Fertilize every two weeks with a liquid fertilizer mixed at half rate.  During winter, keep tropicals like this one away from drafty windows.  Violet, Episcia, Goldfish, Sinningia, Gloxinia, and other members of the African violet family all like similar growing conditions.

This mushroom is making it's way through the soil, even pushing a large block of mulch out of the way.

Warm temps and recent moisture make for good growing conditions, and mushrooms are popping up everywhere. A good sign, mushrooms grow as a part of decomposition.  Their presence usually indicates good levels of organic matter, an essential component of a healthy soil.

Looking at the photo on the seed packet, Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower) looked like a nice new cut flower for my garden.  I had grown it many years before but was in for a surprise this summer, not remembering how tall it would get.  Of the 4 plants, most grew 6-8' tall but one topped out at 10'! and is only now just starting to bloom.

Because of it's large size, the side branches can't support the weight and fall to the ground.  Did I do something to cause this large sunflower to become a monster?  Only time will tell, and only if I decide to plant them again next year.

If it weren't for the "good bugs", our gardening efforts would be futile.  Insects play a very important role in our world, and their system of checks-and-balances are much to our benefit.

The Assassin bug, also known as the Wheel Bug, is one of the few insects that prey on Japanese beetles.  When the invasive beetles arrived in central Missouri in the early 2000's, natural controls couldn't keep up with this onslaught, but slowy the assassin bug population started to increase.  Though Japanese beetles are still around, their numbers are greatly reduced by the "good bugs".  By the way, Japanese beetles are also controlled by spiders, predatory stink bugs, and birds.

The assassin bug can be unfriendly however, so don't provoke them as their bite can be quite serious.  Keep them in the garden where they can be helpful but discourage them from coming into the house.

A sturdy and reliable perennial, Blackberry Lilies add such grace and beauty to the summer garden.  Arching branches from iris-like foliage bear dozens of small orange flowers that open through June and July.  The crimson spotted flowers are only open a couple days, then twist their petals into a tight spiral as the flowers go by and form their seed.  As the seed pods mature, they form blackberry-looking fruit in August and September,  lasting through the fall until the birds find them.

Blackberry Lily(Iris domestica) is also known as Leopard Lily and Torch Lily.  It is very drought tolerant and spreads nicely, though I would not say that it is invasive.  The clump shown here has grown in this spot of my garden for over 30 years.  It loves the sun but can take light shade.  The flowering stalks can reach 2-3' tall but the foliage is about 15-18".

The other day I noticed these buds that look like Amaryllis coming up from the ground.  I couldn't imagine what they would be, then I noticed them coming up in 3 other spots.  That's when I remembered....I had planted surprise lilies in the fall of 2022 but had no blooms last spring.  I wondered why some of my "daffodil" foliage didn't have blooms this spring.

Surprise Lilies, Colchicum, and Autumn Crocus all grow the same way, green foliage in the spring that dies back, giving way to blooms emerging in mid-late July, August, and into September. These are referred to simply as fall-blooming bulbs and are all winter hardy here in Missouri.

Every so often you see something in the garden that makes you pause, just so you can take in the beauty of God's creation.

This particular moment was brought on when spotting these Clematis seed heads.  Such detail and accuracy that could only have been made by our creator. Thank you, God, for showing me this today.

With all the rain we've had this spring, working in my yard is almost impossible because of the mosquitoes, especially this morning shortly after the rain we had last night.

I have a large patch of lemon balm (Mentha officinalis) growing in my yard specifically to use as an insect repellent.  I pull off bunches of the new growth, crush it in my hands, and rub the leaves all over my face, neck, arms, anywhere that is exposed.  The citronellal is released and lingers on the skin for a short while, repelling mosquitoes.  Sure enough!  I was buzzed with 4-5 mosquitoes this morning before I stopped my work to go do a "lemon balm rub-down".  Over the next hour, I was buzzed by only two bugs.

Clarification - I had to rub each area more than once and even grabbed a fresh handful to make sure there was plenty of defense.

A good "natural" way to fight off mosquitoes....

Yuck!  How did these leaves get so brown...so fast?

Rose slugs were found feasting a few days ago on these roses.  So easy to miss, 1/2" long green worms blend in with the leaves making their presence almost undetectable.

The best way to control this caterpillar is to apply a systemic insecticide between mid-March and early April.  That gives the active ingredient time to be present in the leaf when the insect hatches out and starts to feed.

These beautiful clumps of yellow water iris (Iris pseudacorus) sit in the Oriental-influenced garden in Centralia, Missouri, now known as the Chance Gardens.  This beautifully designed green space was imagined and achieved by Albert Bishop Chance in the 1930's and remain a beautiful reminder of his legacy.

The gardens are open to the public and sit behind the Victorian-style house, which now serves as a museum.  Adjacent to the gardens is a Rose Garden that was added in 1995 and is home to over 400 varieties of hybrid tea and floribunda roses.

The yellow water iris, also known as as yellow flag or water flag, are native to Missouri and are usually found along creek banks.  Adaptable to any type of soil, this rhizome-spreading iris can form large clumps quickly.  They create a wonderful solution to prevent erosion along a creek, as an accent in a water garden, or something that tolerates wet soils. The yellow iris is tough yet beautiful.

Missouri Primrose has found a place in my garden, or should I say, found several places.  Over the past 8 years since I planted my first evening primrose, it has popped up in the most unusual places, along the edge of a bed and in tiny pockets of soil between landscape rock walls.

Well-rooted, so I know they've been there a while, this Missouri native perennial is welcome anywhere I see them.  They aren't overly large or fast spreading, so I'm okay with their presence.  After all, they are a friend to lots of native butterflies, predator insects, and songbirds.  Plus, their flowers are the largest, most intense lemon-yellow beauties.

Yes, this evening primrose is welcome in my garden any time.