Posted on in Gardening, House Plants

Thanksgiving Flowers?

PLTfallmum_drkrdbskgrn10_PC0840GB_PFOnce again it looks like everyone is coming to our house for Thanksgiving. I have no problem stuffing and cooking a turkey, whipping up some tasty gravy, or baking delicious pies. I enjoy cooking, and I’ve made plenty of turkey dinners. I’m the kind of cook who works hard to get the flavors I want, but forgets about presentation. When it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, what stumps me is decorating the table.

My first inclination is to just pick up a small potted mum from the market and plop it down in the center of the table, perfectly blocking the line of sight between Aunt Abigail and Cousin Clarence. It’s easy and I gain a plant out of it. However, it has its drawbacks.

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Posted on in Bird Profiles, Birds

Weavers

Village Weaver_Manzini-Swaziland_LAH_0766-001 Weavers! I was sure that the hanging nests of carefully woven grass belonged to some sort of weaver bird. After all, I’d seen such things in National Geographic. Now, here I was in southern Africa and the Jacaranda tree in front of me was decorated with dozens of these nests! Bluebird-sized birds fluttered around, and if I squinted, I could see them entering and leaving these cocoons through holes at the bottom.

As I mentioned last month, I recently returned from a trip to Swaziland. Fifteen people from my church were there to love on some AIDS orphans, and I was the team photographer. While my focus was on the kids, I couldn’t help but scan my surroundings for birds. After all—how often was I going to get to Africa?

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Posted on in Plant Profiles, Surviving Winter, Xeriscape

A November Garden Beauty

Eriogonum umbellatum var aureum - Sulfur Flower Buckwheat_DBG_10200118_LAH_7145My daughter was staring at the planters surrounding her patio, full of bedraggled and wilted plants. “I know it’s November, but is there something I can plant that will look nice now?”

Of course we’re not going to get the delicate flowers or green abundance of late spring or summer, but dead doesn’t have to mean ugly. Some plants manage to look good even after freezing nights and the season’s first snowstorm.

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Posted on in Gardening, Surviving Winter

Gardening Goes On… Indoors

Hoya @home 28mar2006 LAH 119rAs nighttime temperatures dip into the teens, I have to face the fact that I won’t be outside gardening any time soon. Happily, a good part of my garden lives in my house with me. After a busy summer (punctuated by fire, hail, and floods), I finally have time to give my houseplants the attention they deserve.

Unless the plants are in dire straits, I prefer to wait on repotting until spring. Then, the longer days, larger pot, and fresh potting mix combine to encourage new growth. Except for the plants that are winter bloomers (Christmas cactus, some orchids), at this time of year I give my plants a rest by cutting back on fertilizer and watering just enough to keep the soil moist.

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Posted on in Gardening, Plant Profiles

Blood Geranium

Geranium sanguineum 'Lancastriense'_Bloody Cranesbill_HudsonGardens-CO_LAH_2751Its name may be suitable for Halloween, but the Blood Geranium, aka the Blood Red Cranesbill, Bloody Cranesbill, or Geranium sanguineum, is anything but gruesome. In fact, the name comes from the bright crimson color of the fall foliage, rather than from the flowers or any tendency of the plant to bleed! In fact, Blood Geraniums are excellent plants for Colorado gardens.

Cranesbills are a type of perennial geranium with deeply divided leaves rising from a central point, and colorful flowers ranging from white through baby’s blush to shocking pink. Some flowers have brightly veined petals, as shown in the photo. The plants grow approximately 12 to 18 inches high and spread as wide or wider.

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Posted on in Birding Tips, Birding Trips, Birds

Birding in the Margins

Swainson's Spurfowl_KrugerNP-RSA_LAH_1567
A camera enabled me to identify these Swainson’s Spurfowl after I got home.

I was so excited! About to leave on a 12-day trip, I was heading to a new destination—a new continent! Our destination was Swaziland, and I was drooling over the seemingly endless possibilities. The southern tip of Africa is home to more than a thousand bird species, far more than the US and Canada. I had my ticket and my passport. My camera and binos were packed, along with a pocket guide to the more common species. I was ready. There was just one minor issue.

This wasn’t a birding trip.

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Posted on in Birds

Daddy Longlegs

Daddy Long Legs @CSU LAH 077“Eeek! It’s a spider!”
“No, that’s just a Daddy Longlegs. It won’t hurt you.”
“Are you sure? I heard that they’re really venomous, but that their fangs are too small to bite me. Is that true?”

Everyone knows what a Daddy Longlegs is, or thinks they do. In fact, there are two different groups of animals with the name Daddy Longlegs, both Arachnids, but in different orders. (Scorpions are in yet another order of Arachnid.)

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