Lessons in Tropical Flora

During our recent trip to The Bahamas - my birthplace - it occured to me that I am unable to identify most of the native trees, shrubs and flowers. This strikes me as a little odd since I remember helping my grandmother - a huge plant enthusiast - in her garden since I could walk. So, I am determined to dedicate some of my time toward rectifying this.

In the meantime, I am enjoying learning more about the trees, shrubs and flowers The Bahamas and the southeast have in common. Namely Philodendron / Golden Pothos, the variation of which absolutely took my breath away. In the southeast, this vine known as Philodendron, is not winter hardy and is typically used as a potted houseplant. In The Bahamas, this vine grows indefinately, with leaves as big as my three-year old. Take a look:

Amazing what a change in environment will do.

Rain Gardens

Like I friend of mine said, 'I installed a rain garden in my yard before I even know what a rain garden was'. Essentially, I had an area on the top of my driveway that collected and held water after it rained. One option was to install a French Drain which would have run about $500. That was a definite no-go. The other was to find plants whose roots love to get and stay wet (and tolerate shade) and create a new garden. Bingo! In my search, I acquired Elephant Ears, Black-Stemmed Elephant Ears, perennialized Ferns and Louisiana Iris, all from friends happy to get rid of them.

Subsequently I heard about the ACES' interest in installing a rain garden at the Pioneer Museum of Alabama (PMAL), where I also volunteer. I decided this would be a great opportunity to learn exactly what a rain garden is, what it does and how to correctly install one.

Very simply put, a rain garden is a depressed flower bed (about two feet in the ground), placed at least ten feet from a building structure, to collect rain water runoff, thereby:

1. preventing the runoff from contaminating nearby water sources
2. enabling the water to reabsorbed into the ground, which acts as a natural filtration system
3. preventing erosion

It must be filled with native plants because these are pre-conditioned to deal with very wet and very dry conditions. The bed should be heavily composted (during) and mulched (immediately after) to provide nutrients and preserve moisture.

After an extensive calculation to determine the ideal spot and size, a 250 sq/ft rain garden was installed at the PMAL on a rainy and very cold morning. It is filled with Coreopsis, Agarista, Stokes' Aster and Echinacea. It needs some time to grow in, but should be promising in the spring.

Obviously I unknowingly skipped a few steps in my personal installation, particularly the two-feet excavation, but mine does just about the same thing. Bear in mind, this isn't anywhere close to 250 sq/ft. Of course, most of it has now died back with the frost. But I'm looking forward to enjoying it in spring.

Auburn Master Gardening School 2010

I had a fantastic time on Tuesday at MG School. We learnt how to:

• incorporate native plants into the landscape
• identify plants by their scientific names, and the benefits thereof, primarily referencing the plant outside the home area
• attract and maintain wildlife in the garden *my absolute favorite session*
• identify plant fungus and appropriate treatment
• install water gardens step-by-step
• install a drip irrigation system

It was a very long day but well worth it. The presenters are all Auburn lecturers, but I didn't feel lectured at. Some presentations were hands on and informal enough that questions were addressed during the sessions rather than at the end.

One of the most interesting things that stood out in the Gardens for Wildlife session, is how to apply for your home to become a Certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. Essentially, you must have 2-3 sources in each of the following sections:

• Food
• Providing a variety of fruits, nuts, seeds, nectar, pollen, and supplements like feeders and suet
• Water
• e.g. birdbaths, ponds, butterfly pudding area, stream, etc
• Cover
• protected areas from weather, predators e.g. bramble patch, rock pile wall, shrubs, etc
• Shelter
• safe places to raise young e.g. trees, nesting boxes, toad abodes, birdhouses, host plants, bat houses, etc
• Go Green
• mulching, less turf areas, native plant use, drip irrigation systems, rain barrels, use of composting, reduced use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, etc

You can learn more at http://www.nwf.org/.

To do it right (i.e. not staging rock piles and erecting bird and bat houses all over the place) I have a few seasons to go. A few trees need to mature and a few more shrubs need to be planted, but this is definately a medium-term goal for me. I'm so excited.

Master Gardeners of Pike County are required to receive 20 hours of training each year, although as I understand it, some volunteer work counts toward this. In any event, last Tuesday's training counted for 6 hours. I didn't know this, nor had I planned to generate any 'real' hours this year (being unofficial and all), but now I'm considering going for the other 14. I'll have to discuss this with my two-year old and one-year old of course, so we'll see how it goes.

P.S. I didn't have to harass any Auburn agricultural professionals about my roses as I received my report from the Diagnostic Lab in record time. More on that later.