From our own Ozark Hillbilly:
Some more pics from the past year:
Top pic: Flutterby Weed — This stuff grows wild on roadsides everywhere here and I’ve been trying to get it established and spreading about my place. Not much luck on the spreading.
Peek — one of the several box turtles I rescued from the Zen garden water feature.
Agastache — I’m going with some of the less popular flowers this time. This is Texas Hummingbird Mint or Heather Queen or Mosquito Plant. Hummingbirds are rather fond of it.
Cochsima — I could’ve sworn this plant was named cochsima but the internet refuses to confirm it. Regardless, hummingbirds love it.
Yum — A couple maters I actually beat the squirrels to.
Pearl Crescent flutterbies are common here, much smaller than the Great Spangled Fritillary whose pics I sent in before.
Red Hot Pokers — I planted these several years ago, and thay finally gave me something for my efforts.
SnakeBit — Poor Billie Jean had a rough time with the copperhead bite. This is after she had been on the meds for a week or so and the swelling was mostly gone. That blackness under the fur on her muzzle is a scab and one can see where she took the fangs. She has a nice battle scar there now and for some reason or other stays out of the tall grass. I don’t really blame her.
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What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone???
rikyrah
The turtle??
MagdaInBlack
Love the pictures, especially the “Flutterby” ? and “Oh my !” at Billie Jean meets the snake.
JPL
Poor baby. I’m not a fan of snakes, although I understand they do a lot of good.
Ozark, Beautiful pictures.
eclare
Poor Billie Jean! And wow…those fang marks. Shudder.
raven
Billie, people always told me be careful of what you do
There go two miscreants
Great Spangled Fritillary — cannot see that without laughing! The Pearl Crescent is pretty though.
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Baud
OH always makes MO look good.
Sadie
Beautiful!  I believe the red one is Crocosmia, although I’ve always preferred Lucifer’s Tongue
Reboot
Re: your 4th pic, I’m pretty sure that’s crocosmia Lucifer. ETA: Sadie got there first–Lucifer’s tongue is new to me, though.
Betty
Beautiful collection of posies. My heart goes out to Billie Jean. Copperheads are nasty.
Gvg
Crocosmia Is the red plant. We also call them montbretis. I think the genus has had a few name changes by botanists. They spread a lot here in Florida but don’t bloom much here, just make more leaves which is aggravating. Sometimes they bloom. Ours tend to be a more orange variety. You may have the one called Lucifer. Nice pictures.
We are in a small drought. After a really rainy summer, the rains just stopped about 2 weeks ago. The plants seem to have no toughness after rain all the time, and are really wilting. Spring was really dry, the summer so wet I lost plants to rot, now this. Well that’s gardening.
satby
@Sadie: Crocosmia is what it is, I have some of the same red variety. But looking it up to be sure of the spelling while you were posting your comment, I found this page. So now I am COMPELLED to hunt down some orange varieties for my garden.?
debbie
Why does a turtle need to be rescued from water?
satby
@satby: and mission accomplished! I bought the Firestarter and Emily MacKenzie varieties.
Immanentize
Great pictures, thank you OH. When we lived in San Antonio, we had a nice group of red hot pokers. I like them a lot, thanks for reminding me.
Poor Billie Jean, she caused a scene,
But the snake is not her friend…
Geminid
@Immanentize: I read that red hot poker flowers attract Baltimore Orioles. They find the flowers’ nectar very tasty.
Immanentize
@satby:
After reading that page, I now know crocosium are from the Iris family and that they are also referred to as “copper tips.” I see OH has been developing a theme
Immanentize
@Geminid: They grow north to Maryland? Zones is weird.
Mary G
Those are gorgeous flowers. I have had at least one monarch butterfly hanging around for months now. I finally found seeds for the proper species of milkweed for the West Coast, and am hoping to provide some good eating for their caterpillars next year
PS: hope Billie Jean feels better soon, poor baby.
Immanentize
@satby: Although Firestarter is listed as “new!” it looks like a good candidate for the nickname Copper Tip. I’m going to get some Lucifer. I need that bold red in the yard.
O. Felix Culpa
Good morning! This weekend is garden clean-up, removing tomato, pepper, and other plants that have come to the end of their days. Has anyone ever tried cover crops for green manure?
Lovely pictures, too. Agastache thrives here in New Mexico, and the hummingbirds love it.
satby
@Immanentize: ??
I am too, but it’s in colors adjacent to copper, not snakes.
Hope you and the Imp have been well,I’m not on here enough to keep up any more.
Edit: I have the Lucifer already, though I knew it as a different name now forgotten. I also never knew you were supposed to lift them over winter in zones 3-6; I never did. They came back every year and slowly spread.
OzarkHillbilly
@Sadie:
@Reboot:
Thanx guys. Lucifer’s Tongue sounds very appropriate for this heretic.
Immanentize
@satby: Im now in 6.5, I read that about lifting and I thought, “science demands that if I plant them, I try not lifting. For experimental value, of course.”
The Imp is great: Studying hard and living his best college sophomore life. Trying to find a cool internship for next summer.
Kristine
Lovely flowers. And long-distance skritches for the poor little pup. Glad she’s recovering.
We’ve actually gotten rain over the last couple of weeks here in NE Illinois. Water’s trickling into the sump pump cistern for the first time in months and the lawn is green and requires mowing. I have to start bringing in some of the potted plants at night now that temps are dipping below 45F—I’ve cleared the usual place in the dining area for them. I need to start dealing with fallen leaves and removing dead stalks etc.
Geminid
@O. Felix Culpa: A friend has used crimson clover for a green manure. It’s an annual, and sure looks pretty when it blooms (if you don’t till it all under first). You can get it at ag stores in Virginia, about $12 for a three pound bag. That’s a lot of seed, but crimson clover makes a good gift. Garden stores sell crimson clover in fancy packets at $4 for half an ounce.
Immanentize
@O. Felix Culpa: in TX, I used to plant rye grass…. But never got further into the idea than that. Some planted clover too. But I bet there are super balanced, made just for you options these days?
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: The lip of the pond is generally 4-6 inches above the water. Perpendicular inches at that. No way for a turtle to get out once they get in, and they do have to eat from time to time. I have a stick in it to enable frogs and toads to leave as they like but turtles need a more personal touch.
satby
In my garden, I’ve been seed gathering from my red cannas and the nasturtiums I planted in my porch railing planters. My orange cannas still have never flowered, so I’m going to try starting them inside next year very early and see if I finally get blooms by August. The nasturtiums were my best cascading planter flower yet, much more tolerant of drier conditions than petunias, so those will be my new go to for hanging pots in addition to the growing collection of begonias.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: sounds like the next project might be a little rock ramp for your turtle buddies.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: We are in 5b, close to a patch of 5a. I’m with you on the “Once I plant it, I’m done” bus. These have been coming back for several years now.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: Is there room in the zen pond for a small island and a little turtle rope bridge to the continent?
WaterGirl
@satby: When you’re looking for the orange ones, let me know if you find red ones! Â Those are the ones I want.
edit: Â I see that satby found me some red ones before I even asked. Â :-)
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
I hadn’t even thought of that, thanks. I hope they show their appreciation in their turtle way.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: I’m not sure how I would go about building one, the “pond” is pretty small. Box turtles have an air bladder and can float for as long as they like without any effort. I usually find 1 or 2 in it every year. It was 4 this year.
O. Felix Culpa
@Geminid:Â @Immanentize:
Thanks! I have a rye/legume mix that I bought a while back and
forgot aboutcarefully stored away. I might give it a try, although clover would be prettier.Weird — BJ forgot my name. I feel soooo hurt.
debbie
@satby:
I’ve noticed this year that the one yellow canna on my work route flowered much, much later than the red ones. Maybe there’s still hope for your orange one?
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: Nope, most of them are too shy to even say thanx. :-(
WaterGirl
@O. Felix Culpa: Oh, no. Â Are you by any chance using private browsing or have cookies turned off? Â (pretty sure the answer is no, but i have to ask.)
WaterGirl
oh, poor baby! Â I teared up when I read about Billie Jean. Â Please give her a snuggle for me.
satby
@debbie: getting far too cold now. But they’re tubers, so when I lift them after the first frost to rest I’ll separate the orange ones, easy because the foliage is dark, and store them (well, some) in a starter mix and planter they’ll be in next year. I’ll just pull out the whole thing and start watering it in March.
Oh, if anyone wants a few red canna seeds email me at skinluvvers at gmail dot com. Once you start with one or two, they really reproduce both tubers and seeds.
laura
Happy to report no law enforcement activity in the garden this morning. We never did see any news report of what was going on last Saturday night/Sunday morning.
satby
@WaterGirl: I’ve had decent luck with dutchgrown.com bulbs too, not as deluxe as colorblends, but some different varieties CB doesn’t carry. Like the orange monarch crocus.
MomSense
Thank you for the beautiful blooms and turtle this morning, OH.
Poor Billie Jean. Â Hope she feels better.
Steeplejack
@satby:
I was thinking the same thing.
Immanentize
@laura: Im glad to hear that. When I read your first report it reminded me of when I first moved to Miami Beach from Boston in the mid-80s. One of the first nights I lived there, the police were walking up and down in all the alleys behind the buildings. We later learned some guy had a psychotic break and had carved up his girlfriend in his bathtub and then distributed the parts in Publix shopping bags around the neighborhood.
Glad nothing so dramatic happened to you!
Steeplejack
@OzarkHillbilly:
What about a slanted branch or two-by-four along one side? Although I guess if it’s a rare occurrence that’s probably too much trouble.
Geminid
@Immanentize: Annual rye grass is also a good nurse crop for perennial grass planting. It pops up fast and helps hold soil for the slower sprouting perennial grass seed. I mixed roughly 15% annual ryegrass into some perennial grass seed I planted a couple weeks ago, and the ryegrass was 3″ tall after a week. The warm temperatures we’ve had here helped.
WaterGirl
@satby: I am not an orange girl like you, but I really like those! Â I think it’s the purple/brown accents.
OzarkHillbilly
@laura: No news is good news. We had a similar episode out here a couple years ago. SWAT teams all over the place looking for an escaped prisoner who’d last been seen somewhere nearby. He finally turned up about 70 miles away.
OzarkHillbilly
@Steeplejack: I have one in there for frogs and toads but turtles need something more stable. They really can float for damned near forever. I look at the pond every time I go out my door just because I like the sound, so they are never in there for more than a few hours.
debbie
@WaterGirl:
Not even this orange? Or this orange? ?
Steeplejack
@OzarkHillbilly:
Well, okay. You have assuaged my concerns. ?
O. Felix Culpa
@WaterGirl: I recently got into the habit of clearing the cookies of the last 24 hours, perhaps a connection?
WaterGirl
@debbie: Okay, yes, I do like some orange flowers. :-)
WaterGirl
@O. Felix Culpa: Yep. Â If you clear all your cookies on your computer, that also clears your BJ nym etc.
But after you enter it the first time after clearing your cookies, it should remember it until you clear your cookies again.
Immanentize
@O. Felix Culpa: Are you offering me some cookies? Yes, please.
opiejeanne
@Immanentize: They grow in the Seattle area, if we’re still talking about red hot pokers. I was surprised to see them in the front yard of a neighbor’s house, as I think of them as something you see in hot, dry areas.
Kristine
@satby: Oh, orange crocus!
I love orange flowers. They pop so well against dark greenery.
opiejeanne
@OzarkHillbilly: Beautiful flowers, thanks for sharing. That box turtle looks cranky; you’d think he/she would be grateful.
Another Scott
@OzarkHillbilly: Back in the spring I was walking Ellie on a path next to a busy road after a rain. There was a “stream” of water running about 2 inches from the edge of the road with an endemic to VA woodland box turtle taking a bath. I didn’t want him to get run over, so I picked him up and moved him about 10-20 yards away.
He didn’t seem too appreciative at the time…Â ;-)
You’re good people. Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
StringOnAStick
There’s lots of varieties of Agastaches now, big colour and size range; hummingbirds love them! Most require good drainage or they’ll rot out over the winter, and are a staple of “waterwise/xeric gardens though a few need regular watering. Another great hummingbird magnet is a TX wildflower called Redbirds in a Tree, one of the best plants I’ve added to my “must grow” list; zone 5, low water and by far the plant the hummingbirds liked the most plus it blooms from mid summer to frost.
Another Scott
@StringOnAStick: Thanks for the pointer! I occasionally see hummers here in NoVA, but they mostly ignore my feeders. :-(. Maybe some actual flowers will get them to spend more time here.
Cheers,
Scott.
J R in WV
@debbie:
Box turtles aren’t really aquatic beasts, they live on the wooded forest floor, and dig a hole in the ground come winter to hibernate. They swim well, but can’t deal with a vertical edge to a pond.
satby
@debbie: I LOVE those!!!
Sadie
@satby:Â Gorgeous!!