Bottlebrush Tree Announces Spring - LOUD

Spring has officially arrived, but most of us have been enjoying our global warming most of the winter this year.  We even have different USDA planting zones now.  I know that before I retired, I was already planting winter gardens in November, not in October because it was just too hot for pretty petunias and pansies, typical winter color in New Orleans.
But yesterday, in a blaze of glory, our Bottlebrush tree announced that spring is indeed here. Might as well have played a 48 trumpet fanfare and announced it to the world.

See what I mean.

Bottlebrush tree

Wake you right up in the morning, won't it?

Oh, if you want pond information, see my website at http://www.pondlady.com

And don't forget to buy my book. Click on the box at the top right of this page.

Thanks for your visit today.

Spring in the Swamp

We are surrounded by swamps and wetlands here in St Tammany Parish, LA. Yes, we call counties parishes here.  Something about when LA was owned by the French and the church dominated the government, so named regions the same way churches named them. Geez, if political trends continue, we could be reverting to that.  But I digress.
Yesterday, while vacating the house so possible buyers could roam through it, we drove over to the Big Branch National Wildlife Refuge to see what flowers were blooming and what critters were taking advantage of the lovely spring day around here.   The typical critters were taking the sun.

Our toothy friend, the alligator

Red eared slider, taking the sun on a lily pad.

And speaking of lilies

Thousands of them cover any non moving water.  

Closer up they look like this:

Or even like this:

This one is a cow lily. Even with its name, it's a beautiful flower as many of the wildflowers are:

Cow lily closed

Cow lily open

And what would spring be without the ubiquitous wisteria?

I hope spring is going this well in your part of the world.

Oh, if you want pond information, see my website at http://www.pondlady.com

And don't forget to buy my book. Click on the box at the top right of this page.

Thanks for your visit today.

The Grammar Police

C'mon people.  Please start learning and using good grammar and spelling. We can't understand what you want to say when you use loose instead of lose.  Or their instead of there or they're.  Learn the difference between hear and here.  And fergawd's sake, no more apostrophe esses on the ends of words unless it's a contraction. See: It's. Contraction for it is.  Easy, right?  Well do it then.

Teachers, are you teaching grammar?  Do any of you teach your students about hour and our, affect and effect?  Do you know the difference?

Is it because I write for a living that I object to your bad grammar and spelling? I don't think so. I think it's (see, a contraction again.) because I want to understand what you are writing and I simply cannot do it when I see your instead of you're.  It distracts from what you are saying and makes us look at all your mistakes instead of reading what you have to say.  It also makes us think you really don't know what you are talking about because you don't know how to tell us what you are talking about.

Do you just not care? If you don't care, stop writing.  If you didn't learn, start now.  Read. That's a good way to learn good grammar.

Stop foisting your words on us if you want us to stop laughing at you. Or simply not understand what you are trying to say. Stop writing in code unless the rest of the world uses the same code you do.

End.

Flowers and Veggies

Most of us who are gardeners don't just have flower beds, we grow vegetables as well.  In my case, I learned from my grandmother in Michigan. She taught me that gardening was not only fun, but what  got picked from it made great dinners and even better could be put up for use later in the year. The Michigan veggie gardening season was much shorter in Michigan than it is here near New Orleans, so we get scads more growing time.  We can plant root and leafy veggies in November and harvest them from December to now.  In fast, this is what I pulled up yesterday.

And just after harvesting a few onions, the green beans, okra and eggplants are now in the ground.  There is no day in any year that a gardener cannot garden in zone 9a.

My new How-to pond book is out. You can buy it by clicking on the box in the top right corner of this page.

Join us at my interactive pond forum

We have a great time, post lots of photos and get many pond problems solved.

Thanks for visiting.

Spring means excitement in the garden

As an amateur photographer and a gardener, I love the spring when new flowers arrive daily. Here in zone 9b, spring comes early most years and even earlier this year.  The first Louisiana Iris bloomed yesterday. Of course, I was out there getting a shot of it.

We have more yellow plants than any other color and before lots of new hybrids, yellow and purple were the two LA iris colors. And this one shows up first this year.

The bees were already in the bottlebrush tree.

More petunias are showing up every day. These were planted last fall.

And a tiny gray tree frog visited in the Asian lilies.

It's foggy this morning, but as it burns off, I wonder what other wonders await in my front flower garden.

Don't forget, visit my website at pondlady.com

to meet pondkeepers from all over the world.

Oh, and my pond how-to book is for sale. 

Click the link at the top right corner of this page.

A Pond for a Small Space

I didn't want a pond with fish for this space and I really didn't want to dig much. This pond is in a Rubbermaid round 2' deep horse drinking trough. I got it at the feed store for 40 bucks.  The ball on top was given to me as a gift, so the natural place to put it was on top of a cinder block inside the horse trough.  The pump shoots water up into the ball and makes a noise similar to Niagara Falls. I can also direct it through one of the holes, but if I do the water splashes out.  I put some swimming pool chlorine in there occasionally to keep the water clear.  I stacked flat Arkansas Moss Rocks around the pond to hide the black container  Other plants and a crane help soften the look.
So, I have a pond requiring little work that makes a great sound. Who could want more?

See my website at pondlady.com

And don't forget you can buy my new book by clicking the box at the top right of this page.

My March Garden

My garden is busting out all over and it isn't even June.  That reference may be lost on anyone younger than 70, but I remember it well.  It's a song. Look it up.

The petunias I put in the ground are spreading all over and are just delightful.  Everyone who sees them smiles.

The bignonia vine, an old fashioned New Orleans favorite is covering the fence. Butterflies are already checking it out for breakfast.  

The bottlebrush tree is blooming early this year.  It will soon be totally covered in red flowers that look exactly like the brushes that are used to clean bottles.

Hey folks, we are going to be lucky to read a guest blogger later this week. Susan Taylor Brown is well known in Southern California and has agreed to grace our pages here.

And don't forget. My book is for sale on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and most anyplace else you buy ebooks.  If you buy it, I will smile.

A Practical Guide to Building and Caring for your Pond

Thank you for visiting this morning.

Safety in the Garden

Let's talk about garden safety.  We all get out in our gardens in the spring. We look forward to getting down and dirty with torn fingernails and muddy knees.  Other members of the family can be on the roof cleaning gutters or looking around for the right place to dig a pond.
Because I am the granddaughter of an electrician, perhaps I am more aware of possible electrical accidents than most.  Or maybe because I dug ponds for so long.
Before you start doing any work on the roof or gutters, check around for overhanging trees that can hide power lines. If you see a power line, stay at least 15 feet away from it.

If you are digging a pond or a trench for an irrigation system, call 811 before you dig. That's a national number where you can learn the location of electrical lines, or any utility line in your yard.

If you have a pond pump, lights or anything else that connects to an electrical outlet, be sure the outlet is a GFCI. That's the one with the little red or black button on it. That type of outlet will cut off the electricity instantly if water hits it. That can save your or your children's lives.  It's important even if it is just written by a little old lady who writes a pretty little blog.

Be safe this spring and summer.

Today's featured flower:

Buddleia, a real butterfly magnet.

Spring rains on the garden

The spring rains have arrived in my garden.  Of course, here, near New Orleans, we have spring, summer, fall and winter rains, but at least the spring ones are pleasant and we are in the midst of one now.

So have a look at a rainy weather photo taken from the screened porch. 

The garden is coming to life early this year. The Asian lilies that usually don't bloom until late May are about two feet tall already. We might just see blooms well before May.  These are from last year. At almost 6 feet tall, they are spectacular, aren't they?

Don't forget, my book is out.  Click in the top right box in the sidebar for a closer look.

And visit us at pondlady.com to ask pond questions.

Planting the spring garden

My vegetable garden is not yet started for the spring. I am late and later.  I have no veggies left in the freezer from last year's garden and only onions to harvest from the winter garden.
On Christmas Eve in Arkansas, the ramp from the house was frosty. I thought as I started down it, "Wow, that looks slippery." Next thing I knew I was on my behind having slipped, feet going in the air and butt landing square on the ramp.
Broken tailbone and much much pain. That pain has not gone away yet and I understand it takes forever. So, no garden planted. That's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it.

See, frost on leaves

But this gives you an idea of what's to come.

Oh, and my book is available for sale on Amazon:

Check the top right sidebar to click over there and see what it looks like. 

Selling a house

Have you ever lived in a house that's for sale even as you try to live in it?  Well, I have and am even as we speak.  Trying to keep a house clean with a year old abandoned 50 pound dog with feet that go inside and out without really knowing or caring about the difference is a task I am failing at.  So, I have decided that houses are for living in even if they are for sale and buyers just have to realize that.  Our time in this house will end by the end of this year and we will be in Arkansas for good.

Hey, wanna buy a house?  It's huge, on an acre and the landscaping is fantastic and professionally done.  Guess who did it? (Smile.)

dog not included.

Azaleas mean spring

Spring flowers make us know that spring is really really here.  And yesterday was a red letter day in my garden. Or maybe I should say a white calla day.  The flower Katherine Hepburn called "The flower suitable for any occasion" produced the first of many I will see as spring arrives. Even through the hot New Orleans summer, the calla soldiers on.  I have mine in semi-shade which seems to be where they do best.  I often use them as aquatic plants, but again, put them in the shade. They do not do at all well in the sun.  I find that most broadleaf plants like a bit of shade to do their best.
And the plant for which the Gulf Coast area is famous, the azalea: It pays its rent in the spring.  Imagine gardens filled with these and you know why the shrub makes us smile.

I took these photos yesterday morning, March 8th, 2012.  Amazing, aren't they?

Spring arrives like a lion

As spring is arriving like Secretariat in the final stretch, I wonder about having a spring veggie garden this year.  I hope to at least plant some tomatoes, green beans, squash and eggplants.  I have to harvest the onions that have been growing all winter to free up that space. My garden beds are all raised so the crawfish will not build their chimneys right up through them. When the ground is wet, the crawfish need to breathe, so build their chimneys up to 6" about the ground. Makes the egrets and herons happy, but me, not so much.
It's definitely time to plant. Used to be the time to plant was after March 15th when the last danger of frost had passed, but even our USDA zone has changed.  It used to be 8b, now it's 9a. That's a big change.

Time to stop rambling and start my day in the fields.  Or dream about moving to the top of Dodd Mountain in Mountain View AR. Dodd Mountain is about elevation 1200 feet. Doncha know the air is thin up there :lol:

I really have no excuse for neglecting this blog for so long.  We are in the midst of leaving this house near New Orleans and living full time in Mountain View, Arkansas as we both retire.  The house there is smaller and easier to take care of.  And it has a pond. A natural one where turtles live, deer and other critters drink out of. Occasionally a cow wanders in for a taste as well. It's free range country and our 6.5 acres is open to all.  I love it.  It will be difficult to leave our house of 6 years after Katrina and my home of 40 years, but I love Arkansas and the lovely small townness of Mountain View.
The pond here will not stay. I originally built it as a temporary pond. It's a huge blue pot sitting in a round Rubbermaid horse trough.  I will make the trip with me one of these times when I drive up there. I will have photos when it gets set up.
Have a wonderful time getting your pond up and ready for spring. This is such an exciting time of year.

I think the time has come to get off my lazy butt and start to post in this blog. Things sure have changed on Blogger since I made my last half hearted attempt.
And things in my life have changed as well. First of all I have written a book.
You can find it on Amazon here:
A Practical Guide to Building and Caring for a Pond

Or you can find it on my website at
pondlady.com

I think it's a great book (of course). It's downloadable so I could keep the price down. The best part is that it's mapped out, so you can click on any subject and get the answer without paging through the whole book.

I will try to keep up with this blog better and we can watch spring arrive together.

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