On Saturday we began to get about 10 inches of snow. An email told me the roses I ordered were on the way! Yesterday some snow was still in the parking lots and in the woods. The roses arrived late in the afternoon.
The altar guild decided to Go Galt this year, since one rose bush costs as much as one inexpensive bunch of roses at Walmart (about $10). I decided to order aromatic hybrid tea roses since Wayside Gardens had a special on them.
Today we had to pick up a scan of Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure, since my gruff but likable editor is ready to get it prepared for Lulu.com publishing. Northwestern Publishing House gave me the rights. Like Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, it sold very well for them. CLP is still listed with NPH. All the completed books are available from Lulu.com as free PDF downloads - no limit.
I looked at the sky and said, "Let's get home to get those roses in the ground."
I picked some good areas in the yard for the roses, although shade is a bit of a problem. To make sure it would rain, I washed and waxed the Ichaboat afterward. That worked, and the rain will stay until Sunday.
Nothing is better for new seeds and roses than steady rain. The bushes need to have the soil washed around their roots so the plant awakens from dormancy and begins to grow. In Arizona I planted them with paper grocery bags around them, to prevent drying out. That does not appear to be a problem here.
Next I will plant garlic or chives around them as a bug deterrent and aroma enhancer. Opposites grow best together, so the garlic family is used as a companion plant with roses.
Some people really believe in digging soil amendments into the ground. I learned from no-dig composting that the earthworms will do the job. All they ask is a soggy, rotting blanket of organic material above them. Compost is best, because it is finished and ready to shade the soil while feeding the worms. Leaves, grass clippings, and many other organic materials can also be used as mulch to accomplish the same thing.
The earthworms will:
- Tunnel up and down, providing channels for the rain.
- Sweeten the soil with their unique calciferous glands.
- Devour and grind up rocks and organic matter.
- Pull organic material into the soil.
- Produce nitrogenous waste, which is good for the plants.
- Place their castings on the soil surface or beneath the surface - the finest soil amendment of all. Try buying it - very expensive.
- Produce eggs, which will survive the harshest weather.
- Die, leaving a little bundle of nitrogenous matter to improve the soil.
Birds enjoy a Creation-based yard. Our backyard is a ravine with at least four dead trees lying on the ground or standing up, hollow and inviting. What people see as trash, animals see as condos. Needless to say, with abundant water, trees, bushes, grass, and hollow trees, we have plenty of birds: bluebirds, finches, bluejays, cardinals, starlings, woodpeckers, and juncos.
Finches love Nyjer seed (sometimes called thistle or niger), so I have two socks of Nyjer hanging at two windows. Bluebirds and many other species enjoy suet, so I have two suet stations. Bruce Church chatted up cardinals, so I added a sunflower feeder to each location. Cardinals like platform feeding, so I scatter some sunflower seeds on the front patio each day. Mr. Squirrel gets his ear of corn daily, after I walk Sassy - who hunts squirrels without fail and without success.
All that bird food costs very little and lasts a long time. I overdid the suet at Christmas, but the stations lasted almost three months. At $6 a lump, that is only $2 a month for suet, if the birds have only one bag of it. The bounty was probably a good idea, because we quickly became bird central. I wanted to get birds feeding at the window, and now they are.
Birds are noisy eaters and bathers, so a few happy birds establish a choice location for the rest of them. I added two inexpensive birdbaths for them, near each feeding area. One catches water off the roof, because the dripping noise is attractive to birds. The other one is on the back deck. It will be more attractive during dry weather, if that ever happens this year. Birds need to bathe and preen their feathers, so they favor areas with shallow water supplies. I took a $2 tin and places some rocks and a big rock in it, to allow the birds to step in and out easily. One giant rock serves as the waiting area.
Birds provide cheerful entertainment for very little investment. Our friends are coming soon, and they will be able to sit in the living room and gaze out the picture windows at birds enjoying suet, sunflower seeds, Nyjer, and water. Standing in the kitchen, they will see the bush where the same food and water are provided.
