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| Hidden Lily multiplies and is fun to give away. |
All of my Crepe Myrtles are leafing out, except the big one. Tomorrow I will prune to wake it up faster, clipping off the remnants of seedheads. We just had two more inches of rain, so almost everything else is growing well, including a bit of lawn in the backyard and a few dandelions.
I am now removing old, dry stems - like Joe Pye. Why so late? Wild bees like hollow stems for their winter slumber. Anything above ground level is attractive to birds, too. They plant their favorite foods, a double blessing. They get more of their favorites and I have ground cover (Wild Strawberries) and green fences (Pokeweed).
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| About 60 birds love Poke berries, and they thoughtfully plant them with some fertilizer where they roost. |
I used logs from one tree to build a rustic fence in the backyard. My aim was to have a generous allotment for birds to use when looking for food or preening their feathers. I had been trying to screen the distant backyard with purchased plants. The birds deposited Poke seeds along the log fence and a thick green fence appeared, adorned with the favorite fruit of birds and a hangout for beneficial insects when flowering.
The Wild Ginger Hidden Lily has yet to appear. It is also called turmeric, a new health fad. I like the big leaves and lush growth, without dying from the slight winter we have. The flowers are interesting enough for the altar.
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| Picotee Crepe Myrtle - wide and red blossoms. |
