The Tallest Garden Plants - Waiting Their Turn

 

Joe Pye is the Conrad Hilton Hotel for birds, bees, and hummingbirds.

Our daffodils are mostly gone. I spotted a double flower blooming on its own. The rest of the blooms were trying to form seeds, so I clipped the withered blooms to get more energy to the bulbs. The greens will finish rejuvenating the plants by converting solar energy into food for the bulbs, which multiply over time. People forget to dig them up and separate the doubled bulbs and gradually have fewer blooms because of the crowding.

The cheerful bulbs rise up in the early spring gloom, when the weather is closer to winter than spring. Hungry squirrels dismiss them as food, so I stick with daffodils. 

If people thought about the miraculous timing of Creation, going on before our eyes, they would be more patient about timing in their own lives. The plants, birds, garden creatures work together to punch the clock and later to earn their rest. Timing is essential for each player to accomplish the most and help the others do their work.

Any given plant will improve the soil by the growth of roots and root hairs, the increase of living cells, and the nutrition flowing into the ground from decay. I am simplifying these details. About 75% of soil fertility comes from plants. Deeply rooted plants open up the soil and let more rain penetrate the depths, which increases root production and more fertility. Those who want more humus in their sandy soil are delighted, and so are those who labor to shovel and move heavy clay.

Let us repeat the safe bucket challenge. 

1) Pour a bucket of water on a new plant from the hardware store. The loose soil will depart and the plant will wash out of the hole created. The roots will be exposed because they did not have time to establish a network of anchors fort fungi food and water exchangers.

2) Pour a bucket of water at the base of an established bush, right on the stem. It has built up a root system, tough and extensive, with miles of roots, root branches, and root hairs holding it in place. (Bored reader - "We know that.") But watch the water poured on the base. Gallons will go down into the soil, washing away very little soil, showing no immediate sign of the gallons many feet below - reaching out to extremes we can hardly imagine or measure.

Plants with deep roots will not let rainwater wash away the top soil or stand in stagnant ponds. The rainwater goes deep, held by the plant and the creatures of the soil. Everything is mostly water, so the plants hold water and so do the earthworms, grubs, moles, slugs, and springtails. Pouring a bucket on the base of a Butterfly Bush looks and sounds like pouring it down the street drain. 

The Military Gardening Group, which includes Mrs. Ichabod, gathers on the porch for afternoon pour-over coffee. Sassy usually sits in the garden ordering treats from her subordinate, Ranger Bob.

The Clethra looks dead, but it is a late bloomer. The nine-foot tall Joe Pye Weeds are just starting to emerge from the soil. Hostas and Bee Balm are filling their spaces again. These five:

1. Clethra
2. Joe Pye
3. Bee Balm
4. Hosta
5. Chaste Tree

will be irresistible lures for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. 

 Some enjoy the colors of the hosta leaves, but hummingbirds love the spikes of flowers.