A Colorful Walk

Don't you just love Spring!  After a dull, grey, rainy winter, it seems the switch has been turned.  Mid-80's in the afternoons, sunshine and bright green growth on most every tree (except pecan trees).  Some days, Tricia and I take a stroll in the yard and just enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

We have a little concrete bench by the big old live oak tree.  We sit here and read the mail when the weather is nice.  The entire area around it is engulfed in wild African violets.  I'll put off mowing until they're finished blooming as they are nice to look at.

In total contrast with the rich green and vibrant violet colors, I was walking through a portion of the garden where I'm saving broccoli seed and waiting for the pods to dry out and turn brown.  The broccoli plants are almost dead and the big brown leaves of the broccoli cover the ground.  In the midst of the drab color, there's a spark of red.  A ladybug!

Ladybugs are beneficial insects in the garden.  I like them in the garden as they eat aphids and other small insects.  As a guy, I feel sorry for the male ladybugs, though.  As a bug that was a dude, it would bother me to be a 'ladybug.'

I have beets growing in the garden at all different stages.  The photo below shows Detroit Red beets in front and Bull's Blood beets in the back.

On the very next row is Rainbow Swiss Chard.  The stalks are brightly colored, as the name suggests - some pink, others white, and others yellow.  We had swiss chard and buckwheat as a tasty side dish tonight.

And speaking of brightly colored things, it's azalea time!  Twenty five years ago we lived in Kinder, LA, in the home that was my grandmother and grandfather's home at one time.  When we moved to our home here, my sister and brother-in-law moved in and took out the azaleas.  We were able to get some of them and replant them in the yard.  One of them survived.  I think they are Formosa Azaleas.

Each year at this time, it fills with beautiful blooms and we get lots of photos of it.  I've often said, it is nice to have plants with a history.  Plants that remind you of people you love and times you cherish.

In addition to being pretty, the plant serves a purpose.  We have one of those ugly telephone markers.  You've seen them.  I think they call them bollards, but they are filled with wires.  It's just not something that you want as the centerpiece of your front yard.  Well, we planted my grandma's azalea in front of it and now... voila!  No more telephone obstacle in the front yard (that you can see, anyway.)

There must be an animal that hides out in the foliage, though.  Everytime Belle passes by the azalea, she sniffs and is real curious.

I hope you are enjoying spring as much as we are!

A Day to Honor Russ

Saturday we met Russ at 11 a.m. at the Petroleum Club in Lafayette for a meeting of the Louisiana Society for Horticultural Research (LSHR).  They were honoring their scholarship winners and Russ happened to be one of the two deserving recipients.  We were invited to a luncheon and to see him get recognized. Russ is a senior at LSU and will be graduating on May 12th.

His mother and I are proud of the hard-work and diligence he's exhibited.  I never even thought about applying for scholarships once I was already in college, but Russ did.  Each semester he would seek out scholarship opportunities, applying for them - and winning them.  He's worked for LSU's Dairy department, milking 80 Holstein cows to provide milk for the residence hall cafeterias as well as for sale to Borden's.  For the past several years, he's worked with a professor at LSU tending to sweet potato trial plots in Louisiana and many neighboring states, seeking to develop a new variety of sweet potato to help the sweet potato industry.

Seated at the far right of the head table below, is the guest speaker for the luncheon, Mr. Robert E. "Buddy" Lee.

Mr. Lee is from Independence, Louisiana and is one of the most respected plant breeders in North America.  He developed Encore Azaleas, the world's best-selling multi-season azaleas.  They bloom in spring, summer, and fall. You can learn more about them by clicking HERE.  Mr. Lee gave a fantastic talk, showing pictures of early work in the nursery, compared to today.  His speech was both informative and funny and really kept your interest. As you may be aware, I like growing things that you can eat!  Flowers and ornamental plants are things I don't have a lot of experience with, but it was interesting to listen to Mr. Lee talk with great passion about what he does.

At one point, he stated that everyone always wants to see his "research facility."  He showed a picture of what appeared to be a 16' x 8' greenhouse with trays of seed pots with simple shop lights hanging over them.  He stated that he likes to keep things small since he can effectively manage and control everything.  You can't argue with his success.  It was an inspiring story from a pioneer in the industry..

Russ was called to the podium and gave a short speech thanking the group for believing in him and awarding him the scholarship.  He was very well received by the horticulture professionals in attendance as well as the LSU professors.  They all had great things to say about him.

So obviously, we're Russ' parents and are very proud of him (and biased), but we know he's going to do great things in his field.  He's not even sure what exactly he's going to do upon graduation.  He hopes to find a job as a plant breeder or researcher for one of the nurseries in Forest Hill, Louisiana or for a landscape company in the Lake Charles or Lafayette area.  If Russ can find something that he is happy doing and looks forward to getting up each morning and pouring his energies into, the rest will take care of itself.  With his work ethic and smarts, he'll set the world on fire.  I just know it.

Azaleas - First day of Spring 2013

March 20th was the first day of Spring.  That was a little earlier this week and the weather was spectacular.  We have a very short Spring in South Louisiana, so it is a good idea to get out and enjoy it because Spring transitions into Summer in what seems like a few brief days.  The weather is crisp and cool and all of the trees are sporting new, vivid green growth.  Every flowering plant we have is blooming.

One of those things are azaleas.  Azaleas are a member of the rhododendron family.  We have a number of them in the flower beds surrounding our home.  The two that I want to show to you today are two very old azaleas that we brought over with us when we moved from our home in Kinder.  These azaleas were my grandmother's, and she passed away in 1996.  We've found that good way to remember loved ones who have gone is to plant things that are theirs that you can remember them by.  In addition to these azaleas, I have some St. Augustine grass from my other grandmother's yard along with some of her Confederate Jasmine that I took cuttings off of.

Enjoy Grandma's azaleas:


Beautiful Blooms

When these are in full bloom they light up the yard.  They are used in landscaping especially in the Southeastern United States.  There's something about azaleas and magnolias and live oaks that just say "home" or "the South".  Azaleas are native to Asia and appropriately, in the Chinese culture they are known as the "Thinking of Home Bush."

Pretty in Pink

In the next two pictures, you can see that mixed in with the blooms, there are some flowers that haven't opened yet.  They will open and when they do, the bush will be one solid wall of pink.

Sometimes you'll see one bloom and others, you'll see a big cluster like the one below.  One thing I learned reading about them is that they are highly toxic, both the leaves and nectar and honey from the nectar.  In fact, they were so well known for their toxicity that to receive a bouquet in a black vase was a well-known death threat.

Pretty bouquet

The bush below has several more blooms to open before it is stunning, but you can see that in addition to the blooms coming out, so are the fire ants.  Just look at that big mound at the bottom right.


Azaleas and fire ants (beauty & the beast)

In the final photo of the day, you can see the second azalea almost filled solid with blooms.  Azaleas are evergreen, they like the shade and they like acid soils.


Azaleas in all their glory

Similar to our Spring weather, azaleas in bloom last for a couple of weeks.  They are gone before you know it, so it is best to get out and enjoy them while you can.