November Nor'easter

Last week for three long days, we experienced a nor'easter that produced six and a half inches of rain. What was very interesting was how the temperature hardly moved for those three days and how the wind was constantly blowing for the same time without a break. The time covered by the charts is Nov. 4 through Nov. 16 with the storm covering the 10th through the 14th.

Interesting Croton Flower

A couple of weeks ago I brought in our two large Croton plants that were doing so well on the front porch. Since I almost lost them several years ago when I left them out during a November freeze I try to bring them in early. One of the plants sprouted a beautiful flower that you can see in the first picture. We suspect these are flower seeds so we captured some of the seeds to plants later. The second picture shows the small red cone shaped leaf at the base of the flower. Quite a nifty looking flower.

Midnight Owl Visit

The Owl is getting a little more dramatic with his poses for the pictures. The first is really interesting since this is the first one with him in the water. You can see the lower part of his body is underwater. I think he may have just landed when the camera flash went off. The second picture shows him on the side of the pond and gladly I can't see any Goldfish in his claws (not that he wasn't successful in his fishing trip, but at least I can't see it.) It is very interesting that his wings are fully extended in both pictures.

Butterfly Bush Surprise

A big surprise was provided by the Butterfly Bushes this week. This time of year their normal flowers are gone (and so are the Butterflies). So I was quite excited to see a flower of a different look on two of the bushes. One white and one purple. These flowers are very different from the normal flower and I have never seen them before. There were only a couple of them with the purple one being the most interesting. The normal flower cover the bush with color at the end of almost every branch. I don't know what function these flowers provide but they sure were neat.

Last Call for Elephant Ears

It is almost the saddest time of the year for the Elephant Ears. This year the best display was on either side of the door to the shed. A few years ago, I had some extra Elephant Ear bulbs and in looking for a place to plant them, the shed offered a spot. The plants have come back year after year and this year is the best yet. The Elephant Ears next to the ponds are already starting to thin. They looked quite good this year but didn't achieve the same status as years past. Very soon the freeze will come and the plants will collapse and look very sad.

Black Magic Sadness

A couple of nights with the temperature around 40 degrees and the Black Magic Elephant Ears are looking really sad. Just a couple of weeks ago, they were standing tall with leaves spreading to cover the area over the ponds. The first picture is the Black Magic in the small pond with every leaf drooped over. The other picture is the large pond where there are a couple of small leaves still trying to stand up. Tomorrow these delicate plants will move to the greenhouse until next spring.

Plant Eating Squirrel

The plant eating squirrels are even attacking the plants in the large pond. I can't remember another time since I started the pond that the squirrels have had such an appetite for the pond plants. We haven't had a drought this year so I'm sure there are lots of things around that the squirrels could eat but this year they went after the plants. And look at the guy in the second picture - he looks pretty darn proud of himself.

Japanese Maple Tree

For five or six years we've had two half whiskey barrels on the front patio. They have hosted various plants: flower bulbs, mums and day lillies. That all changed recently. We have talked about how interesting Japanese Maple trees are for years. So now we have two and with some luck these will be around for a really long time and get better and better. We'll have to learn how to care and encourage these trees but they should add an interesting feature to the front patio.

Mystery Flower and Greenhouse Update

So today I wanted to ask for help identifying a mystery flower that has taken over one of our planters. As you can see the flowers are small Iris like in at least three colors. My wife loves them and we would like to plant it next year. Any ideas would be appreciated.
But the weather forecast is for lows in the high 30's so my wife wanted the more delicate plants, pineapple, orange and grapefruit in the greenhouse right now. I haven't finished any shelving so the plants are just hanging out on the floor.

Building a Greenhouse Using Old Windows Paint & Insulate

Back to the greenhouse after a week at work. This weekend I used the remaining 3 old windows to create an inner shell so there is airspace between them and the plastic roofing. Next I used some insulation I had in the shed to insulated the non-window walls and ceiling. Today the outside temperature was 75 degrees and inside the greenhouse, it was 95 degrees. The next step was to paint the plywood and trim on the outside green. It is supposed to be a greenhouse after all.

Azola and Duckweed Makes a Comeback

A very interesting thing has happened in the past month, some tiny plants have come back in force in the frog pond. I haven't purchased Azola or Duckweed for a couple of years but the seeds must still exist and when the conditions are right, it grows like crazy. The first picture shows a huge growth of Azola covering a section of the frog pond (with a couple of Duckweed mixed in). In the second picture is a neat looking batch of Duckweed just a foot away from the Azola in the first picture. These two plants look very different but cover the pond surface in a similar way.

Building a Greenhouse Using Old Windows Add Roof

As I moved on with the construction, I needed a roof. I hoped to use some old plastic roofing I had used to cover the pond. But it was too old and brittle to be repurposed so off to the store to buy some new materials. A few hours later and I have a nice looking roof. The next step was to close in the various gaps on each end of the greenhouse. Some plywood that I already had on hand worked well for that purpose. Then vacation was over so I will have to wait until next weekend to work on finishing the inside of the greenhouse.

Building a Greenhouse Using Old Windows Continued

With the framing in place, it is time to install the windows. To help increase heat retention during the winter, I paired the windows to create something like double pane windows. The front took 18 windows with a thin layer of insulating foam in between. My measurements were almost perfect except for two windows that had to be forced into the space. On the greenhouse end, we had to use one odd three light window to complete the wall. We didn't have enough of the 3 light windows to do the whole wall so we have a mix but that looks ok to me.

Building a Greenhouse Using Old Windows Next Step

The next steps included building the walls using pressure treated 2x4s. I sized the openings so the old windows would fit tightly between the studs to retain heat in the winter. I bought and installed a 36 inch storm door to provide easy access to the greenhouse. The door wasn't pre-hung so it was more difficult to install than I expected. The first picture shows the original tiny greenhouse (to the left) this one will replace. Finally in the second picture we installed floor of pavers to provide a level base and absorb and retain more heat.

Build a Greenhouse Using Old Windows

My wife wanted a larger greenhouse to hold all of her plants this winter. There just isn't enough room in the house for all the plants. Just in time, a friend replaced his windows on his house and offered me his old wood windows. Finally I had a vacation planned for last week to get ready for the Solar Tour. These three combined to create an "opportunity" for me to spend my vacation building a new greenhouse. Here is step one and step two. First dig holes for the cinder blocks and level side to side and front to back. Next anchor and cement the bottom plate that will support the walls.

Front Porch Frog

Last year I tried putting a Black Magic Elephant Ear plant on the front porch and it did pretty well. The plant spent the winter in the garage and resumed it's location on the front porch. It did pretty well this year but most interesting was a frog claimed this small plant as his home. He has been hanging out in the pot and the water for several months. He doesn't even jump out when our Great Dane decides to take a drink from his water. I'm guess it would be pretty scary if a giant mouth with huge teeth was coming too close. The frog took advantage of a fallen Black Magic leaf to float on the water.

2 AM Owl Attack

It seems like it has been a long time since I snapped a picture of a predator attack at the pond. Well the wait is over. At 2:30 am the other day, the Owl attacked and got away with at least one of our Goldfish. You can see the poor Goldfish in his claw. This proves my plant coverage isn't enough to keep the Owl from having a successful fishing trip. My latest tack is to cut black drainage pipes into 1 to 2 foot lengths and float them on the surface. The pipes aren't as ugly as the Stryofoam but the results remain to be seen.

Mother Nature Weed Wacker

Last week we noticed a bunch of Spade plant leaves on the patio around one of our mini ponds. The leaves didn't fall off because of the fall season, they looked like they were chopped off. I set up the camera to find out who the weed wacker was and surprise: it was a squirrel. It didn't look like he was actually eating them, just chewing them off at the stem. Maybe there was some small juicy meat at the joint but that is really hard to see. In these pictures, the squirrel is really hard at work chomping on the Spade plant.

Some Things Only a Friend Would Do

As we continue with the question: Do Deer like tomato plants. It looks like the answer is, yes. Here is a nice closeup of a Doe with a mouth full of tomato plant. I don't know for sure if she ate it but she certainly did taste it.
In the second picture, there are some things only a really good friend would do, like picking something off your backside while you are enjoying the tomato plant. Too bad the camera wasn't a little to the right to see just what the heck is going on.

The Buck and the Baby

Yesterday was the day to remove the tomato plants. The days of them yielding ripe tomatoes that aren't stolen by the squirrels are over. There were a bunch of small green tomatoes on the plants so I decided to throw them over the fence to see if the local wildlife was interested. It only took about 2 hours and the deer were checking out the new food selections. First we have one of the bucks that have been hanging around. His antlers are getting longer as he gets older. Notice also how much grayer his coloring is than the baby deer in the second picture. Both seem pretty interested in grazing some of the tomato plant foliage.