What's it good for - ninebark

Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) is a suckering shrub native to North America. It's easy to grow and maintain, produces pollinator-attracting flowers in the spring that give way to "inflated seed capsules" that many birds feed on. The mature branches exfoliate to reveal several layers of inner bark (hence the name); birds use strips of bark for nests. So it is not a useless beauty.

Except for mine.

While doing some research for this post, I discovered that while the cultivars of ninebark don't sucker as much as the straight species, they are not very hardy, nor are they as beneficial to wildlife. Oops!

I have tried my luck with 'Amber Jubilee' which has been mostly a failure (despite descriptions that say it should be easy to grow); there is still one standing (a replacement that didn't quite look like the others), but it looks a bit peaked. This past spring I replaced a couple of dead 'Amber Jubilee' specimens with 'Ginger Wine'; they are doing well... so far.

I chose ninebark primarily for its foliage, but 'Ginger Wine' also has better disease resistance. Maybe I will get lucky with its longevity. If those two shrubs are still thriving next spring, I may replace the sad-looking 'Amber Jubilee' with a third 'Ginger Wine'.

Going forward, I will have to pay attention to whether my ninebarks' blossoms attract pollinators, whether the birds eat the seeds, and whether the birds use the bark for nesting material. Sounds like an excuse to just sit and stare at some attractive bushes in the yard.

'Amber Jubilee' ninebark, spring

'Amber Jubilee' ninebark, blossoms

'Ginger Wine' ninebark, blossoms

'Ginger Wine' ninebark, spring

'Ginger Wine' ninebark, autumn

Frost on the rooftops

Looking back on previous October blog posts, I see why it seems like autumn events feel delayed - it is because they ARE! The leaves on trees don't seem to be turning but just drying up and dropping. Even my oak tree that usually clings tenaciously to its leaves until spring has dropped most its leaves. WTH?

Sometimes I get so busy with yard and garden maintenance that I forget to actually *look* at what is growing. Today I strolled around the yard, observing mostly how the weeds are winning again (still?) The new 'Fluffly' western arborvitae is looking good, though, better than its predecessor.

We've had a couple of frosty nights - not enough to damage the tomato plant but frost nonetheless - so maybe the plants will get the hint and act like the end is near.

The frost ain't on the pumpkin

The weather continues to confound. Here it is, almost halfway through October, and we are having 80+ degree days. The leaves on trees are just beginning to turn. One neighborhood I walk the dog through has iris blooming and a tree of some sort blossoming. Crazy.

It's been dry, so we took advantage of the weather and went for a walk in the woods. I like to look for mushrooms this time of year, not to pick but to admire. We spotted the usual culprits, but then near the end of our little hike we found these clusters of Jack o' Lantern mushrooms at the base of dead trees.

They are good for dyeing yarn, but I didn't pick any. For one thing, we were in a nature preserve where one takes only memories (and photographs). For another, these are highly poisonous and should be handled only with gloved hands.

I've been so busy lately that about the only thing I have done outside is mow. Hummingbirds still visit the pineapple sage, while bluebirds feast on the Virginia creeper berries. The seasons do change, just not as fast as they used to.

Soggy

We received more rain this week. Despite the rain garden, the backyard gets soggy, too soggy to comfortably mow. I'll give it a go tomorrow. Maybe. And/or mulch some more.

I've learned to not plant anything in the fall, as by now I'm losing interest in the yard and garden. So I'm happy to see the spring-planted annual pineapple sage start blooming in September. It's amazing how large it gets. The one on the left has a six-foot span, the one on the right is about four feet wide. (Dog for comparison.)

The goldenrod on the south side of the house is about done, while the shorter one on the north side is peaking. The insects *love* it. My SO dug up a clump of it for his yard and is having a similar experience.

The yellow jackets are loving my compost pile. Clio the dog sometimes sits out there, snapping at the flying insects. She has been stung before, but doesn't learn her lesson. I, on the other hand, know to add to the pile early in the day, before the activity starts. Yellow jackets get testy as their food sources die off in the fall.

(These posts get rather boring this time of year, but I don't want to get out of the habit of writing. So please bear with me as we enter the dormant season. Thanks!)

Visitors

I'm taking advantage of this gorgeous weekend to get some outdoor work done, now that the rain has paused, and observed these visitors:

Orange sulphur butterfly
(Colias eurytheme)

Praying mantis

Sometimes you just need to keep your eyes open.

Inside, one of my houseplants is blooming.

Parlor palm
(Chamaedorea elegans)

Again, it helps to pay attention.

Otherwise, it has been another week of mulching and mowing. Today I even trimmed the yard. All the Halloween flamingos are out, including the new skeleton ones.

I see that one of my elderly neighbors (and by "elderly", I mean older than me) now has a scooter to help him get around the yard. There are days when I am about ready to give up on the house but I don't want to abandon the yard - it's not done yet! (Will it ever be done?) I guess once I can no longer take care of the yard myself, I will consider moving. But not yet. Not yet.

Be careful what you wish for

At the end of my last post I mentioned that we needed rain. And rain we got - 4" in the past couple of days. Today was dry, so I mowed and unplugged some downspouts, just in time for more rain over the next three days.

The rain garden is FULL and parts of the backyard soggy. I haven't been able to do much of anything out there, so not much to report.

My next door neighbor goes all out with her seasonal outdoor decor. My efforts are mostly limited to changing flamingos. I do usually purchase a "hardy" mum for the front porch, though. And one could consider the spider webs on said porch to be Halloween decor?

I am pleased about how the coleus looks this year. Sometimes it gets leggy or bedraggled, but this year it looks *great*.

And that is about it for this week.

Up close and personal

While spraying the weeds, I came across this guy, not in the milkweed "forest" but on one solo volunteer outside the "meadow". I worried that he might be too late for the trip to Mexico, but late monarch caterpillars are part of the "super generation" that not only migrates thousands of miles but lives for months instead of weeks. Alas, it was gone the next day, presumably eaten by a bird. :-(

Then while weeding the meadow, I noticed clusters of red milkweed beetles. When I got too close, they began to scatter. Not sure why, as they taste terrible (according to AI) so are not prey. You'd think they would be more confrontational over being disturbed.

The container plants on the deck are now getting more sun, provoking them to bloom more. I repotted the fuchsia with plans to try to winter them over indoors. The question is whether to do so in the garage where they will be dormant or try to keep them inside the house and maintain them like active houseplants.

This geranium has been overwintered inside the house but looked ragged... until I repotted it. Right now the whole plant looks great. If I overwinter outdoor plants in the house, I should provide them with more light.

The pineapple sage is starting to bloom. It provides late summer nectar for the hummingbirds. In fact, I see a hummer feeding on the blossoms RIGHT NOW.

I've been remiss about some of the weeds and they are going to seed (BAD, BAD GARDENER!) One type of so-called weed sending fluffy seeds hither and yon turned out to not be a weed after all but wild aster. It's very prolific and the goldfinch like the seeds, so I guess I'll stop pulling it.

Most of my labor these days is weeding and mulching. I'm still picking tomatoes and strawberries, but I gave up on the green beans. The grass continues to grow, so there is mowing and trimming as well. The temps are in the 70's, sometimes 80's, so it is still summerlike but not so oppressive. We could use more rain, though.