Top Five Serendipity Gardens Stories

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The Serendipity Gardens blog is one year old. To mark its anniversary, we are republishing the top five posts. Here they are:

My Bottle Tree “Blooms” Year Round

Bottle Tree

The bottle tree, based on an old tradition, adds a reliable touch of blue to the garden.

Bottle trees, often seen in the South, have a complicated history.

According to Felder Rushing, in his book Bottle Trees, “Clear glass was invented in Alexandria, Egypt around 100 A.D. Soon around then, tales began to circulate that spirits could live in bottles – probably from when people heard sounds caused by wind blowing over bottle openings. This led to the belief in ‘bottle imps’ and genies that could be captured in bottles … Somewhere in there, people started using glass to capture or repel bad spirits. The idea was, roaming night spirits would be lured into and trapped in bottles placed around entryways, and morning light would destroy them.”

All that history aside, we have a bottle tree because we like the blue it provides all year round. If our bottles somehow take bad spirits away, so much the better!

Snake Eats Frog at Serendipity Gardens

Snake eats frog

It’s a disturbing picture, to be sure, but the food chain is the heart of an ecosystem.

A friend, Kelas Brown, took this disturbing photo. It’s hard to look at, and hard to stop looking at, too. We enjoy the frogs, and, generally, we don’t enjoy the snakes. Despite the fact that we know they do good in the garden, they still startle us when they suddenly slither across a path. They are definitely frog predators, and  this is certainly not the only frog that has met its demise this way at Serendipity Gardens.

This is how an ecosystem works. It is basically a food chain, and every plant and animal in the garden is food for one or more creatures.

I feel sorry for this frog every time I look at this photo. He looks so utterly stoic as he slowly disappears into the snake’s maw. But I must admit, the snake is not having a particularly easy time of it, either. What a mouthful!

Six, Cheap Easy Things You Can Do to Help the Bees

BH House face 3

This bee hotel is made from a seven-inch deep slice of wood.

The plight of the bees — all kinds of bees — is a bit scary, since so many plants depend on them for pollination.  There are many ways to help the bees. This blog post offers several suggestions, some of which may surprise you, such as helping ground bees by leaving the ground bare in spots.

In addition, you can build a “bee hotel” to encourage native bee varieties to stay in your yard.

This simple bee hotel is just a slice of a log, about seven inches deep and 18 inches across. The slice is filled with holes of various sizes to accommodate the needs of various species of bees and mounted high enough to get the early morning sun.

No One Rakes Leaves at Serendipity Gardens

Fall Texture

These leaves will stay there until they become part of the soil.

The time of the year when leaves fall and raking begins is drawing near. Raking is a big chore for many people. At Serendipity Gardens, however, we never rake the leaves!

We are lucky in that we live out in the country, so there are no city ordinances or subdivision rules to abide by.

More importantly, however, is the fact that leaves are full of nutrients that enrich the soil. They also nestle around plants and serve as kind of a blanket through the winter. It all seems like a win-win to the Serendipity Gardens crew.

Five Ways for Kids to Have Fun in the Garden

Easter egg hunt 2

These grandchildren are ready to participate in the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Serendipity Gardens.

Nature deficit disorder is a term coined by Richard Louv. While it’s not an official medical condition, many people nevertheless believe that Louv is on track with his idea. Our grandchildren have been in and around our  garden since they were babies, so we are hoping this will help them to love the outdoors as they grow up.

Not all they do when they are in the garden has to do with gardening. Much of it is just play, or participating in a tradition such as our annual Easter Egg Hunt. In both ways, they learn that outdoors is a good place to be.

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