Serendipity Gardens Seed Heads and Seed Pods

Jo Ellen Roe November 11, 2014 0 Comments

Seed - Ironweed

Seed heads on ironweed glowing in the late afternoon sun

Here is a little variation on a familiar childhood poem:

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Flowers are beautiful,

Seed heads are, too.

As fall winds down, the seed heads in Serendipity Gardens become more noticeable. On a walk around the garden late one afternoon, I took lots of photos of a more subtle beauty than the beauty of mid-summer flowers that produced them.

Plants have developed many ways to propagate themselves.  The seeds in these fluffy ironweed beauties, for example, are available for the wind to carry away. Other seeds come in pods that burst open to scatter the seeds. Some seed pods have air-filled bladders attached so they can float on water until they reach a suitable place for germination. Still others are packaged in tasty fruits such as berries to tempt a bird or other animal to eat and digest them. Barbs or hooks on a seed head help it to attach itself to the fur of an animal. The seeds that use creatures can often land miles away from their mother plant. ... Read More

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Serendipity Gardens 2014 “Scorecard”

Jo Ellen Roe October 20, 2014 0 Comments

Businesses have scorecards to measure their goals against their accomplishments. These scorecards typically deal with several aspects of the business, such as financial performance and customer satisfaction.

Why not do the same in the garden? Of course, the parameters would be quite different. The scorecard could be a simple measure of goals versus accomplishments. With that in mind, here is the 2014 scorecard for Serendipity Gardens.

My Primary 2014 Goal

This year, we had one primary goal, to make Serendipity Gardens even more friendly to wildlife than it already was. To achieve this goal, we planned several activities. Each one is listed below, with a comment and a “grade.” ... Read More

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Ten New Natives in Serendipity Gardens

Jo Ellen Roe October 10, 2014 0 Comments

Wallister

I recentlyvisited a native plant sale  at Matthaei Botanical Gardens. My interest in planting natives has grown exponentially this year as I read books such as Jessica Wallister’s Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden, and Bringing Nature Home by Doug Tallemy.

These authors make the case that planting natives is a good idea for several reasons:

  • They attract pollinators in greater numbers than non-native plants do.
  • They have evolved with the environment and are therefore built to thrive in it.
  • They require less care and are resistant to disease.
  • Once established, they require very little watering.
  • Having the beneficial insects in your garden that natives attract makes pest control much less of an issue.

The right question might be, “Why NOT plant what brings birds, bees, butterflies, and other insects to your garden?” It’s a lot more interesting when they are there! ... Read More

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Sweet Autumn Journey in Serendipity Gardens

Jo Ellen Roe October 3, 2014 0 Comments

Red oak

Officially, fall  is upon us … and it is beginning to look like fall in Serendipity Gardens. The color palette is starting to change. One small oak tree has turned an early bright red, while other trees and shrubs have a little color at the top or in splotches. A few leaves have fallen early and speckled the lawn.

The sounds have definitely changed as well, from the songs and calls of nesting birds to the rhythmic music of fall insects.  Most of the birds that live here in summer have already begun their journey south. The ones we still see most often are the black-capped chickadees and cardinals that live here year round. ... Read More

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Top Five Serendipity Gardens Stories

Jo Ellen Roe September 23, 2014 0 Comments

Bottle Tree

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

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 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.” ... Read More

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