Feed the Birds- they need you!

With the frigid, below normal temps we're experiencing, the birds need you more than ever. The only way they keep from freezing to death is by generating body heat. And to do that, they need a high fat diet. Suet cakes are perfect food this time of year and they're inexpensive. Suet cakes are made up of  rendered fat and assorted seeds. They draw birds like a magnet. I also feed Birdola seed cakes in a wire feeder. You can see a female cardinal eating from one during the snow storm we just had. (Should I really call it a "snow storm"?)

Here are a few more shots as the snow was really coming down:

So remember, you could be the difference between life and death for our feathered friends. It's not that they would starve without you, but they could freeze to death without enough fat to eat. And don't forget to keep water in the bird baths. I pour hot water on mine in the morning and the birds immediately begin drinking from them. They really appreciate a little TLC this time of year!

Nature as Art

I've come across some incredible and sometimes magical photos over the years and wanted to share them with you here. Plants and nature are art!

Outdoor Living Rooms

This is our patio living area in our back yard. Our style is casual and informal and we didn't want the space to be ornate or elaborate. But that's just our style. The wonderful thing about outdoor living areas is that they can reflect any style and should match the house. See what a transformation this was:

Above is the before shot of what was a boring, hot, and sunny back yard. It served no purpose whatsoever. Now here's another shot of the transformation below, looking at the same bay window:

This spot is very shady now thanks to all the trees we planted:

This was the first step we took in making our living area. We planted shade trees. In the photo above, the new sugar maples don't have any leaves on them yet but now, 3 years later, the whole back yard

 is a shady grove. Notice the firepit that Tim made by hand:

Here's our "outdoor kitchen" below. It's simple; we only wanted to cook on a grill when we're eating outside but we did put in a counter top with a fridge underneath and a sink. I couldn't live without this sink now, we wash up before going inside after we've been working outdoors and all the vegetables from the garden get washed here before they go inside:

Notice what was a screened in porch in previous photos is now a sun room. Well, the sunroom isn't complete yet, but Tim did finish this wall first so he could put in the counter top. I think he wanted to make sure I had a place to cook his meals! Below is the "during" phase as we were putting down the patio stone:

Notice this tree, an Okame flowering cherry, is in previous pictures with a stacked rock wall around it and lots of flowers planted in it. This tree gives us spring blooms, a place to hang bird feeders, and lots of shade.

Why are "outdoor living rooms" so popular? I think it's because it's a place to re-connect with nature and to truly relax. We use our patio area to eat, read, nap, and just rest. We installed outdoor speakers that are hooked to our satellite radio channels. Music with no commercials is a must if you want to truly unwind! We also have a fire pit for cool nights and tiki torch lights to give a wonderful ambiance.

I hope these pictures inspire you to create your own backyard oasis. We did ours ourselves and worked on it as time and the budget allowed. It took 18 months to complete but was well worth every sweaty minute! Now I get to have fun with the "details":

My Other Life

This is one of my passions: horses and barrel racing. Barrel racing is a thrill that can't be described. A good horse that really tries is running at about 35 miles per hour, then slows down just enough to complete the turn before sprinting off again at top speed. Not even a ride at the fair is this much fun! In the photo, I am competing at the American Quarter Horse Assoc. World Championship Show in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 2002. I'm riding a stallion that belonged to a client. His name is Buggy Full of Money and he was sent to me straight off the race track.  I had to start this horse over as far as training goes because race horses are not broke to ride the way I want but he was extremely intelligent and caught up with others in his class quickly. We won a few futurities and made the finals of several of the big, important ones. 

My husband Tim and I trained and showed horses for a living before starting the nursery adventure and it was quite a ride that I'll never forget. Tim is an extremely talented cutting horse trainer and he taught me a lot about what a "broke" horse really is. After Tim finishes training a horse, it can be rode with nothing but a twine around its neck and will spin circles, slide to a stop and do anything else you want it to. Here's Tim competing at the National Cutting Horse Association Futurity in Fort Worth, Texas. 

  

The name of the game in cutting is to "cut" a cow out of the herd, drive her far enough away to keep her from running back, then holding her there until she turns away from the horse, signaling to the judge that the horse and rider were able to control the cow. Notice in the photo that the cow is in the middle of a hard right turn (see the dirt flying up from her hooves) and the horse is sliding into a stop from a dead run. The horses back legs are tucked up underneath him and his tail is dragging the ground because he's stopping so hard. Tim's hand that is holding the bridle reins is down in front of the saddle. Can you see the slack in the reins? That's right, the horse is doing this without any guidance from Tim! It takes 2 years to train a horse to the point where they can cut a cow without help from the rider. In other words, my husband has the patience of a saint!

Chickens in the Garden

These are our chickens. The handsome guy above is Ace and he's an Araucana, a breed from Chile. He was a gift to us from Randall Jones, aka Chicken Man. Actually we made a trade. Two roosters for a few yards of mulch. We love to barter! We have a Dominique (aka Dominicker) hen named Donna, a Red Star hen named Pebbles, and a Rhode Island Red hen named Lucy. And the other rooster is also a solid white tufted Araucana named Face. That's him below with Donna right beside him and Lucy to the right who seems to have spied something edible by the stare she's giving it.

Our chickens live at the nursery we operate and they make us laugh every day. Chickens really do have a lot of personality and ours have become very friendly. They are nosy, curious creatures and they follow us around like pets. Sometimes even when we're helping customers, the flock goes with us as we look at plants. They scout for bugs all day, eating caterpillars and anything else that moves. Chickens will eat all sorts of pests including Japanese beetles. They also love to eat greens and grasses. That's where the chickens themselves can become the problem. But so far, ours meander through the flowerbeds, plucking at an occasional pansy bloom or kale leaf but really leaving no sign that they were there.

We're certainly not chicken experts so I'm not giving advice on chicken rearing except to say that knowledge is power (whether we're talking chickens or gardening). So my best advice to you is to talk to people who raise chickens and get good books on the subject. Then give it a try. They're easier to care for than you might think. Food, water, shelter. That's the basic necessities.

That's Donna on the left with Ace. The Araucana is what's called a "rumpless" breed and you can see by the lack of his erect tail feathers what that means. Kinda cute.

Here are a few links you might find helpful:

www.backyardchickens.com/

www.urbanchickens.org/

The Dirt on Soil

     The photo above is what I call a "Water Wise Flowerbed". The most important criteria for a flowerbed, vegetable garden, foundation planting, etc. to be "Water Wise" is good soil, period. When installing a new bed, there's no cheating allowed!

     Without great soil, you have no foundation to build on. Great soil is ALIVE. It has microscopic beneficial bacteria and other microbes that benefit your plants by breaking down nutrients and organic matter into a form more readily available for the plants to use. Great soil also has the perfect "tilth", or structure, so that water can penetrate and plant roots can explore the entire bed. In contrast, when you just amend the individual planting hole that you dug in our hard-packed red Georgia clay (and many of you not in Georgia have your own type of clay to deal with so this applies), you have just created a clay bowl with hard sides. When plant roots can grow out into the entire surrounding area, you have more feeder roots to take up water and nutrients. That makes a plant more drought-tolerant, whether it's touted as being a drought-tolerant species or not.

     A perfect example is azaleas. They are shallow-rooted, not at all drought-tolerant, and their delicate roots have a hard time penetrating hard clay. They also don't like "wet feet" which is a condition caused by periods of heavy rain, typically in winter, that cause roots to smother and drown in clay. Azaleas planted in a bed that has been entirely amended will always out-perform azaleas that are crammed into a small planting hole.

The photo at the top of the page is of a flowerbed in my yard that was tilled up and amended entirely before planting. When we went through 2 years of one of the worst droughts on record, I did not have to water this bed. Really, I didn't. I knew the bed was in great shape, but I was amazed at how well it performed.

Along with the great soil in this bed, I had also planted things that I knew didn't need pampering. (that's a criteria that a plant must have before it will live at my house!) So I planted Pink Velour Crepe Myrtle (my favorite variety, pictured above), pink Knockout roses, and violas in winter that are replaced with hardy summer annuals. I love dwarf Zinnias, Diamond Frost Euphorbia, and the dwarf Lantanas for non-stop summer color without any fuss.

     So what does great soil look like? And what is it made of? "Organic matter" is a loose term and often causes great confusion. Should I buy cow manure, Nature's Helper, or maybe Miracle Gro soil? And just what is "compost" anyway? How often have you asked yourself those questions?My answer is if you need a lot, buy bulk composted manure and topsoil. What the actual ingredients are that make up the soil can vary so don't fret too much about it. You'll get the best value by purchasing bulk material. One cubic yard of good bulk soil costs anywhere between $30- $60 per yard depending on where you live and lots of other factors. But that same "one cubic yard" purchased one bag at a time will cost you on average over $100 per yard! Be careful when purchasing "topsoil" as many places have their own idea of what topsoil is made of. I have actually had customers tell me that they ordered topsoil to be delivered and received fill dirt instead. Not at all the same thing. Not even close. Always know what you are buying. Look at it, pick some up and feel it, and always smell it. Good compost/topsoil should smell good and earthy. It should look like "black gold". And please, I'm begging you for your own good, DO NOT fall prey to those .99 cent bags of "topsoil" at the store. They are made up of junk that sets up hard as concrete once it settles and has gotten wet.

Below is a photo of what you should look for. Until next time, happy gardening and please visit my website at http://www.fullbloomnursery.com/ for more tips.

Now this is what I mean when I say "great soil"! This is a picture of a bunker of compost that we sell at our nursery. When you amend clay with it, you create "loam".