The Fire Garden

I’ve often wondered if the childhood memory of the image of my Polish grandfather sitting out back of his Riverside, NJ home, near the grapevine by the shed that had a coffee grinder on the far wall, touched me to the point of reliving any outdoor scene where food was involved. I can picture him sitting in a chair, legs crossed, just staring at the ground. He was in his eighties. To him, it was a matter of just being outside. Not cooking out. Not kicking a ball with the kids. Not gardening, even, but enjoying the outdoor space just by sitting under the canopy of a shade tree.

Since my grandfather’s time, I’ve associated this type of behavior with people from countries other than America. Of course, Americans sit outside, but not like in the manner of people from other countries. We tend to have a distinct indoor and outdoor flair. While we like to bring the outdoors in, for the most part, we aren’t as comfortable bringing the indoors out.

Some of my favorite movie scenes are of Europeans eating outside. A table would be pulled from the kitchen with a simple tablecloth to cover it, slightly off-kilter, and everyday china and crystal on the tabletop. A rug might even be brought out along with candles and music and books and wine. If the weather was right, time was spent outdoors. It didn’t even have to be during the evening; it could be any meal, any time. In my book, this is living.

When we built the back porch, I envisioned taking every meal outside. It turns out I am the only one in the family that really likes to do this. It’s lonely out there.

Years later, something interesting happened. As the time came to take down the kids’ playground and later put up the chicken coop, I noticed something that I never expected. The Crape Myrtles I planted to frame that area had matured to a fine state, as did the red Maple. This development caught me off guard.

I planned the placement of those trees with other perspectives in mind, not for the sake of the playground but from the view of the back porch. So when I stepped in the footprint of the former play set, I realized there was a new space. I’m not sure I could have planned it so well, and I’m also not sure I would have thought I needed to.

The new space is in the ell of the chicken coop and the garden house, shaded by mature trees. It now sports three chairs and a fire pit. Only had three chairs because that is what I had on hand. See, I didn’t go out and buy anything for this new space. I just pulled from other areas of the garden. If friends come over and I need more chairs, I can bring those from inside the house. This space is completely private. I knew it was a special place the first time I saw it all coming together.

Recently a garden photographer from Scotland was visiting. The first night we had dinner and a conversation on the back porch. The next night, we had dinner on the porch, but then we took our conversation to the fire. The evening was magical. There is no other way to describe it. A fire adds so much mystery to a room, a space, or an area.

My pit is crude, nothing fancy like Americans like, making something for the outside to look like something we have on the inside. Instead, it’s just made from a makeshift large copper tray sitting on top of some found rock. It is nothing short of perfection to me.

Now I’m one of those who sits outside, with my legs crossed, looking down at the ground, the fire, the chickens, or whatever else I fancy. It’s not an event. It’s just a place to pass the time, no different than sitting in a favorite armchair or couch to read or watch a movie. Instead, I sit outside because I prefer to read and watch my life instead of someone else’s. And my beloved Border Collie, Pepper, is always with me.

From September through May, on Sundays, my day in the garden, you’ll find me with a fire going. Join me some time. I’ll make the time to sit with you in this special place so you can see firsthand the magic of finding solace in the most unexpected places.

~Helen

Garden Art & Arch in the Bee Better Naturally Garden

I’m a self-professed patron. I collect garden art and other art as well. Inside my home, my dining room walls are filled in a gallery style with street art collected from many of the various countries I have visited, of which there were dozens. Others are—photos, oils, pastels, and various mixed media—gracing the remaining walls of my Raleigh and Emerald Isle homes. I choose carefully and with heart; a piece needs to speak to me, and I also need room for it. That has been a problem for me over time. There are so many artists that I want another piece of, and I’m introduced to others frequently, but I must choose small or at least smallish. Over the years, I’ve moved pieces around to accommodate, but even that has become a problem. I may need to begin rotating.

When I mention, a piece needs to speak to me, what I mean is I need to feel the heart and hands that went into their art. If that is missing, I move on.

While I have limited space inside my home, my garden still has many spots for new treasures. As you preview the pieces below, and they are not all included yet, but most are, know that the garden doesn’t look overwhelming…not by the art, at least! Most pieces are situated such that they are a surprise to come upon. That is by design.

As best I could, after the opening of “Helen’s Haven,” the pieces are arranged as I purchased them. This allows me to add a new piece to share with you with you having to scroll through. Currently, I have 50 posted here. Also not, when there is a group of the same, such as the sheres, those are counted as one. There are a couple of photos with two artists represented, so they are counted as they are, two.

Found these letters at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. These sit on the Garden House work bench.

Totem by Anne Terry

I commissioned Tinka Jordy this rabbit. When I told her I planned to place her next the back porch where I sit, she suggested she would sculpt the piece so that she is looking up at me. Well-done, Tinka!

During a time in 2022, I decided to renovate the Fountain Garden. Before the renovation, there were plants growing in here I was forever cleaning the filter that filled with a fine silt. As with my nature, I looked at the entire area and decided it needed my attention for a complete renovation. Out came the plants and most of the vegetation, mosly ferns. Once this was done, I found there was significant erosion from the fountains splash. I backfilled ~300 pounds of fresh dirt to bring the soil level back up to the rim of the base. Instead of putting back all the plantings, I surrounded the rim with rock, both because I liked the look of this and to deflect the splash. Then I put back most of the plantings, particularly the ferns. I had seen a couple of these Japanese fishing floats in shops in Emerald Isle, so I decided that would be my art element for the fountain. These floats have proven to be costly and hard to find. So, this is a process. I have enough for the beginning of the effect, and it will be a lovely sport as I continue to search for more to add.

I picked up this chicken to guard the girl’s coop from the Lasting Impressions fall show. Artist name is Laurie McNair of Hokulele Pottery!

Garden spheres I made from whisky barrel stays. I used them in my 2022 State Fair demonstration garden. Look closely, there are three of them.

When we can, my friend Beth Jimenez and I go to the Fearrington Folk Art each February. This beautiful grasshopper causes no harm in the garden, rather only beauty. Hamidou Sissoko made the grasshopper. To learn more about Mr. Sissoko, click HERE. The light was created by, .Riley Foster,.also found at Fearrington, but in a different year. Mr. Foster wasn't there last year, and I don't see him listed as being there in 2023. The light was purchased in 2019. Powered by solar, the light shines on the grasshopper each evening!

Here we have an owl by Jean McCamy. I’m happy to still have this owl; a soccer ball took the life of three white ducks that “swam” through the river bed. I was able to get up with Mrs. McCamy to learn she has retired. I loved her works and she had the most wonderful spirit.

Also from Jean McCamy.

I also have two awesome pieces by Jean’s son, Cam McCamy. I need to photograph the other.

From another year at the Fearrington Folk Art show, I found the artist, Josh Coté, and I was an immediate fan. At the time, He lives in the Rock Garden. I’m guessing this was in 2016

The following year,Mr. Cotë was there again and I purchased a more detailed piece, the crow holding a red marble in his mouth.

The next year, I was all set to purchase another piece, but Josh Cotê works were not valued 10 fold. I was priced out of my league. I’m so grateful with the pieces I do own. He hasn’t been back since his price increase, but he still sells online.

I know little about this piece. Its name is “Stain Glass'“ with nipped glass over a bowling ball with a dark mortar giving the of stain glass., I found this piece at an antiques show in Charlotte around ~2012.

Here is what’s left of a Clyde Jones. Fearrington Village had this whole piece but over time, it had deteriorated, leaving only the head and neck left. I found it in a heap and asked if I could have it. Now, here he is!

Here’s another Larkspur Party find by George McKim. Bluebirds moved in its first year.

Glamming up the chicken coop! Found this at a flea market.

I only heard about the Barrel Moster from the news; while only a mile or so from my house, I never went that way, so I never saw it and it was quickly taken down. Too bad. I was intrigued.

Check out this story to see how it all happened.

Afterward, even the City of Raleigh commissioned Joe to do a piece. Then there was the praying mantis at the NC State Fair. Not to be outdone, I got in touch with Joe to commission me a piece. Sure he said. I asked for something in nature. He suggested a hummingbird. As you can see, I said yes. He made this remarkable piece out of three lawnmowers and a weed whacker!

Even Tony Avent commissioned a barrel monster with a pink ribbon to honor the death of his wife from breast cancer, many years ago. I wonder what Joe is doing today!

A close up.

Bird bubbler. HERE is the how-to.

Marina Bosetti. I need a pro shot of this piece. It often takes a picture to see what's "wrong." This awesome piece by Bosetti Art Tile. Marina Bosetti is a genius in her work! As you can see, we have a beautiful bird on a fence post. I need to like up my post sections! My friend, GG also has several of Marina's pieces.

Decades ago, a developer friend had a lead on an old barn of tobacco sticks. Originally tobacco sticks were for hanging the tobacco in the barns to dry. They are 45"- 50" and longer. They can be a round stick or a square stick, mine are square, with pointed ends or cut ends. Typically, they are made of they are a very hard wood but sometimes pine. called me to see if I wanted them; there were about 600 sticks. With no hesitation, I said yes! I wasn’t sure how I was going to get them, but before I could even think this through, he offered to deliver them to me! It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with them. In the meantime, I stored them in the shed until one day, after about five years, my husband said, it’s time for you to figure this out. And so I did. I created a series of panels and attached them to my neighbor’s chain linked fence. I’ve never looked back. Because of tobacco moderation, tobacco sticks are not longer used. As they become increasingly rate, if you find them, they typically sell for $3 -$5, making my free fence worth $1,800 to $3,000!

I like making interesting looking bug bungalows.

Here’s another.

Here’s another one that bit the dust from Lasting Impressions. This time, I can’t blame a soccer ball. Rather, water got in and froze it, cracking the beautiful piece. At least I have a memory in this picture.

Thomas Sayre. Terroir model. Gifted to me by Mr. Sayre. The original piece went into Eliza Olander’s Raleigh garden in 2009. Because I made the introduction to Thomas, he gifted me this model..

PLACEHOLDER

Disk

Seat

This expressive copper praying mantis lives in the Bee Better Naturally with Helen Yoest’s Rock Garden. She was found while on a trip to Asheville with wonderful JC Raulston Arboretum volunteer friends led by Beth. Such good memories! A little back story, While we were touring gardens, I saw several variations of this wonderful piece. Because of that, I know the artists must be local. We didn’t have time to stop by the artist’s shop, but I got lucky. My friend, Pat Korpik, traveled to the area every other week, so she was able to go to the shop and purchase this for me. I think of Pat every time I see this piece.

Tinka Jordy hosts a garden art show each spring in her home garden. Tinka Jordy is a co-owner of Eno Gallery in Hillsborough, NC. Ms. Jordy also hosts a garden event in her home garden each spring. This piece, Moving Forward, was purchased during the first tour I attended; I believe it was around 2010. It was during a time in my life I needed to move forward. She has been my guiding light ever since.

Before I purchased this piece, even before I knew of Ms. Jordy’s work, I purchased two fish on stakes from Fearrington Village when they still had the garden shop many years ago. It wasn’t until later that I realized they were Tinka’s pieces! I discovered Tinka was the artist when I saw more of them in her personal collection at the 2010 open art/garden tour. I need to get a pic!

Terracotta bird

Wise Old Bird, Larkspur

Metal and stone bird—flea market

Metal structure—flea market

Copper dragonfly—A birthday gift from my friend Robin Segal

Hummingbird—flea market

Bird structure from Asheville. A little modern for my taste, but I still love it.

I purchased this in Buffalo in 2010 during the Garden Bloggers Fling.

Glass Ball—Lisa Oakley, Larkspur. I miss Larkspur…a lot. It wasn’t only the artists, it was the setting. This photo was taken by Ken Gergle. I need to get the original.

Cermaic totem from Niche Gardens from wayyy back when they still existed.

Hypertufa trough

A driftwood '“bird.” Another flea market find!

Phil Hathcock. This stone sculpture is by my old friend, Phil Hathcock owner of Natural Stone Sculptures. My daughter named it "Guardian of the Gnomes" when she was 10.

PLACEHOLDER

Bird bath

Another Phil Hathcock. I use this as a butterfly water and food feeder.

For a Christmas present, my hubby hired Phil Hathcock to build me these stairs. Love, love, love them!

Metal butterfly from Airlie Gardens.

Unknown. Bought at the NW Flower and Garden Show where I have spoken many times. That weekend, I visited with my friend, Nancy Heckler, who has many works of crow, that I had to add one for myself!

Another one that got away was very, very painful. On one of my trips to speak at the Northwest Flower and Garden show, hanging out with my dear friend, Nancy Heckler, we visited not only Windcliff but my favorite all-time garden artists, Little and Lewis. I was so careful not to put my pomegranet in the garden for fear it would freeze; I never anticipated my dog and cat would have a heyday in the house, knocking it over and smashing it to smithereens.

Washer turtle from the flea maket

Carved feed trough.

Majolica found at an antique fair. For years, I had it inside, but them moved it outdoors. Oops!

Virginia Gibbons. I wish I knew more about this artist. I was on a garden tour in Raleigh, ~2007, and her work was for sale. I purchase this one then.

#Garden #Art this non-breeding pair stand guard around the front fountain reservoir. Hellebore from Pine Knot Hellebore Farm This beauty was purchased around 2010. I have a couple of wonderful cultivars as this, and I make sure to isolate them they will cross-breed in a hot minute! Most of what I have in the garden are the Helleborus 'Pine Knot Strain' Lenten Rose.

I have a pair of these birds, the other in an upright pose. I was given these for speaking at Smith & Hawkins at Crabtree Valley Mall in-lieu of cash. My idea. Most likely around 20004.

Frances Alverano. Frances, along with her daughter, hosted the Larkspur Party. Held each June when the Larkspur were in bloom. Frances no longer works as an artist, so I covent this fantastic piece.

I found this pot metal formed fish at a flea market in Charlotte, NC. I liked it so much, I bought ten. I knew my clients would want one too. It may have been all they had. I resold or used them in various forms from fountains (there is a hole in the mouth) to “shutters” around windows. I’ve never seen one since and I’m always so thankful that I have the wherewithal to not wait when I see a good thing.

The surrounding plant is Boston ivy, Parthenocissus tricuspidata. I’ve since lost this plant, but plan to replace it. I bought two plants, one for here and the other for the other side of my house with similar conditions. The one on the other side is thriving!

Boston ivy isn’t from Boston nor is it an ivy. The Boston reference come from how it thrives up north and famed for growing on buildings of Ivy League schools. The species is in the grape family native to eastern Asia in Korea, Japan, and northern and eastern China.

Bottle tree.

Another praying mantis.

A butterfly by Joel Haas. Purchased from his garden. Joel typically works on commission, but I convinced him to sell this to me. Thanks, Joel!

Mask by Joel Haas.

Here’s and antique chimney from Liverpool. I found this at Metrolina Antique & Vintage show in Charlotte years ago. It only seemed fitting to have since I spent 25 years of my career as an air pollution engineer.

Chokberry, Aronia melanocarpa—Kind, Culture, Care, and Comments

Welcome to my Food Forest where I grow an number of fruits in the Bee Better Teaching Garden. Information in this fruit series is based on knowledge I’ve gained growing in hardiness zone 7b, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Helen Yoest

Kind:

Latin Name: Aronia melanocarpa

Common Name: Black Chokeberry

Type: Deciduous shrub

Height: 3 to 6 feet

Spread: 3 to 6 feet

Pollination: Self-pollinated. The flowers of red (Aronia arbutifolia) and black (Aronia melanocarpa) are virtually indistinguishable. Both are very attractive to pollinators, and their simple, open structure makes them accessible to a range of bee species, from the large bumblebees (Bombus spp.) to tiny sweat bees (Lasioglossum spp.). The berries of these two species are very astringent when ripe. They are an important late season food source for birds, who tend to leave them alone until late in the fall or even the next spring, when they have fermented and shriveled into wrinkled raisins.

Fruit Health Benefits: One of the top natural sources of antioxidants and other healthful compounds. Along with their high antioxidant capacity, the Aronia melanocarpa's main polyphenolic components also possess anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antimicrobial, antiviral, antidiabetic, antiatherosclerotic, hypotensive, antiplatelet, and anti-inflammatory properties.

Wildlife Benefits: Flowers providing nectar and pollen for bees; Robins, thrushes, grosbeaks, woodpeckers, jays, bluebirds, catbirds, kingbirds, and grouse eat chokecherries, and so do mice, voles, chipmunks, squirrels, skunks, foxes, deer, bear, and moose.

Origin of species: Eastern North American, cultivated by Native Americans as a food source.

Cultivars: Black—‘Viking’ or ‘Nero.’

Culture Information:

Sun: Full sun to part shade. Aronia does best in moist, well-draining soil that is slightly acidic. Plants are tolerant of alkaline pH, road salt, and a wide range of soils, including sand and clay. Aronia will even grow in wet soils, making it a good choice for boggy areas where little else will grow

Water: Moist, well-draining

Habitat: Low woodlands, swamps, bogs, and moist thickets along the East coast. Great plantings for a rain garden.

Care:

Plant: Aronia best in moist, well-draining soil that is slightly acidic. Plants are tolerant of alkaline pH, road salt, and a wide range of soils, including sand and clay. Aronia will even grow in wet soils, making it a good choice for boggy areas where little else will grow

Fertilizer/pH: Needs little or no supplemental fertilizer. If desired, apply a balanced slow-release fertilizer in spring. I don’t tend to use fertilizers, so this suggested isn’t practiced in the Bee Better Naturally Garden.

Mulch: None needed. If fertilizer is added, add a thin layer of compost around the base of the plants.

Groom/Prune: Can shape, but black chokeberry makes a natural looking shrub form that, I believe, should be embraced.

Pest/Disease Control:  Aronia yields are the apple maggot, brown marmorated stink bug, cherry fruit worm, grasshoppers, Japanese beetle, spotted wing drosophila, and tarnished plant bug. Fingers crossed, I’ve not had any of these problems.

Propagation: Expanding your amount of aronia berries is simple! Once mature enough to produce suckers, slice off a sucker and transplant to the new location.

Comments:

Black chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa, was my first foraged food as a young girl. I found a thicket of black chokeberry shrubs next to a swale that flows into the Chesapeake Bay in Norfolk, VA. Although the berries were bitter-tasting fresh from the shrub, I kept eating anyway. It never occurred to make something out of them.

The Aronia genus has three similar species, except for the color of their fruit—black, red, or purple—and all have berries with good flavor, though astringent-tasting when eaten raw.

Both red and black chokeberries are native to North America. The black chokeberry is native from Maine to Georgia and north to Minnesota, while the red chokeberry is native from Maine to east Texas but not the Midwest.

I recommend and grow Aronia melanocarpa, a black chokeberry, over the red Aronia arbutifolia, because of the benefits black has over red. Here is a short summary:

RED:

Red has better fall color, but I grow it for food and wildlife. Color would only be a bonus.

The red berries last long, but that is only because the birds don’t favor them as much as black ones and will only eat them as a last resort.

Red has suckering stems, which I would mind if the shrub had desirable food and wildlife traits. But in a small space, it is not desirable.

The rabbits like the stems, so while you are feeding the rabbit population, it is at the sacrifice of the birds, assuming they get hungry enough to want the berries!

BLACK:

Black is rising in popularity among gardeners and landscapers and, as I mentioned above, with foodies.

Rabbits don’t seem to bother with black, leaving fruit for us and wildlife.

If you are interested in growing aronia for its health benefits,  the black is the one you should be growing. Red doesn’t have as many antioxidants as black.

Black fruit also has the highest amount of antioxidants of any fruit.

Both red and black are very astringent when eating fresh, but others have reported freezing fresh berries to reduce astringency, although I’ve not tried this…yet.

Chokeberries taste best dried. Mix in when making muffins or sugar-up with jams or juices.

Black chokeberry has a smaller, fuller, more attractive form than its red-fruiting relative, making it a great landscape shrub too..

Sustainable—Good Bugs

GOOD BUGS:

Fun Facts About Fireflies!

An Introduction of Green Lacewings

Lady Beatles

Mysteries of the Dragonfly and Damselfly

#LeaveTheLeaves

Carolina Praying Mantis

BUTTERFLY UPDATE:

I’ve seen a few, but I expected more given our heat had us in “June” during May and “July” during June. One success has been the pipevine butterfly, Battus philenor. . in the Bee Better Teaching garden in full force!

Recently, I registered the Bee Better Teaching Garden with the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail. Have you looked into this?

We offer Caterpillar Support to those who are in need of butterfly caterpillars rescued.  If you have butterfly caterpillars and are running out of host plants, or if you don’t want your plant defoliated, just email me at helenyoest at gmail.com. We can arrange for you to drop them off, and I will raise and release them.

Host Butterfly Plants

Bronze fennel is the host butterfly plant for the Eastern black swallowtail butterfly. The caterpillars feed on the fennel until time for the metamorphosis.

In our area, we don’t tend to see Eastern black swallowtails until a little later in the summer. But they will come. It’s not too late to plant their host plants. While they like fennel best, the caterpillars will also feed on curly parsley, dill, and carrot tops; anything in the carrot family. To purchase the full list of host plants for butterflies within our Raleigh and Ecosystem 231, click HERE.

MONARCH UPDATE:

It is possible to see monarchs in the Raleigh area in July, but we are more likely to see a bunch of them in the fall as they migrate south again. Have you planted your milkweed?

Bee Better Naturally with Helen Yoest—Sustainable Practices—Wildlife

WILDLIFE

CREATING A WILDLIFE HABITAT AT HOME

FOOD:

Our bird friends don’t need supplemental feed if you have a diverse garden. but we begin to heat up; keep up the feeder so you can watch your feathered friends from the inside of the home..

One of the best all-around seeds for birds is the black-oil sunflower. This seed has a high meat-to-shell ratio, is high in fat, and is sized perfectly for many seed eaters, including black-capped chickadees, cardinals, mourning doves, finches, juncos, jays, woodpeckers, and sparrows.

COVER:

Wildlife welcomes cover year-round.

WATER:

As the berries in our area ripen, the birds are having a feast. Keep your birdbaths filled with fresh water, changing out at least every four days to break the mosquito larvae cycle.

PLACES TO RAISE THEIR YOUNG:

Plant diversity is key!

BIRDCARE:

Do you deadhead? Click HERE to learn more.

Check out this really nice bird identification and preferred foods for each bird from The Cornell Lab! Click HERE!

Are you familiar with how we can bring the birds back? Click HERE for starters.

If you enjoy seeing the birds from your window, continue to Feed The Birds!

I also fill wire suet cages with native grasses for nesting materials.

HUMMINGBIRD UPDATE:

See you in the spring, friends.

Once the leaves have fallen, you might be lucky enough to find a Ruby-throated hummingbird nest! LOOK!

To learn how to attract hummingbirds to your garden, click HERE.

Bee Better Naturally with Helen Yoest--Sustainable Gardening Practices--Invasive Plants

INVASIVE PLANTS:

Invasive Plants:

By definition, did you know there is a different meaning between invasive plants vs. aggressive plants? A simple definition, invasive plants are introduced species, not native to our area, and show a tendency to spread out of control. Aggressive plants are those native to our area, and some can easily take over. We in. The Bee Better Teaching Garden keep an eye on both!

Clover

We don’t all think of clover as a weed. I certainly don’t! Do you think white clover is a weed? Think again. if you are one of the ones who want it gone in your turf, click HERE.

Poke Weed

You may know pokeweed as American pokeweed, poke sallet, or dragonberries. All parts of the plant are poisonous, except when the foliage is about the height of a spread hand. Then it can be boiled with two water changes and eaten like cooked spinach.

The berries are highly desired by birds in the fall, and this helps the spread of pokeweed as they drop the seeds—everywhere! After consuming the berry, the seeds are spread by birds and frequently are found around the driplines of trees, shrubs, and along fencerows, and a massive amount around the plant.

If left too big, they can be hard to remove since they have a deep taproot. Try to note and remove seedlings early for an easier pull.

Pokeweed shoots can be composted in cold piles if berries are not present. Roots should not be added to cold piles, either. We cold compost in the Bee Better Naturally Teaching Garden. Cold composting is essentially letting a pile build and decompose.. It requires less effort from the gardener, yet the decomposition takes substantially longer—a year or more. We have a designated area behind some shrubs where we pile our biomass to slowly break down.

I thought you might be interested in learning how the dreaded Bradford pear had its beginning.

Annual bluegrass, Poa annua

Lesser Celandine or Fig Buttercup, Ficaria verna

Chickweed, Stellaria media

Creeping Charlie, Glechoma hederacea

Greenbriar, Smilax rotundifolia

Henbit: Lamium amplexicaule

Hairy Bittercress, Cardamine hirsura

Marsh Pennywort, Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides

Bee Better Naturally with Helen Yoest--Sustainable Gardening Practices--Good Bugs

GOOD BUGS:

Fun Facts About Fireflies!

An Introduction of Green Lacewings

Lady Beatles

Mysteries of the Dragonfly and Damselfly

#LeaveTheLeaves

Carolina Praying Mantis

Host Butterfly Plants

Bronze fennel is the host butterfly plant for the Eastern black swallowtail butterfly. The caterpillars feed on the fennel until time for the metamorphosis.

In our area, we don’t tend to see Eastern black swallowtails until a little later in the summer. But they will come. It’s not too late to plant their host plants. While they like fennel best, the caterpillars will also feed on curly parsley, dill, and carrot tops. To purchase the full list of host plants for butterflies within our Raleigh and Ecosystem 231, click HERE.

MONARCH UPDATE:

Bee Better Naturally with Helen Yoest—Sustainable Garden Practices—Trees

TREES: Check out the latest advice from Leaf & Limb!

Why Dead Wood is Good Wood!

The Art of Espalier

Bee Better Naturally--Sustainable Gardening Practices--Shrubs

SHRUBS:

The best time to prune flowering shrubs is right after they bloom.

Bee Better Naturally with Helen Yoest--Sustainable Gardening Practices--Perennials

PERENNIALS:

Coneflowers

Rohdea japonica is sending up new shoots. Now is a good time to cut back old leaves. Same with the cast-iron plant, Aspidistra elatior. Cut back dead leaves to welcome fresh foliage.

PERENNIALS:

Coneflowers

Salvias

Foxgloves

Phlox

Bee Better Naturally with Helen Yoest—Sustainable Gardening Practices—Food Forest

EDIBLE FOODS and FOOD FOREST:

Bee Better Teaching Garden grows at least 30 different fruits. Learn about our Food Forest HERE!

I’ve also begun a new Fruit Forest with strong-backed volunteers in the Joslin Garden.

HERBS:

How-To Harvest and Dry Herbs

What’s looking good now in the Bee Better Teaching Garden:

Parsley, Petroselinum crispum

Rue, Ruta graveolens

Thyme, Thymus vulgaris

Oregano, Origanum vulgare

Rosemary, Salvia rosmarinus, formally Rosmarinus Officinalis.

In the Food Forest, the rosemary has spider mites.

Without looking at this plant with a hand lens, it’s impossible to be sure, but this type of mottled leaves is typical of the damage done by either a sucking insect or spider mites. The leaves ended up stippled and paled with such infestations because the insect or mite pierce the leaf repeatedly as they feed, which kills the cells in the leaf. Initially, the leaves look stippled, but over time the entire leaf can die.

Leafhoppers, lacewings, and whitefly are three insects that suck plant juices and cause similar damage. If you look closely, or with a hand lens, and see webs, it’s likely spider mites are the cause. 

Since most people want to eat their herbs, you, of course, don’t want to use systemic or other chemical insecticides. Also, mites aren’t killed by some insecticides. You could use one of the insecticide/miticides made from neem or cinnamon, however. Another good practice in such situations is to spray the plant with a hard stream of water once a week.

Bee Better Naturally with Helen Yoest—Sustainable Gardening Practices

SUSTAINABLE GARDENING PRACTICES: 

There are many definitions of sustainable gardening, and through my decades as a sustainable gardener, I’ve summed it up to mean…wait for it…a garden that sustains itself and the life within! By that I mean, doing less, so much less, that it can take away the stress and much of the labor, bringing back the joy of gardening and bettering the environment.

Sustainable gardening is the concept of using gardening practices that cause no harm to the Earth and its inhabitants while working in a way to enhance it. But there is more. To me, sustainable gardening is to have all the aspects of sustaining life. For example, having a butterfly garden is not enough to just have pretty nectar-rich flowers. For a butterfly garden to be fully sustainable, plants must sustain all aspects of the butterfly’s life cycle. That means providing host plants, specific plants that area butterflies need to lay their eggs. So yes, you will have holes in your leaves; that’s the goal!

Simply put, sustainable gardening is designing your garden to sustain itself and allows us to secure our future to make the Earth better than we found it. Think of it as organic gardening taken a step further.

Design becomes important for a garden to sustain itself and provide the plants necessary to sustain wildlife fully in all respects of its lifecycle. You could just plant plants that are regionally native and provide exactly what nature does. No supplemental water, cutbacks, added mulch, pesticides, or herbicides. Yet, many want more from their gardens, so we add plant diversity. What is key is the placement of these plants.

SOIL

FERTILIZING SUSTAINABLY

WATERING SUSTAINABLY

WATERWISE

Helen Yoest

August Sustainable Gardening, Bee Better Naturally with Helen Yoest

AUGUST

Sunrise turtle walk. I love these mornings.

For me, the best part of August is that it ends July for another year. It has been a particularly hot summer. There were many days at work when working with volunteers I had to call it. Call it? It means we have had enough for today. It’s too hot to continue. But that doesn’t mean I hide in the house. I run errands, go to meetings, pick up plants, and then inside to work on The Joslin Garden weekly blog post or make additions to The Joslin Garden plant database.

A particularly fun evening with my friend and boss, Lauren. Here we are at Kathryn’s.

Back to gardening. I do have to weed at the beach! I mowed yesterday. It was long overdue. Our community has a mower we can use, and it worked great. This was my first time using it.

Found this totem at the beach. I’m totally copying it!

The Back 40 (ft) North to South. Worked 1/2 the Soccer field edging. Weeded, deadheaded, dead leafed, and scratched the soil. Mulched back in March. Still looks good.

The Back 40 (ft) South to North

Gazebo Corner

The Epimedium Patch Last month, I ordered seven Epimedium × rubrum from Digging Dog Nursery. The plants were in excellent shape. I’ve ordered from them before and have never been dissatisfied. The only problem was I wasn’t the only one who liked them. The rabbits took them down as soon as I turned to get the rabbit deterrent spray! I’ve met no one who hasn’t commented on the increased number. It’s been terrible.

The Wildflower Patch Extension

The Wildflower Patch.

The Southside. Put back banana shrub, pyracantha, and hardy kiwi.

The Ostrich Fern Garden. Move Virginia Gibbons to back of cleaned out area. Need to add more Ostrich ferns. Reworked the bed—weeded, scratched soil, managed magnolia leaves. Trimmed limbs off the camellia.

The Front Fountain Garden. Today, I began renovating the Fountain Garden. The winged elm was stretching over the fountain, the hydrangea Vivian Philips gave me never look good where it was. Took out an azalea and cotoneaster. Trimmed up spicebush and Loropetalum. Severely cut back winged elm. This really opened things up giving me more room in the Ostrich Fern Patch. 

The Blackberry Patch with Chimney Swift Tower

The Food Forest. Weeded and evaluated which of my fruit trees will need to be cut this winter to keep they in picking high.

Food Forest from another angle.

Food Forest Extension. Weeded, scratched soil. I’ll add mulch next month, maybe. Once it was scratched, it looks nice again.

The Front Beds—Once a year, I clear out the magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora leaves from this bed. There are still plenty, but having them under the tree is OK with. me. But in other beds? I don’t thinks so. It takes about a year to get me anxious enough to clean up. July is a good time to do so, since the tree is always shedding, but mostly in May and June.

The creeping fig also got its annual haircut.

The Parterre

Rock Garden

The Raspberry Patch and River Bed

The Pollinator Garden

The Blackberry Patch

North Side. Cut back acanthus leaves. This is the time of year to do so.

The Girl’s Garden

The Wildlife Pond.

Mixed Border, South to North.

Mixed Border, North to South.

To read more of my writings, click HERE!

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SUSTAINABLE GARDENING STEWARDSHIP: 

There are many definitions of sustainable gardening, and through my decades as a sustainable gardener, I’ve summed it up to mean…wait for it…a garden that sustains itself and the life within! By that, I mean doing less, so much less, that it can take away the stress and much of the labor, bringing back the joy of gardening and bettering the environment.

Sustainable gardening is a concept of using gardening practices that cause no harm to the Earth and its inhabitants while working in a way to enhance it. But there is more. To me, sustainable gardening is to have within all the aspects to sustain life. For example, having a butterfly garden is not enough to just have pretty nectar-rich flowers. For a butterfly garden to be fully sustainable, plants must sustain all aspects of the butterfly’s life cycle. That means providing host plants, specific plants that area butterflies need to lay their eggs. So yes, you will have holes in your leaves; that’s the goal!

Simply put, sustainable gardening is designing your garden to sustain itself and allows us to secure our future to make the Earth better than we found it. Think of it as organic gardening taken a step further.

Design becomes an important aspect for a garden to sustain itself, as well as providing the plants necessary to fully sustain wildlife in all respects of their lifecycle. You could just plant plants that are regionally native and provide exactly what nature does. No supplemental water, no cutbacks, no added mulch, and no pesticides or herbicides. Yet, many want more from their gardens, so we add plant diversity. What is key is the placement of these plants.

SOIL

FERTILIZING SUSTAINABLY

WATERING SUSTAINABLY

WATERWISE

 

WILDLIFE

CREATING A WILDLIFE HABITAT AT HOME

FOOD:

Our bird friends don’t need supplemental feed if you have a diverse garden. but we begin to heat up, keep up the feeder so you can watch your feathered friends from the inside of the home..

One of the best all-around seeds for birds is the black-oil sunflower. This seed has a high meat-to-shell ratio, it is high in fat, and it is sized perfectly for many seed eaters, including black-capped chickadees, cardinals, mourning doves, finches, juncos, jays, woodpeckers, and sparrows.

COVER:

Wildlife welcomes cover, year-round.

WATER:

As the berries in our area ripen, the birds are having a feast. Keep your birdbaths filled with freshwater, changing out at least every four days to break the mosquito larvae cycle.

PLACES TO RAISE THEIR YOUNG:

Plant diversity is key!

BIRDCARE:

Do you deadhead? Click HERE to learn more.

Check out this really nice bird identification and preferred foods for each bird from The Cornell Lab! Click HERE!

Are you familiar with how we can bring the birds back? Click HERE for starters.

As long as you are enjoying seeing the birds from your window, continue to Feed The Birds!

I also fill wire suet cages with native grasses for nesting birds.

HUMMINGBIRD UPDATE:

The males left last month. Females will leave in a month or two afterward. To learn how to attract hummingbirds to your garden, click HERE.

INVASIVE PLANTS:

Invasive Plants:

By definition, did you know there is a different meaning between invasive plants vs. aggressive plants? A simple definition is invasive plants are introduced species not native to our area and tend to spread out of control. Aggressive plants are those native to our area, and some can easily take over. We in. The Bee Better Teaching Garden, keep an eye on both!

Clover

We don’t all think of clover as a weed. I certainly don’t! Do you think white clover is a weed? Think again. if you are one of the ones who want it gone on your turf, click HERE.

Poke Weed

You may know pokeweed as American pokeweed, poke sallet, or dragonberries. All parts of the plant are poisonous, except when the foliage is about the height of a spread hand. Then it can be boiled with two water changes and eaten like cooked spinach.

Birds highly desire the berries in the fall, which help spread pokeweed as they drop the seeds—everywhere! After consuming the berry, the seeds are spread by birds and frequently are found around the driplines of trees, shrubs, and along fencerows, and a massive amount around the plant.

If left too big, they can be hard to remove since they have a deep taproot. Try to note and remove seedlings early for an easier pull.

Pokeweed shoots can be composted in cold piles if berries are not present. Roots should not be added to cold piles, either. We cold compost in the Bee Better Naturally Teaching Garden. Cold composting is essentially letting a pile build and decompose. It requires less effort from the gardener, yet the decomposition takes substantially longer—a year or more. We have a designated area behind some shrubs where we pile our biomass to break down slowly.

I thought you might be interested in learning how the dreaded Bradford pear had its beginning.

Annual bluegrass, Poa annua

Lesser Celandine or Fig Buttercup, Ficaria verna

Chickweed, Stellaria media

Creeping Charlie, Glechoma hederacea

Greenbriar, Smilax rotundifolia

Henbit: Lamium amplexicaule

Hairy Bittercress, Cardamine hirsura

Marsh Pennywort, Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides

GOOD BUGS:

Fun Facts About Fireflies!

An Introduction to Green Lacewings

Lady Beatles

Mysteries of the Dragonfly and Damselfly

#LeaveTheLeaves

Carolina Praying Mantis

BUTTERFLY UPDATE:

I’ve seen a few, but they are slow to arrive full force in July. In August we should start seeing them regularly. Recently, I registered the Bee Better Teaching Garden with the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail. Have you looked into this?

We offer Caterpillar Support to those who need butterfly caterpillars rescued.  If you have butterfly caterpillars running out of host plants, or if you don’t want your plant defoliated, just email me at helenyoest at gmail.com. We can arrange for you to drop them off, and I will raise and release them.

Host Butterfly Plants

Bronze fennel is the host butterfly plant for the Eastern black swallowtail butterfly. The caterpillars feed on the fennel until time for the metamorphosis.

Our area doesn’t tend to see Eastern black swallowtails until a little later in the summer. But they will come. It’s not too late to plant their host plants. While they like fennel best, the caterpillars will also feed on curly parsley, dill, and carrot tops. Click HERE to purchase the full list of host plants for butterflies within our Ecosystem 231.

MONARCH UPDATE:

Friends have shared with me monarch sightings, but I haven’t seen one yet. We have plenty of milkweeds, their only host plant genus, so we are ready. We are more likely to see a bunch of them in the fall as they migrate south again. Have you planted your milkweed?

BAD BUGS:

Mosquitoes are out, these are buggers one never gets used to. Controlling mosquitoes with traps has been most helpful. To learn more, click HERE!

Tent Caterpillars

Leaf Miner Flies

Mosquito Control—Is there Such a Thing?

Naturally Controlling Japanese Beetles

Bagworms

Do yourself a favor and never look into the “eye” of a bagworm. Bagworms have got to be the most disgusting-looking pests ever — to me anyway.

Bagworms can be treated by removing them by hand and dropping them into a bucket of soapy water. If the bagworm infestation isn’t within easy reach, they can be sprayed with Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt for short.

Bt is a microbial insecticide commonly used to control various caterpillars such as the red-headed azalea caterpillar and many other caterpillars, as well as those nasty bagworms. But remember, it will also kill our moth and butterfly larvae!

Black Widowed Spider, Latrodectus mactanse

Cicada Killer, Sphecius specious

Japanese Beetle, Popillia japonica

Check them FIRST to see if they have any tanchid fly eggs on their shoulders. If they do, let them go and the flies will hatch out and consume them from the inside — and produce more flies to dispatch more Japanese beetles. If you see those opaque white dots — one or two or three or more — let them go.”

Brown Recluse Spider Loxosceles reclusa

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SPECIFICALLY…

CAMELLIAS

LAWNS

ROSES

TREES: Check out the latest advice from Leaf & Limb!

Why Dead Wood is Good Wood!

The Art of Espalier

SHRUBS:

The best time to prune flowering shrubs is right after they bloom.

ANNUALS:

I don’t tend to plant annuals, but I’m big on direct sowing. Zinnia’s are my go-to seeds. There are tall ones, shorter ones, and even ground cover types. Some look like show mums, others like pinwheels, and you will want to pluck those like daisies to see if your lover loves you.

PERENNIALS:

Coneflowers

Rohdea japonica is sending up new shoots. Now is a good time to cut back old leaves. Same with cast-iron plant, Aspidistra elatior. Cut back dead leaves to welcome fresh foliage.

BULBS:

Divide irises: Did you have success with your new iris planted this year or in the fall? If not, it could be due to several factors: too much shade, too much fertilizer, too deep a planting, or crowding. Now is a good time to correct problems by lifting and relocating or repositioning to a more favorable location.

Plant the iris high with the rhizomes along the surface of the dirt. They can be covered finely and lightly with mulch, but not soil. Make sure you can either see the rhizomes or have the ability to brush away the mulch exposing the root. Except for the Louisiana variety, irises need six- to eight- hours of sunlight to bloom and require good drainage. Plant a Louisiana iris if you have a damp, partial sun location in your garden.

Camellias

Caladiums

VINES: 

Virginia creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia. I find most people absolutely hate it for the aggressiveness. I happen to find it extremely beneficial for birds in the fall. Did you know Virginia Creeper is a native?

Unfortunately, too many gardeners confuse it with poison ivy, Toxicodendron radicans, which is also a native and feeds birds. I get it. I’m highly allergic to poison ivy and have eradicated it from my property. I remember when I did so, I wasn’t allergic before but became so during its removal. The good/bad news was I did it all in one day, so I was affected even before the symptoms showed up! Otherwise, I may have stopped short of getting rid of it all and being fearful my entire life in the garden! I had a rash from head to toe!!! It was then, in 1997, that I started wearing long sleeves and pants whenever gardening.

Crossvine, Bignonia capreolata; Lady Banks rose, Rosa banksiae; Carolina jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens.

POND:

EDIBLE FOODS and FOOD FOREST:

Bee Better Teaching Garden grows at least 30 different fruits. Learn about our Food Forest HERE!

HERBS:

How-To Harvest and Dry Herbs

What’s looking good now in the Bee Better Teaching Garden:

Parsley, Petroselinum crispum-

Rue, Ruta graveolens

Thyme, Thymus vulgaris

Oregano, Origanum vulgare

Rosemary, Salvia rosmarinus, formally Rosmarinus Officinalis.

In the Food Forest, the rosemary has spider mites.

Without looking at this plant with a hand lens, it’s impossible to be sure, but this type of mottled leaves is typical of the damage done by a sucking insect or spider mites. The leaves ended up stippled and paled with such infestations because the insect or mite pierce the leaf repeatedly as they feed, which kills the cells in the leaf. Initially, the leaves look stippled, but the entire leaf can die over time.

Leafhoppers, lacewings, and whitefly are three insects that suck plant juices and cause similar damage. If you look closely, or with a hand lens, and see webs, it’s likely spider mites are the cause. 

Since most people want to eat their herbs, you don’t want to use systemic or other chemical insecticides. Also, mites aren’t killed by some insecticides. However, you could use one of the insecticide/miticides made from neem or cinnamon. Another good practice in such situations is to spray the plant with a hard stream of water once a week.

PERENNIALS:

Coneflowers

Salvias

Foxgloves

Phlox

CHICKENS:

SNAKES: Wondering what snake is in your backyard? Click HERE for an easy id.

Glossary

Until soon,

Helen

#WeCanAllBeeBetter!