What's That in The Tree?

Near the wonderful oak tree I shared in the posting 'Just For Fun' is this tree.  It sits along the ridge right next to the road.  This summer I saw something green, growing on the trunk and its limb.   At one point we stopped the truck and  I made the initial identification of a large vine of poison ivy.    Well, after all these freezing nights the poison ivy has long since lost its leaves.  Driving by on Tuesday I noticed it still had something green up in the crotches and along the trunk.  
I stopped the car (though I didn't get out) and started taking pictures.  I was amazed to see it was the Resurrection Fern!   I first encountered this fern on one of our trips through the countryside.  It was when I found the Burr Oak.  Resurrection Fern,  Polypodium polypodioides is a hardy fern.  This is a native fern, hardy from Delaware to Southern Florida. It is an epiphyte, using the host plant for an anchor and grows in the cracks of the bark of trees.  All the water and nutrients come from the rain and dust in the air.  When there is no rain the fronds curl up and are scaly and grey.  When moisture is reintroduced, the fern resurrects! 



Isn't this fern great? 


It grows up the limb...covering all the bark.


See how green and lush the ferns were on Tuesday? 



Now on Sunday we went out and Charlie stopped the truck and I was able to get out and take more pictures.  We had some really cold nights between Tuesday and Sunday, with no rain.   See how dry and brownish grey the ferns are? 



I will have to go back after a rainfall and see if, even in this mild but winter time, it will resurrect again!  It is easy to propagate, take a piece of the fern, making sure you have some root material and place it in a tree of your choice.  You can read more about the Resurrection Fern at Floridata. 

The best thing about this Resurrection Fern?  The tree it is growing on is in a family cemetery that has been there for ages.  One of these days I will check out some of the old headstones.




©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Twelve Trees Fourteen Shrubs and Almost 200 Bulbs

December was THE month for planting in South Carolina.  Yes, I planted a dozen trees and 14 shrubs.  The bulbs were plants in January.   The shrubs were a great purchase from the Abbeville Cooperative Extension Tree Sale.  Last year I bought three dogwoods and three redbuds and a couple pecans.  Sadly the pecans did not make it through the winter.

This year I bought only shrubs through this sale.  Nine of the shrubs are Spirea vanhouttei.  Six were planted along the very long driveway.  I thought I was staggering the plantings but after I was done it appears they are paired, across the driveway from one another.  The other three were planted on the side of my playhouse/shed that faces the ajoining property.   All these shrubs have ample room to grow to full size.  The nice thing about this spirea is that it can be planted in full sun to part shade.   This picture below is the nine, bundled together, each having a nice baseball-ish rootball.   

In the top photo are three red flowering quince, Chaenomeles sp. .  All of them are nice sized, the order form said they would be 2-3 feet and I wasn't sure how much shrub was going to be there.   These three  are planted up along the street in front of the woods on the left side of the driveway as you walk up the drive.  These are spring blooming and will be a nice pop of red early in spring.  A couple buds are already leafing out.







I also bought a  snowball Viburnum, probably a Viburnum opulus, though I didn't get a botanical name to go along with this one.  It is planted in the lowest part of the backyard.  Finally, the last one I bought and probably the one I wanted most-- Oakleaf Hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia.  I have some small ones in the back garden but really wanted one to fill a space along the driveway.  Knowing this shrub can get to be the size of a small pickup truck,  I am giving it all the room in the world.  Right now it is a straight stem, abou 3 feet long.   Come on spring!!!

The trees were purchased/received through the Arbor Day Foundation.  I got the ten 'free' flowering trees when I joined.   I wanted a Sassafras tree and received a free Red Maple....so twelve trees to plant.  Two of each of the following were planted- dogwood- Cornus florida, redbud- Cercis canadensis, Flowering Crab Apple- Malus sargentii, Goldenrain Tree- Koelreuteria paniculata, Washington Hawthorn- Crataegus phaenopyrum.  These darling dozen were all about the size of a watercolor paintbrush.  In order to know where these little babies are located, I tied a little piece of green ribbon around each.  It has helped in locating them when I water and will help in the spring when I check to see if they survived the winter.

Redbud next to soaker hose

Crabapple -- so small it needed a stick next to it and some rocks to mark the spot

This photo below shows the red Maple.  It was wrapped with a sticky label...the little white dot the arrow is pointing to. 

 Here is a blowup.

We will see if these tiny trees make it, I worry about animals walking over them and snapping them off.

This is my notebook, I have marked every single plant I either brought with us from Virginia, was given by friends, and the hundreds I purchased and planted since moving here a year ago July.  I also write down where bulbs are planted, it helps when looking for them or knowing where NOT to plant more bulbs. 

The bulbs planted last weekend were two large bags of 50 double bulb daffodils, Narcissus 'Dutch Master', one bag of 50 Paperwhites, yellow Paperwhites, Narcissus 'Grand Soleil d'Or' and a bag of ten tulips,  hybrid greigii tulip.  
Spring is going to be spectacular in South Carolina....stay tuned!!!




©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.

Just For Fun

I know I haven't been around for a little while, but I am back now!!  To start my return to the blogging world I want to share some photos I have had --ready to share with all of you.  They are pretty much unrelated --they are all just for fun! 

First I want to share my favorite tree, well ok,  ONE of my favorite trees.  It reminds me of the one that is often shared by Pam at Tales from the  Microbial Laboratory.  I need to make an accurate ID of this oak.  The leaves were so tattered this year after the cicadas it was hard to be sure.  The lichen and moss are so thick on the trunk it is hard to see the bark.  When I asked my husband to stop so I could take a picture of my favorite tree, he said, "You are going to have to be more specific".  Hahaha

 

I will take many pictures of this tree over the course of the year.   

 Next, another owl sighting.  This was the week in between Christmas and New Year's Eve.  The exciting part of this sighting was he was across the street from our property, next to the septic field/ meadow.    After I feed the dogs their evening meal I take them for a walk.  Since the oldest dog is almost 18, we don't walk too far.  We were at our turn around point and I saw the owl.  Of course I didn't have the camera.  I hustled to the driveway and saw Charlie outside, called to him, and he took the dogs so I could run down the driveway to get the camera.  Yea!!!  The kids came out and saw the owl as well, life in the Wild Kingdom. 

Here is a close up.  Isn't he grand?

 Another fun adventure was another walk along the shoreline.  The mosses, lichens, and other fungi growing on the exposed tree roots are always cool looking.

Another find along the shore was evidence of our beaver.    This limb was about as big around as my arm and roughly 6 feet long. 

 About 600 feet up the shoreline was a tree whose roots were exposed on the bank.  Apparently the beaver thought that root would be a great addition to his den.   I am keeping an eye on my trees!!!

And finally a night visitor --seeking a taste of the suet on bird feeders.   These guys are not pretty.

 Many thanks for coming back to read my postings.  Hear's to a new year and a better blogging habit.


©Copyright 2012 Janet. All rights reserved. Content created by Janet for The Queen of Seaford. words and photos by Janet,The Queen of Seaford.