Red House Garden Pop-up Restaurant

Have you ever been to one of those trendy pop-up restaurants where a celebrity chef opens a restaurant for only a limited time?

Yeah, me neither (and I'd hate to know just how much it would cost for a meal at one), but I love how right in my own backyard there seems to be an array of different pop-up restaurants for pollinators all throughout the season (and the meals are free!)   All the pollinators and their mothers seem to swarm to the hot new location until the spread is over, and then it's off to the next act that pops up in the garden.  And for the past couple of weeks, the hot new place in the garden was...

....the Carolina Silverbell tree, aka Halesia carolina.

This location has caused quite the buzz (literally).  Pollinators of all kinds have been swarming to dine from its hundreds of white bells full of delectable nectar and pollen.  I have spotted all sorts of bees, bugs, and even hummingbirds feasting here when things were open for business.

The Carolina Silverbell is normally a small understory tree or large multi-stemmed shrub and prefers partial shade to full sun and moist, slightly acidic soil.  It is native to the Southeastern US, mostly found in the mountains and Peidmont sections of the Carolinas, hence the name.  I first saw a Carolina Silverbell tree in flower at Duke Gardens when I lived in North Carolina, and I knew I (and all the local diners) wanted one in my own garden.

a Carolina Silverbell at Duke Gardens

My tree is only about 5 or 6 feet tall now (more like a shrub, really), but eventually Silverbells grow to be 20 to 40 feet tall and 15 to 30 feet wide.   They are hardy from zone 5-8 and like some protection from wind.  The wood is rather soft and close-grained, making it valued for wood crafts.  They bloom their small white bells for about two weeks in April or May.  There are also pink-blooming varieties, such as 'Arnold Pink'.

Carolina Silverbell may be only be a limited-time-only pop-up restaurant for the pollinators in spring, but it does offer more bounty for wildlife at other times throughout the year.  Its leaves are hosts for several different moths and squirrels eat the seeds.  I am also very curious as to how this tree got its nickname of 'Opossum-wood'...  (Anyone know the story to that one?  Should I start expecting opossums to move in and partying at my Silverbell tree?)

It is now almost the end of May, and my Carolina Silverbell has finally finished flowering.  The show is over, the restaurant closed up, and the swarms of hungry diners have moved on to find the next eating establishment to pop up in the garden.

I wonder if they will enjoy the next place quite so much?

Pussy Willows to the Rescue for Precocious Pollinators

As winter recedes into spring, the pollinators start emerging on warm, mild days. First the gnats, flies, and beetles, then the bumbles and other bees appear, hungry and ready to forage.  Finally now the early blooming flowers of spring are beginning to open here in New England to meet that demand.  But where did precocious pollinators go before now, on those sporadically warm but still barren days we got before those spring flowers started opening?  To find that answer, we have to look up...

emerging Pussy willow catkins

We don't often think of trees as great plants for pollinators, but they are actually some of the earliest available sources of pollen and nectar.  Here the American Pussy Willow, or Salix discolor, is one of the earliest bloomers around and a wonderful resource for bees and other early pollinators.  They break out of dormancy in late winter or very early spring, the distinctive furry coats on their catkins trapping heat from the sun to keep the developing reproductive parts warm.  

bee on male Pussy Willow tree

The furry emerging catkins open into white and yellowish odd sort of flowers.  Pussy Willows are dioecious, that is, they have male catkins and female catkins on different plants.  The earlier blooming male trees have the most to offer pollinators, with their catkin flowers containing both strongly scented nectar and pollen. The female willow trees, whose more greenish-colored catkins tend to open slightly later, offer only nectar.  

bee on female Pussy Willow catkin

While many trees with catkins are wind-pollinated, the Pussy Willow relies on insects for pollination. Its early flowering time proves beneficial, as there is much less competition for attracting pollinators when hardly anything else is in bloom!

The American Pussy Willow is native to much of the northern half of North America, and grows around 10 to 20 feet tall, usually with multiple stems.   Like many willows, it loves water and sun.  It grows wild all around the Red House Garden in the wetlands and in the detention pond we have out back. I love the Pussy Willows, as they are the first sign of the coming spring here.  Now that other trees and spring flowers are now starting to bloom, the Pussy Willows are finishing up for the season, leaves slowly replacing catkins.  Their job has been done...

a tiny pollinator on a male Pussy Willow catkin

...and what an important job it is to those early pollinators.

And Fall Chores Become Winter Ones...

It's been a mild winter so far.  Snow has come only a few times, just to cover the ground and then melt away.  I should be grateful for the thaws, as I am still working on that whole garden-clean-up-before-winter thing.

Don't come up yet, daffodils!

Towards the end of last year I didn't blog or even manage to get out in the garden very often.  End of the year chores were left undone, and the garden left to just do its own thing (more than normal, anyway.)  Life was too busy and full, full, full.  And then too empty.  Last fall, both of our beloved cats, one after the other, were diagnosed with lymphoma.  Both of them ended up passing away shortly before Christmas.

I keep expecting to see these two little furbabies around...

Back to the topic of gardening (who's cutting those onions? *sniff*), we did manage to get a few fall chores done.  With surprisingly superb timing, I got the last of my fall bulbs planted right before the first real snow of the season hit.

one of those beak, wintery days

In fall we also accomplished the much-needed task of moving our clump of young white birch trees out of a spot that was too hot for it.  In just one year, the roots of the birches had spread far beyond their branches, and it was unexpectedly quite the chore to move it.   (After digging out and moving that clump, poor Mr. Red House was very glad to go back to the office on Monday.  He said it was far less work than helping me in the garden.)

trying to dig out the roots of the small birch clump

I now find myself solidly in the middle of the winter season with the fall clean up continuing sporadically on mild January days.  Thanks to those January thaws, however, many of the garden beds have finally been cleaned up and a lot of the fall gardening chores (the ones that are going to get done, anyway) have finally been accomplished...

The local robins volunteered to clean up my winterberries for me.

...that is, except for my greenhouse cleanup.

I have to admit that at this point I am rather afraid to even look in my greenhouse, unsure of what I might find in there after all the tomato and pepper plants were abandoned and left to fend for themselves for the winter.

I should probably get on that.

Obstacles and Perseverance

Great works are performed not by strength,
but by perseverance.
~Samuel Johnson

I recently looked at some photos of some impressive trees in downtown Boston that I had taken last winter.  I hadn't taken the photos because the trees were impressive in size or in beauty.  They were, however, notable in their tenacity to keep growing despite their harsh environment.

Being next to a busy street and sidewalk was not the ideal situation for the trees.  Litter piled around the roots, something or someone had broken half of its branches, and the trees were stuck in a tiny strip between the sidewalk and a chain link fence.  The fence was obviously an impediment for the trees, as they struggled to stretch towards the sunlight.

But the trees, in their monumental effort to grow towards the sun, actually grew through the fence, enveloping the metal links in their very wood.

Honestly, looking at how all of the branches had been broken off on this side of the fence, the tree was probably safer growing into the other side of the fence.  The other side of the fence promised more sun and safety. This is one case where the grass was actually greener on the other side of the fence, and the tree knew it.

To overcome their obstacle and achieve their goal, the trees must have had to start out slowly.

Each day they needed to reach for the sunlight, growing just a little bit closer, melding and inching slowly into the fence, 

persevering over the days and weeks and even years...

...until finally making it to the other side.

Looks almost like Nature is demonstrating some sort of lesson, doesn't it?

Four Seasons of Sassafras

I've written before about the fascinating history of the North American native Sassafras Tree, how it became a medicinal fad for Europeans who thought it a cure for STD's, and how it's used as a flavoring for homemade root beer, tea, and gumbo.  But beyond its cool history, I love my Sassafras albidum just because they are some of the prettiest trees in my yard, all year-round.

In Spring they are one of the first plants to flower, making it a food source for early pollinators.

Spring

Their Summer leaves serve as food for the caterpillars of several different moths and butterflies, including the Spicebush Swallowtail and Tiger Swallowtail.  

Summer

Sassafras has several really awesome nicknames.  A couple nicknames are based on its uses as a flavoring, such as 'the Tea Tree' and 'Cinnamonwood'.  My favorite nickname for Sassafras, however, is 'the Mitten Tree'.  Sassafras has three differently shaped leaves, one of which is shaped like a mitten, which makes the tree easy to identify!

Sassafras leaves

Like Hollies, Sassafras are dioecious, which means they have separate male and female trees.  The female trees produce berries in late summer, which the birds enjoy.

Late Summer

It's hard to pick which season Sassafras Trees look most beautiful in, but it might be Fall.

The colors are simply gorgeous.

Fall

But I think the time I appreciate the Sassafras Trees in my yard the most is during Winter.  There's not a whole lot going on in my yard in Winter, but the bare branches of the Sassafras in my back yard have an amazing structural beauty.

Winter

The branches twist and curve, crookedly drawn lines that form a beautiful silhouette.

Winter

Sassafras trees do not transplant very well due to its taproot, but you can get smaller-sized saplings from native nurseries and online.   They do sucker into a grove, but can be grown as a single tree if the suckers are removed for the first few years.  They often grow in open woods, but they are also a pioneer species, one of the first to grow after a fire or in abandoned fields.

Some more stats on Sassafras

Native Range: Eastern North America

Planting Zones: 4 - 9

Height: 30 - 60 ft. (10 - 20 m.)

Spread: 25 - 40 ft. (7 - 12 m.)

Sun: Full sun - Part shade

Soil: prefers moist, acidic, loamy soil

Tolerates: poor, dry, sandy, or clay soil

I love my 'Mitten Trees' in all their forms.  I must admit, however, that as beautiful as the bare branches are now, I am looking forward to seeing the Sassafras Tree branches heralding in Spring with their yellow flowers.

Aren't they pretty?

The Battle Over the Pine Trees

When it comes to our family, I am the head gardener.  Since Mr. Red House is not much of an outdoor person and is actually allergic to a fair number of plants/trees/grasses, etc., I pretty much have free rein in the yard.  While Mr. Red House always appreciates the gardening I do, he doesn't usually have many opinions about the yard...

except when it comes to TREES.

a pine tree seedling in our backyard

Mr. Red House has never met a tree he didn't like.  If we ended up planting all the trees he wanted, I would have nothing but a shady woodland garden, and all of the trees would soon end up crowding out the house!  The only critique Mr. Red House has ever made of my garden is to point out where another tree might fit.  

He also doesn't like to cut down any trees - he's even dubious about me pruning.

But this Christmas I wanted to cut some pine boughs to make a fresh wreath for the door.  And with all the many pine seedlings we had in our yard, I was determined to cut some of them for their lush, densely-packed branches.

Mr. Red House was not happy.

young pine trees in our yard

We have lots of small pines in our woods, but Mr. Red House wanted all of them, no matter how tiny.  I wanted my wreath.  The battle was on!

more young pine trees in our yard

He wiled, he pleaded.  At one point he even connived the kids into standing in front of the targeted seedlings, using them as living barricades against my pruner and hampering my efforts..

...but I emerged victorious!  The pine branches made a beautiful wreath, don't you think?

Sorry, Mr. Red House, I think I'm going to have to cut fresh pine branches every Christmas!

*Mr. Red House regrets to inform you that several young pine trees were hurt in the making of this blog.*

All the Dirt on Sassafras

In 1603 the first Europeans sailed up the Piscataqua River, exploring what is now the border between New Hampshire and Maine.  This was a commercial venture, as they were specifically searching for something they knew they could sell for a lot of money...

Sassafras trees.

Sassafras leaves turning color for fall

Back when, Sassafras root extract was considered to have great medicinal value as a cure for fevers, rheumatism, and STD's such as gonorrhea and syphilis (you don't often think of people back in the 1600's having these problems, do you?).  Several Native American tribes used Sassafras medicinally, and when colonial Americans brought this knowledge back to Europe, it became quite the medicinal fad.  For a short time Sassafras was the second largest export from colonial America, behind tobacco.

I have several of these native Sassafras trees in my backyard.  Anyone want to pay some big bucks for them?

Sassafras has been found to have some analgesic and antiseptic properties.  Some people still drink sassafras tea for such things as gastrointestinal problems and for use as a diuretic, and some also use it topically to sooth skin irritation.  However, the research from the 1960's found that very large amounts of safrole, which sassafras oil is largely made up of, caused cancer and permanent liver damage in laboratory rats.   So don't ever be a laboratory rat.  (Oh, and you might want to drink that tea in moderate amounts..)

The Sassafras tree is also interesting in that it has three different shaped leaves on the same tree!
(photo source - Augusta, GA government website)

High doses of safrole are also hallucinogenic, which is probably why it is used in the making of the drug MDMA, more widely known as 'Ecstasy' and 'molly' (thank you, Miley Cyrus, for bringing that to my attention).  Thus the transportation of safrole is closely monitored internationally.

The Sassafras trees in my yard are just for ornamental use, really!

Sassafras root used to also be the main flavoring for root beer before its ban by the FDA.  Root beer affectionados still make it themselves from natural Sassafras extract that has all dreaded safrole removed.  Or they make it from scratch from Sassafras roots.  (You can find a recipe here.) Sassafras is also used in Creole cooking.  Filé powder, which is made up from the dried, ground up Sassafras leaves and doesn't contain very much safrole, is used as a thickening seasoning for gumbo.  

Makes you want to go out and smell some Sassafras, doesn't it?

While I admire the Sassafras for its rich history, its varied uses, and its fragrant leaves and wood, I have to admit that as a gardener I really love these native trees for a totally different reason.

They're just really pretty trees.

the interestingly contorted branches of a Sassafras tree

Designing a Northeastern Garden

When we finally moved into our new house in Massachusetts three months ago, it didn't seem much like a home at all.  One of the problems was that the yard was completely bare in the front.  No foundation plantings, no grass, nothing.  On the positive side, I got to design my garden from scratch!

Ack, my house is naked!!  Quick, throw a few shrubs over its foundation!

Step 1:  Trees, Shrubs, and Hardscaping

The first step in designing a garden is to put in what is called the 'bones' of the garden - the main structures that really anchor all the other smaller plantings.  That usually means trees, shrubs, and hardscaping.  

In addition to trees and shrubs, I have two light posts and a few boulders in my garden.  One great thing about the Northeast - boulders are plentiful!  (Farmers would probably disagree about this being a great thing.)

I designed this garden with the winter season in mind.  It's easy to make a garden look good in the summer up here in the Northeast when everything is blooming, not so easy to make a winter garden look good - and all I hear from people up here is how long the winter is going to be!  So I focused on plantings that would look good all year long, such as... 

Evergreens:

On one side of our yard we put a Blue spruce.  The silvery blue of the needles match our house perfectly, and the birds love it!

A Vanderwolf's Pyramid Limber Pine and a Blue Atlas Cedar are planted on the other side of my house.  I love how these two evergreens have totally different looks.

...and Foundation Plants with Winter Interest:

Deciduous trees and shrubs going in my yard needed to have either interesting bark or winter berries that would look good in winter!

Winterberry Hollies were planted on either side of my porch, and a River Birch tree with its fabulous light-colored, peeling bark was planted at the corner.

I also planted some Variegated Red Twig Dogwood shrubs.  In summer they have variegated, gray-green colored leaves that look quite pretty with our house color.  The leaves then turn a fabulous pink in autumn before dropping off to reveal bright red stems for winter!

Step 2:  Deciding on Color and Gardening Style

After putting in the main landscaping, it was time to take advantage of the end-of-the-season sales and get some smaller shrubs and perennials for the garden.  But what color scheme should I go with?  My previous Red House perfectly set the stage for a cheerful front garden filled with lots of yellow blooms accented by oranges, reds, whites, and purples.  

But my new house is a subdued grayish green with a hint of blue (yeah, I have no idea what color to describe it as).   However, it really lends itself to a.... pastel-colored English-cottage theme!

We're going pink and pastel here, very different for my garden!

For this theme I had to have roses, of course, though being the lazy gardener that I am, they had to be very hardy and non-fussy.   I found several 'The Fairy' Roses on sale, which are impressively still blooming despite our recent cold snap!  I also picked up several 'Magnus' Purple Coneflowers, several different shades of Salvia (I'm a sucker for salvia), Gaura, and some Great Blue Lobelia, among others.

The Great Blue Lobelia is perfect for a wet spot in the yard.

Step 3:  Plant what you love!

I know I had a pastel theme decided on, but I just couldn't resist putting some cheerful, bright yellow flowers somewhere in the garden.  Next to the garage side door I planted a little clump of Willow Leaf Sunflowers, which are fabulously supposed to get around 6 to 8 feet tall.  I can't wait.

I have big dreams for you, baby clump!

Step 4:  The fun has only just begun!

I still have a lot to fill in.  Bulb planting has started, and I'm already thinking about what plants to start from seed for next year.  Ah, such planning!  Hopefully it will carry me through the long, cold winter that everyone keeps warning me about!

But I must say, with the new beds and the landscaping 'bones' of the garden put in, my new house looks much more like a home!