Mapping Your News

Birds are surprisingly selective in their eating habits, as you will quickly find. They seem to have a sixth sense for the most expensive kinds of food. Watch a blue jay carefully sorting through a tray of mixed grains. What is he after? Sunflower seeds, of course! And at a few cents per pound. None of this nickel-a-pound chick feed for him! This is rough on the pocketbook and should not be encouraged by lavish feeding of high priced seeds, but do not berate the jays too much. They are the watchmen of your garden. They will be the first to see a hunting cat or a circling hawk, and give noisy warning to your other friends.

And do not begrudge the pesky little English sparrows what they eat, either, for they will be the very first birds to find your feeding stations, and will lead other and more shy birds to them. These two, the jays and the English sparrows, are pests in many ways, but they repay you by rendering good services.  Read more...

Strictly speaking, this is for the birds. It is not for those among us who are forever searching out a new (and easier) diet! Neither is it for all the birds – it’s just for the winter midgets, who bless us with their daily calls, if we so much as leave them a crumb in the snow.

If you have tried all the tricks to entice them – cages of suet, peanut butter, ears of corn, bright berries, sunflower seeds, sand – probably you have observed, with disappointment, that the hairy woodpeckers crowd out the little downier, and the blue jays seem to take care of driving away most of the others.

Despite all we know of the survival of the fittest, there surely must be a right place in the winter scene for the little birds, without having to wait their turn, and eat the leavings.

No doubt the bright eyes of the tufted titmice, the jerky flight of the downy woodpeckers, the lowly ways of the snowbirds, the upside-down eating habits of the nuthatches, the cheery chatter of the chickadees, who scold you while you are refilling the feeding station, plus the cuteness and beauty of them all, have endeared the wee birds to you far beyond any affinity you may have for the doves, the owls, the rusty blackbirds, the cardinals, the quail and pheasant, and certainly the jays.  Read more...

Christmas decoration fashions may change, but succeeding generations are continuing to utilize the traditional symbols and especially the favorite evergreen tree. Another Christmas green for this season is the holly with its glossy foliage and red fruits. Pyracanthas covered with scarlet berries are offered by a few florists. These two berry plants are indeed prized treasures. hut they are not suited to window garden culture. The florists’ Christmas offerings are beautiful and satisfying, yet there is also room for home grown berry plants. When we look around for unusual plants for our window gardening we may overlook some of the old favorites because they have not been called to our attention in the garden pages for some time.

House plants add color to Christmas decorations, and life to any home. Ardisia crispa and Rivina humilis are among the easily obtainable berry plants. In warm climates ardisia is grown as a shrub or tree, but it is a good subject for pot culture. It does not require special soil or care and its berries are the same size and color as those of holly. My largest plant is about ten years old and it is five feet tall above its seven-inch pot. It is constantly well decorated with numerous red fruits. It is a rather slow grower that does not require repotting often. The thick textured, way-edged leaves, four by 1 inches, make this plant attractive even before it begins to fruit.  Read more...

The tender hibiscus are fast becoming the most popular flowering shrubs of Florida and the Lower South. In North Florida and the Upper Gulf Coast give some winter protection. Either hill soil up around the base of the plant or surround with chicken wire and fill in with leaves or peatmoss. Plants in containers should be brought indoors into a cool room where they can be kept dormant until early spring.

Roses. This is an ideal time for planting in all sections of the South. Consult your experiment station or local dealer for varieties recommended for your section. Do not make your final pruning until later, in February or early March, but cut back some of the long stems now to prevent wind and ice damage.

Strawberries, Oriental Iris, Lily-of-the-valley can still be set out. Pansy plants, too, can be set out for winter bloom. Oriental Iris like wettish land, so use in your low areas where water is inclined to collect. They can even be grown in boggy places.  Read more...

Christmas trees for indoor and outdoor decoration during the Yule season remains an important tradition in America. While some artificial trees and other decorations have taken their place, the living evergreen tree or conifer is still the most important.

Cutting Christmas trees is a thriving industry in certain areas of the country. Many trees are cut from the wild, but there is a growing interest in Christmas tree farming and more and more literature on the subject is becoming available each year.

Just about every species of evergreen known in the United States probably has been used as a Christmas tree. However, certain species are much preferable to others. One of the things people look for in selecting a good Christmas tree species is ability of the needles to stay on over the period the tree will be used.

The limbs should be of sufficient strength to hold decorations, ornaments and tree lights. Reasonable denseness in growth is desired as well as good symmetry. Most people object to species that have harsh prickly needles. Of course, the person who ships the trees wants trees that have sufficiently pliable branches so the trees bundle and ship well.  Read more...

Many gardeners like to plant living Christmas trees in their yards. From the standpoint of good landscape design these trees are too often misplaced. Frequently, they are placed in the exact center of the front lawn on each side of the front sidewalk.

Too many do not realize that many of the evergreens chosen eventually grow much too large for the size of the property and eventually the homeowner has to make the heartbreaking decision of either removing the tree or allowing it to grow and monopolize the front yard. It is difficult to grow lawns under many species of evergreens. Careful pruning will help to restrain growth but this should be started a few years before the tree grows out of balance, with an annual maintenance program followed after that time.

Personally, I prefer to place the tree in a spot where it will have freedom to grow without much pruning over a long period of time. In studying the average home grounds we usually find a location somewhere near the front corners of the yard, diagonally out from the front corners of the house, or towards the side or back of the yard are good places for the large evergreen. In the latter plantings, these trees will serve as excellent backgrounds for the home.  Read more...

For color and beauty in the garden, Hibiscus cannot be beat. Mine are the giant strain of rose mallow, tall-growing, well-branched plants that produce many enormous five-petaled flowers ranging from red to rose, shell-pink to white with crimson eye.

In Laurel, Mississippi, the hibiscus blooms from midsummer to frost without rest. Though large, the blossoms are delicate in form, soft in color, and so combine well with other flowers. Leaves are also beautiful-long, narrow and notched.

Hibiscus likes rich, well-drained soil and starts new growth each spring. To make way for the new shoots, the plants should be cut to the ground each fall. New plants may be propagated from seed soaked in warm water before they’re planted in late spring when days are warm. Ground must be kept moist until growth appears. Blossoms come the second year. Plants also may be started from root divisions taken from older plants or from cuttings placed under a fruit jar or in a shaded bed.

Hibiscus is a fine background plant as well as one that can hold the spotlight when in bloom. Flowers remain open longer if shaded and, on cloudy days, stay open all day long. When cool days come, hibiscus is at its best for then its gay, crisp flowers are especially lovely.  Read more...

Although winter weather does not permit gardening outdoors in December, the Northern gardener does have a few opportunities to actively practice his hobby. For example, it is during this month (December) that he can clean and store the tender summer flowering bulbs and tubers until they can be used again for the garden next year.

The dahlias that were dug after hard frosts ended their season’s growth need a little attention now. Tubers that have a great deal of soil clinging to them because they were dug when the ground was very moist or because they were growing in a very heavy soil which tends to stick to the roots, should be cleaned by gently rubbing away the dried earth or washing it off.

Some dahlia growers object greatly to the washing method, but others practice it regularly. If they are cleaned with water they should he allowed to dry off before packing them for the winter.

For years, vermiculite has become a favored packing material for dahlia tubers and the bulbs, roots and tubers of other plant materials that have to be dug and stored for the winter. Dahlia tubers must be handled with great care so that the individual tubers do not break off at the main stalk without possessing a part of the latter and the growth “eyes” that will produce a new plant next year.  Read more...

The average person finds it difficult to tell various evergreens apart. They can be identified readily by examining cones and berries. However, trees used in the Christmas tree industry are usually small ones and have not reached a sufficient age to be bearing berries or cones. Examination of foliage and bark will reveal their identity too.

Junipers (sometimes called red cedar) possess reduced scale-like leaves that are closely appressed to the stem. Arbor-vitae (Thuja) resembles juniper except that the scale-like leaf branches appear in flattened planes. Fruits on both these trees are berries.

Needles of pines appear usually in bunches of twos. threes or fives depending on the species. In most species these needles are relatively long. The needles of spruce and fir appear singly along the branchlets. The needles of spruce are angular in cross section whereas those of fir are flat and run along the branch on a flattened plane.

Very often the general feel of the spruce is much harsher and more prickly than that of a fir. With most species of spruce and fir the needles are relatively short, although there are some exceptions. Another difference is that the bark on the main trunk of spruce is relatively rough compared with that of firs.  Read more...