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It’s June, and as expected, an increasing number of the small birds I see dart for denser cover unidentified.

Despite the fact that the peak season for birding has passed, I will continue to plug along with at least 15 serious efforts each month. Maybe it’s more than the birds. I enjoy the number of people who stop me wanting to chit chat about bird sightings, identifications and the hobby in general. A few people even think I’m good but, unfortunately, you can fool some of the people. If I were to get an old-time report card, I might get a C for vision most days and a D for hearing if the teacher was determined that I move to another class next year. My keys are study, persistence and luck. As the hunter who couldn’t shoot straight said, “If I shoot often enough I’m bound to hit something.” Part of the study is to get an idea of what you might find.

Just like the weather, bird watching has seasons. We have year round birds like cardinals and woodpeckers. We have winter birds like juncos, additional ducks and white throated sparrows. Summer birds like hummingbirds, orioles and swallows are numerous now.

Most birdwatchers live for the peak migration season of late April to the end of May. For about a month thousands of birds stream north for the breeding season. Tiny warblers and many shore birds are in this group. A few warblers stop here but many head up, or north to cooler elevations or locations. Less leaves and happy, singing birds create birdwatching success during migration.The birds, too, have seasons. Generally, the males arrive first, stake out territory, attract females and the breeding season begins. At this point most species have favored habitats. Others, like robins, are happy everywhere.

Knowing a little about favored habitats improves your birding success.

Breeding season is when the males strut their stuff and are less timid and easier to see. It starts with eagles and owls in early winter and concludes with the small birds by late May. If a nest fails, some birds will try again. A few raise two broods a season.

Nesting season, which follows, makes the birds a bit more secretive. Some birds seem to almost disappear. With luck you can catch a parent carrying food. What is amazing is how quickly the young grow and fledge (leave the nest).The next event is dispersion. In many species the young move on and the breeding pair go their separate ways. At this point, favored habitats fade and you never know what might pop up anywhere. Some birds do bond for life and may be more predictable.

This is followed by fall migration. Here the birds are often drabber and the pace is more leisurely. By July some birds are moving south, while others linger into November. In a given species, the females usually go first and further. Males follow and the rear is brought up by the juveniles.

Everything above is generalized and exceptions are common. Regardless of the ebb and flow I plug along and am often excited and surprised by what I find.

 

False hydrangea vine 'Moonlight' 10 years of growth

on my deck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So you want a climbing vine to cover a fence, pergola or up lattice decking. Using the vertical space in the garden is a great idea to add visual interest. There are several questions to consider first.

1.How strong is your support structure? Perennial and shrubby vines are heavy over time. If you have ever looked at the base of mature clematis, honeysuckle vine or climbing hydrangea they are woody. The weight of a heavy vine may pull down a simple lattice-work structure.

2.What is your light exposure? Most vines do well in at least 4-6 hours of sun. Without adequate sunlight, flowering is reduced.

3.Are you trying to attract pollinators, have a fragrance, or bloom in a specific season?

With those questions in mind let’s talk choices. Perennial/shrubby vines come back every year getting larger each season. Some pruning is required if they are growing larger or spreading farther than anticipated. Most do not bloom all summer.
One of my favorites is Carolina Jessamine or Gelsimium. It is an evergreen vine with bright yellow flowers. It blooms in the early spring. I am happy to see flowers in March, but for those hoping to enjoy flowers on the patio in the summer; it is not a good choice. Wisteria, is a fragrant purple beauty about this time of year, but the Asian one is a bit of a thug. Our native is better behaved- but still woody over time. Honeysuckle with its beautiful red or orange flowers is a hummingbird magnet and sweetly fragrant, but can be troubled by aphids. I have a lovely false hydrangea vine on my deck that has been there about 10 years. It has gorgeous large white flowers that attract a ton of pollinators, but with a mature height of 50 feet, it needs a severe haircut this summer after it blooms or I won’t be able to get to the washline any longer. Climbing roses are a perennial fragrant favorite, but pruning and spraying for disease are required to keep them healthy.

Vines for shade are tricky. Hydrangea vine will flower well, clematis will tolerate light shade but will flower better with at least a few hours of sun. Porcelain vine and hardy kiwi have beautiful foliage and don’t flower much to begin with but are harder to find. A quick Google search also suggested Boston Ivy. I don’t second that opinion. Removing ivy is nigh impossible and roots along the stems can bore into structures worse than just about anything else.

Vines for pollinators are much easier to suggest. One of my favorites is Mexican flame vine. It is quick growing with orange daisy-like flowers. Butterflies really like it. Mom’s favorite annual vine to attract hummingbirds is cypress vine. It is a member of the morning glory family with really fine foliage and red tubular flowers. Another great one is Spanish flag. It’s also in the morning glory family and blooms under short days, meaning that it won’t flower until late summer, but I think it’s worth it. The flowers are multicolored tubular clusters of red, yellow and orange. It’s a stunner and the hummingbirds love it. I plant it on my deck ever summer.

Moon vine blooms in the evenings to attract moths. The large white blossoms unfurl in the late afternoon and are gone by the next morning. If you use your patio or pergola a lot in the evenings, this is a great choice.

For something weird, try hyacinth bean- this quick growing vine sports pretty lavender flowers followed by long purple pods. I’m seeing it around more often as it is easy to start from seed.

Flowering vines are great way to add height and drama to a landscape, or soften a fence, but know what you are getting yourself in for.

This column was prompted by a rather unexpected request made to my wife at the Solanco Fair. The suggestion was to write about what is happening or growing in the farmer's fields during the year. Here's an effort from a long time observer, not an expert.

Corn, soybeans and hay, mostly alfalfa, are the chief area crops.

If you have seen yellowing or browning grass fields recently they are or soon will become cornfields. The grass was planted as an erosion control, to add organic matter to the soil, weed control and to shade the soil to hold moisture. Real farmers may smile or laugh at the last reasons.

At this date most corn should be planted but, I suspect that the cool, damp spring has caused delay. Researchers will tell us that delay beyond the first week of May will reduce yields.

Most corn grown here is used for animal feed, often on the farm where it was grown. In early September, many acres of corn are cut, stalk and all, and put into silos, a bulk feed for cattle. The rest of the corn is harvested for grain, usually in October or early November.

Soybean plantings have increased in this area over the years. They are planted immediately after the corn is in. Although soybeans are a component of cattle feed, most are sold as a cash crop.

Alfalfa is the dominant hay crop with newer varieties yielding up to four or five cuttings per year. First cutting would be about now. The first cutting will give the largest volume, but is often a bit less choice hay.

In the fall or very early spring, if you see a finely tilled field, it is most likely destined to become an alfalfa field. Alfalfa is a perennial crop that can be harvested three or more years after planting.

Much hay remains on the farm to be fed, but there is an active market of selling hay to horse farmers.

You will see a declining acreage of small grains: wheat, barley, oats and rye. Often, the straw used as livestock bedding is more valuable than the grain.

The area's chief cash crop historically is tobacco. For obvious reasons, this acreage has declined significantly. Tobacco is started from transplants in late May or early June and cut and dried beginning in late July or August.

With the decline of tobacco as a cash crop, farmers, especially those with smaller acreage, have searched for new cash crops.
One that has caught hold is the growing of pumpkins for the Halloween market. Small acreage is devoted to growing produce for individual summer farm stands.

There is also an increase in high tunnels- hoop houses covered with plastic that can be rolled up on the sides. These are primarily for tomatoes or delicate berry crops like raspberries. Farmers can plant earlier under plastic, and the fruit is protected from excessive rains.

The arrival of a local produce auction also has increased the outlet for larger fields of vegetables. Most commonly seen are cabbage, sweet corn, cauliflower and broccoli.

I am amazed that I just wrote that, but then again, I was shocked to see a dog on a leash about six miles from Quarryville about fifteen years ago. I guess our demographics are changing.

The azaleas are blooming. The rhododendrons aren’t far behind.

Evergreen plants that bloom are a rarity in the plant world, so these two staples of the spring garden have a favored place for foundation plantings.

Both azaleas and rhododendrons are members of the Rhododendron genus- the distinction usually having to do with specific number of flower parts. For our purposes, rhododendrons usually have wider leaves and bloom a bit later. Azaleas have smaller leaves. There are also a number of deciduous azaleas that bloom in shades of yellows, oranges and pinks and have nice fall color.

Azaleas and rhododendrons are often thought of as shade-loving plants. That can be true- morning sun with afternoon protection after 1pm is the best. Dappled shade where tree branches are limbed up to allow sunlight to penetrate also is a good choice. Deep shade will prevent heavy blooming.

Acidic, well draining soil is best for azaleas and rhododendrons. They have shallow roots, so soils that stay wet leads to root disease problems. Blueberries, pieris, and mountain laurels share similar soil requirements. The best ways to amend soil is to mix in pine bark or leaf compost. Peat is not a great choice as it tends to hold excess moisture. Lowering the pH with agricultural sulfur or iron sulfate may be necessary in soils with high pH. If you have struggled with blueberries or azaleas in the past- a soil test is recommended before planting.

Wind is the biggest challenge to azaleas and rhododendrons. Their evergreen leaves will dry and scorch in high winds. Try to site them near a building, on a slope, or where other shrubs can protect them from drying south and westerly winds.

Pruning azaleas and rhododendrons is best done after bloom. Soft pinching of the growing tips encourages branching of the lower stems. Pruning in the fall cuts off the developing spring flower buds. In general, not much pruning should be necessary.

One of the easiest rhododendrons to grow is the Catawba rhododendron. Native to the Mid-South Eastern US, it blooms in the spring with large lavender flowers and is very cold hardy. There are many named hybrids involving several different species that bloom in a rainbow of colors from pale yellow, red and deep purples. Some of these fancier ones do better in the Pacific Northwest than they do in our summer heat and humidity, but if you have a good spot they are worth a try.

In terms of insects, the biggest problem is the azalea lace bug. They feed on the undersides of the leaves in the summer and early fall and can permanently discolor the leaves. I hate those little buggers. As mentioned earlier, root diseases like pythium and phytophera can be a problem if soils stay too wet.

Keep your eye out for azaleas and rhododendrons this spring. There is little more magnificent sight than a large swath of these blooming evergreens.

Photo credit Winterthur Garden Blog

The last few weeks we’ve had a lot of questions about GMO and organic vegetables and flowering plants. First a few definitions.

In chemistry- “organic” is anything containing the elements carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

In the farming/gardening vernacular it means eliminating conventional pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. It does not mean eliminating ALL pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, because there are many that are still allowed. The Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) publishes a list of thousands of organic-approved materials that can be used in farming and still be considered organic. Pyrethrin is widely used as an organic insecticide. Acetic acid, or super-strong vinegar, kills weeds. Organic farming methods don’t condone synthetic fertilizers like Miracle Grow, but favor fish emulsions or manure compost.

To be “Certified Organic” there are regulatory agencies that check your farming practices and monitors for conventional product residue. This is why often on organic farms you see the “No Spray” signs along the roadside alerting road crews not to treat with herbicides.

A colleague of mine operates an OMRI certified organic greenhouse business . He laments the fact that the organic-approved chemicals available for him to use for pest control are broad-spectrum, meaning they killbeneficialbugs as well as the bad ones. He stated thatconventional, modern insecticides are more targeted to the specific pests.

For me the big question has always been is organic “better”? There have been no studies demonstrating organically grown produce shows any difference in nutritional value compared to conventionally grown crops. The advantage of organic produce lies not in the presence of something better, but in the absence of certain “non-organic” pesticides. Shouldall produce, conventionally or organic, be washed before being eaten?YES. Organic farming methods are generally more labor intensive, with lower yield, therefore organic produce usually costs more.

Now on to the hairier topic. Genetically Modified Organisms or (GMOs) emerged in the late 1980s as a breakthrough for agriculture and genetic research. They lost the public relations war, and with a scary sounding name, never really gained the full backing of the public.

First of all, what is a GMO? How are they made? Tiny pieces of DNA from one organism (plant, bacteria or animal) are inserted into the DNA of another unrelated organism using a specialized method in a laboratory. The new gene becomes part of the plant or animal and is inherited by their offspring from then on, just like hair color. Popular genes for transferring to plants are virus resistance (in papaya and squash), increased levels of vitamin A (in rice to prevent blindness in malnourished areas of the world), resistance to insects (Bt corn, cotton), or specific herbicide resistance (Roundup-ready corn, etc.) The benefits of this technology include less chemicals are required to spray on the fields as the plants can defend themselves better, and often have higher yields.

The downsides are the seeds are more expensive because of regulatory and development costs. Also seeds cannot be saved from year to year. This is really a moot point, as in the days of hybrid crops, seed is rarely saved.

What needs to be understood is that all plants-especially all food cropshave been genetically manipulated for thousands of years of selective breeding to increase yield, flavor and disease and insect resistance. Early adopters of GMO technology just looked at this as another tool in the toolbox of feeding the world’s ever-expanding population with less land and effort.

The first GMO crop in the mid 1990s was the FlavrSavr tomato, which had a gene that prevented it from oversoftening and spoiling. The goal was to allow the tomatoes to ripen on the vine to improve flavor, but still hold up in shipping and reduce spoilage. After tremendous public outcry, they were pulled from the market soon after.

If you are visiting a garden center this spring, you can be sure thatnone of the flowers or vegetable starts you are purchasing are GMO. There are no GMO flowers or tomato plants, or any other vegetable plants available for home gardeners. As mentioned above, the millions of dollars of regulatory costs do not make it worth it to breeders. Advertising specifically as non-GMO is a little disingenuous as there aren’t any in the first place. It would be like me saying my farm is dinosaur-free.

I hope this helps clear up some of the confusion surrounding these two terms. I hope I didn’t let my bias slip too much.