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Several days ago on a hike with a few friends, a wooly bear caterpillar crossed our path. I was quick to share some wisdom gained from an ancient sage, friend and neighbor of my parents who departed this earth while I was still a schoolboy.

Black means cold, while brown suggests warmer periods. Since this one was black on both ends and brown in the middle, one knows that the winter will start early and cold and end likewise with a warming period in the middle.

Someone who earlier had been identifying all the butterflies we had been seeing, challenged me, suggesting that our hair hasn’t always been gray. He claimed that the hairs on the wooly bear change color as it matures.

If he expects me to consult the long range forecast to determine what winter challenges our gardens will face, I would be nervous.

Recent plantings, say since September 20, of potted material may not have had time o root in and may heave particially out of the ground with the freezing and thawing that normally occurs. A bit of mulch around the plant just after the ground freezes will greatly reduce this problem. I would be less concerned about bare-root material and plants relocated from one spot to another in your garden.

Plants that retain foliage during the winter continue to give off moisture. They should not be permitted to go into the winter lacking in moisture. That will not be a problem this year.

I’m sure most of us have planted some things in our gardens which are marginally hardy. Several years ago someone suggested that we could grow camellias in this area. I planted maybe half a dozen at various places in my landscape. All but one faltered and it is in a very sheltered spot. I got correct facts, but not the whole story.

I agree we can push the envelope a bit by studying the plant’s needs. Pick the right spot, extra mulch to protect the roots, or perhaps even wrapping the plant to shield the winter winds. Burlap is usually used.

To me, wrapping is a double edged sword. The wrap provides a warmer environment for the plant , but add a few leaves, and you have a perfect sanctuary for rodents and the destruction they can bring.

If we have plants that are winter tender, crape myrtles, caryopteris, peach, sweet cherry or butterfly bushes, quickly come to mind, do not prune them until spring is advancing. On the first two I will almost guarantee some winter dieback. Wait until you see new growth and cut away the dead. They bloom on new wood so you won’t sacrifice flowers.

Tender fruit trees are best pruned just ahead of bloom. Mulching strawberries is another good idea. I am not sure it helps yield but it sure keeps the berries cleaner at harvest.

Butterfly bushes are weird. They are tough as nails, but fall pruning is nearly lethal.

It seems that every year just when I start to think winter is about over the March winds appear to do some mischief. As I ponder what precautions to take, if any, I remember that the back end of that caterpillar was really black.

Recently, the car, my wife and I spent two weeks of quality time together. Our primary destination was some farm fields just west of the Mississippi River in southwestern Louisiana.

Louisiana is among the nation’s leading producer of sugar cane and rice, two crops about which I knew very little.

Sugar cane was being harvested. The fields are first burned to remove the leaves. We saw some quite lively field fires. The cane is pressed and then heated to separate the sugar from the syrup (molasses). The end product is the white sugar we are familiar with. To get brown sugar, they just return some molasses.

New crops of sugar cane are started from cutting up existing stalks and planting. Think potatoes. We saw cane fields in all stages of production from planting to harvest.

Rice, as we all know, is grown in flooded fields. The flooding provides weed and insect control as well as providing moisture to the plant. The rice is planted in the early spring, harvested in the summer and then re-grows to produce a second crop being harvested beginning in late October and running almost to Christmas.

The milling process for rice starts by removing the outer hulls, producing brown rice. Further hull removal produces white rice.

Of course there was a bird involved. It was a yellow rail, (think thin as a rail) being rather small and quite elusive. It is nearly impossible to see under normal conditions, but is high on the ‘want to see’ list of most birdwatchers.

It breeds in the northern tier of states, mainly Minnesota. Many overwinter in the rice fields of Louisiana . You guessed it. We spent several days in the rice fields with great success. We either watched the front of the combine from the field edge or rode on the combine. It was fun, and we saw the bird at least ten times.

Interestingly, the farmers, the conservation groups and the business community have teamed together to create a win win situation. After harvest, many fields are now re-flooded, providing additional excellent habitat for overwintering ducks and wading birds. People come to see the birds. People spend money in the community. Everybody wins.

     In their early days, one of the  "Buy a membership to shop and save" stores offered the following slogan to lure shoppers, and I paraphrase; You never know what you will find around the next corner. I can’t think of a better description of a successful garden or motivation for bird watching, my other hobby.
      Today I offer three thoughts for anybody on the edge, wondering about bird watching. They are bird books, binoculars and an offer from the Lancaster County Bird Club who is organizing a free bird walk for beginners this Saturday, October 15.
      My flyer reads,"Roger Stoner will lead a trip to the Lancaster County Central Park for beginning birders or for individuals that would like to experience birding for the first time. He has binoculars to loan if you need them. Meet at 9 am at the Rockford Plantation on Williamson Road in Lancaster. Contact Roger at 717-393-9030 for more information or if you plan to attend."
     About binoculars. If you are too young to be in middle or high school, binoculars are probably a liability. For the rest of us, they come in all price ranges. Some inexpensive ones are quite good and ,of course, there are some very expensive ones that create miracles.
      The best hint I can offer when using binoculars is to think about eating. The food is on your fork. The fork moves toward your mouth and your head moves toward the fork. It works with food, but you won’t find many of the birds if you use your binoculars that way. Freeze your head and vision on the bird and bring the binoculars to your eyes. That’s tough and takes practice.
      I have been with people who seemingly can focus as they raise their binoculars. I can’t. Usually we see motion before we see the bird. I try to focus on the area of motion so that I am ready if the bird offers a better look.
      If you ask five birders to name their favorite bird book I am sure you will get at least two different answers. There are many field guides. I may have dozens. Each has its value. I do have favorites.
      The problem with field guides, the experienced will tell us, is that we are too quick to quit looking at the bird and look at the guide. I often carry a pocket guide, but sometimes I don’t. If the field guide is at home or in the car and I encounter an unknown bird, I study it carefully, make notes and consult the guide when I return. That usually works well.
      Some people also sketch. I don’t. I still remember the pain suffered when my art teacher in fourth grade criticized the V shaped vultures I had added to one of my efforts.
     It’s all about what is around the next corner. Recently, I had spent a lackluster two hours at the Octorara Reservoir. As I was getting in the car to leave I spooked a larger bird. I watched it cross the lake and settle in a small willow bush. I trained my optics on it and recognized a black crowned night-heron.
      Rare, no. I have seen the bird on 27 occasions in the last four years. Unexpected. Yes. It was only the second time I have seen that bird in Pennsylvania. Lackluster was banished.

     This past week we packed up the car and drove to Iowa to visit my husband’s family. Driving 900 miles across the country with two kids gave me lots of time to look out the window and appreciate the changing season.
      The leaves had not yet started to turn here when we left, but were already coloring up in the Midwest. The red and yellow fall colors we appreciate so much are there all year long, just hidden by green of the chlorophyll. These green pigments are the chief factories for photosynthesis or sugar production, in the plants. Falls cool temperatures, and shortening days signal the plant to stop making new chlorophyll. These pigments break down at a constant rate, so if no more is being made, the green color fades quickly. This exposes the red/purple anthocyanins and the yellow/orange xanthophylls. The balance of colors is primarily weather dependant. When it is cool, sunny and dry, there are a lot of the sugary anthocyanins exposed in the leaves. This gives the wonderful reds and purples. When it is warm, overcast or wet, less anthocyanins are made, and the yellow xanthophylls show. Other waste products like tannins, (think tea-brown) show up, like in oak leaves.
      This fall has been warm, wet, and overcast. We may still have great color, I would not expect bright reds and purple, but more of the yellows and browns. If they don’t all fall off in the rainstorms!
     I also love the colorful berries of the fall fruiting shrubs. Viburnums, winterberry hollies and outrageous purple beauty berries put on quite a show.
     A standout in our yard is the Viburnum dilatatum ‘Cardinal Candy’. Huge clusters of bright red fruit completely cover this shrub after the 2nd year in the ground. Unlike many viburnums, this one does not require a pollinator. The cranberry viburnum, Viburnum trilobum, is used more heavily in Iowa than I see nearby. It is hardy to USDA Zone 3, so in that colder climate it’s a great choice.
     I also observed countless orange fields of ripe pumpkins. The kids each picked a pumpkin to take to the Solanco Fair this year. No blue ribbons, but they enjoyed visiting their entries. Unfortunately, the stink bugs seem to have swarmed recently, and I’m afraid I better pick my neck and baking pumpkins before the stink bugs beat me too it. Mom is happy to see the dogs back, as she also has been plagued by groundhogs.
     Another great group of plants for fall gardening is the ornamental cabbages and kales. These large leaved, waxy plants color up under short days and cool night temperatures and are frost resistant. Either the crinkled leaves of the kales, or the wider leaves of the cabbage come in shades of white, red and purple and are a wonderful accent to mums, or stand alone in flower beds. Farther south where there is little or no snow, they hold up in beds until spring, here, they look good usually until Christmas or the first heavy snowfall.
     The kids are in school, the days are shortening, take some time to look around and enjoy the beautiful palette Mother Nature has to draw from in the autumn.

Between the showers and the downpours I have been attempting to duplicate a project I easily completed last year in several days. That’s planting a large daylily bed.

I started what I thought would be a leisurely project about the middle of August. After all, what’s several days when you have six or eight good planting weeks left? As September draws to an end I still need several planting hours before I go for mulch.

Last year’s project was on a rather steep bank at the end of my lane. I spent all spring and summer on weed control before planting. That was time well spent, as the daylilies have grown rapidly without much competition or hand pulling.

For years they have claimed that we had re-blooming daylilies besides Stella de Oro the little almost orange one that is frequently planted. The experts will quickly point out that Stella isn’t a re-bloomer. It just blooms, rests and blooms again throughout the summer. A true re-bloomer will bloom randomly after the main flush is over in June. I guess you really didn’t need to know that.

Fifteen years ago I planted some of the claimed re-bloomers and watched nothing happen after the main flush. The second year I violated my beliefs and fertilized and watered them heavily and I got a reasonable re-bloom. Despite my beliefs, fertilize and moisture aren’t wrong on daylilies.

Back to last year’s planting. The soil was at best average, the weed control good, good spring and fall moisture with a dry month in between and memory loss as to whether they were fertilized. They produced an amazing first June flush which was tardily removed several weeks after bloom ended.

To my amazement there has been a steady reappearance of buds and flowers. Granted, moisture has been plentiful , but I am beginning to think that the day of re-blooming daylilies are really here. The second bed is at my sons in a similar site and soil situation and I am seeing an occasional September bud on plants just weeks after planting.

If you are thinking that could be an expensive project, you could be right or wrong. All perennial gardening is tradeoff of time or money. With daylilies, the time can be rather short. My guess is that any good sized plant you might buy could/should be cut into two or three pieces. A single fan/stem will produce a nice plant within a year.

Shallow planting will also encourage rapid growth in daylilies and you then would have a plant that could be divided into multiple plants by the second year.

When I see the sun I will finish my son’s bed. If the month still starts with an S or an O I will tackle a third one near my house. That one will be populated by dividing plants started over the last two to five years.

My fear is that the world won’t be large enough to accommodate all the plants when I have to divide three beds not too far in the future.