Gardening with Kids, Part 3: Celebrating Backyard Wildlife

Today I want to talk about a surefire way to get your kids interested in the garden: finding all the neat wildlife out there!

By the way, this post is part of a series I’m doing, on gardening with kids. In case you missed the first 2, here are some handy links:

Gardening with Kids, Part 1

Gardening with Kids, Part 2: The 5 Senses

Ok, back to the topic at hand: the wildlife in your backyard. It is delightful to find small creatures in your yard. Less delightful if they’re eating up your plants or otherwise causing damage, but your kids will probably still like them!

Unless you are already good at identifying them, I would buy or check out some books from the library to help. It’s especially fun to notice an animal, bird, or bug, then find it in the guide book. After that you can remind each other what it is whenever you see it, until you just know.

Of course, the baby animals are absolutely the cutest.

Here’s a list of the wildlife we saw in our Eastern Washington backyard:

Birds: sparrows, crows, magpies, owls, pheasant, quail; many other common birds

I haven’t seen any bunnies here in Utah. Then again, we’re more rural and there are plenty of hawks, eagles, and other predators around.

Bunnies

Mice

Squirrels

Insects: praying mantis, shield bugs, carpenter ants, bees & wasps, roly-polies

Garter Snakes

Frogs

Baby quail.

Raise a Caterpillar in a Jar

I have fond memories of finding monarch caterpillars, as a kid, and putting them in a jar with leaves to eat. We would watch them form a chrysalis, which eventually turned black, then almost clear, and a beautiful butterfly emerged. We would carry them on our fingers outside and gently flap them up and down. We thought we were teaching them how to fly. :) Of course, after the butterfly was ready it would fly off on its own. We always thought the ones we saw in the garden were “our” butterflies, too. It was magical!

You can re-create this experience with your kiddos—whether or not you have milkweed and monarchs around. In fact, one year in Washington the kids and I raised some cabbage white butterflies in a jar. Normally I don’t recommend raising pest caterpillars, but against my better judgement, we did. One survived of the two. I was done with the broccoli that year anyway.

Okay, so here’s what you need to do:

Prepare a clean mason jar by punching holes in the metal lid. Make sure the holes are smaller than your caterpillar can crawl through!

Find a caterpillar, and pick it up, along with some of the leaves it was eating when you found it. It would probably be good to identify it first. You know—make sure it isn’t toxic or a really bad pest.

Put the caterpillar and leaves in the jar.

You can clean out frass (caterpillar poop) as frequently as you like. Replace the leaves with fresh ones every day or two. Watch and be amazed as it forms a chrysalis and later emerges! Release it outside.

Some other fun things to do:

Put up a birdfeeder or a bird bath.

Make a toad house. For instructions, get a copy of “Toad Cottages and Shooting Stars” by Sharon Lovejoy.

Do a scavenger hunt to see how many animals or different types of bugs you can find.

Go on a sound scavenger hunt. Record as many different bird calls as you can from your backyard.

Take pictures and identify what you find.

Start a Wildlife Journal. Draw pictures of the species in your yard, or take photos. Observe their habitat and behaviors and make notes.

Make a bug hotel, or put up a set of nesting tubes for bees.

Mini Theme: True Medical Mysteries

I really enjoy books where a medical case is presented, and then the doctor has to try to figure out what in the world is going on with that patient. The hope is, of course, that they do figure it out in time to save the patient. True stories--just to be clear.

If this type of book sounds interested to you, read on! I have a handful to get you started.

Every Patient Tells a Story: Medical Mysteries and the Art of Diagnosis, by Lisa Sanders

4 stars: Problems and perils of diagnosing patients, with interesting case studies to back up her points.

As the title would suggest, this book is from the POV of the doctor. Sanders says in the introduction that she hoped to put readers right there at the bedside, with the clues (symptoms) presented and the knowledge or lack thereof that the doctor has to go on in order to find the correct diagnosis. As such, it is broken into sections based on the parts of a physical exam: the patient's history, the actual physical exam, technology/testing, and what she calls "Limits of the Medical Mind." Each section has chapters within it delving into more detail about the various aspects of that method of diagnosing patients, along with case studies of real patients.

* * * * *

I found this one fascinating. Then again, I also like to read my husband's medical journals when they come in the mail. There are so many variables standing between the sick patient and the saving treatment, including: the way they tell their story to the doctor (do they leave out crucial details or tell so much that the important stuff gets lost), what symptoms are presenting at the time of the exam, what the tests show or don't show, and so on.

I was reminded again of the importance of networking amongst doctors. Many of these difficult cases were solved by the doctor/s calling up a friend who was a specialist in that field, or even just another doctor with a lot of experience, and running the case by them to get some feedback. Often it was the collective memory of knowledge that came to the right conclusion, more so than one particular doctor.

(3/12/18)

If you liked this one, I've got 2 more for you!

The Medical Detectives, below, is more about epidemiologists figuring out what has caused clusters of severe illness, rather than individual cases, but still fascinating.

The Medical Detectives, by Berton Roueche

3 stars: Stories you'll want to tell someone else about! (Though maybe not over dinner...)

A compilation of 25 different unusual medical cases. A handful are presented as the doctor trying to figure out what could be causing certain symptoms, but with most, the disease is known and it's up to epidemiologists to track down the specific cause along with who else might be affected--or infected, as the case may be. 

Somewhat uneven writing between chapters, with some very slow and tedious to get through (particularly the chapter about aspirin) and others high interest to the end. Since they span decades, I suppose it was to be expected. 

I ended up retelling many of the stories to my kids. They clamored for more! In fact, my 8-year-old picked it up to read on his own, but got bogged down a chapter or two in. I guess you can tell there's a strong medical influence in our home! 

Also, wash new clothes before you wear them. Just...do it. Please. Thank you.

(01/06/17)

It has been almost 10 years since I read this one, so I can't tell you what angle it takes. I do remember that I liked it--perhaps this was the catalyst to my seeking out these others!

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales, by Oliver Sacks

4 stars: Fascinating.

I had to keep discussing the case studies with my husband just to be able to tell someone. I would recommend skipping all the introductions (there's one for each section), unless you're very interested in the author's research and networking with other doctors.

**My reviews were much shorter back in the day! :)

What have you read that would fit in with this Mini Theme? I'm always up for another!

Plant Files: Moluccella Laevis (Bells of Ireland)

It's time to spotlight another favorite plant!

This is only the 2nd year I've grown this one, but it's a winner.

Scientific Name: Moluccella laevis (it took me 3 tries to spell it!)

Common Names: Bells of Ireland, shell flower

I have taken to just calling it Bells...because I'm cool like that.

June 29, 2019

Cold Hardiness: Annual, but it reseeds!

Sprinkle it on the ground in the fall, or let the ripe seedpods fall to the ground and by early spring you'll have baby Bells! 

It can grow to be 18" wide and 2-3' tall under good conditions.

The plants can handle poor soil and drought.

They take full sun, but don't mind part shade, especially morning shade.

Wildlife: Bees love it! 

Floral Design: This is why I grew it in the first place.

It's super useful in floral design. It can be used as filler, as a spike or line element, or even in a stand-alone arrangement. The bright green color blends with anything.

It has amazing vase life, lasting 3-4 weeks.

The scent is interesting. It's sort of a mix between green apple and mint. At least, that's what I smell. Some people say it's straight-up cat pee. In any case, it's a light scent that won't overpower other flowers in the arrangement.

I also love it because you can cut it at just about any stage. If you cut the main shoot out of the middle, the side shoots will continue to develop; so each plant provides several useful stems.

It dries to a beautiful ivory color--though the bells become quite fragile at that point.

A note of caution: Each set of bells has a matching set of spines directly underneath it.

This time of year--earlier in the season--they are soft.

By the end of the summer, they stiffen up and can give break off under your skin. At the very least, they give a painful poke. Last summer I had a couple that hurt for weeks. No joke.

So come August, I'll be wearing gloves to harvest and prep these beauties. 

Just Bells.

A Few Notes About Event Work

So, I got a taste of event work this past week, when my brother asked me to make some centerpieces for an Open House they were putting on. I was happy to do it for them. They needed 9, on the small side, and they were fine with me choosing what to put in them. The ones they had been looking at from Costco had 15 stems per arrangement, so I told them I would do that.

I learned a few things that I don’t want to forget!

Centerpieces in progress.

1. Buy matching containers!

I enjoy finding unique and interesting containers at the thrift store, but for event work, it is helpful to have several that match, or at least coordinate. I ended up using pint jars for this one, which was fine with them, but on my next thrift store run I need to peruse the glassware aisles in search of at least a dozen vessels that go well together. I will also search more for some to coordinate with what I have already. For example, I have 3 beautiful small crystal pitchers, which would have been fun to use, but there were only 3.

2. Grow more fillers and foliage.

I have yet to successfully grow an abundance of these, despite my attempts the past 2 years. I will keep working on it! It would feel like such a luxury to be able to go out and cut as much as I needed or wanted. You generally need a lot more fillers than focal flowers, too, so maybe it would save me some money.

For this job I used water sprout suckers from the base of my fruit trees and from the ornamental plum out front as my leafy filler. It worked okay, but I had to cut a lot to get enough useable stems. Many of the leaves had bug holes or other undesirable problems.

I have to say, though, my Bells of Ireland patch really came through for me this time! I cut a whole bucket full of Bells and it hardly even made a dent in the patch. For the win! There was enough for 4 stems per arrangement, plus extras for my other 2 regular business subscription bouquets, and even one for myself. They were perfect for filling out amongst the leaves and adding another element of interest, while blending in to my color scheme.

3. Use a flower recipe

I had this one on my “to-do” list, but didn’t ever sit down and write one out. It’s helpful to at least have an idea in mind for cutting or ordering the flowers, as well as for the designing. Less fiddling around with each one. The roses weren’t all the same color, nor were the buttons, so there was some variation within that, but they all looked like they belonged together.

Here’s what I ending up using:

4 stems leafy greens

4 stems Bells

4 stems bachelor’s buttons

1 stem blue allium

2 stems roses

2-3 stems pincushion flowers

4. A cooler would be very helpful.

With larger orders, it would be nice to have more leeway with how far in advance I could make them and still have them last. I cut flowers Thursday morning, conditioned them all day, and arranged them that night for delivery Friday morning. It worked, but yeah. A cooler would make a big difference.

 

5. Figure out a reliable way to transport finished arrangements.

This time I had a couple of small boxes on hand and plenty of packing paper, so I made it work, and got them all securely packed for the car. (We each drove about 40 minutes to meet halfway for the delivery.) I struggle with this one on a weekly basis, though, despite having crates in a couple of sizes. Need to work on this one some more so that it’s not a time drain or such a hassle every time! Also, figure out something to use when I don’t expect to get the containers back. The boxes were good for that, but I don’t always have boxes on hand.

All packed up and ready to deliver!

I’m glad I got to do this for my brother and sister-in-law. They are wonderful and I was happy to be able to do something for them. It was fun to see what I could come up with. I was extra glad I had enough flowers to cut from my own farm and yard that I didn’t have to purchase any to supplement. I felt good about that!

Always more to learn, but I know what direction I should be headed in—I think! 

Carnegie's Maid, by Marie Benedict

This would be a good one for book club!

Carnegie's Maid, by Marie Benedict

3.5 stars: Upstairs, downstairs, and a bunch of secrets to hide.

Clara Kelley is the oldest daughter in a family of tenant farmers in Ireland. Though they had big enough acreage to survive the Potato Famine, their family lands are slowly getting chipped away by the landholder, who disagrees with her father's political views. So she is sent off to America to earn money to send back to them.

As she finally gets off the boat and is beginning to make plans to find a second cousin, she hears a man calling her name. She ignores him at first--it is a fairly common name, after all--but after some time passes and no-one has responded to his calls, she decides that this could be a Chance. He is obviously wealthy (she is obviously not), but the other Clara must have not made it through the voyage if she hasn't answered yet.

So Clara takes on a new identity, with the same name. She is now from Dublin, Protestant (NOT Catholic), and slated to be a lady's maid to a Mrs. Carnegie. She manages to bluff her way into the position using her wits, brash courage, and determination. Then she has to figure out how to make herself indispensable and keep her secrets buried deep.

Meeting the older son of her lady, a Mr. Andrew Carnegie, may be the undoing of everything--if she lets her guard down.


* * * * *
This one was touted as great for fans of Downtown Abbey. Actually, I have never seen that, but I did still like this book. Clara was a survivor and as such, she did what she felt she had to in order to provide for herself and her family back home. That included taking this other girl's identity and running with it. She would never have succeeded (where many other, better qualified girls had failed) if it hadn't been for her quick mind and ability to figure out what her employer needed.

Was it right for her to do that? No, probably not. I could see where she was coming from, though. I think this would be a great one for a book club discussion, so you could really get into the ethics of it. Her family probably would not have survived without the money she made from this job and sent to them. Living a lie vs. saving her family....read it and tell me what you think!

The romantic side of it was interesting. Probably realistic in most respects. I appreciated that she kept it clean. The portrayal of Carnegie himself made me want to find a nonfiction biography to dive into for another perspective. He is always courteous and a gentleman to Clara, but it does show some of the uglier sides of his personality in his business dealings. Which was the true man?

Anyway, I liked it.


Content: Clean, despite an insinuation in the beginning that had me wondering.

(06/18/19)

On Aging Well

It seems there are 2 different school of thought on aging--go gracefully or fight it. 

Is that right? Is there another option?

Maybe let it overtake you when your back is turned? Ha!

In any case, I feel like I'm going to be one who tries to grow old gracefully.

NOT that I'm old, mind you.

I'm only 40, sheesh!

(My kids think I'm old.)

I just saw an ad the other day for a product supposedly proven to remove laugh lines.

Why would you want to?! 

Why would you erase the physical evidence of smiles and laughing, even if you could?

Would you truly rather present yourself as a blank slate? 

If you are the "fight it" person, tell me your point of view! I think I must be missing something.

In any case, flowers seem to have 2 categories as well: those that just drop, brown, and fizzle, and those that fade beautifully--or at least retain interest after flowering with pretty seedpods, interesting branches or bark, or beautiful foliage. 

Let me show you! (Flowers, not people.)

This first group is flowers that retain their beauty as they fade--many of them even changing colors!

#1: Lily-flowering Tulip 'Mariette'

Start off bright lipstick pink (above) and fade to a lovely white and pale pink (below.)

#2: Peony 'Coral Charm'

This one amazed me this spring, because I didn't expect it!

Beautiful coral pink to begin with (above), fading to this lemon yellow gem below!

#3: Peony 'Do Tell'

Striking pale pink with deeper pink stamens in the middle (above), fading to white with whisper pink stamens--almost looking like a daffodil by the end (below). Love it!

#4: Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

Start off a rusty orange-red (above), then over time fade to a beautiful dusty pink (below).

There are other examples, but I'll stop there for now. 

For the next round, I'll just show you a couple--flowers that have wonderful seed pods.

#1: Grape hyacinths

Here they are in flower, and the pale green item in the arrangement below is the stem with seed pods on it. I love it!

#2: Poppies

These Shirley poppies are gorgeous, but only last a day or two, even when left on the plant.

However, their whimsical little seed pods will make great additions to bouquets.

Here are some poppy seed pods dried--I like that look as well.

For fresh cut flower arrangements, though, I prefer the green ones.

Since I struggled a bit getting my poppies to grow from seed this year, my plan is to let them blossom, produce their seed pods, and reseed themselves. I may help out a bit, to get as many as possible in the same row where I planted them! 

I will probably not be able to resist cutting a few of the seedpods, however.

* * * * *

What flowers do you know of that age well? 

Looking Back at June

 Here we are at the end of June. June has been a great month with my family. We’ve taken a couple of short trips (just got back from one this afternoon, in fact), the kids participated in a really fun Track Camp put on by the High School track team, we’ve seen lots of cousins and both sets of grandparents. One the business end of things? I have been maintaining this month.

May was a fantastic month for flowers: Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, graduations, teacher appreciation—I mean, pick an event and I probably made at least one arrangement for it. Plus there were the veggie starts I sold and my regular business subscriptions. It was awesome!

Then along came June. Full stop. Kids out of school. Father’s Day, but most women don’t really buy flowers for their husbands for Father’s Day, veggie start sales done (thanks to a very late frost), maybe 1 or 2 of my “regulars” who needed a small arrangement for something or other, but that’s about it. Oh, plus my business subscriptions.

The cool start to summer has meant a slow start for my seed-grown flowers, so not much has been happening on that front either. I have found myself cutting from my perennial flowerbeds out front more so than from my field-grown flowers, which is not ideal.

I have been feeling a bit discouraged about the downturn. That late frost, in particular, really took the wind out of my sails a bit. Not only did it kill off all my tomatoes and peppers that I had left to sell, but it stunted my warm weather annuals that were up and doing well until that point. I am striving to take these failures and learn from them, but it was still quite discouraging.

We hiked through a burned area yesterday. There were wildflowers everywhere, but what really stood out to me were these beautiful pure white aspen trees, that had the outer layer of bark burned off.

I am finding that this business has a lot of highs and lows, and what I have experienced is a peak immediately followed by a valley. That’s all. No more, no less. I haven’t had the time to do as much marketing as I would like this month—I’m sure that has been part of the problem.

Overall, though, things are still going very well. Despite the slow month, I am still on track to double my earnings from last year. That sounds impressive, except I didn’t make a whole lot last year. :) More importantly, though, I feel like my business is mostly paying its own way this year. I have supplemented some from the family budget, but nothing like last year. I am still purchasing flowers as needed, but I do feel like I’m getting closer to my goal of not doing that either.

I also have some things to look forward to in July: a shop in town is setting up a monthly Famer’s Market, which I plan to participate in; I just got an order for 9 mini centerpieces for a wedding open house in July; and my favorite business client confirmed that she’s back from vacation and ready for more flowers this coming month. So, things are progressing.

Poppy—not really sure which variety, as I ended up mixing them all during reseeding efforts. My poppy plan this year is to let them bloom and reseed themselves all along this same row.

It really was a great month with my kids, and that’s the most important thing. In the meantime, the roses, poppies, and lilies have started blooming and they are gorgeous!

What do you do to move forward through discouragement?