Greetings again from Susie’s Gardens. We had some nice rains a few weeks ago and things look pretty good except we are at the end of the season—or close to it. It’s that “quiet time” in the yard. No breeding or courtship songs by the birds. Only an occasional outburst by the Carolina wren as the family group meanders around the yard looking for insects. The cardinals too, utter their metallic “check,” and the goldfinches and house finches their flight and feeding calls. Bands of blue jays visit the willow oak in the neighbor’s yard behind us which confirms that the tree produced nuts this year. Once in awhile the chattering call of the downy woodpecker is heard and soon we’ll have the red-bellied woodpecker adding his call, but generally its very quiet except for the crickets, traffic, and the neighbor’s mowers and weed eaters (my mower doesn’t make any noise!—ha!). Heard a katydid for the first time this evening. Cicadas are tapering off with the beautifully cool temps we’ve been having. Still a little humid but down in the 60s at night.  In our little world the catbird was back for a time, but with the cool wet weather he’s been quiet again. I saw the brown thrasher back by my garden. I think too, that the cool weather and northerly flow moved some of our hummingbirds out. We still have at least two though but they are not as active as they had been. Now and then we have the hawks make a pass through the yard. Recently it was the sharp-shinned. The bunnies still show up each morning and evening and the chipmunks are active, gathering food I surmise. I was sitting on the patio a week ago and one came out of the hosta bed, ran right over the tops of my feet and suddenly stopped behind one of the benches close by and looked at ma as if to say “where did you come from!”  I really don’t think he knew I was there! Earlier I watched one make a dash from flower bed to flower bed heading for my vegetable garden. They’ve been plucking off the little cherry tomatoes. I find the evidence every day where they leave seeds and skins. Susie saw one climbing up and around the crabapple probably taking some for future use.  

     Susie has a few flowers still doing their thing. Some dahlias are blooming, still some cannas, hibiscus, asters, mums, and sedum. Bees, butterflies, and wasps are all over the butterfly bush, zinnias and the sedums. I watched what I think was a bombardier beetle on one sedum hanging on to some kind of wasp or fly—maybe a “cricket killer”—in a struggle for life. I mentioned that the vine growing up the cedar was a vine hydrangea—I meant clematis—a fall clematis. We still haven’t put the arch back in place. We also have morning glories—everywhere, Susie had planted some at her north side arch—the tall morning glories with the heart shaped leaf. My garden is full of the wild or ivy leaved morning glory. Also I mentioned potato vine in my veggie garden—it’s merely hedge bindweed—a type of morning glory (same family). I saw it named as potato vine somewhere. Still don’t know how it got a foothold so fast. 

     That’s one of the problems with plants. There are so many varieties of similar species and they must cross breed at times. I have about 6-7 books on “weeds” plus another 8-10 on wild flowers, which in some cases have “weeds” listed in them. It’s amazing how the information and the photos or illustrations don’t match. They are not all totally accurate or in accord. I have a new weed in my garden and I can’t find it anywhere in the books. Of course “weeds” mean different things to different people. I think it was a poet named Lowell who said “Weeds are just flowers in disguise.” So many of our “weeds” came from Europe, brought by European settlers because they had a medicinal or food use as herbs. We have just lost that knowledge. We have scientists running to the rain forests looking for cancer cures (which ain’t gonna happen) but might be doing something more useful and find out how we can use native plants. But then I guess a trip to the Amazon or Costa Rica is more exciting if you can get someone else to pay for it with a free grant to do it.  

     Despite the fact that blossoms are not as prevalent, there are still some interesting things to see in the yard. I took a closer look at the clematis seed pods for example. They are covered with hair like appendages spiraling out from the seed pods and are quite beautiful on their own, as are many other seed pods and fruits. Oh we finally ate some sweet corn. We keep missing it each year but this year we had some twice. Very good but it’s the white or mixed type, and sweet—but not the bright yellow sweet corn we used to get in Wisconsin. Corn roasts in late-August was a big deal in many little Wisconsin towns as fund raisers. Fresh steamed corn in the shuck, bratwurst, and beer—can’t beat that! 

     I’ve read some gardening column in the paper and heard questions on garden radio shows about people getting all bent out of shape over mushrooms coming up in the yard. “How do I get rid of them,” they ask. Of course they come up with the rain, and come up where there may have been a tree. They feed off of the decaying roots. We have them coming up over all our old tree stumps—even one that was cut down 10 years ago! Some will form a ring around where the stump was—it’s called the fairy ring mushroom. I saw two groups of mushrooms recently; one at the entrance to a Ukrops Grocery store and one on someone’s front lawn. They were shaggy manes (Coprinus comatus)—of the inky cap family. I used to get a few at the Fond du Lac city dump in areas that had been covered with fill and grass was growing. They seem to like buried burned wood areas. They come up bulb shaped but open into a parasol, then melt away in a black, inky goo. Get ‘em when they are fresh they are delicious!  I remember at the house we lived in on Lakeshore Drive along Lake Winnebago outside of Fond du Lac. The landlord cut down a whole string of willows growing along the rocky riprap of the shore. Bunches of little inky caps (Coprinus micaceous) grew in spring. It was during some of our lean years and I would occasionally go out and gather some and fry them up and have them on toast made from Susie’s good homemade whole wheat bread. Puff balls are another good one and of course morels. We used to go to the Steenports in Charlesburg/Chilton area and walk the woods for morels. 

     It's getting late so I’d best go to bed. Have to do my artwork for the two magazines for November and December. Take Care, Be Safe, Hang Tuff, and God Bless. 

© 2006 Spike Knuth All Rights Reserved.

Editor's Note: If you would like to write about your back yard, please feel free to do so. And include photos. JAF