Tuesday, August 21, 2012
The oppossum is a nocturnal pest.
We hardly ever see oppossums -- commonly called possums -- unless we're out at night. Then you can see them trying to cross the road. Sometimes they're successful. Sometimes they're not. And sometimes we just hear them rumbling around the garbage cans while we're trying to sleep. In trying to find out what makes these critters tick, pretty much all we found out is that even though the species is physiologically unique in our area, oppossums are really no more than common pests. They have no redeeming social value. Indeed, according to pestworldforkids.org they are the only marsupial native to North America. It follows logically that they are closely related to kangaroos and koalas. All females can carry their babies around in the tummy-…
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
October 2011 snowstorm packed a wallop and it remains to be seen whether our wisteria will return to its former glory.
“Ignorance may be bliss” as the old saying goes, but sometimes “controlled ignorance is prudent.” Such is the case with the now beloved wisteria growing next to our front porch. When we first moved into our home, we had no idea what the twisted viney monstrosity was and my husband was quite tempted to chop down the grizzly and disfigured old girl. Instead, we adopted a wait-and-see philosophy with the wisteria, as we did with most of the foliage on the property. In that first year, as things bloomed, we would say “oh, that’s Echinacea” or “look those are gladiolas.” Not so with the wisteria. About the only thing it did in the first year or so that we lived in our house was produce long brown pods that kind of resembled flattened vanilla …
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
You’ve probably heard of peppermint and spearmint. But there are more than 20 other varieties out there too.
It’s in toothpaste. It’s in candy canes. It’s in mojitos. In whatever form it crosses your path, it’s hard to miss the distinctive taste and aroma of this well-known herb. It grows well in flowerpots, provided it gets enough water. It grows like a weed in a sunny, well-watered yard and if left unchecked will pretty much take over everything. We have spearmint and peppermint growing in our yard and we dry it all summer long. We regularly tie in it bunches from our clothesline, and then fill spice jars with it for cooking and making teas. All of this made me pretty proud of myself and my knowledge of the world of mint, until a recent stroll through our yard with a neighbor put me in my place. As he was passing the corner of the flowerbed in …
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Jewelweed often grows near poison ivy and it can provide great relief to the itch caused by those leaves of three.
Every cloud has a silver lining as the old saying goes. And, there is actually a silver lining that could be growing close to the poison ivy that grows so well in our neck of the woods -- a neat and kind of pretty plant known as jewelweed, believed to be a natural cure for poison ivy, poison oak, okra spines, stinging nettle, and other irritating plants. Have you ever used jewelweed to ease poison ivy? Have another poison ivy cure? Tell us in the comments. Probably one of the easiest ways to recognize jewelweed is based on its distinctive flower, which tends to be orange and trumpet-shaped. The unique shape of the flower attracts butterflies and hummingbirds, which is another benefit of jewelweed, as far as I am concerned. Jewelweed isn’t …
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Whatever you do, just don't feed your Venus Flytrap ground beef.
I feel like a high school kid that got taken to task by her teacher for failing to complete an English essay on Wuthering Heights (yes, the memory does still sting a little), but nonetheless, I need to make a confession here: I didn’t manage to come up with a local plant, animal or insect to feature in this week’s Nature Nook. However, as I started to stress about this apparent planning snafu, my eyes wandered to my kitchen windowsill where I spotted one of the newest additions to our family’s fauna, our sons’ Venus Flytrap. We purchased the Venus Flytrap on a recent trip to a local greenhouse amid a “he said, she said” banter between my husband and me about our respective college dormitory Venus Flytraps and the things we supposedly …
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Yes, Virginia, that purple plant really is called a Wandering Jew.
For the past several summers, at least one person has arrived at my home and commented on the beautiful deep purple plant in the flower pot on the railing of our back deck. The flower pot has changed as the plant has grown. We bring it in in the winter and nurture it on the kitchen window sill. But, the plant getting the compliments is the same one -- just another year older. Then comes the inevitable question…what kind of plant is that? What is it called? It’s a question I avoid. I typically answer that it came from a clipping from a friend of mine, which is true, and try to leave it at that. The reason for trying not to voice the name of this “Plant-that-shall-not-be-named” isn’t that my friend didn’t tell me what it’s called. She did. I…
Janet Persing
5:51 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Perhaps the headline should read "Pesky," instead of "Pesty." more ›