Update on Dog Allergies

Theo

Earlier this summer I wrote about my dog's allergies, which have tormented him every summer since I first got him.  Because his symptoms generally start up in the late spring and continue until hard frost, I tend to assume that they are allergies to grass.  Allergies to trees usually occur in earlier spring, and weed allergies mostly in the late summer and early fall.

Fresh From the Garden

Stacking planter for strawberries

This morning out in the garden I loaded up my little harvest basket: several cucumbers, tomatoes, and a few strawberries.  There are several peppers that should be ready in few days, and the sweet corn is getting closer to ripe.  One cantaloupe is nearly full size, but still pretty green, two more nearly ripe; and the watermelon vine has two little melons coming along.

Mosquito Season

This has been a especially bad summer for mosquitoes, with all the rain we've had. This evening I was making the rounds of my garden, emptying out things that hold water, where mosquitoes might hatch out.  They only need enough water to fill a bottle cap to raise the next generation.

I have a lot of plant saucers in my yard. If a pot is too heavy to move easily, to get the saucer dumped out, you can use an old kitchen baster to remove the water.  Just remember that mosquitoes only need a quarter inch of water to breed. Dump out and replace water in bird baths and pet dishes two or three times a week. 

Late Summer Fireflies

Last evening when I went outside for the dog's last outing, I saw at least three fireflies circling around the back yard.  I was trying to remember if I usually see them this late in the year. Maybe the wet summer has made it possible for them to hang on longer than usual.  Perhaps it's just that their usual prey, things like other larvae, slugs, and snails, are more abundant. I'd love to hear if other folks have seen them around longer this year as well.

Weed Prevention Time

Today I applied corn gluten to my yard.  Corn gluten serves as a slow release high-nitrogen fertilizer, which is great for feeding your lawn; plus it prevents the germination of seeds, which keeps weeds from getting established.  It doesn't kill anything that's already growing, just stops seedlings from establishing roots.  Don't apply corn gluten to your lawn if you plan to overseed in the next couple of months.

Ornamental Peppers

Black Pearl ornamental pepper

One of the plants I enjoy growing each summer is ornamental peppers. Ornamental peppers grow bright-colored little fruits that may be white, purple, red, orange or yellow, depending on the variety.  I particularly like those that have purple or variegated foliage.

Black Spot on Roses



White roses

One of the less positive effects of the rainy summer we have had here, is the outbreak of black spot. Black spot is one of the most common diseases of roses. Caused by a fungus, it first shows up as black spots on the leaves, then yellowing of the leaf, which finally drops off.  If the disease is allowed to spread, the entire rose bush may become defoliated.

Late Summer Orioles

In mid-April I had begun putting grape jelly out for the orioles. They are one of the more colorful birds that I see around my neighborhood.  I hang the jelly feeder out on my front porch, where I can watch the birds visiting it. The orioles often come two or three at a time, and then squabble about who gets to eat first.  They flutter from tree branch to hanging planter to bird feeder; chasing each other around.  It drives my cat crazy, watching their antics from indoors.

Feeding the Grass

One of my compost tumblers has finished its latest batch of compost, so this evening I used it to feed my front lawn.  I like to use the compost to help feed the grass, and to gradually improve the soil by adding organic matter.  Earthworms are attracted to the compost as food, and will carry bits of it down into their burrows, spreading the compost through the soil.

Salad Time

A friend gave me a big batch of baby spring greens the other day.  Combined with my fresh-picked tomatoes, cucumbers, and sweet peppers, I've been having some wonderful salads all weekend. 

Melon Thieves

Damaged cantaloupe

Over the last couple of weeks, I'd been checking regularly on my cantaloupe vines, as a couple of melons were growing closer to ripening.  This morning I went out to the garden, and found that overnight, something had got hold of the melons and eaten them.

Earthworm Rescue

Today's rescuees exploring their new home

Last night we got another half inch of rain, so I was not surprised to see quite a few earthworms in the water along the curbs when I was walking my dog this morning.

Dragonflies

This evening when I went out to feed my goldfish, a dragonfly was resting on one of the rocks at the edge. It was not, of course, interested in the fish food, but it was the only critter that came to see what was being offered.

Recently, feeding time at my goldfish pond hasn't been very well attended.  I think that we may have been visited by an egret or heron from the river a few blocks away.  In the past, when I would come out to the pond, the fish would come eagerly to the surface, just waiting for me to drop food pellets in.  Now I've only caught quick glimpses of three fish lurking deeper in the water, though there may be others hiding beneath the water lilies.  They aren't eating nearly as much either, so I think that relatively few of the fish are left.

Now Blooming!

Surprise lilies

The surprise lilies hardly bloomed last year, with the drought, so it was great to see them back again this year. 

Core Aerating Your Lawn

Q.  What does a core aerator want to be when it grows up?

Favorite Flowers: Liriope

Liriope in bloom

Allergy Index Scale:  3
Perennial, zones 5-9
Full sun-partial shade, 10-15" tall

My liriope has just started to bloom.  The flowers look a bit like those of grape hyacinths. Later they will become clusters of dark blue-black berries. Liriope, commonly called lilyturf, is a great tough, low-maintenance plant that does well here in semi-shade, though it tolerates quite a range of light and soil conditions. 

Clover Lawn

White clover

Once, most lawns had at least some white clover growing in them. Clover has little nodules on its roots that fix the nitrogen pulled from the air into the soil. This nitrogen then helps feed surrounding plants. Until the 1960s, clover was routinely included in grass seed mixtures to help lawns get established faster. When broad-spectrum herbicides came into common use, this changed.  The ideal became an all-grass lawn, and clover was seen as a weed. 

Feeding Hummingbirds

If you've been wishing you'd started feeding hummingbirds earlier this year, now might be a good time to start.  By this point, they are done with nesting, and are feeding a lot as they get ready for migration. It's an incredibly long flight for these tiny birds, and they need to double their body weight before they begin.  Putting up a hummingbird feeder now might get them started visiting your yard.

Caterpillars on the Parsley

Black swallowtail larvae on parsley

This evening I found eight little caterpillars on one parsley plant that I am growing in a mixed container out on the patio, and fifteen more on another plant out in the veggie garden. They are fascinating-looking little guys, mostly black with white stripes. Even though I hate to lose the parsley, I'm leaving them alone to enjoy their meal. I hope that at least some of them make it to adulthood, as they are the larval stage of a really lovely butterfly, the black swallowtail.

Hair for the Garden

My dog is right in the middle of shedding his coat, and I comb out huge handfuls of fuzz every day.  Then there's the hair from my brush, and of course the cat and two rabbits all shed as well, so we end up with LOTS of hair.  Instead of throwing it all away, I add it to my compost bin.