Betty Hall, Author at Betty Hall Photography

A new dogwood tree

I like flowering dogwood trees (Cornus florida). One of my favorite memories is of an Easter Sunday in the Red River Gorge when I coined the phrase “dogwood lace all over the place.”

Previous owners of our home planted two dogwoods in the front yard. We’ve enjoyed the beauty and subtle fragrance of their showy April blossoms, summer foliage and shade, colorful leaves and red berries in autumn, and the branches and checkered bark in winter.

Our trees are 50 years old. Last week we removed one that was dying and replaced it with a young one. Looking toward our backyard you can see the newly planted tree and the older one.

In the wild, dogwoods are seriously threatened by a fungus, dogwood anthracnose. However, according to the Bernheim Arboretum, “the fungus requires high humidity for infection, so trees growing on moist, shady sites are most susceptible… Hearty, well-maintained flowering dogwood trees in sunny areas with good air circulation and proper soil moisture are rarely impacted by anthracnose.” Our location gets plenty of sun so we feel comfortable replanting.

Most of our tree has been cut up for fireplace wood. However, we saved a portion of the trunk for a small outdoor stool. I expect tree experts could extract data from this stump. I’m content to enjoy the beautiful pattern.

In addition to their visual beauty, dogwoods are a host for spring azure butterflies and various moths including the large colorful Polyphemus moth. Birds feed on the caterpillars in summer and quickly devour the red berries in autumn.

I look forward to watching our young tree grow and seeing what visitors it attracts.

Our rain garden

Rain garden? We had not heard of such a thing in 2005 when we decided to re-work the backyard with native plants. We now understand their primary purpose is to get rain water into the ground and keep it out of storm sewers.

Stacy Borden, arborist and photographer, helped us with the backyard, and suggested the slope from the house would work well for a rain garden. As a result, rain from our roof goes underground, comes out under a large rock, and travels down an otherwise dry creek bed to a depression.

We had a day of steady rain last week with a total of about two inches. This is how the rain garden looked most of the day.

Shortly after the rain stopped, the water disappeared. Evidently the roots of the bald cypress tree (Taxodium distichum), swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), and other perennials help the rain soak into the ground about as fast as it collects.

In contrast to the wet, winter image looking up the ‘creek’, this is a view looking down the ‘creek’ on a dry, summer day. Note the bald cypress trunk to the left of the rock cairn. The pink blossoms in the background are swamp milkweed, a host plant for the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus).

I’m glad we listened to Stacy. I like the diversity of plants and animals the rain garden adds. Butterflies enjoy basking on the large rocks, and various ‘critters’ hide under them. And I’m pleased to know we’re keeping water out of the storm sewers.

For more information about rain gardens:

Mystery Crocuses – first sign of spring

These crocuses mysteriously appeared under the red maple a few years ago. I didn’t plant them and I have no idea how they got there. However, I’m pleased to see these first blossoms of the year.

The blossoms are small – about one inch wide and two inches tall. They are not spectacular, but they’re big enough to be seen from the dining room window and they brighten my day.

It was only when I looked closely at the inside of a blossom that I noticed the richness and beauty within.

Crocuses are not native to Kentucky, but they provide an early source of nectar for insects. And I enjoy them as an early sign of spring.

Creeping Phlox

I recently took my small point-and-shoot camera to the backyard, looking for possible signs of spring. I was pleasantly surprised to see that a number of plants have remained green throughout our prolonged winter.

I was especially glad to see the Creeping Phlox (Phlox subulata) looking healthy through patches of snow.

The dense foliage creates a ground cover tough enough I can walk on it. It keeps weeds down and spreads slowly, but is not invasive.

There are already tiny buds and, with a little luck, by the first of April it will become a mass of color as in this image from last spring.

It grows especially well on the rocky, sunny slope that leads to our rain garden and has proven to be drought tolerant.

With its evergreen foliage, colorful spring blossoms, and ease of maintenance, Creeping Phlox is an effective ground cover and one of my favorite native backyard plants.

I was also glad to see my first backyard honey bee (Apis mellifera) on February 16. I know spring isn’t here yet, but I trust it’s on the way. I’d be glad to hear of any signs of spring you’re seeing.

A year of blogging

Last February I committed to doing a backyard blog for one year. I’ve reached that milestone and it seems like a good time for reflection.

I started this blog hoping to tell others about the advantages of landscaping with native plants. It has been very satisfying to share our backyard and to network with others. I like hearing about your backyard discoveries, and knowing other people share my interests is a powerful incentive for me to continue the blog.

An added bonus has been how the blog has helped me to enjoy our backyard even more. Preparing the weekly posts encourages me to watch the backyard more closely. And the challenge of getting appropriate images often leads to new backyard discoveries.

So, here’s to the beginning of the blog’s second year. I look forward to what new discoveries await, and I hope you’ll continue to share the journey with me.

Kentucky sunrise — A February 2010 backyard sunrise