It’s January now, the
month that embraces winter in all of its glory and misery… giving us beauty,
hand in hand, with frostbite, that mischievous Jack Frost. Now I know Santa just fakes it when reading his letters, as I was forced to order my own rust-colored cast stone pig for
the garden when Santa missed our house for the umpteenth time.
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Bleak is a common expression of cold winters
without snow, when the evergreens and naked ones stand guard as seeds and
spores left from the previous summer and fall wait patiently hidden in the
rough textures of soil until warmth beckons germination.
It’s also the time when nature’s hardy flora somewhat
hibernates through these dismal winter months, their roots growing when the ground
is thawed and resting when the ground is frozen until warmth signals leafing
out time.
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Winter has a beauty of its own when the skeletons
of tree and shrub limbs show us all their glorious curves and twists against
the horizon. Bronzed flower stems with empty
seed heads decorate the melancholy emptiness while browned grasses lay as
blankets across the landscape as others stand erect defying the wind.
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Swamp Sunflower
When I look at my garden, I often tell you I don’t always see the specialness in it. Most things lay wasted in winter, but there is a mystery in the front garden where the oak leaves never fall… a little plant that sprouts in the areas that are considered sunny in summer, carpeting the ground in green like a groundcover of a million tiny plants, no matter how cold it gets. It dies out by summer, and I guess, it will always be a lovely mystery to me.
My backyard has greens popping up everywhere
that stay short during the winter. I
guess, one might harshly call all those little sprouts weeds, but I’d rather just
welcome them as groundcover that gives the garden some life.
Bottom of photo: Smilax bona-nox, the Saw Greenbrier, a vine,
can be controlled with herbicides but has been known to adapt
to the effects of them. It has also been known to not be affected at all.
Some herbicides have been known to also help it grow
instead of causing it to die.
Each leaf has a row of prickles around it
and while all parts are edible whether raw or cooked,
it can be very difficult to live with in the garden.
Middle: Narcissus
Top: Bottlebrush Grass, Elymus hystrix
Evergreen in winter, blooming in late spring.
Saw Greenbrier
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Winter groundcover with no identification.
First year plants of the biennial Brown Eyed Susan, Rudbeckia triloba.
It moved into the garden on its own, and reproduces adbuntantly each year.
Can be transplanted easily.
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I’ve seen sporadic traces of compressed pellets
of seed husks that the opossum has spit out after chewing the sunflower chips we
leave for it, so these deep freezes haven’t killed it. It has a warm place somewhere to bed
down.
Last night when the dog was to be taken out in
the dark for a short walk after Vic arrived home from work, Dustin began
frantically barking as the door was opened.
Vic took Dustin around to the side door while I tried to remain frozen
at the storm door taking photos of a fat fluffy opossum feeding on a pile of
sunflower hearts.
It moved behind the planter when Vic and Dustin
walked down the driveway, then cautiously moved back out to the seeds when they
crossed the street to our neighbors’ yard.
I was taking photos with a cell phone through the glass at night, so the
photos are what they are.
A pleasant surprise for me and a comfort
knowing it’s still alive. Isn’t it a bit
crazy how easily we get attached to these marvelous creatures? I never see these critters enough times to
tell them apart, so I’m not 100% sure this isn’t a new one. So be it.
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Virginia Opossum, a marsupial , and a nocturnal omnivore.
Around 60 million years on the earth,
beginning around the time of mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers
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Life span of 2-3 years in nature,
becoming geriatric during the last 6 months of its life.
Its four feet are hands with opposable thumbs on the hind two.
The tail is like a safety belt to keep it safe.
It doesn't sleep hanging upsidedown.
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The female can give birth up to 20 babies, up to 3 times a year.
A female is pregnant only from 11 to 13 days before the birth.
After leaving the birth canal, the babies (Joey's) are the size of a honey bee.
She helps them crawl up her abdomen to the pouch
with the mammary glands, which only have 13 teats.
The first 13 to arrive in the pouch will survive.
The Joeys don't suckle, as milk is supplied constantly to their mouth.
Wildlife Rehilibating Centers tube feed orphaned Joeys.
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The Joeys will stay in the pouch for about 2 1/2 to 3 months,
making her eventually fat in the middle as they grow.
When they venture outside the pouch, they will ride piggyback style,
hanging onto her fur for another month.
(That's a lot of weight on her back.)
After 4 months, from time to time one will fall off and is on its own.
Survival rate from then on is below 50%.
The Opossum's defensive tactics work against it in todays modern world.
Its fainting when stressed defense can get it killed on the highway,
where they are attracted to food waste left by humans.
The food was on the porch as the ground was iced.
Usually I leave food at the bird feeder.
The rest of the year they feed on food the plants in the garden produce,
although some may find that climbing up the shepherds hook
will have a nice surprise for them.
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We are here at the first day of another year of
Earth’s life, and I’m grateful for the complicated existence she has given me even
though she tries to kill me off occasionally… she’s
complicated that way.
May you look at your little patch of earth with
optimism, for it will love you as much as you love it back. May common sense and good luck keep you safe,
and may your feet stay grounded to the earth while your head is in the clouds.
Happy New Year!
Hugs!!!
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