Celebrating National Pollinator Week: Food For Thought

It's no secret the pollinators are in trouble. Oh sure, you see plenty of butterflies, bees, flies, and other insects out there and even bats (yes, they're pollinators), so really, what's the big deal, right?

Consider this:

One out of every three bites of food we eat relies on pollinators.

Still not convinced?

To carry that point further, some plants require specific pollinators in order to get good production of their fruit. (And I use "fruit" in the general definition of whatever edible the plant produces.) Bees are the most well-known of the pollinators, but other insects and birds are more efficient at pollinating certain plants.

Zucchini, anyone?

If you're one of the people who has asked me, "Does it really matter if the monarchs disappear?" I can wholeheartedly answer, "YES."

My philosophy in general is this:  I believe that every living thing on the earth is here because it has a purpose.

In regard to the monarchs, perhaps we can live without them, but it's more complicated than that. The monarchs are in decline because of several factors, not the least of which is that their habitat is disappearing due to urbanization, and to a greater extent, due to the agricultural use of pesticides* that kill milkweed, the only food their babies eat.

If you think that monarchs are the only pollinator that is being affected by the pesticides, think again. They're just more visible and recognizable than most. They're the poster child for the greater problem we humans are causing in the environment.

It's a complicated issue, for sure, but if nothing else, during this, National Pollinator Week, please give these things some consideration. Think before you use pesticides yourself. You may not only be saving the pollinator's meal, you could be helping to save your own.

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* Pesticide is the general term used by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), the USDA and the EPA, which includes, but is not limited to herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides. Read more here.

In a Vase on Monday: The Tree Peonies

What a wackadoodle spring it's been. First, spring comes early, then winter returns, then it's summer, and now I'm sitting here wrapped up in a blanket in my flannel jammies, wearing my Uggs fringed moccasins to keep warm. I don't know what month it is behaving like, but it is not May.

But it is May. I know, because the peonies are blooming. I've got three types here at Our Little Acre: tree peonies (Paeonia suffruticosa), herbaceous peonies (Paeonia lactiflora), and intersectional (Itoh) peonies, which are a cross between a tree peony and an herbaceous peony. I used to also have a fernleaf peony (Paeonia ternifolia), but it disappeared one year and has never returned. I loved it and if I ever find another one, I'll buy it again.

The tree peonies are always the first to bloom, followed by the herbaceous and then finally, the intersectionals. (The fernleaf peony, when I had it, bloomed before the tree peonies.)

The buds on the tree peonies are bulbous and larger than those of the
herbaceous peonies. Some of my buds were as large as a racquetball.

Herbaceous peonies are known for their beautiful fragrance - traditional rose-like in nature - but tree peonies not so much. Many people think those stink. But it depends! Of all my tree peonies, only a couple of them have stinky smells. The others have a nice fragrance to them including my largest one, this pink variety that I purchased in 2005 at the Cleveland Flower Show.

This was sold to me as Paeonia suffruticosa 'Sahohime', but it lacks
that cultivar's dark red eye zone.

Paeonia suffruticosa 'Kamatanishiki' really is lavender.

I've purchased the 'Shimanishiki' tree peony twice, but both times, the bloom made it obvious that isn't what I got. I'll keep trying. Maybe the third time is a charm? I think I need to buy it when it's in bloom.

I had so many blooms this year that I cut several to bring in the house and put them in this silver bowl. These are from three different tree peonies, but most of them are from the not-Sahohime.

Tree peony blooms always look to me like they're made of crepe paper.

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In a Vase on Monday is hosted by Rambling In the Garden. Go there to see more beautiful cut flowers and plants!

2016 - The Year of the Cherry

Several years ago, I received a couple of cherry trees at a garden writer's event. I can't remember the event, and I don't know which kind of cherry trees they are. I planted them and hoped that one day I would have enough cherries to make a pie, even though I don't do pies. If I got cherries, I'd make a pie for my husband, because he loves pies.

Oh, who am I kidding? We've had apple trees for nearly 40 years and he's the one who makes the apple pies. If we get cherries, he'll be the one to make the cherry pie.

The cherry trees didn't get a very good start. One winter a few years ago, we forgot to cage the small trees and the rabbits chewed them right down to the ground. I really thought they'd chewed up our cherry pie dreams. But the trees recovered quite quickly and nicely, even though they're now more cherry shrubs than trees. It was amazing, really.

Last year, we got a cherry. Three blossoms - woo hoo! - but just one cherry. I netted that thing because there was no way the birds were going to get our very first cherry. But in my anxiousness to taste it, I might have picked it too soon. Too soon for a sweet cherry, maybe not too soon for a sour one. So I still don't know if we have sweet or sour cherry trees.

A couple of weeks ago, I walked to the back of the property and was taken aback by those little cherry shrubs.

Hundreds of blossoms! Cherry pies! PIES! More than one. Maybe two pies!

I was an amazing thing. I just stood there and stared at them. And then I ran to the house and got the camera. So. Many. Blossoms.

It can take up to eight years for a cherry tree to produce a fruit crop of any size. It depends on the variety and the climate and growing conditions. In general, cherry trees that are slower to produce fruit will produce for a longer period of time and live longer.

Time will tell as to how many cherries we'll get. You can be sure the entire trees will be netted. And I'll be more patient in picking them this year. But I wish I knew which kind of cherries they were. If any of my garden writer friends remember getting these and can tell me which kind they are, I'd be happy to know. (Thanks to Linda Nitchman, they are identified as 'Carmine Jewel' bush cherries.)

I'm so excited about the prospect of so many cherries, I think I will make the first pie with them. Unless Romie really wants to. I wouldn't want to deny him that privilege, you know.