I remember an Ecology class field trip in college to a local nature park in which I saw my first non-Venus fly trap carnivorous plant. I had been floored – didn’t carnivorous plants only grow in exotic locations?
- Drosera tokaiensis – the sundew. My first local carnivorous plant was a Drosera brevifolia, which looks similar. Jan Wieneke picture.
Ever since that trip I had been intrigued by carnivorous plants, especially those that did not require special lighting and terrariums. I learned that many carnivorous plants, even the odd Venus fly trap, were natives to the US.
Cobra and Trumpet Plants, many are US Natives. Taken at Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco.
Assortment of Carnivorous Plants. Taken at Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco.
Over the years I have enjoyed growing many different varieties of both native and exotic, but my favorite over the years has been those of the genus Nepenthes.
Nepenthes at Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco.
Peristome close-up on Nepenthes.
Nepenthes are vine-forming tropical plants with vase-like pitchers that form at the end of leaves. They are native to the greatly biodiverse Old World Tropics, and exist in areas of high humidity. The genus is broken into highland and lowland species, with plants above 1000 meters receiving cool humid nights and plants at lower elevations enjoying warmer nights.
Pretty!
The vase-like pitcher holds rain water and lures insects, amphibians, and sometimes even small rodents to their watery death. The pitchers have slick walls that are difficult for prey to escape once inside. The ribbed lid, called a peristome, helps attract prey by its colorful appearance, but provides unstable ground to direct victims inside. Many species also have a lid, which prevents rainwater dilution of the plants fluid and may contain nectar to further attract prey.
Pitcher Morphology. Created by Mgiganteus1 for Wikipedia.
I currently am growing a hybrid lowland Nepenthes ‘Miranda’(N. maxima × N. northiana) × N. maxima). She (I guess I should say he since, like bromeliads Nepenthes are either male or female – but mostly male) she lives in a hanging basket on my patio under a shade cloth pergola (dappled light) during the summer. In my zone 8b (almost 9) garden we have high humidity, which Miranda likes. The maroon speckled pitchers produced are relatively large, and range from about 8 inches to the length of my forearm. I overwinter Miranda in my bathroom, and provide supplemental light.
My Nepenthes 'Miranda' pitcher.
Full shot of my Nepenthes 'Miranda' pitcher
Pitcher just starting to form. Nepenthes ‘Miranda’
For more information:
Sarracenia Northwest – Carnivorous Plant Vender
Great FAQ Site for Carnivorous Plants
The Savage Garden – Nice Carnivorous Plant Book
One of my favorite annuals is the zinnia. In my central Texas garden the zinnia seems to be a super butterfly magnet.
Zinnias and Butterfly at Hensel Park Garden
Zinnias have humble beginnings as a native plant in the southern US and Mexico. The story goes that the Spanish explorers in Mexico named the native zinnias “mal de ojos” which translates to “sickness of the eye”. In the 18th century they received their name, for the German botanist Dr. Johann Gottfried Zinn who wrote the first scientific account of the flower. Members of the daisy family, zinnias began to take their more familiar form and multitude of colors in the late 1800s, and gained significant popularity in 1920 with the introduction of the Bodger Seeds Ltd. Dahlia shaped ‘Giant Dahlia’.
Today zinnias come in a wide range of colors (white, pink, orange, yellow, green, red, and purple), sizes (dwarf to giant varieties), and flower forms (single, semi-double, or double). They are available in both seed and transplants, although I have had better heat tolerance in Texas with plants grown from seed. Zinnias reseed readily and are fast growers.
Zinnia in the Rain - Zinnia elegans 'Purple Prince'
Dwarf Yellow Zinnia
Zinnia elegans
Plant facts: Zinna elegans
Type: Annual
Blooming: Summer and Fall
Colors: all but blue
Light requirements: full sun to partial shade
Height: 5 – 40”
Spacing: 9-12”
Hardiness: all zones
Water: regular, do not overwater
Foliage: Soft/Fuzzy Textured
Common problems: mildew
Other: attractive to butterflies
cutting flowers, reseeds readily
Close-up pink Zinnia elegans
We have gone 43 days without measurable rain in College Station. As the temperature continues to increase past historical highs in the Brazos Valley, I begin to think more of water saving techniques and ways to stretch my water budget. Over the years I have planted more Texas and Mexican native plants, which are better suited to my central Texas rainfall and temperature patterns. Even though these plants are more appropriate for my area they still require supplemental watering during the dry spells.
One way to reduce water bills is to capture rainfall runoff during storms. Runoff is defined as the water that does not infiltrate in the soil during a rain event. Although rural areas do experience some runoff due to antecedent soil moisture conditions (how much water the soil is already holding) and soil texture properties (water infiltrates through clay much more slowly than sand), urban watersheds generate much more runoff due to the increase in imperious surfaces such as roads, pavement, and buildings.
It is amazing how large a volume of water is generated from a relatively small runoff area. A 100 square foot roof area experiencing 1 inch of rain generates approximately 62 gallons of runoff. A modest size home with a roof area of 1500 square feet will generate 935 gallons! Urbanized runoff increases both soil erosion and the velocity of the water within our creeks and rivers. Capturing the water and slowly releasing it back to the system through landscape irrigation reduces these problems, but does not capture a large enough volume to reduce drinking water supplies.
In 2007 as a birthday present my husband installed a re-purposed oak whiskey barrel to capture runoff from a section of our roof. This barrel is used mostly for my potted plants on the patio.
Whiskey Oak Rain Barrel
Another view - Whiskey Oak Rain Barrel
Close up of hardware - Rain barrel elevated slightly (I have now elevated the barrel on cinder blocks)
View of Rain Water Diverter on Downspout
This following fall we plan on modifying two large oak wine barrels (purchased for $60/piece at our local Messina Hof vineyard for use as drip irrigation for a new vegetable garden.
Although most uses of rainwater harvesting in my area are small scale (less than 300 gallons) I am increasingly seeing commercial and large scale home uses. My husband and I plan to build our next house with a roof-wide capturing system, and use the water for toilet flushing and larger scale irrigation.
Rainwater Harvesting at College Station Utilities Building (8500 gallons). J. Nations pictures.
On a side note – I’m glad in Texas we are allowed to capture our rainfall. Rainwater harvesting in Colorado is currently illegal, but the laws there may soon be undergoing some changes.
Some helpful links:
After neglecting my vegetable garden for a year I revitalized the area using lasagna gardening methods. It is a bit late in the season for summer vegetables (going to be 104 F this week in my area), but I’m going to try a few things before fall vegetable gardening starts.
A couple of weekends ago cleaned the sludge out of the koi pond and placed it on top of the weedy vegetable garden. I added a layer of peat moss and covered it with heavy plastic tarps.
Vegetable Garden, tarped and ready for Lasagna
After a week of stewing, I was pleasantly surprised that most of the weeds were dead. The remainders got weed-wacked.
Peat moss and koi pond dredge over weeds
A thick layer of cardboard and newpaper went down next.
cardboard and newspaper layer
My husband provided me with their accounting department’s bagged shreddings that were destined for the trash. That layer went down next.
Office paper shreadings
I then brought in bags of composted cow manure, composted humus, and a garden bed mix spread. I plan to do an organic vegetable garden, so the garden mix was only different textures of soil (sand, bark, etc) without any added fertilizers. Once I mixed and spread the soil I began to lay down soaker hose. My dachshund, Chloe, is my constant gardening companion loved the fresh dirt.
Chloe loves fresh dirt! Composted cow manure, composted humus, and garden bed mix spread
soaker hose placed on top of soil mix
I planted directly into the top layer of soil: fresh herbs (bee balm, bell pepper flavored basil, and globe basil), 2 types of peppers (green bell, hot yellow gold), dent corn, lemon cucumber, climbing spinach, assorted salad greens, fenugreek, okra, zucchini, and some winter squash. Pie pumpkin seeds will be added this weekend.
freshly planted: hot peppers, okra, bell peppers, herbs, zucchini
Although many of these vegetables aren’t for mid-summer crops in central Texas, I’m anxious to see what may still grow before it is time to plant the fall vegetables starting in late July/Early August. The bed is in partial shade, so some of crops may survive the near record heat and drought (27 days without measurable rain – and counting). The bed was finished off with about 3-4″ of shreaded cypress mulch.
Mulched - Done!
After a full evening of gardening my feet were a little ragged.
I'm a gardening hobbit
It seems gardening in the summer is my second full time job. I have so many things I would like to accomplish with our yarden (yard/garden), but as the primary manual laborer there just aren’t enough hours in the day. I am constantly looking for ways to reduce my hours of laboring, and maximize my enjoyment of gardening.
In my area of Texas we have dense clay soils that turn into an impenetrable brick layer once our summer dry spell begins in early June. Raised garden beds with thick organic matter seem to be the best solution for drainage, but installing them the traditional way (removing the sod/weeds, tilling or double digging) takes tons of time and effort. One of my favorite gardening time (and back) savers is lasagna gardening. Lasagna gardening involves piling layers of organic material over a thick base layer of cardboard or newspaper without having to remove or disturb the underlying sod or weeds. This layering, like a pan of lasagna, leaves a ready to plant raised bed with soil that will only improve as the components further break down.
About two years ago I tried my first lasagna garden. I had an approximately 30 foot by 10 foot area of sod that I wanted to turn into an organic butterfly garden. I first laid out the area to get the general shape, and then placed a thick layer of cardboard down to kill the grass. The following layers consisted of newpaper, peat moss, partially decomposed matter from the compost bins, leaves, and manure.
Laying out the garden shape, right half of garden
Putting the cardboard layer down, left side of garden
Once I placed all the layers I planted. My selection of plants included mostly Texas natives, particularly those that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Maintenance on this garden has been minimal with an approximately 4″ layer of hardwood mulch added every fall and spring. Compared to my beds constructed by conventional methods, this garden seems to get fewer weeds and continues to have excellent soil and drainage.
Left side of Butterfly garden, once planted.
Completed Butterfly Garden, freshly mulched.
Butterfly Garden, Approximately 2 Years After Installation
After neglecting my vegetable garden for a year I’m going to revitalize the area using lasagna gardening methods. Last weekend we cleaned the sludge out of the koi pond and placed it on top of the now weedy vegetable garden. I added a layer of peat moss and covered it with heavy plastic tarps. This weekend I will add a layer of cardboard, paper shredding from our office, material from the compost bins, and a final layer of manure.
Vegetable Garden, tarped and ready for Lasagna
Hopefully the vegetable garden will be reinstated in time for pumpkins and winter squash!
