Psanky egg decorating

working on a egg

wax being melted off

an egg revealed

It was a fun workshop!

Great blue heron and azolla in the Meadow Pond

There's a shallow pond in the meadow near my office  -- we've called it unofficially the 'leaky' pond, since it's never held water very well, even though we've tried to seal it a couple of times with bentonite treatments.

In spite of the shallow water (and probably because of it), it's been a good pond for frogs, dragonflies, and birds.

heron and azolla in the Meadow pond

Leaving work the other day, I spotted this Great Blue Heron (perhaps a young individual), 'knee deep' in the azolla or mosquito fern (that's colonized the edges of the pond, and is turning red with cold weather).  Presumably, it's Azolla caroliniana, a native mosquito fern, rather than one of the invasive ones.

It's interesting to consider how it's colonized the pond.

I'm thinking that it may have come in with some of the semi-aquatic plants that were transplanted on the edges of the pond at the end of a research project.  But, that's just a guess.

Click on the photo for a closer look.

Note: this is a duplicate post from my blog, Natural Gardening.

Two wonderful Japanese maples

In the Schoenike Arboretum, there are many great trees, but these Japanese maples are standouts.  They're huge (by garden standards), since they're older than most, and almost always have spectacular fall color.

Fall color

It's been a stand-out couple of years for fall color.

Gingkos near the Butterfly Garden

The droughty conditions in late summer and fall seem to correspond with intense reds, especially if we have just a bit of rain, and a cold spell, followed by clear sunny days.

The dogwoods and maples are at their peak, along with the clear yellows of hickories and gingkos.

The bald cypresses are a wonderful rusty color, starting to drop leaves in an apron of golden brown.

Psanky eggs: a Ukranian tradition

Although I wasn't familiar with it, Psanky egg decorating sounded interesting, so it's our holiday craft offering this December.

Sue Watts, our part-time Garden educator, is teaching the class.  She'll lead a program about how to decorate eggs using lines of wax and and rich-colored dyes on Friday, Dec. 3.  A longer description is on our website.

These were some of her creations. Wow.

Spotting a gray tree frog

An unexpected visitor appeared in our garden office building this afternoon, a gray tree frog (Hyla versicolor).  I'd seen anoles inside before, but not a tree frog. 

But Patrick, my new office colleague and Director of the Garden, spotted it in the stairwell, and we took a look.  Gray tree frogs vary in color, depending on their surroundings, temperature, and humidity;  this one was a solid dried-leaf gray.

I was surprised to see a frog still out and about, maybe seeking warmth?  But, doing a bit of research, I learned that gray tree frogs survive the winter by hibernating 'on land' - under leaf litter, rocks, and logs; their bodies 'freeze' but are protected from damage by high glycerol levels in their tissues.

Fascinating!

CU student vegetable garden (Ecoplex vegetable garden)

Ecoplex vegetable garden (late October)

The students at the Clemson University Ecoplex (a duplex retrofitted with energy-conserving features) were up for trying a vegetable garden this fall.

They weren't experienced, but game, and following soil prep (and support and encouragement by an committed CU Housing staff member (Gary Gaulin), I helped them plant out transplants of lettuces, mustards, and red cabbage as well as sowing seeds of mesclun mix and other greens in late September.

I was delighted to receive this photo late last week (in addition to reports along the way).

The fall vegetables have been flourishing, and the students report that they've been sharing lettuce and greens with neighbors and others.