The Watering Can - Last of 2024

The end of summer was hot as expected, but thankfully nowhere near as dry as last year. Hurricane Francine made things interesting and majorly damaged a lot of the trees that were standing dead or dying from the drought of 2023. (Apparently something like 15 of them were also recently cut down.)

The plants did well, especially everything that I was growing in pots this year. I had some Zinnias grow and bloom, and the Partridge Pea seedlings mentioned in the last update ended up flowering a bit too. Overall it was a much happier year for trying to grow things, and growing stuff in pots with water trays led to a much more successful outcome than trying to put anything in the ground, for a lot of reasons.

There were a couple more lawn maintenance disasters that took out some plants that had worked hard to survive these last couple of years, which was disappointing. Eventually, I took out all of my orange flags because it'd become clear that they were only really making me feel better, not actually protecting anything.

The biggest news, though, is that we spent a good bit of that time planning to head to Oregon for the winter and possibly beyond. A good friend thankfully adopted all of my potted plants, and so hopefully they can live on and thrive in good homes for a long time to come. The rest of the plants at the Landry Property are now left to fend for themselves, and I wish them all love and luck in the future.

We left on September 26, and as of now I'm writing from our little winter cabin rental in Oregon.

This will be the last Watering Can update for the Landry Property, so let's see where we're leaving things.

Red Mulberries (Morus rubra)

The Mulberries had a pretty great year, even with some seemingly out-of-season visits from the webworms.

Mulberry 1 went through two webworm cycles eventually, but was hanging in there just fine. It never really filled out like it's cousin #2, but I just think the nutrients in the soil in this part of the yard aren't very good. This is largely a clay slab where the area was filled or raised during the construction of the pond, and I just don't know that that's enough. It probably needs a yearly fertilizer or to get some other plants growing nearby to help the entire area be a little more productive. Being where it is in the yard, though, that will likely not happen.

Mulberry 2 is the most successful planting I did from nursery plants in our time at the Landry Property. It was a real-deal tree by the time we left, and the base of its trunk had almost gotten large enough where I couldn't ring it with the fingers of one hand. Lots of good new growth this year, and it even put out a small second round of fruit after it leafed back out following its webworm invasion. A hearty little tree that I think gets much better nutrients being in a spot where large trees had been living as recently as 2021. I think there's just a lot more nutrients in the soil, not to mention mycelium to help it access those nutrients.

Mulberry 3 was becoming a lovely, bushy little tree there in the driveway circle. It eventually got hit by the deer in late summer as things dried out a bit (and as I slacked with the Liquid Fence), but I think it'll do great in this spot as long as it's allowed to live there. I hope to see it be a lovely little tree filling up this circle one day.

Black Willows (Salix nigra)

Oh, the Black Willows. One of the great joys of all this plant work the last few years. Despite the severe injuries from a weed eater in June, Willow 1 and Willow 2 kept on growing and thriving and recovered better than I could have ever hoped. Of course the willow's renowned healing ability would extend to itself.

Willow 1 accepted the injury, healing over the edges a bit but in general just kept on doing its thing without much issue. It was actually hampered more from a bit by an aphid infestation, but that aphid infestation also led to the ability of the tree to support SO MANY different insect species, coming to feed on the honeydew from the aphids and I'm sure the aphids themselves. It was extremely common for me to find a half-dozen different wasp species on it at the same time. Eventually the aphids dissipated and it shot out a bunch of new growth right away. Once again, I think this tree will do beautifully if it's allowed to.

Willow 2 shot out a bunch of new branches in the area of its injury, I can only imagine to maybe support getting new cells for healing/growing there, but whatever it did absolutely worked. I think this little beauty doubled in height over the next couple of months, despite the injury, and was probably close to six feet tall by the time we left. It had actually gotten so big that when we got a big rain at one point and the pond finally refilled for the first time since last year, the ground got so weight that the newly-heavy tree tipped toward it a bit. It's being supported for now, but it might actually end up giving it the classic Willow-hanging-over-the-bank look if it's able to live on.

I'm just so happy these two survived and kept on doing their thing; it's hard to believe they started as little volunteers near the log pile, less than a foot tall. I can only imagine coming back one day and seeing two big willows there, branches swaying in the wind on the edge of the pond. What a treat that would be.

Little Willow 4 was still doing good its thing in the Old Pond area, though it got covered up by some Mikania scandens that was really thriving this summer. I think it'll be ok there, but if I'm honest there's a good chance it's been mowed over by now.

Common Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)

Pawpaw 2 is still alive, but I don't imagine it will survive another year, unless some major changes happen with the rain. Ultimately, I do think I planted both Pawpaws too deeply, even though I did get those two little fruit last year. I think this was a pretty great site for them, but maybe they should have been a little closer to the treeline to shade them even more.

Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana)

I can pretty much repeat the update from last time! I think this little friend is doing to do just fine in its new home. It did the most important thing you want a new planting to do the first year in the ground: survive. There's been a little new growth, but even better there's been no new dieback since cleaning it up a couple months back.

I still think this will be a really cool place for a bushy little cedar tree, if it gets the chance. It sounds like some of the surrounding trees may have been removed recently, so I'm not sure, but I think it would make a nice contrast to the tall Loblolly Pines nearby.

Red Maples (Acer rubrum)

Pond Maple 1 was doing great this year considering being cut back last year unexpected, and probably grew a lot of new roots in its little spot along the southwestern corner of the Pond. Sadly, it was cut down with the weed eater for unknown reasons, despite having an orange flag right next to it. This was the main reason I decided to go ahead and pull the rest of the orange flags (which you may be noticing from some of the photos).

Pond Maple 2 ended up taller than the flag next to it, after a very slow start to the year. Ultimately, though, it suffered the same fate shortly after the flags were removed.

Growing these maples here (over 10 that were transplanted from my mom's yard in Ponchatoula) was a fun experiment and I'd really hoped to bring in some more nice fall color but it wasn't meant to be, I guess.

Mayhaws (Crataegus aestivalis)

The Mayhaws had a pretty good year, and I think they are set up to do great in 2025. I think they're also in a spot where they're pretty safe, unless there are some pretty major changes of plan.

Mayhaw 1 had a decent year, though there were some interesting little caterpillars that came in and de-leafed it a couple of times. It seemed to be recovering just fine as September rolled along, though.

Mayhaw 2 did really well this year, growing up a lot and hopefully a lot of nice underground growth as well. I think the triple-trunk look could end up being really cool if it gets shaped well these next few years.

Aquatic Milkweed (Asclepias perennis)

Both Aquatic Milkweeds were repeatedly eaten down to the stems by caterpillars, to the point where they got pretty hard to keep track of among the grass and sedges growing around it. I think they'll recover fine if the Old Pond area is allowed to stay long, though it will likely get mowed over.

My main hope is that these were able to put out enough seed last year that they may have spread elsewhere to the ecosystem. Otherwise, I hope they were able to get established enough that maybe they'll get a chance if that area stays wet enough that it can't be mowed consistently. It was definitely the best-performing milkweed that I planted in 2023.

Black Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)

The Oklahoma John Elderberry grew well this year but never did show any signs of making flowers, which was a little surprising. It seems pretty well established and I feel like I've seen smaller elderberry plants at least making a few flowers, but maybe it needs another year or so to get going. I think it's in a spot where it may be protected enough naturally that it would be allowed to grow and possibly put out some fruit someday, and then it'll be off to the races.

The Ranch Elderberry was pretty much all but dead by the end of summer. Most of its main growth from last year had died back, but it was still trying to put out a little growth near its base. I'm not quite sure what went wrong here, other than a cultivar not really meant for this part of Louisiana.

South Meadow

The South Meadow ended up having a pretty nice year! At least one of every plant made it through, and all but a couple species put out at least some blooms. It's hard to know how much this space will survive in the future, or if it will be mowed over sooner or later, but there's a chance some of these things put out enough seed that some could just start popping up around the edges of the yard here and there. Wouldn't that be lovely?

The only thing that really kept going since the last update was the Beeblossom (Gaura), which kept putting out its delicate white flowers up until the time we left town.

The Swamp Milkweed ended up getting pretty big, but never ended up blooming. Not really sure what it might have been unhappy about, considering how well it grew this year.

The Purple Coneflower also never bloomed, but seemed to survive pretty well. The most impressive thing near it was a Sesbania that popped up and grew several feet in a week or two. I love the riverhemps, so I was more than happy to have it join the garden and give us a few more flowers.

Buttonbushes (Cephalanthus occidentalis)

The Buttonbushes had a wonderful year, and are some of the most successful plants I added here. They love it at the pond's edge, and both put out quite a bit of blooms this year.

Buttonbush 1 bloomed a ton, and seems like it will likely make a ton of seed based on how many pollinators it consistently had on it. It didn't grow much for the first part of the year, but it shot up a big new stalk from its tallest point, and I think it will go vertical from there next year, similar to how its cousin did this year. I'm hoping it will spread along this corner of the pond because it obviously loves it here, and the bank of the pond could use some reinforcement from some root growth.

Buttonbush 2 got huge. I almost can't believe it, looking at pictures from the end of last year compared to this fall, but it probably doubled or tripled in total branch volume and didn't really show much sign of slowing down all year. It didn't flower as much as #1, but I have a feeling that will change. This thing could grow into a small tree here if it's allowed to, and I think that would be absolutely beautiful.

Buttonbush ended up being one of my favorite new plants to work with, and I think it would be a welcome addition for anyone in its range who has a natural pond or even sunny wet area or drainage.

Titi (Cyrilla racemiflora)

The Titi was covered in seeds from its successful year of flowering and bringing all the little pollinators to the yard. I'm hoping it will spread around the pond and fill in the edges here and there. I think if it could grow a little closer to the current water line it would do even better, but I think it will hang on here as long as its allowed to.

I'm not sure what to expect from it, growth-wise, with this upright shape. But it has a ton of room to expand however it would like to from here.

Swamp Sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius)

The sunflowers were also taken out by the weed eater. They may be established enough to try again one more year if they get a chance, but it seems unlikely.

Beautyberries and Elderberries

The potted Beautyberries and Elderberries did great. I am pretty proud of that; rescuing the tiny, deer-nibbled elderberry seedlings from the understory near the the creek and seeing them grow to three or four feet tall over the summer was pretty incredible. I knew they were capable of it — I just didn't know if I was. It's good to know now that I have learned a thing or two after all.

All of the potted ones ended up going to my friend who thankfully accepted my many plant donations, so they went to a good home and will hopefully thrive for her, being the local ecotype.

The driveway circle beautyberries did great, put out some berries, and survived the droughty August and September well. The third one that had most died back grew back four or five inches tall or so, and I think all three of them should do well next year if they stay there. Again, I think some or all of the large Loblolly pines in this circle may have been cut down, so I'm not sure of the status of the other plants nearby. Here's hoping they got spared.

Seedlings

The seeds that I planted this year did really well, which is another nice success story from my plant education this year.

The Hibiscus seedling went absolutely crazy, and ended up with a few dozen that I gave away and hopefully they can go on from there. Nearly every seed that I planted in the pots ended up germinating, and the seedlings were all probably close to two feet tall by the time we left in September.

The Zinnia ended up blooming, giving me my first ever flower grown from seed. It was visited very regularly by our local Gulf Fritillary butterflies, which filled my heart with a lot of joy.

A couple of the young Partridge Peas died suddenly on a very hot and dry day, but a couple survived and got big enough to put out a few flowers, which was a nice treat.

We ended up getting several blooms on the Purple Passionflower after putting it on the trellis, until it was absolutely covered and eventually devoured by Gulf Fritillary caterpillars, as it is their beloved host plant. I ended up donating what was left of it and even a caterpillar or two to my friend, so hopefully she got some chrysalises and butterflies! I think the plant will survive and grow well next year, it was very happy at my house.

Reflections

It was really hard to write this! It's hard to not know the fate of these plants that I put so much effort into, and to just have to look forward to seeing them again some day.

With that said, the experience of working with plants these last few years was priceless.

In 2022, it was mostly planting trees and shrubs from the local do-it-all nursery that happened to have some natives, or maybe-natives. That was a great experience with just planting anything at all, just to learn how, and to get over my fears of being a "black thumb." The Mulberries survived, the Pawpaws did okay, and the Eastern Redbud... didn't. The Titi and Buttonbush ending up doing well. I learned a lot about finding the right site for a plant, and that I was going to need to look around for better sources for native plants in the future.

In 2023, I found some of those sources: Beaver's Abundance and Wild Ones. This was the year that I tried my hand at some non-woody plants and planting in more abundance straight in the ground. It was a rough year for that, ending up in one of the worst droughts in decades. Most things ended up surviving, somehow, but it was rough. The Watering Can was born this year, though, in my efforts to stave off the worst effects of said drought. I also "claimed" some of the sections of the yard that were pretty wet and harder to mow anyway, some of which ended up becoming the South Meadow and the Old Pond wetlands.

And this year, 2024, was a year for trying my hand at growing in pots so that I could control the water situation a little better. It was a year for learning how to transplant the species that were already growing and thriving on this wonderful property, with great success. It was also a great success in learning how to grow from seed, seeing how differently things grow and learning how to take care of their individual needs.

None of this was really expected when we moved here, so in that sense it's all been a huge success. It was all a part of making the best of the situation that we found ourselves in for these few years while we traveled in the van when we could and recovered from a couple of rough years before then. There were setbacks, but I think that's probably inevitable with working with plants, because after all, we you can't control the weather. Thankfully, the plants never seem to take it personally.

I look forward to the next chance for a Watering Can series somewhere else, wherever it ends up being, and am already putting together a list of native plants for this little corner of Oregon in case it ends up being here. As always, this ending is a beginning.

Thank you to everyone who helped me with all of these plants, in so many different ways.