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Current Conditions This past summer will be the remembered as the Summer of the Blue Heron in the Kaskey Garden. Although we have seen blue herons, egrets and even a green heron in the Garden from time to time, this particular blue heron seems to have developed a fondness for the assortment of fish in the Kaskey pond. A blue heron, perhaps not this same one, appeared occasionally throughout the summer, but he, (or she!) was a regular visitor throughout the month of September. Because the bird stayed for hours at a time, it wasn't difficult to get photos of it. Last year at this time the pond had been drained for maintenance work. My guess is that when the heron saw us return the 300 plus Koi to the pond in early May it decided this was going to be one of its favorite places. Early on the heron managed to down a number of the smaller fish, but since then the Koi have grown wiser about how to avoid this efficient predator. If the heron is present when visitors try to feed the fish, the animals don't go anywhere near the surface. The heron can only grab as far as his neck and bill will reach. He also can't perch anywhere except along the very edges on the turtle rocks in the center. The rocks make a safe, for him at least, place to stalk his prey. Our heron is very comfortable around visitors and seems to enjoy having his photograph taken.  Since the Koi breed in the pond, we should be able to support a single blue heron, even if he visits frequently. We're just hoping that he doesn't bring his friends! We did have a few reports of a Red-tailed Hawk swooping after ducklings, but the fish in that case, were all safe. The hawk may have been responsible for the disappearance of a few ducklings early in the summer, but as they grew they were out of his league. Our collection of Red-Eared Sliders don't mind the Heron at all, except that he takes up some of their basking space on the rocks. Some of our turtles have grown quite large over the past few years. The muck in the bottom of the pond suits them very well through their hibernation in the colder months. Every year we receive emails asking if we can take another turtle or two. Sadly, pet turtles are joining the ranks of the unwanted pets at shelters and there are too many of them and too few homes. People get them when they're tiny and they fit into a small tank, but pretty soon they outgrow that space. Once they grow to reach four to six inches across their owners realize they can't care for them. We always ask people not to put turtles in the pond for several reasons. One, we have quite enough for this small pond. Second, people don't always distinguish between a Red-Eared Slider, which can survive our winters, and the more southern, Yellow-Eared Slider, which does not survive our winters. Third, a turtle might carry a disease that would harm our residents. And, finally, many turtles that have been pets do not adapt well to living in a pond, even one like ours where the animals receive food and care. If you have a turtle you need to find a home for, please visit the following site: http://www.turtlehomes.org/usa/red_ear_slider_adoptions.shtml Because so much of the activity in the Garden revolves around the pond, it's easy to overlook the larger part of the Garden with the plantings. Fall is a fabulous time to visit, what with the changing colors of leaves and the fall-blooming plants. Although Philadelphia is listed as Zone 6b on the Hardiness Zones Map, we find that with the sheltering location of the Garden we can grow plants that require zone 8 at minimum. One such plant is the Japanese Holly Fern (Cyrtomium falcatum)  I have tried this herbaceous perennial at my farm in Southern New Jersey with little success. Even mulched, the winters are too cold. Some years, very cold weather in the Kaskey Garden will cause the Japanese Holly Fern to die to the ground, others cause the fronds to brown severely. In more southern climates this fern can be evergreen. It is a marvelous foliage plant with its shiny green, stiff fronds, and it never fails to garner a compliment. If you do want to grow Japanese Holly Ferns in your garden, you can lift them for the winter and keep them as houseplants. They are undemanding, tolerate dry air in the house, and happily accept transplanting again into the garden in the spring. Here in the greenhouses, Japanese Holly ferns self-sow, planting their children in the pots of just about anything else. It's where we get our planting stock for the garden. We grow all of our own annuals and many of our perennials. Greenhouse Technician Vanessa Jerolmack can be credited with growing many of the annuals and some of the perennials visitors enjoyed this summer. Her efforts with Zinnias (Zinnea elegans) and Blanket Flowers (Gaillardia grandiflora 'Goblin') made the loading dock entrance to the Lynch building colorful.  This summer we added several new flower gardens to the north side of the 2006-completed Lynch building. The Lynch building runs along the western edge of the Kaskey Garden. Many of the plantings are annuals, but the Pansies (Viola x wittrockiana ) will bloom throughout the winter whenever we have a warm day. They're great for containers and will bloom until the weather gets very hot next year. Although the familiar harbingers of autumn, Chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum species) can be fickle about returning in the spring, enough of them do come back that they can used reliably as a base for next spring's plantings. If they do come back, the plants outgrow their stilted, mound appearance, and grow more free-form and floriforous.    If you've visited the Kaskey Garden lately you may have noticed a number of extensive new plantings along the interface between the building and Garden. During construction, although much of the interface was not disturbed, enough plantings were lost that they had to be replaced. Gardener Tom McNichols has been busy installing hundreds of shrubs, perennials and trees, along with a several new garden paths. Until the plantings mature so that they aren't likely to be stepped on, some of the gardens are still roped off from visitors, but in the near future they will be available. The plantings to the left of the gravel path in the photo were installed in the spring of 2007 and have already settled in well. Look for this part of the Garden to continue to grow and change.  The climate in Philadelphia is usually mild enough through even the coldest winter months that we can continue to work in the Garden year round. Much of the pruning and brush chipping occurs throughout the coldest months. We've been lucky enough to have a very warm October and reasonably warm early November this year, but winter is on the way and those howling, cold winds will come to visit the Garden eventually. Thor, our greenhouse cat and mouse patrol, reminds us to bundle up for the coming chill. He's not taking any chances with the cold. 
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Last ModifiedApril 30 2009 12:25:07 |