Cow Oak/Swamp Chestnut/Quercus michauxii

A 35 year old Cow Oak tree (about 25' tall) growing without the wet, silty, alluvial soil it prefers here, is dwarfed by the well drained compacted soil of the Long Leaf Pine ridge. Both Oak and pine are leaned due west after rain saturated ground and 140mph winds of Hurricane Rita in 2005.

Cow Oak trunk/limb habit.

Cow Oak spring leaves.

Cow Oak bark/trunk

Cow Oak acorns.

The Cow Oak, sometimes called Swamp Chestnut (Beech family) is a deciduous bottom land hardwood tree in the white oak family of oaks native to the Southeastern U.S. Here in Southern Louisiana, U.S. it grows to 80' naturally from 5' to 15' above sea level in or near bottom lands, flood plains, along bayous, creeks, rivers, and marshes. Its straight grained, white, easy to split in long length wood has been preferred by old timers for basket weaving and hoop net hoops. My granfather told me white Oak hoops fish better than plastic, fiberglass, or steel. 

Cow Oak is seldom seen in housing developments or public municipal plantings probably because of its massive mature stature and very big leaves that are blown around by the winter and spring winds, sooner or later bound to end up under a porch or garage. So it's not a good tree for small yards. 

But if you have the room, it is a tree worth having because of its well rounded shape, beautiful light green colored leaves in spring, and its huge crop of fall fruit (acorns) that attract and sustain hungry squirrels, deer, and cows through the winter months, although oak trees do contain toxins that can kill livestock. I keep a few young bulls in a woodland pasture with lots of all kinds of oaks including Cow Oaks 80' tall. Cattle like both leaves and acorns, but do show signs of colic, especially from the first acorns that fall to the ground. Cattle seem to get used to them after a while, as if they develop a resistance to the toxin. 

It's a good tree to have if you have a few acres. Do the Earth a favor and plant a Cow Oak. I planted these trees from acorns I picked up in the woods while hunting 35-40  years ago. 

I poked a hole in a tin can and pressed the acorns in the soil about half way, kept them watered, set them in a shaded window for the winter and watched them swell and split revealing the sprout emerging though the two halves to grow into several pretty specimens. One can not see a tree, until he plants it as a young man from a seed, and remembers all the seasons. It just isn't possible. His understanding is made according to his observation of the tree which has grown him.

Hardening, dark green, leathery, early May leaves.

Easy to grow Azaleas in The Southeastern U. S.

These 8' Lavender Formosa Azaleas, are the easiest of several colors of Formosa I have grown here for many years. The following are plants in my yard.  They benefit from the acidic soils provided by the Pines. I have the best luck on sandy knolls, however one can grow them in heavy clay soils so long as it drains well.

Red Formosa, the most frost sensitive, last Formosa of the season to bloom.

Mixture of Pink and Lavender Formosa, Azelea George Tabor budding, new spring shoots of Pickeral weed, Nymphaea odorada (native American waterlily).

Azalea Delaware Valley White

White is G.G. Gerbing, Pink is George Tabor

A generous mulching of pine needles, pine bark mulch, leaves, acidic organic matter is a must to grow healthy Azaleas. Trimmings from anything that is grown on your property should be kept and used to provide a food source for something. Don't burn, or throw anything away.

George Tabor Azalea with sport of 3 blooms about center.

Azaleas are harder to start in clay soils because of fungus and root rot disease always present but harsher in rainy years. You will have the best luck in clay soils during dry years watering just enough, and every or every other day. You may have to plant several times. It takes them 2 to 3 seasons to root well enough to grow on their own without being watered during hot dry spells. After this time, Formosa and the other plants named here are bullet proof.

I've had little trouble with pests accept for lace bugs which a landscaper brought here on new plants I purchased from a wholesale nursery. I sprayed the hell out of them to no avail and gave up. Then I learned a vital lesson in gardening.

Plant at the right time, in the correct environment, provide barely sufficient water, and don't poison or worry but sit back and let the marvels of nature undertake what man in his short days can not conceivably understand.

1 year  regrowth (24''), on 30 year old azalea grouping cut to the ground.

In full sun, blooms will almost cover the shrub, in shade flowers are farther between but the shrubs are much healthier and taller.  Azaleas may be trimmed to any shape desirable and rejuvenated by cutting them back to the ground. Buds only appear on hardened new growth, so if you cut them back they may not boom properly until next spring.


Azaleas are susceptible to irreversible damage during severe drought, during which time you will find their best companion plant, the Louisiana native Long Leaf Yellow Pine tree in groupings of no further or closer than 12 feet. The long Leaf pine absorbs its water from deep in the ground with its long vertical tap roots, thus leaving all surface moisture for shallow rooted acid loving species like the Azalea.

(White)  G.G. Gerbing

Nymphaea, Waterlily, Heirarchy of Perfect Order

Our hierarchy of perfect order, has inscribed into each and every part
since the beginning, the original message, fresh and anew as if the first day, the unchanged wholeness of truth, with unique number and title, even proclaimed by the details of the smallest and most humble.


Image of (from top left clockwise), Nymphaeas Sunrise, Director Moore, Attraction, Albert Greenburg

Peruvian Market at Cusco, Peru

Images of Alpaca, Llama, and woolen textiles, pottery, and jewelry_  many of which are hand made by local Peruvian people.

Salinas de Maras, Peru

From cliffs high above.

As spring water flows through the mountain, salt deposits are dissolved into a brine solution and directly collected into shallow ponds, tended by an old man who knows his salt. After 1 year of evaporation, salt is deposited in sufficient quantity to be harvested by hand and brought to market.

The profit margin is low having to compete with the competition of underground salt domes harvested  by mechanical means, but the old man is efficient.

I hired a cab for the day to take my wife and I to Maras and several other places of interest which I thought we could do before dark. The salt pits were not high on my list, as they were out of the way on a log dirt mountain road, but I vividly remember more than once, that where I least expected I found jewels that out shined the main attraction, so I don't pass anything up. As beautiful a drive through mountains and farms I've ever seen was on this long, rickety, dirt, mountain, road I thought of passing up. The view from the car alone describes the meaning of color and form in grand scale. I thought it as beautiful as countryside can get. 

Farm Field Petroglyphs

These geometric petroglyphs depict farm fields/vegetable gardens of The Mogollon (900-1400 AD), an early Native American hunter gatherer people who migrated through mid-Southern New Mexico and mid-Eastern Arizona, following the infrequent rains, the migration of Elk, Deer, Big Horn Sheep, and turkey. They supplemented their food source by planting corn, beans, and squash, and became good at it. Farming allowed groups to stay longer in one area, instead of constantly chasing dwindling populations of wild game. Farming would in time lead to the construction of more permanent housing for groups knowledgeable of growing vegetables.

The zig-zag lines depict the diversion of water from the gravel washes and creek bottoms that flow through this dry country. The squares and rectangles around them suggest the size and shape of the fields. By constantly changing the direction of flow, water velocity can be slowed allowing it to be kept in the garden longer, and soaked up by the dry sandy ground, which releases the minerals and nutrients locked up in partially decayed organic matter in the soil.

The lack of frequent rains, in desert regions allows the soil to retain / compound nutrients for many years, making the soil very fertile and productive with the addition of only water.

These people were serious about farming practice, as their lives depended on it. It is evident today, that they had a far greater knowledge and respect for the Earth than we do, as their race has long since moved on, and the desert here where hundreds of thousands of people lived is free of polution and junk. It has returned to the wild, and looks as if no one ever lived here. Only the foundations of a few small pit houses remain. High up on a rocky outcropping, 20,000 messages like these overlook a vast desert where all that is visible is a single modern day ranch house.

Art, gardening, and irrigation practice was a joy and celebration for these people. It inspired them to leave these timeless messages.

Images of Mogollon Petroglyphs 
Three Rivers Petroglyph site New Mexico

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Rivers_Petroglyph_Site 

Napali

Tropical weather systems brewing over the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean, gather against the towering cliffs of Napali producing almost constant rains high upon the cliff tops, eroding the unstable volcanic soils and rock, providing its weathered appearance. The most beautiful waterfalls I've ever seen are in these cliffs, some thousands of feet high. Napali can only properly be seen by helicopter. The lush green color was refereed to as broccoli tree forests by the helicopter pilot, and they do look just like broccoli. Napali is unlike almost every other place I've been, in that it has qualities of what I imagine Heaven to be like closest to God. He must have created it late, very late on the 6th day when He was at His best.  

There are helicopter tours from the east side of the island near the airport

Image of Napali Coast (offshore from catamaran and air), 
rain forested 5000' volcanic cliffs 
Western Coast of Kauai, HI, U.S.
(The Garden Isle)
.

Big Horn Canyon, WY

Entering the Big Horn Mountains from the west is one of the steepest climbs I have encountered in North America. I remember 2nd gear low in my small motor home and wondering if it would make it. Everything smelled cooked upon reaching the top. The west part of the drive was desert, but upon the high plateau, the drive quickly became forested with mountain meadows and herds of elk for some 30 to 50 miles. The descent into Sheridan is dramatic.

Image Of Big Horn Canyon and Reservoir Wyoming

Harbor at Venice, IT

Man's duty is to educate himself to be creative, his human physical and spiritual value to become a positive number, and his works and voice be of interest.

Image of Harbor at Venice, Italy from ship.

Musa Coccinea/Scarlet Banana

I recently divided and moved this plant..

North side of my house in shade zone 8b Louisiana, Southern U.S.

Musa Coccinea is possibly my most favorite ornamental banana. It grows to 7 feet for me here in zone 8b. A slender, sparse, thin, tender, plant with light green leaves and true red blooms with yellow tips.

It can take very little or almost no wind without getting broken up. It's blooming now in late October, looks best in shade, and blooms just fine with little sun.

I grew it next to a window inside my house the first winter after I bought it as a small 10'' tall division and the foliage was flawless, although it grew a little slow, it was steady. In the spring I planted it in my yard in 3 locations.

It has frozen to the ground all but last winter, which was far warmer than usual and all my bananas grew to absolute maturity. I have never seen this happen before and my place looked like a rain forest. I am wondering if I will ever see it again so lush.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_coccinea 

Musa Ornata Milky Way Banana Flower

Milky Way is a recent introduction to the ornamental banana collectors trade I've had for 4 years maybe. It grows to 7.5' in height and 6' wide in 2 or 3 years for me here. It makes a thick grove as trees grow close together. Leaves have a dark grey purple tinge and blooms are gorgeous but, hard to photograph as automatic focus doesn't like white and tends to focus on something darker like the closest leaf or stem. I've grown it in several different environments here in zone 8b and have been over all very pleased with its performance. However it will not bloom well if it is grown in less than ideal conditions. The plant is a  little hard to find but worth the while. I believe I bought this plant from Martha's Secrets on line store. She 's a very nice lady and good at her business.

Musa Siamensis Banana Flower

Musa Siamensis is a recent introduction into the collectors trade of ornamenatal bananas from Asia that grows to 9'. I hear it can be a little invasive but I've had no problems so far in the 3 or 4 years it's been here in my yard. It seems to like more water than the average ornamental banana, and will not grow taller than 2' nor bloom  in shade. However in full sun and with ample moisture, it's foilage is a beautiful deep rich green I haven't seen before in any banana tree. I have it growing in three environments and next spring I think know what to do with it. 

Garden in the Sky / La Granja Colca Canyon, Peru

 
Images of  La Granja                   
Colca Canyon, Peru ( on a part of the canyon called "The Crack ")

La Granja Spanish Definition - La =  "the'' feminine, Granja = A garden / farm worked for one man for his family / a school / place of learning for children / steep and narrow lesson to those who have forgotten from where all things come.

Dolomite Mountain Range, Northern Italy

Scratched Film Image of entering Dolomite Mountain Range in Northern Italy, driving from Southern Austria

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolomites