The Pacific Ocean After A Storm

Again, Aloha to my many friends who
might be reading this blog. We have been on Maui for a little over 2 weeks and every day we sit out on our lanai and watch the beautiful Pacific ocean. It has been living up to it's name...peaceful. Many days it has been almost as smooth as a lake, with just gentle waves that lap up on the beach with a gentle flow. Well, all of that has changed today. Last night we had one of the first winter storms that hit the Islands, and it rained and rained and rained. I thought from watching the weather forecast on the TV that we were going to have rain for a couple of days, but woke up this morning to a beautiful bright blue sky...an absolutely perfect day here in paradise! We had closed the windows before going to bed due to the terrific rain that was falling, so when I saw the sun shining and the air sparkling this morning I opened up the windows to the sounds of an ocean that I was not used to!

The rain may have passed, but the aftermath of the storm stayed behind with a wild and angry ocean letting out it's rage on the beaches outside of our condo. We are staying in Kahana, and to be truthful, the ocean here is not known for having too many big waves. You very seldom see the surfers out on the ocean here as the waves just don't get that big. Well, today is an exception to that...as I am writing that I have been observing waves at about 5 to 6 feet high. Now that isn't really a very big wave, but for Kahana it is a pretty good sized wave. The noise from them crashing up on the beach is terrific and loud.

It's very interesting to sit and observe the waves and the beach, and as I have sat here watching, I've thought that the ocean is behaving like a stingy child that doesn't want to share anymore with it's friends. Normally I have watched many people walking along the beach, leaving footprints as they walk along and the ocean waves will eventually gently wash up and erase the footprints leaving the sand smooth and shiny until the next person or group walks along and leaves more footprints, aways changing and changing depending on how many people are walking by, and how lazy the ocean seems to be at that particular time of day.

Today however, not many people are venturing out on the beach, and with good reason. The few that are, have very little beach to walk on, and those who choose to walk close to the water are being surprised by how strong the waves are as they crash with a fury and cause many people to stumble and reach for one another to keep their balance as the massive waves rush about them. In many places the waves are rushing up higher than I have seen before, right up to the shrubbery that marks the edges of the resorts property! All the footprints in the sand are being washed away in a matter of seconds as people are walking by, kind of like the selfish child smoothing out the sand in the playground after the other children have "messed up" that sand that he thinks is his!

As I look out to the foamy waves, I can see a couple of surfers out there waiting to catch the perfect wave...and every now and again, I see them positioning themselfs, and then standing up and riding the wave into the shore, only to turn around and repeat the process all over again.

I look closer to the shore and I see a large sea turtle come to the surface for a breath of air, and then watch as the choppy waters toss it around for a few minutes before it again dives under the waves, and back to the bottom where it rests and stays safe from the turbulant ocean.

What a marvelous experience it has been to see the ocean so different...just another thing that makes Maui such a wonderful place to be and enjoy!

Mahalo for reading my post.

Take care,

Ron, the Plant Man

Special Places to Eat on Maui

Aloha to all from Maui! I wanted to share with each of you a couple of special places that we like to eat whenever we are on Maui. Perhaps our favorite place to have breakfast is the 'Gazebo', located in Napili. It is on the grounds of the resort area called Napili Shores. Park in the parking lot and walk through the complex down to the ocean and the restaurant is right out on the rocks overlooking the magnificent Pacific ocean. It's built like a Gazebo...hence the name. They only serve breakfast and lunch, but you can get either whenever they are open. My favorite to get there are the Macadamia nut pancakes, with coconut syrup...absolutely to die for delicious! Of course I also have to have the traditional bacon and eggs to go along with the pancakes, and by the time I am done, I am absolutely stuffed as full as I can get!

Although the food is good there, the charm and ambiance of the Gazebo are what make it such a special place. Part of the restaurant is behind louvered windows, but other parts are just wide open to the most beautiful view of the island of Moloka'i that you will ever have. Some days the ocean is calm and the deepest blue you can inagine, but on other days, and especially in the winter months, the ocean is terribly angry and the waves will crash onto the rocks with and unbelievable fury. Napili is located on the northwest part of Maui and this is Oahu's equalivient of the North Shore. The waves don't get quite as big here, but this is where all the best surfers come to catch the big waves. This is also a great place to watch the whales when they come back to Maui in the winter months, and from the Gazebo you can see many of them as they swim, breach and shoot great spouts of water and mist into the air.

The man who owns the place (Jerry), has instigated a few pranks to keep people amused while they eat and enjoy the food. Used to be when all of the camera's had film in them, Jerry would walk up and offer to take your picture. He would pick up your camera off the table and look like he was focusing and composing the picture, and hidden in his hand was a roll of 35 mm film that had been pulled out of the canister, and he would drop the film and canister so it looked like it had fallen out of the camera in his hand. You could see and feel the panic in the poor people who thought the film had fallen out of their camera!

If you ever visit Maui, plan on going there and I guarantee that your experience there will be one that you will treasure forever.

Another place we like to go for lunch or dinner...especially for dinner is the Hula Grill located in Whalers Village, in the heart of Kaanapali Beach. Hula Grill is only one of several good restaurants in Whalers Village. What we like about it is there is and indoor part of the restaurant and an outdoor part. We always go to the outdoor part and when they take you to your table, you will step off the stone walkway and right onto the beach sands of Kaanapali Beach! The tables are actually sitting in the sand and are covered by large palm frond umbrellas to keep the sun off in the daytime, but add to the beach atmosphere at any time. We always make sure we are wearing flip-flops or sandals so we can take them off and push our toes and feet into the sand while we are eating our meal.

Starting late in the afternoon they provide live entertainment that goes into the evening hours until they close. It is always a Hawaiian group, sometimes with hula dancers and sometimes without.

As like all the places on Maui, the food is on the expensive side, but the atmosphere and the fact that you are eating right out with your feet in the sand makes it all worthwhile!

Mahalo for reading...hope it is enjoyable and will be entertaining and useful for you for when you plan your trip to Maui!

Take care,

Ron, the Plant Man

Something Everyone Should Do On Maui

There is one thing that we do almost every time we come to Maui, and that is to go to a show in Lahaina that everyone who comes to Maui should see. It is called the Warren and Annabelle show. Warren is a magician and a comedian and Annabelle is a ghost. Now let me tell you up front that if you are coming to Maui, DON'T wait until you get here to get your tickets or you might be disappointed as the show sells out several weeks in advance almost every night. When you first start planning your trip, go to the website, http://www.warrenandannabelles.com/, and make your reservations before you leave home.

Let me tell you a little bit about the show. Warren Gibson is from South Carolina and is the star of the show. He built the theater in Lahaina just for his show. It is above Ruths Chris Steakhouse on Front Street in Lahaina. When you make your reservations, you can make them for the show only, or a package that includes appetizers and desert before the show and the show tickets. We did that the first time we went and the appetizers and desert were good, but a little expensive, we thought. Now when we go, we get show tickets only, eat dinner before we go, and then go a little early and buy a desert and soft drinks before going in to the show. We usually go to the 7:30 show.

Now, here's the deal, if you go to the 7:30 show and are having the appetizers, they will tell you to come at 7:30. If you are going to the show only they will tell you to come at 8:30, as that is when the Annabelle part of the show starts (more on that later). We usually go at about 8:00 to 8:15, order our desert and enjoy the company and the Annabelle show while eating our delicious desert.

When you arrive, you will be put in a room and will be given a key and Annabelle will give you clues on how to get out. It's a little tricky but fun and believe me, you will get out of the room and you will then be in Annabelle's Parlor. You will be shown to a seating area and can enjoy the food and drinks while you are introduced to Annabelle. As I said earlier, she is a ghost who plays the piano. You just shout out what song you want her to play, and she will play it for you! It's fun and you should be sitting close enough to other people that you can strike up a conversation and enjoy the fun and music.

Finally they will tell you to go into Warren's theater for the show. It's not a large theater and all the seats are good. They will pre-select 4 couples to actually sit down right in the front of the stage and they will be involved in some of Warren's magic tricks....and also be involved in much of Warren's humor!

As I said, Warren is from South Carolina. He loved the Andy Griffith show and so immediately several of the folks on the 'front line' will be called names from the old TV show. He is a good magician and will do several amazing magic tricks, as well as having you holding your sides from laughing at his jokes and interaction with the 'front liners' and other members in the audience. The show is about 2 hours long and believe me, you will laugh for the entire time!

If you want to get involved with Warren, be sure to have with you, a new one hundred dollar bill. At one point he will ask the audience members for the bill, and if you are selected and have the bill, you will be in for the treat of your life! I won't tell anymore about what is done with it as it would spoil the fun, but believe me, you will be totally amazed and have the time of your life to boot!

The show is very funny, and as Warren will tell you at the end, he doesn't believe in using four letter words in his humor. All the stories and jokes are 100% clean, and very funny. They say that you have to be an adult to go, but that is only because alcohol is served before and during the show.

Most of the time when the 7:30 show is over, Warren will greet and shake hands with everyone in attendence, so it is an additional treat to meet him personally and enjoy a brief moment of hospitality with him.

I've told several friends about the show before they went on vacation to Maui, and they have all come back and told me how much they enjoyed the show. Most have said they never laughed so hard in all their lives!

Bonnie and I go almost everytime we are in Maui. The only times we don't go is when Warren is not going to be there. He does take vacaions at various times throughout the year, but when he does, he has substitute magicians in his place, but they are mostly magicians and not the comedians that Warren is.

Thanks for reading, and if you ever go to Maui and see Warren's show, let me know if it's not as good as I've described it here!

Ron, the Plant Man

Maui

Have been in Maui for about a week now and I am still walking around in absolute awe of how beautiful it is here. The weather has been absolutely beautiful. The first few days it was a little warm and humid and there was a fair amount of VOG (Volcanic dust and gases) in the air. It almost obscured the islands of Lana'i and Moloka'i it was so bad, but then the wonderful trade winds kicked in again and cooled down the temperatures and humidity...and blew away the VOG! Maui is such a relaxing place to be in, the people are all so nice and friendly...you meet someone and and in just a few minutes you feel like you have been friends for a lifetime!

We do have friends over here that we have made over the years of visiting, and it has been good to see them again and catch up on what has happened over the past year since we had seen them.

One thing that has happened here is that tourism is way down. We were in Lahaina today and it almost seemed like a ghost town...very few tourists on the sidewalks, shops empty, only a few people in the restaurants, parking very easy to find. All of this is great for us as visitors to the Island, but I feel very sorry for the merchants here who depend on the tourist industry...I certainly hope they can stay solvent until tourism picks up again.

While in Lahaina today, we ate at Cheeseburger In Paradise. If you haven't been here, it is right on the beach and edge of the ocean. There was no problem getting a seat right by the window and looking out over the beautiful blue Pacific Ocean towards the Island of Lana'i. Now if you haven't been here before, you wouldn't know that although we had a window seat, there are no real windows with glass in them...just the openings where glass would normally be, and in Maui you sit there in front of the window opening and enjoy the ocean sounds and breezes blowing in while you eat your meal. Of course the occasional bird will fly in and walk around on the floor looking for crumbs to eat! Only happens in Hawaii, I can imagine the health department would have a coronary on the mainland! We could see small sand crabs darting along the narrow stretch of sand in search of bits of food to eat. Also there was an interesting dog on the beach, sitting there and looking at us. When he got up I could see that he only had 3 legs, but didn't seem to be hindered by the lack of one of his legs! We asked our server about him and she told us his name was Rocky, and belonged to someone who worked next door to the restraunt. She told us that he was waiting for someone to throw him a scrap of food, and she showed us how to make him bark, or speak, for the food!

More evidence of the lack of tourism is at our condo complex. I stood outside our front door and looked down at the parking area the other day and counted 90 parking spaces, but only 37 cars parked in them! Our condo is on the 9th floor and although there is another unit next to us that is occupied, we leave our front door propped open while we are there to let the wonderful fresh island breeze flow through our condo, and not once has anyone passed our door to go to one of the 6 units on the other side of us!

As we were walking around today I told Bonnie that when I go back to the mainland, I forget how absolutely marvelous and beautiful Maui is. When we come back for our vacations, I fall in love with it again and again! We love it so much that it is truly difficult to leave at the end of our vacation...but enough of talking about leaving, Bonnie and I are enjoying to the fullest capacity our days here on Maui.

Most of you know that it is our goal to move to Maui permanantly and just before we left for our vacation, we received some good news from a real estate friend of ours, that the market on the mainland is starting to move back up slowly, so that gives us hope that we might be able to make the move soon! How wonderful it will be when we can call this beautiful paradise our home!

Thanks for reading. Will make another post in a day or so.

Take care,

Ron, the Plant Man on Maui!

Stinky Plant!

About a month or so ago there was a 'big stink' on the news, in the newspaper and so on about a plant growing in a greenhouse at the Huntington Library & Botanic Gardens in San Marino called a "Corpse Flower". There was also one at the Cal State Fullerton Arboretum a few years ago but I understand that the plant died due to someone over watering it! While I was still living in Utah, I think I heard that they also had one at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

These are unique plants that are pollinated by flies and other insects that are attracted to dead meat...so they smell like rotten meat! The big attraction to these plants is that they are very large, and if I'm not mistaken, the flower stalks are about 4 or 5 feet tall! It's funny to watch the news footage on TV because people actually come to see this phenomenon knowing that the plant is going to smell like rotten meat, but when they pass by the plant, they make ugly faces and hold their noses like it is a surprise to them!

When I was still in High School and living in Logan, Utah, one of the favorite stops on the way home from school, was to stop by the Woolworth's store on Main Street. Usually it was to buy candy to eat on the way home, but I always wanted to look at the tropical fish that they sold and also to look in the plant section to see if there was anything new or interesting.

One day I was surprised to find a display of what looked like some sort of a 'bulb' like plant, called a "Voodoo Lilly". I don't remember how much they cost, but being Woolworth's they couldn't have been more than a quarter or 50 cents so I purchased one and took it home. It was sealed in a little plastic bag with a paper label at the top with a photo showing what looked like a little palm tree growing out of the bulb structure. I believe it was labeled with the name Arum cornutum, but is now known as Typhonium venosum. How exciting it was to find such an unusual plant to grow! I can still remember how I hurried home to find a flower pot to plant my treasure in and then placed it in the window over the kitchen sink so it would get some nice morning sun.

As the days passed on I watched every day in anticipation of a new sprout popping out of the bulb. I wasn't dissappointed for very long as in just a week or 10 days, this little greenish/purplish stem started to grow out of the bulb. It was sooooo exciting to see this unusual plant begin to grow!

It grew faily fast, reaching a height of about a foot in just a few short days. It then proceeded to send out a ring of foliage around the top and looked like a little palm tree! The stem or 'trunk' was colored sort of an olive green with purple splotches all along it. It made a very attractive plant sitting in the window above the sink, and all of my family commented on what an unusual plant it was!


I don't remember how long it stayed in the 'palm tree' mode, but at some point I think that around the base of the plant, a new structure started to come up and as it grew, I think the 'palm' like part of the plant started to collapse and die off. The new part that grew up was all dark purple, and looked to be somewhat vase shaped. It also had a central stalk growing up through the middle of the vase. I was in absolute extasy with this marvelous plant that was doing so many unusual things that we didn't expect! This was almost better than Christmas Morning it was so exciting!

One morning I woke up and went into the kitchen and my Mother was very busy up on a stepstool cleaning out the cupboards above the stove. I noticed a faint odor of something spoiled in the air. When I asked my Mother what she was doing, she told me that when she came into the kitchen it smelled strongly of what she thought might be a dead mouse, and that it was probably in one of the cupboards. I noticed that the doors and windows were open to let the fresh air in. About that time my younger brother came into the kitchen and I saw his nose crinkle as he picked up on the fetid smell also. As he went to the kitchen sink to get a glass of water, he commented that he thought the smell was stronger near the sink, and then announced that he thought it was coming from MY remarkable plant! Mother got down from the stool and came over and put her nose in the middle of the plant and disgustingly announced that he was right....THE PLANT DID STINK! I just couldn't believe it, my beautiful plant, my unusual plant that everyone commented on and liked so well just couldn't be putting out that horrible smell! Mother pushed the plant in my direction motioning for me to take a whiff, and I did! What a horrible smell...exactly like a dead animal!

Well, needless to say, my wonderful plant was banned to the outdoors, in fact way out to the far side of the back yard so there would be no chance of the awful smell to find it's way back into the house. Along with that came a stern warning from Mother to never, and she emphasized NEVER to bring a strange plant home again!

I did though....while in college, I found some Fritillaria lilies that I planted in the yard. I had just seen how pretty they were and so I planted some not knowing that they too have an objectionable smell to them....but that will be a story for another time!

Have a good day, and thanks for visiting my blog!

Ron, the Plant Man

Another kind of 'Bird' Story

On Labor Day, most of the family (our kids and grand children) came over for some burgers and hot dogs cooked on the grill, along with Bonnie's delicious potato salad and baked beans.

On the Saturday before the holiday, I was cleaning off the patio and table and chairs a little bit when I noticed that the orange tree looked a little dusty so I proceeded to hose it off just to make it look better. I noticed something moving near the tree but didn't pay much attention to it until a few minutes later when I was closer to the tree and I saw two baby Mourning Doves huddled on the top of the block wall fence that surrounds the yard. They must have been in a nest in the orange tree and my squirting the tree chased them out of the nest!

As the hours and the day went on, the baby Doves seemed perfectly content to sit on the top of the block wall. Mom returned to feed them and didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that they were away from the nest. Throughout the day I noticed that the baby Doves would move along the top of the wall so they could bask in the warm sunshine as the sun moved through the sky.

That evening we were sitting in the living room watching TV with the French doors open to let the cool air into the house when all of a sudden we heard a fluttering noise come into the house. I was half asleep, but Bonnie said that something had come into the house, and Allie, our dog had jumped up and gone to see what it was. About that time something fluttered over our heads and landed on the floor across the room from us...it was one of the baby Doves trying out it's wings! Allie proceeded to chase it and I was trying to call her off and catch the baby Dove before it flew into the wall and hurt itself. After several attempts I was able to catch it and took it outside and set it back up on the top of the wall. I checked on it a few times throughout the evening and it was still there, although the second baby Dove was nowhere in sight.

The next morning I checked on the baby Dove and there they were, both babies sitting next to each other on the fence and I could hear the mother Dove cooing softly away nearby.

They stayed around for about a week and didn't seem to mind when I was working around them in the yard. The mother also didn't mind my presence and she continued to tend to them while I worked in the area. During the night they must have hopped up into the branches of the orange tree as when I would look for them, they were never sitting on the top of the wall after it got dark.

All who came on Labor Day got to see the babies sitting on the wall, and even when Mom came to feed them, a few who were paying attention to them got to see how she would regurgitate the food into their waiting mouths!

It was good to see that our backyard is still a haven for other birds besides the ever present Hummers that are constantly at the feeders hanging out there!

Have a good day, and thanks for reading my posts!

Ron, the Plant Man

The Birth of A Hummingbird

Two links to photos of hummingbird nests, eggs, and the baby Hummers hatching out and then growing to the point of them leaving the nests. Absolutely amazing!

http://community-2.webtv.net/Velpics/HUM/

htpp://community.webtv.net/hotmail.com/verle33/HummingBirdNest

Many thanks to a friend named David, who so kindly found these wonderful links and sent them to me. David is a classmate of my wife, Bonnie, and with whom we are going to travel across country to Alabama, to attend their 45th High School Reunion this year. Thank you David, the photos are absolutely beautiful!

I hope my readers enjoy these links as much as I did!

Ron, the Plant Man

Remembering 9-11

As many of you already know, Bonnie and I had the privilege to go to New York last summer and visit the site where the World Trade Center once stood. What an emotional 2 days it was to walk around the area and still be able to see the massive destruction that had taken place 8 years ago. Our tour guide informed us that even though it is not news anymore, they were still finding pockets of human remains as they are preparing the site for the future monuments to this tragic event. Only a couple of the 11 buildings that were destroyed have been re-built, and in them are beautiful monuments to employees that were killed on that day. Some have some very intricate messages in twined in the construction. One company lost 11 employees and they have a monument that includes a reflecting pool where 11 drops of water fall into he pool every hour to represent the 11 employees. I walked around for hours with tears streaming down my cheeks as I learned of the brave and the innocent people who lost their lives that day. Also little known by most people is that the area is surrounded by many apartment buildings containing thousands of apartments and all of these people who lived there were evacuated from their living quarters...some for as long as 2 or 3 years after all of this happened, and for the most part were not allowed to return to collect any of their belongings, photographs, legal documents, etc. until it could be determined that the buildings were considered to be safe from any damage. Imagine how torn apart their lives were for many months and years!

I hope and pray that we as Americans never forget this day! GOD BLESS AMERICA....WE SURELY NEED IT! Please take the time to carefully go through the photographic collections at the links below and remember the tragic events of that day 8 years ago. And after you do, say a prayer and thank God that you weren't one of those who had to experience this tragedy first hand.

http://www.gcfl.net/911/heroes.php
and
http://www.gcfl.net/911/remember911.php

Ron, the Plant Man

Aggie Ice Cream

Had a craving for ice cream a few weeks ago and the brother of a friend of mine reminded me of Aggie Ice Cream. For those of you who don't know about Aggie Ice cream, it is made at Utah State University by the students in the food science program.

USU used to be called Utah State Agricultural College, and basically that is what is was for many years. Then as it started to grow, it became Utah State university, and now today is a really great university. When I was going there, it still carried the stigma of being a 'cow college', and the joke that everyone outside of Logan used to tell you was, "I heard that the faculty at the cow college got replaced with automatic milking machines last week!"

In spite of becoming a full fledged University, Agriculture was still a big part of the campus. The University maintained a very large dairy herd that was maintained and studied by the students majoring in Dairy Science. Of course the cows had to be milked, and the milk then provided the students from the Food Science department the opportunities to use the milk to make all kinds of dairy products...ice cream being one of the more popular items. When I was a student back in the 1960's one of the buildings on the 'quad' had and ice cream stand just inside the front door. Perhaps my mind it just playing tricks, but I seem to recall that the ice cream cones they sold only cost a nickel a scoop, or perhaps it was a dime. At any rate it was a bargain and there was almost always a line to buy the delicious ice cream. The students making the ice cream wanted to make the best ice cream they could so it was very rich in cream and flavor. Occasionally they would experiment with different flavors to see how they might go. Anyone remember the 'mince meat pie' flavored ice cream? More popular was the 'pumpkin pie' ice cream! Oh how I remember rushing into the building between classes and holding my breath that the line wouldn't be too long so I would have time to get a scoop and eat it before the next class started.

With time, the old store on the quad went away, but they still sell the delicious ice cream at another store over on 7th North (I think that is were it is). Much more room and they have freezer cases available so you can buy the ice cream by the half gallon if you want. Of course they still have the big tubs of ice cream behind the counter where they scoop the ice cream out and put in a cone for you to enjoy. They also sell other dairy products produced at the University, and perhaps if my memory is correct they will also make sandwiches for you to purchase.

I was excited the year I found out that the ice cream was sold in the half gallons. I was on vacation in Logan and my mind immediately started to wonder if I might be able to take a few gallons home with me. I immediately went and bought a large ice chest, and the day before leaving Logan, I took the ice chest up to the store in carefully fitted in as many half gallons as I could squeeze in. After paying for them, I took them back to my Mom and Dad's home and transferred them to their big freezer in the garage for the night. When I got ready to leave the next morning I repacked the ice chest with the ice cream and then on the way out of Logan I stopped at one of the grocery stores and purchased some dry ice to put on top of the ice cream so it would stay nice and frozen. When I had family with me, that usually entailed a stop for the night in Southern Utah so that meant replenishing the dry ice the next morning before the final leg to Southern California.

Oh what a pleasure it was to have sooooo much delicious Aggie Ice Cream in my home freezer! For a few weeks I could indulge in the rich, creamy flavors every night that I would carefully select!

Haven't been back to Logan for a few years and the craving for Aggie Ice Cream is growing stronger and stronger. Probably will be in Logan next year for a high school reunion.....and of course, several trips to the Aggie Ice Cream store! Hmmmmmm.....wonder how many ice chests I can fit in the car?

Feeding my Hummers

I'm doing another story about one of my favorite topics, Hummingbirds. Some of you reading this blog might have already read about this story of when I fed the Hummers at my job at South Coast botanic Gardens on the Palos Verdes Peninsula through emails that I have sent out. As many of you already know, I used to teach children's gardening and nature study classes at the Gardens, and I maintained Hummingbird feeders around the childrens area, both for the teaching opportunities and just for the pleasure of watching the antics of the Hummers as they fed on the sugar water in the feeders. We had so many Hummingbirds using the feeders that they needed to be filled two times a day, so my first job in the mornings was to clean and fill the feeders, and then usually just before going home for the night, I would have to fill them again. Many days when I had classes going, I would have kids who wanted to help with the cleaning and filling of the feeders.

We had a large outdoor sink area that served a variety of uses. Vegetables harvested from the gardens were cleaned there before they went home with the children. Also this is where all the gardening tools were cleaned before being put away after using them. There were several sinks so it allowed more than one person at a time to use them. This was also where we made up the sugar water solution to put in the feeders. Each feeder was cleaned out with a brush before it was re-filled with the food.

When I would arrive at the Gardens in the mornings, usually the feeders would be mostly empty, and the Hummers would be hungry. I would gather up the feeders and take them to the sink area and proceed to get them ready to be filled. As the Hummers were familiar with my routine, they would tend to congregate near the sink area while I was working. There was one particular male Hummingbird that was a little more impatient than the others and he would perch himself on the sink faucet handle to wait for the first feeder to be filled. Once the first one was filled, he would hover right in front of me waiting for me to attach the bottom part to the feeder, turn it over and then right there, he would drink and drink from the feeder like it was going to be his last meal! When he was satisfied, off he would go...perhaps to hunt out his favorite flowers so he could get more food! Then as I would carry the feeders back to the locations where they would hang, I would be followed by several Hummers darting around me excitedly in anticipation of them being hung up so they too could drink their fill!

I was told, but haven't confirmed this from anyone else, but did you know that during the winter months, when the nights are so long, that Hummingbirds need to find food and eat within the first 20 minutes of waking up or they will starve to death! Talk about a precarious situation to be in! Makes me feel good about always keeping my feeders full for them.

That's all for this time. Hope you enjoy my posts.

Ron, the Plant Man

Doing Yardwork

Was outside doing yard work today. Nothing unusual, just had to mow the grass, dead-headed some of my beautiful Meidiland Sevillana roses...and believe me, they really are beautiful roses, very easy to take care of, no worries about mildew or rust, and they just bloom and bloom and bloom! I give them a deep soaking about once a week, if I'm fertilizing the lawn I might throw a hand full of fertilizer on the roses if I think about it! When I'm out working in the front yard, I often have neighbors comment to me how nice my roses look! The picture above is of Sevillana roses, but unfortunately the picture is not from my yard. My roses look just as good as these, but I don't have a camera that would take as beautiful of a picture as this one is!

After I finished up in the front I had to go in the back yard and trim up a planter of Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) or also known as Confederate Jasmine. For those of you not familiar with this plant, it is a Viney type of plant that produces lots and lots of small (about dime sized) white flowers that are ever so sweet to smell. After they finish with a round of flowers, they will send out long, vine like growth that will twist and twine around themselves and any other plants they can grow into, so that is an easy indication that it is time to trim them back down a bit. Now comes the fun part, the leaves and stems are full of a milky white sap that is very sticky. Well, I was doing my gardening chores in my bare feet today as I had surgery on some of my toes a few weeks ago and putting shoes on is still pretty uncomfortable! As I trimmed the long branches, the milky sap started to flow in excess, and as the stems and leafs started falling to the ground, and as I moved around the planter, I began to collect sticky stems and leafs on the bottom of my feet! Before I knew it, the soles of my bare feet were entirely coated with the Star Jasmine leafs and pieces of stems! Couldn't shake them off no matter how hard I tried, and finally had to sit down and peel them all off the bottoms of my feet! I should have just left them stuck to my feet, because I still had to rake up all the fallen debris and in doing that, I again had a thick layer of sticky leafs on my feet. I began to think I was like some monster in an old 'B' grade movie or some giant insect that camouflages itself with all the sticky stems and leaf pieces! As it dries, the sap turns black on your skin, but fortunately it is water soluble and washes of quite readily!

Well, after fantasizing about movie monsters and giant insects, I decided that it was time to cool of in the pool before calling it a day from my yard work!

So long until next time!

Ron, the Plant Man

Hummingbird Nests

Hello to all! Just wanted to add another post to my blog, and wanted to continue along with my Hummingbird line.

I always thought this was an interesting bit of information about Hummingbirds that I learned while working at South Coast Botanic Gardens. There was a tour guide named Eric Brooks, who worked there and was also a bird watcher. He taught me a lot about birds and especially Hummingbirds, and he also provided me with my first Hummingbird feeders to put up and attract the Hummers to the area where I worked.

Eric showed me a Hummingbird nest one day and pointed out to me how the nest had been 'decorated', or perhaps 'camouflaged' might be a better word to use. You can see from the photograph all the little bits of materials that are stuck onto the outside of the nest. The Hummers use materials that are locally available to put around the nest so it will 'blend in' with the surroundings. Most commonly available materials for them to use are lichens, mosses and bits of leaves. However, on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, where South Coast Botanic Gardens is located, it is a rather affluent neighborhood with a rural flare to it and horses are very much the norm. Horses mean stables and horse trails, and stables and horse trails lead to wooden structures, so City codes were established that all wooden structures had to be painted white which made the neighborhoods look nice and clean. This also meant that one of the most available materials in the area were flecks of white paint, and sure enough, the Hummingbird nest Eric showed me was decorated with flecks of white paint all around the outside of the nest! What opportunists these hummingbirds are!

I'd like to thank Cindy McNatt for allowing me to use the Hummingbird photograph above. Cindy is the Garden editor of the Orange County Register and also publishes a daily blog called Dirt du Jour. Although we have never met personally or spoken on the phone, I feel we have become friends through her articles and blogs and many emails sent back and forth. Cindy is also the one who encouraged me to start this blog!

Have a great day!

Ron, the Plant Man

Tied to Mom's apron strings, a story about Hummingbirds!

One day many years ago, I was working at South Coast Botanic Gardens. There was a lady named Shirley Wells who lived locally who visited the Gardens everyday to observe the Hummingbirds in the Gardens. Shirley was an authority on Hummingbirds and had published many books and papers about the Hummingbirds living on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. I was fortunate to meet her and picked her brain about Hummingbirds. I recently found out she died not to long after I left the South Coast gardens and went to the headquarters garden, the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia.

I maintained several hummingbird feeders around the Childrens Garden area where where I was working so she usually spent a lot of time observing the Hummers in that area. This day she pointed out to me a new nest that had just been built. I would watch it each day also to observe what was going on. Two baby Hummers were hatched and the Mother carefully tended to them until it was time for them to leave the nest and fly away on their own. One of the babies did that, but the other just decided he didn't want to leave home. Mom encouraged him for several days, but finally gave up and decided it was time to build a new nest so she could start the next brood. She started the new nest about 10 feet away from the old one, and by this time was completely ignoring 'Junior' in the old nest. Junior watched her carefully, confused as to why he was being ignored, and when the new nest was finished, Junior happily flew over to the new nest and made himself right at home! He stayed for a couple of days while his frustrated Mother did everything possible to drive him away! Talk about being tied to his Mom's apron strings, this little guy surely was! Thank you Shirley for teaching me about Hummingbirds, I still enjoy feeding them and watching them 30 + years later!

If you like my story, leave a comment.

Ron, the Plant Man