Tag Archives: Gretchen Quarterman

Native coral honeysuckle blooming 2025-04-02

Update 2025-04-20: Honeysuckle native and exotic 2025-04-17.

Gretchen got this native coral honeysuckle from some native plants people at A Day in the Woods a few years back, at the Gaskins Forest Education Center near Alapaha, Georgia.

[Coral honeysuckle]
Coral honeysuckle

It took a few years for this Lonicera sempervirens to establish itself, but it seems happy now. Continue reading →

Banana cubits 2025-03-24

When you don’t bring a measuring device, measure in cubits!

[Banana cubit 2025-03-23]
Banana cubit 2025-03-23

Gretchen had recently lopped off the freeze-killed tops of these banana plants, and she was observing how much they had grown out since. Continue reading →

Cherry Bowl from OPF log –Bob Gronko 2025-03-27

Yesterday, Bob Gronko sent a picture of the bowl he made from a cherry log.

[Cherry bowl Bob Gronko made from one of these cherry logs]
Cherry bowl Bob Gronko made from one of these cherry logs

He took a couple of the logs you see in this picture.

They came from the cherry tree I had to cut off the top of the corn crib after Hurricane Helene blew it onto there. Continue reading →

Wild azaleas and blueberries 2025-03-20

Down the Not A Driveway, over and under the Hurricane Helene deadfalls, following the dog pack, lies an acre of wild azaleas, plus wild blueberries.

[Blondie, Honeybun, Sky, River, over the deadfall into the wild azaleas]
Blondie, Honeybun, Sky, River, over the deadfall into the wild azaleas

Some of these Rhododendron canescens are already blooming. Many more are just budding.

[Wild azaleas, pine deadfall, and dog on Not A Driveway]
Wild azaleas, pine deadfall, and dog on Not A Driveway

[Wild azaleas and loblolly pine cones]
Wild azaleas and loblolly pine cones

[Closeup red wild azaleas]
Closeup red wild azaleas

[Wild Blueberries]
Wild Blueberries

[Pink wild azaleas]
Pink wild azaleas

[Pale wild azaleas]
Pale wild azaleas

[Wild azalea beneath oak deadfall]
Wild azalea beneath oak deadfall

[Closeup wild azalea beneath oak deadfall]
Closeup wild azalea beneath oak deadfall

“Here Spring was already busy about them: fronds pierced moss and mould, … small flowers were opening in the turf, birds were singing. Ithilien, the garden of Gondor now desolate kept still a dishevelled dryad loveliness.”
—Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit, The Two Towers, JRR Tolkien

-jsq

Gretchen measuring banana leaves 2025-03-19

A few days before, Gretchen whacked off the tops of these banana plants with a machete. She says this is necessary after they freeze in the winter.

[At least a foot]
At least a foot

That leaf measured a foot of growth.

[Sproing]
Sproing

River and Blondie assisted. -jsq

Cypress Swamp pollen 2025-02-27

The cypress swamp is full of water and pollen.

[Cypress swamp pollen]
Cypress swamp pollen

That slash pine on the left is an example of a tree blown down by Hurricane Helene that still has a rootball and green needles.

Maybe some day soon the pine salvage operation will get here for such trees. They can’t survive like that, and they have some value as saw-timber of pulpwood.

-jsq

AT&T fiber optic cable to the driveway 2025-02-23

For a dozen years, Lowndes County, Georgia, has had it as “one of our top priorities” to get broadband Internet services to more of its people.

Could it finally be happening?

[Cryptic markings, digging, polishing, and flower pot]
Cryptic markings, digging, polishing, and flower pot

A month ago I noticed these odd markings on the road out front: Continue reading →

LeConte Pear Tree 2025-02-24

This is one tree in two locations.

[Driveway and garden LeConte Pear Tree]
Driveway and garden LeConte Pear Tree

It’s a LeConte pear, introduced to Georgia in 1856 John Eatton LeConte. He was the uncle of my second cousins thrice removed Professors John and Louis LeConte. Continue reading →