I wrestled an Anaconda in my garden today

Green Anaconda Photo: Ltshears

It was 20 feet long--green, sinuous and slippery.

I was pulling it down from the lamp post at the end of my driveway when suddenly it wound around my ankles, and then coiled up to my waist. I tried to grip it to get some control, but it kept sliding through my hands. We struggled for what seemed like hours and I was panting, sweaty and wondering how much longer I could last. Luckily I had my pruners in my pocket and I was finally able to subdue it.

I'm not sure what the turning point was in the fight, but I think it caught sight of the label on the front of my tall rubber boots--Hunter--and that weakened its will.

This 20 foot garden terror has the Latin name of Hedera helix.

It's English ivy.

Once it gave up I crammed it in the yard waste container and slammed down the lid. We're due for a yard waste pick-up in a few days, but I wish it were sooner. I hear thumping from inside the container.

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The groundhog's song

Photo: Supherman

Oh, I'm Punxsutawney Phil

From the Keystone State.

Today I'll tell you all if

Spring is going to be late.

To all you eager gardeners

Who hounded me from my bed.

Go back to your flower shows*

And gardening books** instead!

*Show time! Catch the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in Seattle. Philadelphia hosts the world's largest indoor flower show. Garden experts from around the country will be flocking to the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show in San Mateo.

**I wrote two book reviews for The Union newspaper. Click to read author interviews about Fearless Color Gardens by Keeyla Meadows, and Succulent Container Gardens by Debra Lee Baldwin.

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Capitol Bees

Bee hives in the White House kitchen garden. Photo: White House

WASHINGTON (DP) The bee hives in the famed White House kitchen garden received international attention this week at the G20 Pittsburgh Summit.

White House beekeeper collecting honey. Photo: White House

White House beekeeper Charlie Brandts has collected honey from the hives and saved it for special occasions.

The First Lady's gift. Photo: White House

While world leaders gathered for economic discussions at the G20 Pittsburgh Summit, First Lady Michelle Obama acted as hostess to their wives. Her official gift to each wife was a tea set featuring White House honey.

The White House found itself in a sticky situation when the Internet began to buzz with criticism of the gifts. Advocates for bees maintained that the bees had been robbed of their honey.

Photo: Infrogmation

During the G20 Summit meeting insect-rights protesters swarmed the streets of downtown Pittsburgh singing, "All we are saying is give bees a chance", and breaking the windows of florist's shops. Special security units clad in white mesh hoods and white coveralls advanced on them, throwing smoke bombs. The protesters formed one large group and disappeared down a side street.

They were later found milling around in the lobby of the Colony Hotel and were arrested for failing to disperse. Further trouble ensued at the City Jail when the protesters insisted on occupying one holding cell with their female leader.

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The back lawn is gone

The dog and I spent many a happy summer morning sitting under the walnut tree, watching the sprinklers run on the back lawn.

Watching sprinklers makes people feel good.

The previous owners of our house dug in that sprinkler system themselves. When they came to visit, a year after we bought the house, the four of us had dinner on the back deck. My husband ran the sprinkler system to demo that it was still working well. “Oh, that’s nice,” she sighed. We all sat smiling at the lawn.

That was 13 years ago. The lawn grew tired.

Mr. Daffodil Planter and I learned about dethatching lawns (fun!) and toiled in various ways on each inch of turf: kneeling with dandelion forks, spreading compost, pacing back and forth cranking handles of seed broadcasters, hoping each time that the gods of gardening would reward our efforts.

Last month we took a long look at the tussocky, patchy quarter-acre of turf. The only one really enjoying it was our galloping dog. And she didn’t have to mow.

Fate intervened. One sprinkler head refused to cooperate. “Let’s stop watering the lawn!” we said in unison.

And we have lived happily ever after.

We don’t know what we’re going to plant instead. Henry Mitchell would tell us that an open central area in full sun is perfect for a lily pool.

He’d be right, and then we could invite Animal Planet over to film all the mule deer, mountain lions, raccoons, and probably black bears who would stop by for a sip. So, short of opening our house as a nature-watchers' bed-and-breakfast, that idea is out.

We’re counting on the "no lawn" before-and-after photos at Blue Planet Gardening to inspire us.

In the meantime, the dog and I sit under the walnut tree in the morning and watch the Steller’s Jays.

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The Americana, Ameraucana, Araucana backyard chicken confusion

Trio of Ameraucana hens. Photo: Steven Walling

I'm stumped when my backyard-chicken-tending friends tell me they have Ameraucanas.

Thanks to Martha Stewart, everyone knows that Araucana chickens lay blue-shelled eggs; and again, thanks to Martha's commercial zeal, many living rooms are painted that blue color--giving new meaning to the paint term "eggshell finish".

With the word "Americana" on all our lips this Independence Day weekend, and the possibility of social gaffes looming when the party conversation turns, as it inevitably does, to poultry, here's the difference between Ameraucanas and Araucanas.

• The breeds evolved separately and both come in lots of colors, so you can't tell by the feathers.
• Ameraucanas have tails.
• Araucanas have ear tufts.
• Both breeds lay blue eggs, have pea combs and red earlobes.

You didn't know that chickens had earlobes until just now, did you?

Here's the tricky part. Ameraucanas are very rare:

• If the hen lays blue eggs and the owner says it's an Ameraucana, odds are it's actually a mixed-breed hen in the catch-all category of Easter Egger. A real Ameraucana has slate-blue legs.

But don't bring that up, unless you want to ruin the Fourth of July party.

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Backyard Turkeys: The Next Wave in Gardening

Tom Terrific "displaying" for photographer Astrid Pryor

Meet Tom Terrific, the Narragansett turkey. He's a sociable guy, in fact you could call him a party animal. If he hears human laughter nearby he bowls over and gobbles happily, joining in.

Tom lives in a pretty garden in Grass Valley, California where he and his lady turkey hens stroll and peck. Tom likes to gobble to his neighbors while they're gardening, or talk through the fence to his Afghan Hound pals. If there's no one around he goes to his owner's side door, walks up the steps, and taps on the glass.

Tom strutted to his front fence to chat me up one afternoon. His friendly gobble and intelligent eyes were irresistible. I'd always heard that turkeys were dumber than a box of rocks, but Tom certainly wasn't.

Tom Terrific looks like he just came off a Thanksgiving Day place card. His ancestors and their cousins, the Bronzes, are the archetypal birds we see in illustrations every November.

Tom descends from a cross of English turkeys and the wild Eastern Turkeys in America. Narragansett turkeys boast black and white barred feathers (the striped effect) and sociable temperaments.

Temperament matters these days, as poultry has caught the American imagination and backyard chickens are all the rage. If you want to stay a four-toed, salmon-colored, clawed-foot ahead in the stylish living race, why not get a turkey now, before the rush starts in 2010?

The Narragansetts need your help, as they are losing the popularity contest to the Bronzes. The Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities is concerned.

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Win a $100 gift card from Home Depot!

Two things I've always wanted: a cute goat and a classic wooden picnic table.

The Home Depot Garden Club has directions on how to make the picnic table. I think I'm on my own for the goat acquisition.

Would you like that table for your own garden lunches and dinners? Or as a play structure for your goat? 

Head over to Home Depot's Garden Club site and look through the popular gardening and outdoor living DIY projects. 

If you're not into DIY, you'll find information on landscaping that works in your region, and an extensive plant directory that you can search six ways from Sunday. 

Come back here and leave a comment naming a feature you like about the Garden Club. On Friday evening I'll have a random drawing from all the comments and one of you will win a $100 Home Depot gift card. Check in on Friday evening to see who won! 

Home Depot will Fed Ex the gift card to the lucky winner, so I'll need your email if you win, in order to get your street address and phone number. Don't put that info in your comment. The winner must be a U.S. resident. 

Bonus: If you register with the Garden Club you'll get coupons and more garden information.

To leave a comment, click on the word COMMENTS below. 

Please use a name of some kind to identify yourself. One easy way to get a name is to sign up for a free Gmail account; the name you use as part of that address will be your Google name. A Google name is one of the choices that can be selected in the Comments box. 

If you're having trouble leaving a comment it may be that your computer is blocking cookies from Blogger. Quick ! Fix that! Don't you want the $100 gift card? 

Congress to Buy Sheep for the White House Lawn

WASHINGTON (DP) Sheep may safely graze on the White House lawn for the first time since the Wilson administration.

Congress shepherded in a special financial allocation for the purchase of sheep to crop and fertilize the lawn at the Executive Mansion. The use of sheep will eliminate the need for gasoline-powered lawn mowers and petroleum-based fertilizers.

The Congressional bipartisan, ad hoc committees formed last month to support the White House vegetable garden have been a resounding success. Starting today, two new committees will expand the scope of Congressional aid to the White House grounds.

Organic Lawn

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

Sheep

Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO)

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)

The vegetable garden committees established a few weeks ago are still accepting new members.

The Sheep committee, however, is being quite selective and turned down an application from Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA).

Chicken Lady Hall of Fame: The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire

Chatsworth House

Chickens are about to overrun the gardens of America. Did you know that the suppliers of chicks have already sold out of many breeds?

We've all heard that every American has turned to vegetable gardening in a big way, and that none of us will be able to attend potlucks this summer unless we can bring our own homegrown tomatoes (this includes Manhattanites who garden on fire escapes). Now it appears that our farming genes have gone hog wild and we are in Old MacDonald mode--where a man's home is no longer his castle, but instead his fully-fledged farm complete with chickens.

My first hint that this trend was on the wing was when I read that Heather at Idaho Small Goat Garden was frantic for fowl, and just barely got her order for chicks filled. In gardening we often look to England for our advisers, and the lovely visage of the leading Chicken Lady of them all sprang instantly to my mind.

England's most famous chicken owner is the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire--also known as Deborah, Debo, or, most often, Her Grace.

As the chatelaine of Chatsworth, the ducal stately home in Derbyshire, she continued her own Mitford family tradition of keeping chickens.

The Dowager Duchess is the youngest of the flock of famous Mitford sisters. She grew up in Gloucestershire caring for Rhode Island Reds and White Leghorns, and at Chatsworth raised award-winning Dorkings, Derbyshire Redcaps, Welsummers, White Leghorns and Buff Cochins. Most of her chickens have the run of the park and are a curiosity for tourists. Talk about free range--we should be so lucky as to wander the gardens of Chatsworth without paying an entrance fee.

The Poultry Club of Great Britain praised the Dowager Duchess as "an excellent example of everything which is good about the Poultry Club." I'm not sure what that means, but it has a nice Edwardian ring to it. A true poultry fancier indoors as well as out, Her Grace is a collector of paintings and china depicting chickens. You think that puts her at the top of the pecking order of Chicken Ladies? There's more.

Gifted with business sense, and the Mitford literary skill, the Dowager Duchess wrote several books about life at Chatsworth, including a memoir, Counting My Chickens... The cover illustration of the first edition is a photo of Her Grace holding one of her chickens.

A prize to my first reader who correctly identifies the breed of chicken on the book cover. The winner will receive a prominent mention in my next Chicken Lady post--I would have awarded a live chick, but they're all sold out.

Looking for a garden blogger near you?

It can get lonely out there in the garden.

Take my neighbor in the photo, who's clearly wanting to make contact with someone. I suspect that particular mountain lion is focused on pest control issues, and isn't in the mood to kick back and swap stories about how much snow we had two weeks ago--but I'm just guessing.

For neighborly chat and advice, it's great to be able to turn to garden bloggers in one's own neck of the woods. If this mountain lion had a garden blog, what would it be called? A Mountain Lion's Tale?

If the lion is as smart as I think he is, he'll find dinner and then afterward log on to Blotanical, the international directory of almost 1500 garden blogs.

With Blotanical he can use the site's map of the world to find other garden bloggers in the Sierra Nevada foothills. We're a fun bunch, and he could really get his teeth into our discussions about deer in the garden.

He can also check out countries that hold particular interest for him--no East African garden bloggers yet, but he might enjoy the videos of wild birds at the United Kingdom blogs.

If he wants to locate native plant bloggers who share some of his particular enthusiasms (manzanita, anyone?) he can type the plant name in to "search blogs" and he'll receive a list of posts about it.

Believe me, there are posts on "mountain lions" too, so that should give him something to chew on, these long winter nights.

Dinner Date in the Sierra Nevada Foothills

No, we're not having venison for dinner! Perish the thought. That's one of my dinner guests you're looking at. As you can see, she's enjoying an appetizer. 

Garden bloggers around the world are hosting fantasy dinner parties Saturday night, the brain wave of Veg Plotting. 

My fantasy dinner guests are all residents of Nevada County who spend a great deal of time in gardens: garden author Carolyn Singer, garden blogger Pomona Belvedere, and two mule deer. I considered inviting a mountain lion too (another of our wild neighbors) but was concerned that his social skills might be lacking.

Carolyn is writing a series of books on deerproof gardening (the first two volumes of Deer In My Garden are in print right now). 

The two mule deer would be chewing a series of plants in my garden, but there isn't much here to interest them, thanks to Carolyn. One of our perennial beds is in the middle of a longtime deer trail, so the deer hop the fence in, look around, and hop another fence out. 

Pomona is a scholar and a gardener, steeped in lore from garden literature past and present. She blogs at Tulips in the Woods.

Pomona pointed out the potential seating problems, so we will serve dinner buffet style in the living room, where the two deer can recline on sofas.

The menu for humans includes goat cheese pizza and salad; the deer will have organic roses and tulips (I think they like those), with a salt lick as a palate cleanser between courses.

I hope for a wide-ranging discussion on how gardeners and deer can peacefully coexist, with creative and productive gardens alongside happy habitats for deer. It's possible the deer will lodge some complaints about our dog who barks (but does not chase). 

With any luck we can end the evening with some hoof-tapping dancing!