New property, new challenges, new unknown plants

try oregano! I later was sorry I didn't suggest that. Or marjoram. Not basil or dill.

I looked up pictures of both oregano and marjoram, and I can't tell the difference! Ugh! Here are some closer pics of the "unknown" herb.

You're not the only one confused with oreganos. I first had one with tiny leaves and intense scent of oregano. it died, and my next one had bigger leaves and just wa s not the same. THen my hunt for true greek oregano, and the waters seem muddied in this area. Marjoram that I has was softer...i think it comes down to how is the smell and taste,

maybe someone more herbal can tell with the pics....

Ok, I'll post it in i.d. forum

In the meantime, I discovered a few things. First, I don't have just one empress tree...I have two little saplings and one that is as tall as an oak. It's next to some tree of heavens that are in the woods, and I thought it was one of those, but yesterday I glanced up and saw purple. Broke out the binoculars and saw the flowers. The tree is freakin' TALL.

Second, there's a succulent growing in the garden pond landscaping. I found a plant tag on the ground, not near it, but when I looked up the name on the plant tag, it sure does look like the same leaves. The plant tag says Sedum spectabile "Autumn Joy".

Third, the berry bushes are starting to bloom! Yay!

Usually oregano has a fuzzy softleaf appearance. Marjoram is a gentler oregano- pink blooms. basils reseed where i am, but dont overwinter even in our south. doesnt appear to be a monarda nor a verbena(lemon esp) - try to imagine what food the smell would go best with...i was lookin for my oregano pix but am delayed getting home to my puter so not much good with just phone.

I don't use marjoram in my cooking, so I don't know what it smells like. I have no oregano on hand, so I can't compare the smell. I'll have to wait until it flowers to see if that will help tell the difference. IF they survive...I have to replant them in a bed I'll be designating for herbs, and it's one of the last beds I'll be weeding and getting ready...I have got to concentrate on the beds for veggies...I'm already way behind in the planting schedule. I'll tell ya what, the veggies better be worth it! LOL...my back hurts so bad from weeding day in and day out.

I dont think it is oregano. Maybe Stevia, thousands of oreganoes. many grow them simply for the bees like basils- not all of em are actually considered culinary. Thats why I suggested trying to smell a crushed leaf and imagine what food you could see using it with.

For me oregano =pizza place

We use it in Mexican dishes as well as pizza. Takes greek oregano to have a strong flavor. It isnt Stevia, tho I have a new start with my cinnamon basil this year. It isnt a thyme. I want so bad to smell it! Am sittin here in Allentown about to head for Dallas. Raindrops comin and goin.

montanad--I mis spoke about my Fig. If you have a Fig, it would be a bush of sort of thick branches, not very branchy if you know what I mean. And mine has still not much leaf growth- except for one low branch that I am rooting pinned to the ground. It has three very large open leaves.

Canes on a fig arent complicated, but wait for a leaf, I hope I am headed home, How are you marking your finds when sure of what plant you have? My dau tol me she wasnt having lil frog markers on her plants, so I have a different idea now. Home

Sally...do you have a pic you can upload so I can see?

Kitt...I haven't marked anything yet...it's all in my head :). I just ordered plant markers from amazon...as soon as they come in the mail, i plan on writing everything I've gotten identified on them and placing them where they belong!

Hi MD

You mentioned having a Brown Turkey Fig tree.....mine may be a bit ahead of yours, but here are a couple pics. The leaves are a bit variable in shape and size. One thing we discovered about this fig tree, almost every cutting you stick in soil will root...my FIL tells the story of a neighbor cutting down a number of large old Turkey Fig trees...said he didn't like them and wanted them gone. He decided to use the larger trunks as fence posts for a section of his chicken coop.....sure enough, the following year every one of the trunks sprouted and he had three times the number of fig trees. I would have thought he was teasing had we not seen the trees in question....a chicken coop with a "wall" of fig trees....neighbor said the good Lord musta wanted him to have figs so he left them.

I noticed after I posted these, that the last pic actually has a few tiny figs growing.

This message was edited May 8, 2013 8:15 PM

Yup. Tho I have seen a few figs that didnt fruit ever from planting suckers, the brown turkey fig doesnt have tthat problem

Haven't seen a tree like that. I looked yesterday, and didn't see one.

I have recently started some landscaping behind my store and I found this vine going everywhere and have no idea what it is. Please Help!!!!!"

Hi Rob.

Your vine looks a lot like Ampelopsis arborea Pepper vine New growth is always red fading to green.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/newsletters/hortupdate/2008/jan08/Peppervine.html

Just a word of caution....it is always best to start a new post for plant ID's.....when adding to an existing post, you run the risk of your query getting lost or over looked.

"Just a word of caution...it is always best to start a new post for plant ID's...when adding to an existing post, you run the risk of your query getting lost or over looked."

AND you run the risk of ticking off the thread starter (me) for hijacking their thread. Just saying.

New subscribers havent looked at the bottom to find how to start their own threads... chuckle.Home!
1) cilantro next to marigolds
2) cinnamon basil
3) and 4) and 5) oregano and lemon thyme, my daughter and I also grow a basil that doesnt seed, but we root it thru winter and it starts back up in the spring, and a red leaf baasil that self sows and tho being removed approximately 3 yrs ago has to still be pulled when the seeds sprout each spring

I haven't updated for a while, so be prepared...lots of pics!

First, I don't know how many of you who will read this have the Brood II Magicicadas emerging, but I know they are everywhere here! For a week now all I can hear when I open the windows or go outside is the sound of UFOs...the song of the male cicadas. I wrote an article on them on my blog...lots more pictures there (here's the link to my blog if anyone is interested...I hope so, I started it when we moved into this new house...I've posted about my chickens, the garden and landscaping, my Native American crafting hobby, and lots more stuff...if you want to read, here ya go: http://montanadolphin.wordpress.com/ )

Anyhoo, here's some pics of the cicadas! Also, I recorded their eerie UFO sound and uploaded it to youtube and my photobucket. Here's a link if you want to hear what I hear every day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OWyqixZpt4

First two pics are of the nymphs that have just emerged from their dens in the ground...climbing a tree to perch and transform
The last three are of the adult cicadas (the yellow one is still drying after coming out of its exoskeleton).

Now for some critters...toads have had "Toad Mating Night" three times so far in my garden pond. I've also heard (and seen and touched) some gray tree frogs, bull frogs, and teeny weenie frogs!
Apparently my pond is a brothel! There is so much reptile sex going on here it would make a hooker blush! (LOL LOL LOL!!) The tadpoles are EVERYWHERE!!

So far so good on the snakes...I've only found two kinds, and both are harmless. No copperheads have been seen (which is the only poisonous snake found here) and I'm hoping it stays that way!

Lots and lots of bugs :)

Praying Mantis oothecas (egg casing) have hatched as well!

More bugs

Tulip Poplar flower, blackberry bush at pond, pretty yellow flowers, fruit on tree out front (dunno if it's cherry or not), and Astilbe flowers are getting ready to bloom

Roses have begun to bloom, another salvia plant at pond, irises turned out to be a dirty yellow color, and the last picture is of the unknown plant which possibly may be a lily? It's got flower buds coming up...so within a week I should see color!

Time for an update! First, my poor Silver Dollar Eucalyptus is gone. It's dead. All the branches have turned brown. Stupid people that used to live here should have planted it in a better spot!!!

I found out what the fruit tree is in the front yard that I thought was a cherry tree. I found this white tag sticking OUT of the trunk of the tree...I pulled it out and although the first word was illegible, I could make out "Rosa Plum". So, that means it was most likely a Santa Rosa Plum. Unfortunately I had to pull every single unripened fruit off the tree thanks to the wonderful Plum Curculio weevils. Every fruit had eggs laid in it, and I opened some up and saw the tiny worms. Ick. The tree is in bad shape anyway, with part of the trunk area broken off. I'm so bummed! I was excited I had a fruit tree, and now no fruit! Thinking I should probably just remove the tree and plant something else. Stupid bugs!!!!!

My grape vine is infected with black rot. Noticed rust colored spots on a lot of the leaves, and after a post inquiry, discovered what the fungus was. I spent two hours snipping every infected leaf off the vine, and now it looks kinda nekkid. Not sure if I'll even get any grapes off of it! With the luck I've been having, they'll all shrivel up and become grape mummies before they ripen! STUPID BLACK ROT!!!!

Ok, enough of the ranting. On a good note, there have been a few surprises in the past week or two. Although that plant that I think might be a lily has not bloomed yet, another plant bloomed next to the garden pond. I thought it was just a patch of ornamental grass...shows how much I know! It's pretty and yellow (my favorite color after green...but there aren't many green flowers around LOL) and I think it's another lily. Waiting for a response in the i.d. section on it. (Edit: Just checked the i.d. forum and it was identified as a daylily called Happy Returns). My Astilbe has bloomed...some are white, some are pink. No flowers on the hostas yet but I'm ok with that. The yuccas have stalks on them with flower buds...so in the next few weeks they should bloom. Found two roses in the woods...I guess the people who used to live here tossed them out there and they grew! Gonna relocate them at some point...I just don't want to risk killing them by digging them up at the wrong time. Some primrose popped up where I relocated the hostas.

Hubby cut down the Empress tree...which revealed a couple of saplings that were hidden. Cut them down too. Discovered a couple more around the woodline...he's gonna cut them too. I decided that the smell of the flowers just isn't worth having an invasive species on my land. So tree heaven they go...along with all the tree of heavens scattered everywhere. We cut, they come back. Some are too daggone big to dig up the roots. So I'll just keep cutting. Maybe if I drill a hole in the trunk from the top and pour some roundup in the hole it will kill them? Hmmm...I might try that...it would be worth it if it works!

Lots of new critters too. I think the toads mate all season long at two or three week intervals. And we know when it's orgy time. They are LOUD. There are millions of tadpoles in the pond. I also saw some fry...tiny minnows swimming around with the tadpoles...since there are only goldfish in the pond, then I have to assume they are baby goldfish. Like I need anymore. There's already 36 in there!

Found some more snakes, figured out they are Northern Brownsnakes, completely harmless. Lots of lizards...three kept as pets (that's what happens when you have boys) because they "look like dinosaurs, Mom" (so my boys say...and named them T-Rex, T-Rex 2, and T-Rex 3). They are Eastern Fence Lizards. Oh, I forgot...they kept some skinks too...some with the blue tail.

I put up two hummingbird feeders in the landscape part of the garden pond. Never saw a hummingbird there for two weeks...then a couple showed up! One has already claimed the area as his...he perches on the butterfly bush keeping watch...and if another hummingbird comes to feed, he peep peep peeps and chases it off.

I'm going to post pictures of everything I mentioned now. A bunch of posts coming up!


This message was edited Jun 6, 2013 9:19 AM

My poor Eucalyptus and the trunk damage of the plum tree

Plum Curculio damage to fruit...plus I got a pic of two of the buggers.

Grape vine. The first three pics are before pruning, the last two are after.

Daylily, Astilbe, and Yuccas

Roses found in the woods, and Primrose with the hostas.

Forgot to mention this in my original post for today, one of the pond plants bloomed. The other one did not.

My hummingbird feeders and bird feeder with birdhouse gourd (yes, I made it myself...painted it too) set-up. Managed to get a pic of one of the hummingbirds!

Baby fishies and snake

And last but not least, the lizards. The skinks aren't out of their burrows yet (no sun hitting the tank). I'll edit and add those pics later.

Praying mantis is a natural predator for a lot of stuff. Eat hummers too. Black caterpillar looks like one of the asps/ be careful. Plum? Cherry? I have to charge my phone to go looking... You have such an awesome richness around you. Veggies draw a ton of bugs /army worms. hope you have bt around! Truly beautiful!

I know all about Mantids. I've had them for a few years as pets, starting with my first, Alice. When she died in the fall (as they all do here...even if kept as pets indoors), I cried like I lost a puppy. I even made her a little coffin out of a check box. I know, a little freaky but I don't care. She was one cool bug. She would perch on my shoulder and just sit there. And I could feed her by hand. I'll see if I can find pics and post them. I also made a video of her being hand fed a fly when she was still young...it's on a disc somewhere...I think it's on my FB account too. I'll check. If I find it, I'll post it here before I "send". I've kept praying mantids ever since, from birth to death.


First four pics are of her as a nymph. The last pic is of her dying...I held her till she passed. I know, I know, I'm nuts :P

Here's the link to the video. I added some music to it when I made it LOL. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1417143240979&l=11329029276673649

No one ever said a pet had to be furry or "the norm"...I would have been sad too. I love Mantids....they are the cats of the insect world.

They do tend to 'spit' poison, or bite, not sure which, in Louisiana. Must be a different type as I personally havent met any doin this. Shes pretty.