Guineas Have Arrived

Published Monday, July 23, 2007 by Chris | E-mail this post

I was on a ranch southwest of Ft. Worth this week and enjoyed a spectacular showing of a Texas native grass, little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium). Also had a chance to wear Fischer down, and took a picture of him in front of some nicely manicured oak trees in a pasture.

Heat treating bulbs this morning for a plant later today. We’ve been heat treating them all week and we are almost done. We bring a vat of water to a temperature to 120 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes to kill any potential nematodes or other harmful pests. We cool the bulbs down and then plant them. The treatments vary for the different crops of bulbs, but this particular crop is a late planting of elephant ears. This is our first year doing this and we will let you know how they do!

We also have a new addition to the farm. To help control grasshoppers, ticks, etc. we have introduced some lavender guineas, and the babies are called keets. Yes, they all ready keep me up at night and I look forward to when they are old enough to stay outside and handle the morning dampness that would otherwise kill them at this stage in their lives.

Blooming here is a Crinum 'Summer Nocturne.' Their fragrance is wonderful and is similar to many of the warm season night time blooming flowers, even though the blooms stay open all day. The foliage is a little more clean than a typical milk and wine lily, and they are very fast to propagate!