Joani's Corner

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Joani
by Joani MacCubbin

April, 2004

Spring has arrived and worries of a late frost are totally over. Time to visit your favorite garden center and fill up the trunk.....better still borrow a pick-up truck go wild!! Plan to make this spring the most beautiful and colorful spring ever and.....you can start right in your own backyard.

This month in Joani's Corner:

We all know that along with spring comes thoughts of love, romance and maybe even a few trips to the beach. That is, of course, right after you've finished your weeding, mowing and watering all those wonderful new flowers. Oops, I kind of got off track here.....lets get back to the love thing! The 'love' I'm referring to is love bugs. We're all going to experience them, whether they're just hanging around our yard or stuck like super glue to our cars.

One of our healthiest vegetables is a sweetpotato, right? Or is it a Yam? Are you actually sure what you are eating?? We'll get that straightened out!

And finally, to celebrate the season, a Welcome Spring Wreath for over your fireplace, kitchen, garden gate or front door.

Love Bugs

Yes as we've previously said spring 'is' the air. And love is in the air too, no not the Valentine's Day love but the bug kind and they're flying all around us......the Lovebugs are back! All you have to do is look up and around and you'll see for yourself.

They made a minor appearance a little earlier this year, but their usual arrival time is in April or May and again in September.

Love bugs have been Florida residents since 1949 and first discovered in Escambia County in North Florida. No one is really sure where they came from but it's thought that they were accidently brought into Louisiana by boat and then migrated into Florida. Let's face it many of us did the same thing, too! Even the love bugs figured that Florida would be a nice place to live.

Most of what we hear about love bugs is bad but they're not all bad. They don't sting, bite or even bother our plants. A female love bug only lives 2 or 3 days but in that time she lays from 100 to 350 eggs in decaying vegetation. Her larvae then feeds on the decaying plant matter and converts it into organic compounds which is reused by our growing plants.......similar to what earthworms do for our soil.

Love bugs feed on nectar and the pollen of plants in the vicinity of where they were hatched. Contrary to what many people think, they do not feed on car paint.

For some reason they are attracted to car exhaust fumes, hot engines, vibrations of cars, recently parked cars and barbecue grills. Love bug larvae are found in huge numbers in pasture-type communities. This probably explains why we see so many of those flying pests that plague our cars when we're traveling on rural highways.

They only fly during daylight. So if they're really bugging you and your car.......travel at night or very early in the morning while they're sleeping! And if you must travel in lovebug infested areas. Car wash experts say that your car's best defense is a good coat of wax.

Finally we must remember that we're hitting them.....they're not hitting us!!

The Difference Between a Sweet Potato and a Yam

Do you know what the difference is between a sweetpotato and a yam?

To make this fairly easy to understand. What we usually buy and consume are sweetpotatoes. Incidently sweetpotatoes is one word.......so as not to be confused with regular potatoes which are totally different. Even though they appear similar to each other, yams and sweet potatoes aren't even distantly related. They are in two different botanical families. Yams are actually related to grasses.

Sweetpotatoes have a golden yellow or orange flesh and a moist texture. They're actually edible roots and are commercially grown in the southern areas of the United States. Mississippi claims to be the sweet potato capital of the world.

Over 1.4 billion pounds of sweet potatoes are grown in the United States every year. To produce a sweetpotato you must have 130 days of frost-free growing conditions. So in the north it would be very difficult if not impossible to raise them.

Sweet Potato

The sweetpotato is very nutritious and one of the leading vegetable sources of Vitamin A and C and a very good source of fiber and protein.

Sweetpotatoes is a vegetable that will grow quite well here in Florida during the summer months.

Now for the Yam........They are a tropical crop and grown as a cash crop in China, Japan and West Africa where they originated. Yams are white-fleshed and huge. One yam can weigh as much as 8 - 10 pounds. Yams aren't all that tasty either.....not very sweet or tasty but very dry and starchy. Now for their vitamin content......there is no Vitamin A or any other vitamins in yams. The only thing Yams appear to have in any quantity other than their size is their calorie count which is very high.

So when you're in your favorite grocery store don't worry, it'll be sweetpotatoes that you see. Even though you may notice that the word 'yam' used in stores or package labeling it will be sweetpotatoes that you are buying. Take a few home, bake or boil them and enjoy all the taste and nutrition they have to offer.

Welcome Spring Wreath

Materials Needed:

	18" grapevine wreath	Materials Click to Enlarge
	Hanging Spanish moss
	2 pieces of 12" long fine wire
	3" wide wire-edged ribbon in a garden or spring flower theme
	Miscellaneous miniature gardening items...... Look for: little pots, garden chairs, garden tools, birdhouses, signs, fencing, little straw hats, watering cans, bird baths, etc. (These items were found in discount dept., dollar and craft stores. Check also in unfinished wood or the dollhouse areas in a craft or hobby store.

Begin by hanging up your wreath at eye-level where you can easily see what you're creating. Add Spanish moss at the lower part of the wreath as a staging for your design. Pack it well and try to make a semi-flat area. You will use this area to place your gathered gardening items.
Take a little more of the moss and drape it lightly up one side of the wreath to give it that Florida look and keep your design consistent.

Click to Enlarge

Now comes the fun part. It's time to make your spring garden scene. Arrange your items on the moss 'stage'. Try to make a pleasing but not over-crowded. If you have any little signs hang them from the wreath with wire. You can easily make a few yourself with pieces from white 3x5 cards that say 'Welcome Spring', Welcome or even your last name. Punch two little holes at the top and hang from the wreath with a little piece of wire.

You may glue or wire your garden items in place or just leave them anchored slightly in the moss. If you don't glue them, you can change or add to your creation any time you want. You might like to change your wreath as the seasons change, so keep your eyes open to 'little' things throughout the year. !! Note: if you are going to use your wreath on the front door, please glue the items to your wreath as just the closing of a door could result in your creation scattered everywhere!! Use either a glue gun or a white glue that dries clear.

Keep in mind that too many cutesy items can spoil the final effect so keep it simple.
Now to complete your wreath add a pretty bow at the top and wire it to the wreath. Place a wire loop on the back of the wreath so you can hang it on your door. Other good places to display your wreath could be in the kitchen, on a garden gate, or on the wall in an inside porch or patio. We have ours hanging over the fireplace.