Okie Wheel of the Year: April 12 2021

The Iris-ening Begins!

Happy New Iris Storm Moon! That is my name for this moon because I could not decide between “iris moon” and “storm moon”. Irises explode into bloom around the state this time of year and in many places are finished by Beltane. Most of the state’s average last freeze dates are before April 12, except for the panhandle, and severe weather season ramps into full gear over the next few weeks. Some places have already seen storms, but according to the most recent USDA crop report much of the state is running a little behind on rain. Wheat, oats, and rye are growing, canola is beginning to bloom, and corn and soy planting is beginning. Just about everything is getting a slightly later start than last year. That’s no surprise. All the blooming things appearing in my FB memories show that my plants are lagging a little, too, but knowing it’s not just me gives me hope for the stragglers.

baby blackjack oak

The oak trees are leafing out.  I love how the tiny leaves start out fuzzy with a pink tinge.  Oak trees are often one of the last trees to lose their leaves in fall and sometimes they can be one of the last trees to sprout new leaves in the spring.  This year some of the elms in more exposed locations are still working up energy they used staying alive through winter though and the oaks are budding out first.   Although I live in the Cross Timbers ecoregion, the land was cleared of any trees decades ago.  Faster growing trees have returned over the years, but now I scout baby oaks this time of  year as the leaves return but before the grass covers them over.  With enough protection from lawnmowers and other trees, eventually the blackjacks, post oak, and maybe chinquapin oak will return.  Blackjack oaks specifically help give the Cross Timbers the reputation for hard living - if you see a squat gnarled tree with missing limbs and few leaves on a desolate prairie hill, it is probably a blackjack.  They'll be the last thing standing after an ice storm-wildfire-tornado!

Passionflower

For the first time, I've finally been able to grow passion flower and I'm watering the heck out of it until the spring storms finally come.  Whether I'll get any fruit remains to be seen.  That's the gamble of the harvest.  It it such a unique looking flower with an important history as a food and medicine plant for humans and pollinators.  The internet says the plant is special to the Cherokee.  That may be true.  I'm in no position to know one way or the other.   I do know that if you live on top of a hill made of red clay and sandstone, it's hard to grow plants that like growing in ditches.... but not impossible! 

baby Chinquapin oak?