Oh no! The Lemon-grass is Eating the Birdfeeder

 Lemon grass

Cymbopogon citratus

I have had a good lesson in planning where to  plant things and paying attention to how big they grow.  I found a little pot of lemon-grass (Cymbopogon citratus) at the nursery this past spring, and liking all things lemony, and lemon grass tea , picked it up and brought it home to plant in the herb area without researching how big it gets.  It can grow up to 5 ft. tall and spreads quite a bit as well! I think it will be moved by next spring!  I moved the bird bath next to it, and the plant really does look like it is trying to consume the bird bath.

The leaves of the plant can be put in all kinds of dishes where you want lemon flavor, but then be sure to pick them out before you serve it, (like you do bay leaves)  It is a tender perennial grass plant that comes from the tropics, and it likes full sun.  If you live in a cold climate you could put it in a pot and take it in for the winter.  I am going to try to keep mine alive through the winter  with lots of mulch. It likes moist soil and can be divided to propogate it.  Lemon grass gets added to perfumes and soaps, and its oil is good in bathwater.

                                                   Moss

This afternoon I was very excited to see that the moss is starting to come back under the oak tree in the natural area of the front yard!  Before the tornado we had 3 big oaks and the dogwood tree, lots of monkey grass and moss,  and not too much grass would grow anywhere out there.  Now that we have so much more sun, we have zoysia sod in the very front, and have tried to keep a natural area toward the house.  I don't know why people think you have to have grass everywhere, it is mostly a bother to mow, and water and so many folks try to maintain grass under their trees.  Where there is lots of shade, moss is much better.  I can't help but think about fairies when I see large expanses of moss under trees and on rocks there is something magical about it.Moss looks good with  ferns and other shade loving plants and around ponds. and it helps you to feel cooler  when you can  look at it in the heat of the  summer. Mosses are bryophytes and can spread by spores (like ferns) or vegetatively, and usually stay green all year.   Southern Living magazine had a good article on moss in the August issue and the article by Steve Bender recommended mossandstonegardens.com and tripplebrookfarm.com as places to order and to learn more about mosses.  Check it out!

Happy planting,
Gma Susie