Living in the South ~ Cajun Country ~ Flora and Fauna

For someone who loves all things green and growing, the sub-tropic climate of South Louisiana was heaven. Especially coming from a part of the country that is brown 7 - 8 months out of the year. But the climate was also very challenging.
I finally had a chance to grow all those gorgeous exotic plants that I had only dreamed about. And there was always someone around that wanted to swap plants. So much fun!! But in that lush climate, plants weren't the only things that thrived. Plant diseases and insect pests also thrived.

But I enjoyed it and I learned a lot. I became a Master Gardener. The schooling for this program is thorough and it greatly expanded my knowledge of plants. And because of this training I became a coach for the local Parish 4H horticultural team. This group of girls and I would travel around to the local nurseries in the Spring learning the identities of plants in preparation for the State competition. That was fun! I encourage everyone out there to take advantage of their local Master Gardeners. Often times these individuals can be found at the local extension office. They are trained to answer questions and assist people who have concerns about their yard, flowers or garden.

And the bugs..... Love-bugs. June-bugs. Mayflies. Cicadas. Crickets. Spiders. Mosquitoes. So many mosquitoes!!!  Chiggers!!  AGH!!  How I hate chiggers! The itch of their bite is worse than a mosquito bite. We had spiders so big that they would build webs across the bayou behind our house. The bayou was more than 10 ft. across.

And then all the other critters. Armadillos and possums living under the house.  Crawfish making castles all over the front yard. And the frogs. The wonderful serenade of frogs every night. We had bullfrogs in our pond. And little green tree frogs everywhere.... in the house, in the car, in the bathtub. And the cats were always bringing something in the house that I had to catch. But I didn't actually 'catch it'. I would find a basket or bowl that would fit over the critter and then when Hubby came home, he'd 'catch it' and take it outside.

But what I will always remember about the plant life there is the Live Oaks. These are absolutely incredible trees. They are one of the few trees that can withstand the forces of a hurricane. They are slow growing trees that do not lose their leaves like other oaks. Live Oaks are considered an evergreen in the same category as a Magnolia. They lose their leaves in the Spring.  The Live Oak Society is a registry of Live oak trees who have a girth of 8 ft. or larger. These trees are considered to be about 50 years old. When they approach 100 yrs., their girth will be at about 16 ft. Incredibly massive trees whose branches sweep so gracefully down to the ground. This is where I discovered my affinity for trees.