I came outside to my garden this morning. A beautiful morning welcomed me, a light breeze and glowing shade with dappled light covered the ground. As usual I carried my coffee while taking a walk to see what was new, improving or declining in the yard. My Stella D'Oro day lilies were a bit beat up. Yesterday I came out to the same lilies and found broken stems with a head of flowers at the top of each stem. Very disappointing, I have been awaiting these flowers after dividing and nuturing the plants for the past two years. Dismissing it as inadvertent damage done by my hubby, I just moved on. As I looked across the yard towards the water, I spied the likely culprit. A fat rabbit was sitting a short distance across the yard, completely unperturbed by my presence. It all made sense, yesterday's damage and today's damage were bunny looking for fresh salad. Time for some garden protection. I took my trusty bottle of smelly liquid hand soap and bathed much of the garden bed in the soap. The smell has succeeded in protecting the plants before. I am praying it works again. It is painful to lose the flowers just as they are starting to bloom.
Another new resident greeted me this morning. This beautiful toad was sitting right at the edge of the garden beds, perching on a red brick. I took this as an omen of garden success and bounty. If this garden is welcoming enough for a toad to feed and reside, then this garden is getting better. I am doing something right. Our layers of wood chips have brought beneficial critters that improve our soil, hold moisture for growth, and house great dinner menus for toads. When I started gardening this high and dry sandy bluff, we could not find a worm. Not one worm! The soil here couldn't hold enough water for anything but wire grass to survive. That's not fully true, there were quite a few iris plants surviving which had not bloomed in many a year. Now, I have a plethora of blooming colorful irises of many varieties, and all sorts of additional perennials growing lushly and bountifully, filling the yard with green and color. These irises seen above, bloomed for the first time this year. They are a welcome ruffly addition to the garden bed, a nice surprise in this heirloom garden. Maybe the turtle really can catch the fox. If determination and perseverance can trump youth, strength and speed, I might have a chance of creating my garden visions. Even I am amazed at what I have accomplished. The spring bloom has begun!
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| French Weigelia |
I came outside to my garden this morning. A beautiful morning welcomed me, a light breeze and glowing shade with dappled light covered the ground. As usual I carried my coffee while taking a walk to see what was new, improving or declining in the yard. My Stella D'Oro day lilies were a bit beat up. Yesterday I came out to the same lilies and found broken stems with a head of flowers at the top of each stem. Very disappointing, I have been awaiting these flowers after dividing and nuturing the plants for the past two years. Dismissing it as inadvertent damage done by my hubby, I just moved on. As I looked across the yard towards the water, I spied the likely culprit. A fat rabbit was sitting a short distance across the yard, completely unperturbed by my presence. It all made sense, yesterday's damage and today's damage were bunny looking for fresh salad. Time for some garden protection. I took my trusty bottle of smelly liquid hand soap and bathed much of the garden bed in the soap. The smell has succeeded in protecting the plants before. I am praying it works again. It is painful to lose the flowers just as they are starting to bloom.
Another new resident greeted me this morning. This beautiful toad was sitting right at the edge of the garden beds, perching on a red brick. I took this as an omen of garden success and bounty. If this garden is welcoming enough for a toad to feed and reside, then this garden is getting better. I am doing something right. Our layers of wood chips have brought beneficial critters that improve our soil, hold moisture for growth, and house great dinner menus for toads. When I started gardening this high and dry sandy bluff, we could not find a worm. Not one worm! The soil here couldn't hold enough water for anything but wire grass to survive. That's not fully true, there were quite a few iris plants surviving which had not bloomed in many a year. Now, I have a plethora of blooming colorful irises of many varieties, and all sorts of additional perennials growing lushly and bountifully, filling the yard with green and color. These irises seen above, bloomed for the first time this year. They are a welcome ruffly addition to the garden bed, a nice surprise in this heirloom garden. Maybe the turtle really can catch the fox. If determination and perseverance can trump youth, strength and speed, I might have a chance of creating my garden visions. Even I am amazed at what I have accomplished. The spring bloom has begun!
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