As any gardener can tell you, things happen.
Flowers don’t bloom, leaves turn brown and sometimes…. things pop up without you having any idea how they got there.
Case in point?
The pots on our back deck.
I swear …..
I didn’t plant that.
But it’s thriving all the same.
He shouldn’t be happy we had high winds that brought down part of our choke cherry tree two nights ago.
He shouldn’t be happy.
But you know he was.
Because as soon as the sun came up?
He was out there.
Trimming weight.
Anxious for the fun to begin.
Ready!
You know he’s been itching to cut something down.
So he was one happy camper.
It had to be done, but when he started eyeing the rest of the tree?
I threw myself in front of it to save the poor thing from total annihilation.
It’s a large thing.
And I have no idea how the thing got here.
I didn’t plant the thing, but maybe a woodchuck did.
The thing has started to lean…
And bloom.
Does anyone know what this thing is?
When the local nursery has a half price and buy one get one free sale in July?
You fill the back of your car.
Find room for some in an already full bed.
And replant the pots that your resident woodchucks munched to stalks.
Hopefully with flowers they don’t like.
And when the nursery extends the sale to the end of the month?
You go back again.
And cram even more flowers in a bed that’s already full just because you can.
While a red squirrel watches.
When you’re done?
You sit back on the barn porch and enjoy an adult beverage before dinner.
And watch the old doe walk up to have a snack.
Life is good.
So for the past few weeks the half dead mallows that the woodchucks munched to nubs have been soaking up Miracle Grow and sun on my deck table.
They’re coming along, but it’s slow going.
Completely out of reach of little mouths and teeth, they might have a chance.
So when I looked out the window the other day and saw momma woodchuck sniffing around the deck….
Eyeing the plants and poised for action….
I had to laugh.
Stretch all you want.
You and your buck teeth can’t reach them!
Neener, neener.
Yes men, I’m talking about you.
Remember the tree planting miracle I posted about a while ago? When the husband dug up and transplanted 3 maple trees to the far corners of our backyard?
Yes, the ones I had to water everyday because we were entering drought conditions.
Well, that stopped when I broke my toe and I told the other half he’d have to take over the job if he wanted his trees to survive.
Water every day I told him.
Which is what I did, religiously, with his little patch of grass seed next to the baby barn.
Under my watchful eye the seed sprouted…
And is now green…
Thick and lush.
The trees?
That the husband didn’t bother to water because of course I don’t know what I’m talking about…..
Not so much.
After brown?
Came bare twig.
If only he’d listened to his wife…
We live in a rural area of Maine…. and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Peace and quiet.
Visiting wildlife.
And beautiful scenery.
Some days more than others…
Living across the road from an organic vegetable farm has it’s benefits.
And fresh veggies aren’t the half of it.
Right now, the poppies are in bloom.
Glorious, riotous bloom.
And I’m enjoying every minute of it.
I mean really….
How can you not?
We’ve been busy with other things outside, but I’m still managing to keep Amazon afloat during the pandemic.
And if you’re dying to read the new Hunger Games book? Don’t bother, it was rather disappointing. And while I’d given up on Stephen King… this new collection of short stories has my late BIL in it again, thinly disguised but still recognizable to those who knew him. He and Stephen went to school together.
And no, I won’t tell you which character. I’m evil that way.
The fabulous rose I planted last year has finally decided to bloom.
And it was worth waiting for.
On another note, isn’t it great when your friends get you?
My girlfriend gave me this the other day and damn, it’s perfect!
As is this beauty.
Have you ever tried to photograph butterflies?
It’s not easy. This was the one lucky shot out of 20.
Our raccoon decided to take a bath, dig through my garden bed and then attempted to climb up the garage the other night.
Why? I have no idea.
But even I can’t argue with that.
The woodchucks.
Adorable, but hungry.
And there’s no rhyme or reason to what they’ll eat.
This echinacea?
Stripped to a stalk the same day I planted it.
They devoured it before I could even get a picture, and if you know me? You know that’s fast.
This candy cane Dianthus? Nope. They left it alone.
The exact same plant on the other side of the garden bed?
A mere shadow of itself.
WTF?
So when it came time to replant the bed I had removed the woodchuck chewed mallow from, I went to the experts and got a list.
A list of woodchuck proof flowers they were guaranteed not to eat.
Blanket flower? Check!
Planted two, they haven’t touched them.
(Please note dianthus is on the list and we all know how that turned out.)
Foxglove? Check!
They literally took one bite and ran.
Good thing since it’s the source of digitalis.
Last on the list? Yarrow.
If you’ve ever had deer nibble your gardens to a nub, you know they hate yarrow.
Every critter hates yarrow…. so I planted yarrow.
So…..
Yeah.
The little buggers are screwing with me.
There’s no other explanation.
And look at that belly…
They’re getting fat doing it!
Flowers –
For a pure burst of summer color?
You can’t beat peonies.
They’re bright, lush and smell heavenly.
Flags –
Or as my husband calls them…
Guest towels from the spare bathroom you nail into a long piece of wood when your wife isn’t looking.
Foolishness –
The gift a friend gives you because she knows you’re allergic to horsefly bites.
With a name like the Bug Bite Thing, you don’t expect it to work.
And no surprise, it didn’t. A horsefly bit me, I suctioned my arm as directed and still swelled up like a politician at a pay by the plate fundraising dinner.
More foolishness –
Contains 40% urea.
WTF!
Don’t know what urea is?
Google it, I’ll wait.
**********************
Right?
Who in the world wants to rub urine on their feet.
And on the off chance I ever do? I’ll save myself some money and ask the neighbor’s dog to pee on me. Lord knows he’s been trying to for years.
