Waking to Chomps

The radio was softly playing at 5:50 this morning to gently wake me up. But what was that other sound? Not coming from the radio, but from outside. Chomping sounds.

I jumped out of bed and looked out my window into my perennial bed. Arghh! The doe and her two fawn were there having their morning feast. I clapped since they couldn't see me in the dawn light. They bounded off. I haven't gone out to assess what damage they've done. I can only guess. Time for more liquid fence.

When I came to the other end of the house I realized the sound of the fountain in the pond wasn't audible. I bet the fawn was in there again and knocked it over. I'll have to put on my boots this morning to right it. It can wait until I finish my tea and my walk for the newspaper.

Is there hope for a garden in deer territory? This is the end of my third summer here in these woods and I still feel like I'm losing the battle to the deer. I wonder if my plants will ever get to the size where a little bit of nibbling won't matter.

Late August Blooms

I was watering this evening and spied a lovely bright goldfinch. First it perched on an old stem of a day lily near my pond. Then it flew to the Russian sage and perched there. I hoped it would stick around until I got the camera, but it was gone. I took these pictures instead.

Here is a crepe myrtle that I got from the Arbor Day Foundation as a twig. Originally it was planted with the other 10 trees I received two years ago. Only three survived and when this one bloomed last year I knew what it was. I moved it this spring to this location and look forward to it growing much taller.

The butterfly bushes are loaded with new blooms. There were no butterflies on these this evening, but Sarah saw some today. One in particular caught her eye because it was so tiny.

This year I opted not to dehead the spent blooms. The bushes are so big. For awhile I was regretting my decision because they seemed to be covered only with spent blooms. Now they are back to being full and fragrant with new flowers.




Here are some black-eyed susans that the groundhog did not find. These came from my old house in Columbia. I returned there once we moved into this house and dug up some lily of the valley that had come from Dan's grandfather's home many years before. In digging up those I got a clump of these too. They make a great combination because they bloom at different seasons.
















Finally, here is a blossom on one of my two hydrangeas. The first time this bloomed it was pink. Now it's blue. Must be from some fertilizer I gave it who knows when. It's on the backside of the bush so the deer can't see it to eat it.

Nature Preserve

I am living in a nature preserve. This morning on my walk to and from the mailbox to get the morning newspaper I flushed a total of ten deer, two of which were fawns and at least four of which were bucks with good antlers growing. Later as we drove out the doe and her two fawns were again by the roadside. The Prius is so quiet that they don't run when we come. They can't smell us in the car, so it's a "who blinks first" game to see who will turn away first.

I haven't sprayed my garden with liquid fence for awhile. I'll have to see tomorrow afternoon what they have been eating there and elsewhere in the yard.

School

I'm back at school for another year. I'd much rather be in my garden or on my porch reading a book. There's a flowering plant in my wetlands that I want to examine more closely, photograph and post here. I won't have time for any of that until the weekend now that school has started again.