Where Is Mom

Our retirement land has very little road frontage but it opens up to many acres bordering several square miles of undeveloped wilderness.  In a sense we are isolated but where we live is quiet with frequent animal sightings.  In the past several years it was common to see a doe with twin fawns.  We have no way of knowing if this is her again but we certainly have twins once again.  Raising offspring is sometimes difficult and these two youngsters are unusually active.  What ever mischief one does not think of the other quickly does.  Lately it appears that mom leaves her babies here while she sneaks off for some peace and quiet.  The twins spend a great deal of time here running from one end of the mowed field to the other stopping now and then to explore our garden beds and sampling our plants.  Usually this is not a problem.

We have grown Gull's Wing Siberian Iris for years with no one eating them.  They hold the end of a planting bed making a stunning appearance.  Age has limited our garden time causing weeds to replace many of our plants.  This year these flowers have put on a stunning display for a long period of time. Yesterday morning  an awe inspiring flight of white flowers could be seen from the living room window. I thought to myself when I go outside, I should get a photo of those flowers.  Once outside I promptly forgot all about taking the picture.

Later in the evening Becky remarked about how gorgeous the Gull's wings were today.  Imagine our dismay when we looked out over our garden and saw no white flowers.  How could they be gone?  Nothing has ever eaten them before.  Becky went out to check on the plants. A very few white buds remained, but with the exception of one half-eaten petal, all of the flowers were gone. Little baby fawn footprints left no doubt.  Sometime in broad daylight those twin fawns acting on their own devoured every open blossom.  I was crushed by their loss.  I can only hope that my flowers gave the fawns the squirts.
 

Flowers Everywhere

This is one of the last Siberian iris purchased here.  The catalog picture displayed this plant as having dirty white flowers.  For several years no purchase was made since we enjoy pure white flowers.  Imagine our surprise when the new purchase first opened its blossoms here.  Over the years the mail order scraps have taken hold and are now impressive.  We want to divide our clump and will once again put it on the to do list.

Nearby our Unadilla home, an older woman lived in a very small building.  She was an excellent neighbor allowing us to tap her maple trees and engage us in pleasant conversation.  This plant was one that she carefully tended.  It was given to us by her daughter.  These plant to people connections bring to the surface pleasant memories.  This written record will help us remember since we would now be accurately classified as elderly.

 

This is another of our self planted treasures.  Digitalis is classified as a poisonous plant but only adults live here.  A former student has pleasant memories of her interaction with these flowers when she was a child.  She placed two potted plants outside of her door so that her daughter could have a similar experience.  We also find the shrinking tunnel wildly marked with colored dots magical.  Its chance occurrence close to our stone wall only increases the magic. 

This Woodland sedum has no flowers yet but its light bright leaves are beautiful in their own right.  Growing close to the sizeable stone placed to make the slope manageable adds to the appeal but that one weed needs to go.  In the not too distant past I used hand power to move this stone to its final resting place.  Repeated similar actions may be part of the reason why back ache pain is now nearly a constant companion.  The lichen covered grain of the stone and its companion plants looks great.

These Dianthus flowers look totally magical as they seem to float in the air.  Their scent is so compelling that we violated our do not pick the flowers rule with two flowers in a bowl on the kitchen counter.  These are truly a wonder.

 

 

These are the remains of an early flower named Prairie smoke.  It has been twice featured in earlier posts.  Most flowers leave nothing behind after their work making the next generation's seed is formed.  These look fragile but remain intact. 

A Cool March Day In The Garden

 Early March is the time when we look longingly out the window wondering if we can venture out to play in the garden.  It was cool this morning but the sun was so bright and the sky so blue that we threw caution to the wind and headed outside. Where  should we begin?  We wanted to stick together and so we decided to start in the garden down by the road.  Since the garden tractors are still equipped for snow, Ed loaded our garden carts and tools into the back of  his Red Ranger.  We started in front of the stone wall and the vibrations from our activity  tickled a big night-crawler to the surface.  Too bad the  flock of robins that Ed saw yesterday were gone.  They missed a feast.  I should have taken his picture, but my hands were cold and I decided not to take off my gloves to use the camera.  Finding the soil next to the wall still frozen, we moved to the Siberian iris that were in the sun.

All of the Siberian iris were need of a trim.  Who know what might be under all of those leaves?

The plant that I was working on had red bee balm growing all around it.  I knew it was there before I could see it because when it was disturbed  it gave  off its amazing scent.  I love my fragrant plants!

We had fun and seeing the bed looking neater made us both felt great, but our hands were getting very cold.  I thought we might be heading back to the house, but once inside the truck where it was warm  we decided to drive to Ed's garden in the back to check on his garlic.

Ed was not at all sure if he should be happy to see his garlic up now.  He mulched it with leaves to keep it from coming up too soon.  In the end the plants decide when the time is right.  I was glad to see it!  It was definitely time to head back to the house for lunch.  Hot soup and a grilled sandwich seemed like heaven to two chilled gardeners.  We were really glad to be inside when the wind started wailing and rain or sleet pelted the windows.  The lights blinked three different times, but the power stayed on.  Still cold the two of us cuddled together for a little afternoon nap.

When we awoke it was nice out again but cooler.  Ed went back out anyway and  trimmed this garden bed.  I was thrilled to see my Dutch iris coming up.  The cage will keep the deer from nipping them in the bud!  Gull's Wing Siberian Iris hold the left near corner.  Three small plants were mail ordered several years ago.  The tiny plant had been given up for dead but it made an appearance last year.

It was good to see this quack grass go from among the crocus.  Ed is a master at teasing these nasty invaders out of his garden soil.  A cage was put in place over the crocus.  This year the deer will not get to eat them before they bloom.