Northern Vinca

A tiny sliver of crescent moon might be seen by sharp eyes just above the horizon to the right of the locust tree.  The major event of recent weather was continuous cloud cover.  Just being able to see stars was a welcome sight with the moon just ahead of the rising sun a bonus.

A blue Vinca minor flower in bloom was included in a recent email from Texas.  Not to be completely outdone, a picture or two of our plants was taken.  Ours have no flowers yet but still display green leaves.

This is a true to life statement of affairs now present in upstate New York.  A dry stone wall backs our planting of this hardy plant.  Yet to find a method to control briers, the stone wall and the Vinca plants share this ground.  Bunny berries show the ever present presence of wildlife here.  The attraction of briers on rabbits was well documented by Walt Disney and appears accurate but not understood.

In the past when hiking the wilderness was possible but perhaps unwise, we occasionally stumbled onto a sizable patch of Vinca.  It is not a native plant to North America but its toughness explains why early settlers brought it with them.  Signs of human habitation in these reforested areas were not obvious save for the presence of Vinca and the tumbled down remains of a chimney.  When a scrap of this plant came our way it was hastily planted in an uncleared area.  Despite the competition from weeds and general lack of care, it has claimed a fair sized piece of ground.  Prompted by a communication from Texas, we went out in bright sunlight to capture a glimpse of one hardy plant.

Circumstantial Evidence

Winds from the south have pushed the polar vortex system away from us so a walk about outside was tempting.  Several slips on thin remains of unnoticed ice added a measure of risk, which younger folk might find exciting, but an actual fall was avoided.  The increased likelihood of a fall now ruled out a hike to the back woods.  I found something of interest close to home.

Bunny berries is the polite term for deposits left behind by wild rabbits.  These were found very close to our single surviving wild arbutus plant.  We first found arbutus here soon after we came to this land two decades ago.  Sited in the rubble at the edge of our heavy machine opened gravel bank, the plant clung to life but never flourished.  It is an old large plant so any attempt to move it to a more favorable location was quickly scuttled.  Some years we failed to find any trace of the plant at flowering time.  This spring we found the few remains of a well chewed arbutus.  Considerable new growth appeared over the summer but no flowers or buds were found.  We were encouraged by the plants ability to reestablish itself and thought that blossoms could appear next fall.

An evergreen plant faces danger during the winter months when few plants are green and therefore edible. There had been recent signs that something was feeding on these arbutus leaves.  Wildly contorted ground here presents complex challenges to cage construction.  Unable to figure out a way to protect this plant, I have left it exposed to the sometimes harsh reality of life in the wild.  Chewed edges on the few remaining leaves clearly show that something fed here but I cannot be certain that it was the rabbit.  There is no question that the rabbit was close by positioned so that its head was near the arbutus.  Bunny berries don't lie.

Our four transplanted arbutus plants and one from seed are safe under their wire cage,  edged with tightly placed sizable flat stones. Two opposable thumbs are required to remove this cage.  A quick peek through the cage found numerous clusters of flower buds.  April will soon be here and we are looking forward to the sight and scent of these first flowers.

Writing of the problem helped me find a rather simple solution to caging on uneven ground.  If small flat stones are stacked to fill the low spots, a rectangular plane can be established to support a cage.  The cage can be surrounded with larger flat stones to keep it securely placed.  Generous packing with screened gravel and chinkers could keep out the red squirrels and other rodents.  Why are simple solutions to complex appearing problems so hard to find?

A Quick Check Before the Weather Changes Again

Ed and I took a walk around in the garden this afternoon.  The snow is gone in some places and we wanted to see what there was to be seen.  We had a brief discussion over this rather large pile of wildlife pellets.  I thought bunny berries, but Ed said deer because of the sheer number present.

Right next to said pile you will find what is left of my grape hyacinths.  Ed wins this one.  The rough edges are definitely made by deer.  Bunnies leave a less ragged more professional looking diagonal cut.  We thought of putting a cage over the hyacinths after the leaves have been stolen, but found the nearby cages were still frozen to the ground.  There's not much left to nip off right now anyway.

We were delighted to find some new growth on this  chrysanthemum.   Snow cover is usually better that the freeze thaw we have been getting, but the plants frequently come through for us anyway.

This cardinal flower looks very good at this point.  We can never have too many of these!

The Cambodian Queen chrysanthemums definitely have nice green growth at the base.  We will likely find new growth appear at a great distance from the base of this plant.  These really like to run.

This bedstraw is just about actual size.  Bedstraw was  planted here by the farmer before us when our garden area was a meadow.  It's fine where Ed mows, but not in the garden beds.  If the ground had been thawed I would have been delighted to pull this weed.  It will only get bigger with each passing day.  Not to worry,  I know where this one is rooted and it is on my hit list.  I just have to wait a little longer.