Deer Everywhere

June has seen at best a single rainstorm that gave us less than one tenth of an inch of rainfall.  Weather systems carrying moisture pass either north or south of us.  Our plants are nearly surviving on the dew that forms each night.  A chosen few get a sprinkling can of well water during the early hours of the day.   Hours are spent each day carrying water to the plants.  I have become such a regular part of this scene that a bird recently landed atop my hat like I was a fountain in a park!  That was a first for me.

This coral bells is directly in front of me in the first photo.  The deer seldom come inside of the square but the field grasses are crunchy dry.  Moist plants that received water from the sprinkling can appear to now be at risk.  More wire cages might be an answer but one of my larger rectangular cages was flipped on its back by some animal.  That has never happened here before.

This white phlox is to my right in the first photo.  Cut stem ends show that a deer trimmed this plant to the height of the cage.  Phlox are at risk early in the year but the foragers have moved on to other food sources by now in a normal year.  Taller cages are unsightly but may become necessary.

We call this plant Inga's mallow in memory of the gardener that first gave us this plant.  It self seeds and so far it faithfully reappears each year.  The rusty old cylindrical wire cage was placed early since the deer love to eat this plant.  The plant is far too beautiful to risk losing so protection is a must.

The potatoes receive daily attention.  Two five gallon cans and both sprinkling cans are filled with water and trucked to the garden near the woods.  Hand weeding and hilling revealed dampness just under the surface of the soil.  This was a welcome sight as I was unsure that my meager efforts were supplying adequate moisture.  Yesterday I was working on hands and knees at the far end of these plants.  I looked up to see twin fawns standing just outside of the fenced area.  Their first reaction was to freeze motionless.  This gave me a good long look at them.  Then mother called her offspring and they bounded into the tall growth at wood's edge.  Despite the deer damage recently inflicted onto my plants, seeing two fawns up close was a real thrill.

Seven Days From Frigid To Fantastic

When the snow on the garden finally melted this spring, my uncaged tree peony received another  pruning from the deer.  This year they cut it back hard!  The plant was ugly, misshapen and dead looking.  I have always been conflicted about pruning this plant since I have read that they should not be cut back.  This year I snapped off the dead wood and cut it back hard.  It was starting to look great and then on May 22 we got a hard freeze.  Fortunately we covered the plant with a sleeping bag and a plastic tarp.  When we got frost again the next night I had my doubts, but once the sun came out, the weather warmed and the tree peony exploded with growth!

I have had this plant in the same spot for years. It has never shown me anything like this.  I count eleven big beautiful blossoms in this picture and there are a couple on the back side of the bush that don't show.  This plant could stop a bus on the highway driving by at 60, but of course no one drives by this garden.

I did not measure this intriguing flower, but it is much bigger than the picture, at least 5 inches across.  These flowers do not appear to have any scent.  I suppose if you can dazzle with that kind of flamboyance, who needs perfume.  Now I'm wondering if I should uncover the plant for the winter and let the deer do the pruning for me. Perhaps the plant thrives on adversity.   Like Scarlet I'll think about that tomorrow.  In the meantime, "Oh WOW!!!   Check out my tree peony!"