Their Portion

I have an acceptance that I actually have come to embrace. It is called Their Portion. It goes like this –

The deer at the little house up north got to eat the hostas without me putting up a gate or fence. They brought me so much joy all year, and especially in the winter when there was no gardening (except planning).

We had a compromise – one where they set the terms, of course. They ate the hostas and they left the sedum alone. I could have claimed a planned decoy, but truly, they held all the cards.

Hey, hostas were kind of like perennial lettuce in that scenario 🙂 Acceptance.

The bunnies are more than welcome to start eating the hostas in the fall at the townhouse. Please do! Less for me to cut back! Even chomping down on a hosta bloom or too. Have at it!

Where it gets dicey is digging and chomping of new plantings.

IF we don’t find a little house in the cities where I can freely garden, AND I am relegated to townhome landscaping, I think I will need more “safe places” like this to grow things to bring to the camping/hunting land up north.

So seedlings and new plants are protected from this

Notice the soil “aeration” and the liberal “deadheading”.

Our outdoor buddies bring us joy.

They get their portion.

Bird bath?

This is a bird bath? Oh! We thought it was a water dish!

Sunflowers 2022?

Last year I accidentally grew a sunflower. Whether or not it was from bird seed falling into the pot of daylily seedlings, I cannot say. It was fun for the birds for sure. I suspect the squirrels swung on it and broke it, after which I cut it back and the next morning the cut piece was gone. Bunny?

We had a bumper crop of sunflower seedlings in the rock outside the edge of the patio this spring. I let a small section survive weeding, pending possible transplant.

I have a couple boring areas where transplants would look nice but the shells that get dropped are not good for other plants, so probably a no go there.

Might be adios to sunflowers in the townhouse garden this year. Maybe they can go up north.

Winter visitors and frogs playing checkers

During the winter we have dark-eyed junkos come to visit. They seem to live in our large pine tree during the winter, as they fly in and out of there quite a bit. We love seeing them, and want to continue to encourage them to return late each fall.

We are considering adding back bird feeders at the townhouse. They need to be in the rock, per the townhome covenants, but I think we have a space.

Last fall I brought a ‘Patriot’ hosta, that was in a corner by the patio, up north. The hosta was in too much sun, and it burned every year. I am taking a chance, of course, that it will be deer food up north, but I would rather feed the deer up north than burn a hosta at the townhouse.

That corner is now open. If we put a feeder there we would, again, have our acrobatic squirrel buddies antics, but our bird feeders are already squirrel worn, and they could “spread the love” to the dark-eyed junkos on the ground.

Not a “Do” yet. Thinking we’ll wait til late next fall. Perhaps a seasonal thing. Feeders in the winter, hanging sturdy solar lanterns in the summer?

In the meantime, what should go in that corner? Not a sedum – too many bees in the fall. Not a daylily – too close to the edge and will get blown by the landscape maintenance. What is sturdy and blower proof? Maybe just a garden figurine. Now what do we have already that could be put there? Frogs playing checkers? That will do 🙂

Fun story

I had a sunflower seed germinate in my pot of daylily seedlings this year. Whether or not it was from birdseed I cannot say.

It grew to be a full sunflower plant with 4 mature flowers, and it looked like a 5th on the way. The birds were digging it. I was digging it. Then the squirrels dug it. Actually they probably swung on it. It started to bend. Then the next morning it was broken.

Since I had put zero effort into it except watering the pot, I was not too sad. I cut the stalk and brought the pot of of daylily seedlings up north to plant. The next time I saw the sunflower (now just the stalk) it was under the pine tree. The next morning it was totally gone.

Nothing from that sunflower went to waste. A cooperative effort between the birds, the squirrels, and the bunnies I suspect.