What have I been up to of late?
Glad you asked.
I finally got around to installing my Screech Owl house. Fine, I didn’t physically install it so much as I was an active gofer for my handy brother-in-law who fortunately lives two houses away.
You all know me too well.
The owl house was installed during the day on Saturday at a temperature close to 70 degrees and got its first test that night when we had gusting winds and almost 2 inches of snow.
Yay, November.
Who can resist a good late season plant sale? How about this monster bargain:
50 cents x 3 is so worth the risk of getting these through the winter. They are all Carex buchananii ‘Red Rooster’.
I consider it research for my ornamental grasses book.
A tax write-off.
Wish me luck.
Some times you just have a feeling.
Some times your gut tells you to just do it.
Some times you need it.
As silly as that all sounds, it all added up to me attempting to grow tulips successfully for the first time ever (not including in containers).
There is a deeper meaning at play here and one I’ll never talk about.
I need this to work and I’m confident that it will.
Tulips don’t dig the wet winter soil and that has been my problem for decades.
Until 2017 that is.
We now wait until spring where my blind faith will hopefully pay huge dividends.
Beyond all that, I’ve been doing my best to soak in what is left in terms of color out in the garden.
Spirea nipponica ‘Snowmound’
Heuchera
Rhamnus frangula ‘Fine Line’
Pycnanthemum incanum (Hoary mountain mint)
And you know, ornamental grasses.
You do realize that next to hostas, tulips are the favorite snack of deer. I don’t think drainage will be your problem. Good luck.
I know Pat. If I can get even one bloom, I’ll be ecstatic. Knock on wood, I’ve had little deer damage in spring the past few years. Fingers crossed!
What our garden club has done in the past is to plant daffodils outside of the tulips. If you’re lucky and they bloom at the same time, you’ll have some deer protection much like your grasses.
Awesome idea Linda! I have some daffodils sitting in the garage right now. Have a great day!!
One year I put a little Vicks Vapo Rub on the tulip leaves. Stopped the deer damage. They have been know to eat my emerging tulips to the ground. Now I plant in the vegetable garden which is surrounded by an electric fence. Love your blog and the garden pictures.
Beth – I never heard about Vicks Vapo Rub before. I have to try it. Thanks for the idea!