The fall bulbs are tucked into bed for the winter in the Creation Garden. Once the air began to be chilly, knowing we have only a few days of autumn, I wanted the hardy bulbs in the soil rather than in the bag.
I dealt only with Daffodils, Grape Hyacinths, and Alliums this year. I had a few Crown Imperials to plant, which proves I do not learn from experience. Tulips do not thrive from our mild winters, and Crown Imperials are no better. Trying one more time is like the rush a gambler feels when imagining the future.
We had a fraction of an inch of rain last night, which is why I watered front and back on Saturday. The next promised rain is Wednesday. Creation Gardening Team Jackson wants a long, steady rain for this year's bulbs, last year's bulbs, and the roses.
 |
| Norma Boeckler's Blue Bird |
Hardy bulbs get their generic name from their delight in building up during the autumn and winter - for spring. They are also called fall bulbs for when they are planted. The result of all that work is having no visible evidence we did anything. I farmed out a lot of the digging and tried a few plants to start their work.
I had four or five Basil plants (not seeds) and now have only one growing. I have a few examples of plants being half-way pulled from the ground, as if Sassy or a competitor interrupted the thievery. I plant to keep track and watch how the newbies are doing.
One pleasant surprise was seeing the Hummingbird Mint, barely alive, green up and look good in one isolated area - lots of sun, little competition. The mint family is loved by bees and hummingbirds, but not liked by four-footed, cute but greedy mammals.
Winterizing the Birds - A Hosta Takeover
I now have a tall bird-feeder standing high above the recently cleared backyard garden, where the bare areas are bordered by Daffodils and Humpback Whale Hostas. I ignored the feeder when squirrels helped themselves to everything, but now it is a good place to hang suet baskets.
For plenty of action on the suet I need cold weather and several weeks of feeder familiarity. Birds are highly suspicious of new feeding areas, so I figure they will do little nibbling until November. Then they are likely to attract Chickadees, Woodpeckers, Starlings, Grackles, and the ever-so-cautious Crows. Blue Jays like suet too, proof they help reduce the insect population. Suet-eaters are bug-eaters.
Back to Hostas - they are overgrown in the Rose Garden up front - too much sun and too little rain. I like the various colors almost as much as the rabbits do. They think the garden is for them, and they prance through the plants just to show how saucy they are. They ignore developed Hostas and eat new Hostas out of the ground, perhaps with help from squirrels, possums, and other freeloaders.
All Hostas are being moved into shade where their flowers will entice Hummingbirds in the backyard as much as the Rose Garden, where the Military Gardening Group watches bees and birds in this new version of Eden. I can even plant some Hostas in the wild area out back, since the mature ones can rise above the other growth and provide food sources and those inelegant but useful trumpet blooms for the Hummers.
Laugh all you want at my random style of planting. I do not foster a monoculture for a only a few creatures when I can have food for everything, beauty and entertainment for everyone.
 |
| Doves and finches love seed. |
