"Oh, how cute". Three deer were up near the back of the house. Kay's reaction was not quite my own. Last year I festooned their favorite shrubs with Irish Spring Soap. It worked. The plants were spared. This year, for some reason known only to deer, they browsed on everything up to the cakes of soap. Yes Barbara, the Irish deer have now migrated to our area.
Does anyone have a really foolproof way of deterring deer without using an electric fence or wrapping things in burlap? If so, I would like to know of some method that lasts all winter. Shotguns and pet Saber Tooth Tigers are not accepted. However, I will consider other creatures as guards. Now where may I obtain one or two young ones?
Early last fall I took some cuttings of a tender Hibiscus to be nurtured indoors before being placed outdoors again the following year. They did not seem to be doing all too well at first so I clipped off many more cuttings before frost finished off the plants. I rooted the cuttings in water which seemed quite satisfactory for this variety, Hibiscus acetocella, Red Shield. Change the water every week. The cuttings all took off and I ended up with well over a dozen small plants. Much to my surprise, about half a dozen now have flower buds about to pop open. Miniature flowers but flowers just the same. This year I pinched back most of the Hibiscus transplants when they were only some few inches tall. I first thought this was the reason for the flower buds. In previous years I only pinched them back when they were about to hit the ceiling. Now, even the plants that were not pinched back are forming flower buds. This plant does not survive our winters. It was minus 10°F recently ( minus 23°C) and it is due to be colder tonight. That's nothing. It was minus 38°F in Saranac Lake in the Adirondack Mountains. That is where I have reserved an Inn for a family reunion next summer. I hope it warms up by then. Snow cover so far this winter is minimal. Minimal as compared to what is possible and usual. Some of my plants survive only under a deep blanket of insulating snow. But indoors all is warm. Every south facing window has its share and then some of greenery. It is
 |
 |
 |
