Saturday, July 16, 2011


This is the Double Decker, viewed from the top. Looks like a mum. 
The plans for the Deer bed are still trying to move ahead, but with 100* heat forecasted, I didn't want to try to do it while I still have garden centers open. With much research, I decided to go with blue and scented plants. Blue fescue, upright sedum, Yarrow, 'Moonshine', artemesia, 'Lace Brocade', Salvia plumosa, Lupinus 'Russell Hybrids', Penstemon, 'Hidcote Pink', Flame Grass, and other ornamental grasses. If you have any doubts about the deer resistance of any of those, I would very much like to hear your experience! I will also be moving some threadleaf corepsis, shasta daisies, and some monarda. I also have a Ninebark and 2 winterberry hollies, and 2 Ivory Halo dogwood that need to be moved from their current places. I also have a Blue Boy and Blue Girl holly, but every winter they struggle to survive, so I might just pitch them. I will be ordering the allium Moly that I fell in love with on Zoey's blog: Check the second photo in this post!

There is a tremendous heat wave coming! They are all over the news, just like the snowstorms, they warn of imminent doom!  One thing I know for sure, we are going to burn up the well pump, if we don't get some rain, soon! Every day, I am walking the yard, noticing signs of stress, especially in the new trees we've planted. I just set the hose near the newly planted tree, set at a trickle. After a few hours, the ground is soaking and the tree is sitting up straight again and I move on to the next one. I don't hear the pump running, but I know it must be, although well water is sorta new to us, having always been city folks. 

Have you been watching the USA Women's soccer?? Hubby is an avid sports fan and watches whatever sport is on and has now got me hooked on this women's soccer team. I have never watched soccer in my life, other than the handful of games Little Darling played in elementary school. The USA women play Japan on Sunday for the championship. These women are in tremendous shape and the dedication is admirable. If you get the opportunity, check in on them on Sunday. Even the announcers have a deep respect for these women, and they are funny to listen to!
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8 comments:

  1. Good luck on your new garden bed Sissy. I'm not any good on what the deer avoid though.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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  2. Allium moly is one of my favorites too. It is a sunshiny accent along my front walk, but the ones in my back garden never multiplied and spread the way they are supposed to when happy. You need a lot of allium moly for impact, so mass them if you can. They are a real clear yellow, real cute.

    In my Connecticut garden the deer devoured Blue Princess hollies in the first years, not so much now that they are bigger. They strip the berries off my winterberry hollies --- it's not the birds, it's the deer who eat the berries! But they don't eat the foliage, so the plants thrive. The deer do nibble the upright sedums I grow, but it's just pinching, not eating to the ground.

    But deer in every locality have different tastes I think.

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  3. Sissy,
    We have a well, too, and DH is always concerned about the water I use. We have been having the same rainless hot weather and our grass is now brown and crunchy--HATE THAT!

    I have at least a hundred Sedum Autumn Joy plants and I can tell you that the deer in my yard have NEVER eaten them. Or maybe I just have so many that I never noticed? They say, if hungry enough, deer will eat just about anything.

    You have a Ninebark, too? It seems everybody has one! Until I bought mine, I had never even heard of them.

    Thanks for the shout out! My Allium Molly has increased over the years. I do let it go to seed because I want more of it. Laurie is correct in that you need quite a bit to make an impact. The bulbs are tiny, like the spring blue hyacinths -- ??? what are they called??? the names escapes me....I don't think my memory should be going at this age. :)

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  4. We get home today, and I'm wondering what the garden will look like --I know we got some rain from a big storm that moved through, but I think that's all the rain there's been in the last two weeks. I did water before I left, but with our sandy soil, the water doesn't stick around long.

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  5. @ReneeRenee, I hope all is well!! I left you a comment on your blog. Let us know how it went!

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  6. @ZoeyI am ordering 100 bulbs, to start, you think that would be enough?

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  7. @Laurrie I don't know if you've noticed, but you are now one of my "go to" blogs for deer info!

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  8. @Sunray Gardens Cher, you are lucky to not have to deal with the deer! I am working on how to keep the Yorkie from eating the fertilizer!!

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I would love to hear from you and if you can leave a comment, I will visit your blog, too!