A Visit from the Christmas Deer

On Christmas morning we had a herd of Whitetail Deer visiting our backyard.  The two in the video were enjoying an azalea bush.

The music in the video is Baby by cdk from ccmixter.org.

Cardinal Takes a Bath - Video

I was feeling guilty about letting the water level fall in my birdbath when this beautiful Northern Cardinal flew in for a quick shower.

Sorry for the shakiness of the camera. This male cardinal didn't wait for me to set up the tripod.

Music is called DoKashiteru by The Annual New England Xylophone Symposium and was downloaded from ccmixter.org.

Video: A Fun Recipe for Jalapenos

Back in July, I submitted my recipe for Jalapeno Poppers. Here's a video of the recipe.

Amazon - Shop. Connect. Enjoy. All from Earth's Biggest Selection.

Time for Snowbirds

                                                                   Dark-eyed Junco

The lower temperatures of November bring a change to the bird population around the backyard feeder. Small gray sparrows called Dark-eyed Juncos migrate from the north to enjoy our relatively mild winter. This is why they’ve earned the nickname “snowbirds.” People that spend the winter in Florida or warmer climates are also known as snowbirds.

Dark-eyed Juncos are beautiful gray birds. The gray color varies from light shades to a dark shade called “slate.” Their belly is white and a flash of white tail feathers can be seen in flight.

They forage on the ground looking for seeds.

What is going on with this tree?

Here’s the scenario: a young tree is found with branches broken off and a damaged trunk. What is going on? 

This could be a buck rub. A buck rub is where a male deer has rubbed the top of his head and antlers against a young tree to mark his territory during mating season.

Recent studies  have shown scent glands on the top of the male deer’s head mark their territory as they are pressed against a tree. In the past, it was thought that this was rubbing the velvet off the newly grown antlers.

This damage occurred in November. I’ll report back in the spring on whether or not the Blue Spruce survived.

Look in your hat before you put it on!

 Rosy Peach Aphids Inside Hat

I had pulled off my wide-brimmed straw-braid hat, and noticed a discolored thread inside the head. I scratched it, and it didn’t move so I didn’t think anything more of it, and returned the hat to my head.

The next day, I grabbed the hat off its storage place on the deck. Thank goodness that I happened to glance inside before putting it on. There was a large gang of small red bugs milling around the discolored thread.

Yikes! That “thread” was a row of egg cases. The hatch-lings were rosy peach aphids (see my blog of August 2, 2012). Definitely nothing I want between my head and hat. That’s why I say, “Look in your hat before you put it on!”

 Rosy Peach Aphids and Line of Egg Cases Inside Hat

Volunteers in the Garden

I love volunteers. Particularly, I love volunteers in the garden. People that volunteer in gardens are great. My topic today is the plants that volunteer in the garden. Volunteer plants are those that sprout from uncultivated seed. Seed dropped from previous plantings or spread by birds can result in volunteer plants.

After the Great Deer Debacle earlier this summer (my blog of July 20, 2012), I was especially grateful for the volunteer pepper and tomato plants. The deer had laid waste to my formal plantings so I let the volunteer plants grow to replace the carnage. I transplanted some of the pepper plants into pots on my deck to insure their survival.

Jalapeno Peppers

Now I’m harvesting jalapeno, green peppers, and grape tomatoes from those volunteer plantings. Thank you, volunteers!

My Victory over Japanese Stiltgrass

Around 1919, Japanese Stiltgrass, sometimes called wire grass, was used as a packing material for goods imported from Asian countries. It made its escape and has been invading North American landscapes ever since. The plant has grown rampantly on our property for at least 17 years.  My horse refused to eat it.  In wooded areas, it displaces native plants. 

 Japanese Stiltgrass 

 In the lawn, mowing hides its weedy appearance.  In the perennial flower bed, however, the Stiltgrass takes over by growing tall and obscuring plantings. Because the grass is growing adjacent to beloved perennials (liriope, sedum, pampas, hosta, false dragonhead, periwinkle, peony, iris), I’ve never considered chemical control a possibility in the flower bed. 

 While listening to a Master Gardener lecture, I realized I could treat the Stiltgrass with a grass killer that would not harm broad leaf perennials. My only concern was the other grass-like plants in the garden with the stilt grass: liriope, pampas, and iris.

Liriope and iris are unaffected by Ortho Weed- B- Gon. Pampas grass, being an ornamental grass, would be affected and care needs to be taken when spraying around it.

I used a convenient premixed spray bottle, and sprayed the Stiltgrass in my flower beds. Where growth was heavy, I hand-pulled grass prior to spraying. The results were amazing. In one to two weeks, the Stiltgrass died off.  I’m thrilled to have a weapon against the Stiltgrass.

Japanese Stiltgrass Area after Treatment