While watering the garden this morning, I watched the solar eclipse reflected on the lawn. Hundreds of tiny crescents sparkled through the leaves of the apple tree.
photo by SVSeekins
The taller gary oak beside the driveway cast shade with similar crescents peaking through the leaves.
This is not normal for Victoria. The snow might be pretty but this is a rain-forest. We’re not set up for snow. Neither are our gardens.
photo by SVSeekins
Tonight’s concern is the snow load on the hedging. It’s amazing how flexible some branches can be as snow gathers & literally weighs them down. But some wood fibers are breaking as the branches bend. The sooner the weight is removed, the more likely a branch is to bounce back & resume its regular shape for good.
photo by SVSeekins
Out comes my trusty rake. Wielding it backward, I thrust the pole end into the lowest branches & give the shrub a light shake.
It’s best to start low & gradually work up. Release the load from lower branches before risking adding more to them with the snow falling off upper branches.
photo by SVSeekins
Once broken, there’s no mending a branch. All those years of growing into a full-sized shrub…
the lovely shape…
our increased privacy…
can be ruined overnight. Heart-wrenching.
photo by sVSeekins
Although hedgers like yew & cedar are especially susceptible, same goes for the broadleaf evergreens. Rhododendron.
Strawberry Tree.
Camellia.
Flower buds are already well-formed on the rhodos & camellia. So if I want many blooms this spring, it requires a delicate shake to remove the snow & only the snow.
After that, it’s good to head inside, dry off & treat myself to a hot chocolate (with Frangelico). After all, it’s a dark and snowy night…
If the leaf is grey & fuzzy, the deer usually turn up their noses.
photo by SVSeekins
Maybe they don’t like fuzz, just like I don’t like to eat the felted skin on a peach. More likely it’s because fuzz is common on drought tolerant plants. And drought tolerant plants are often dry & unpalatable. Deer aren’t stupid.
photo by SVSeekins
It is my good fortune that Rose Campion, aka Lychnis coronaria, is so deer resistant. They ignore the upright stems and the hot pink flowers, too.
Lychnis are tough plants. Left on their own, they’ll self seed willy-nilly. That’s not a bad thing while I’m waiting for other perennials and shrubs to mature. Because Lychnis is very easy to grow & transplant, they’ve become one of my go-to fillers (along with foxglove & snapdragons).
photo by SVSeekins
I grow them as a mini-hedge in hopes of keeping deer out of sections of the garden.
They’re also super-handy in areas with very little soil, or little moisture, where little else will survive 🙂
These Lychnis might not grow as tall as the ones that are irrigated, but they’re just as delightful.
Other times I’ll cut them back to enjoy the tidy grey mound of the plant on it’s own. That way I also get to set aside some of the seed for myself; to sow in the spring wherever I want it to grow.
photo by SVSeekins
Lychnis seed is very simple to collect.
Turn the finished flower stem upside down into a paper bag.
If the seed is ready, it’ll spill right into the bag.
If the stems are still green, put the bag away, out of the elements, so the seed can continue to mature.
Once it’s all really dry, while still inside the bag, shake the stems well.
Garden Variety Life 