Category Archives: urban deer

drought tolerant, evergreens, months 01-03: winter, natives, perrennials, urban deer

Winter Blooming Hepatica

01/17/2021 svseekins 7 Comments

In a patch of January sunshine, bright violet flowers glow. They’re tiny– but in winter, every flower is precious. I’m stoked.

Hepatica, ica January bloom,common hepatica, liverleaf, liver leaf liverwort, hepatica nobilis var. obtusa, round-lobed hepatica, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

This is Hepatica. I got a pot of it from the Vancouver Island Rock & Alpine Garden Society meeting last January. I’m happy that it’s settled into its new home & is blooming so early. This winter has been fairly mild so far, but we did have snow for 3 days over Christmas. Tough little plant, eh? The leaves didn’t even die back.

These leaves are kind of unusual, too. Each leaf grows up from the crown of the plant & has 3 rounded lobes. They were mottled green last summer but are now changing to a more bronzy colour. Years ago someone decided they looked a bit like a human liver, so that’s why Hepatica is also called liver-leaf or liverwort. I think it’s prettier than that name implies.

Hepatica, common hepatica, liverleaf, liver leaf liverwort, hepatica nobilis var. obtusa, round-lobed hepatica, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

This little woodland gem grows in zone 4-9 across the northern hemisphere, so it can handle some pretty tough winters. It’s a native wildflower in Eastern Canada.

The flowers open wide in the sunshine then close as the cloud cover moves in or night falls. I reckon that’s a clever strategy for protecting itself until another day when the insects might be out again to help with pollination.

Some sources say Hepatica needs moisture, so I’ve kept it in a pot in the courtyard where I’m sure it’ll get summer water more often than our garden beds do. Other sources say it can be drought-tolerant, too. Here in Victoria, the summers are REALLY dry so I wonder if it can survive that much drought? (There’s certainly no lack of moisture through our Pacific Northwest winters.)

Hepatica, January bloom, common hepatica, liverleaf, liver leaf liverwort, hepatica nobilis var. obtusa, round-lobed hepatica, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

Hepatica is listed as a handy ‘winter browse‘ & is not safe from deer. That’s just another reason to keep it in our courtyard.

I only have this one plant & I’m reticent to risk it. Hopefully, it’ll set seed. If I can get some new plants started, I might be able to encourage the babies to grow in a protected spot in our garden. Until then, it’ll stay in the pot where I know it’s happy.

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Other January gems in the Pacific Northwest:

bulbs, garden visits, months 01-03: winter, months 04-06: spring, months 10-12: fall, perrennials, urban deer

Orange Candleflower

11/30/2020 svseekins Leave a comment

I’ve admired the fall show of Orange Candleflower for ages. I first saw the funky, candle-like seed spikes beside the front gate at Abkhazi garden. Later, KL & I admired swaths of them in a woodland at Government House garden.

Arum Italicum, orange candleflower, lords and ladies, cuckoo's pint, Italian lily, Italian arum, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

Arum italicum leaves die back in the summer leaving a naked stem & seed head. Groovy, eh? Perhaps that’s why it’s sometimes called Lords & Ladies. The Lady is the shy, white, spring flower. The Lord is the seed head. His Lordship might be inconspicuous early on, but as he matures from green to bright red… he’s certainly aristocratic.

Over the years I’ve sourced Italian arum through the garden club. I carefully planted several small pots around our garden.
No joy.
The winter ephemeral leaves delight me from late autumn, right through winter & even spring…
but never flowers. 😦

Blooms are supposed to appear in May – but there’s SO MUCH going on then…. maybe I just missed them? Can I blame the deer? Word has it that Arum Lily, & all its parts, is poisonous to people & animals so my deer excuse doesn’t really fly.

This August I was delighted to spy a stem with berries maturing in a shady spot beside our garden gate. Hooray! Don’t believe me? Take a look…. way down…. one lonely stem… It’s really there!

I crossed my fingers hoping it would soon turn the vibrant red it’s famous for. It took some time but by October it glowed!

Arum italicum is a Mediterranean perennial that’s naturalized across Britain, Europe and even parts of Australia. It’s apparently causing enough nuisance in Oregon & Washington to be listed as invasive!

And here I am, excited about a single phallic seed stalk. It’s certainly not conquering anything in our garden.

Consulting several sources reveals these nobles cause revolts in moist environments. That’s probably why I have so little success with it – – I only drag around a water hose when it’s really needed.

I dream of seeing the Lady’s flower. Now my plan is to shift some into more favourable conditions – perhaps the hosta patch? When the hostas die back in the fall, the arum leaf will come alive.
Fingers crossed.

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months 10-12: fall, urban deer

Rutting Season

10/25/2020 svseekins 4 Comments

There is a distinct odour in the air. Not a pleasant one. It reminds me of the smell of a billy goat – – I remember that bouquet (?) from the farm. We kept dairy goats, mostly nannies. Of course, every herd needs a billy.

ws Deer Antlers vs fencing 1 — photo by SVSeekins

Our billy (like any billy goat) always emitted an odd scent, but in rutting season it became particularly stinky.
Deer are like that, too.

Today C spots the buck first. The male deer is just exiting the gate at the far end of our garden. I’m not surprised to see him – we could smell him coming. ‘Tis the season.

What does surprise me is his unusual outfit. His antlers are festooned with… something?
It’s hard to tell what…

I pull out the cell phone & carefully try to get closer. Deer–especially bucks– are uppity at this time of year. Sometimes it’s just safer to zoom into a photo after the fact… so here’s a closer look at the same photo:

cu Deer Antlers vs fencing 1 — photo by SVSeekins

Crazy, eh? It’s a bit blurry, but it looks like a shovel handle (with no shovel) is hooked over one of his horns!

ms Deer Antlers vs fencing 3 — photo by SVSeekins

As he heads across the street, he gets a little closer. It’s still really hard to tell what this mess is all about.

The shovel handle swings from his antlers as he walks. That must feel so awkward… but he isn’t limping or having trouble holding up his head. Why doesn’t he just lower + shake his head until the handle slips off?

ws Deer Antlers vs fencing 2 — photo by SVSeekins

He sees me watching, but he doesn’t seem bothered by me – bucks are often cocky that way. I daren’t face him directly – he’d interpret that as a challenge.

I’ll bet he has a headache, but he doesn’t seem fighting mad or even ornery… so, in hopes of getting a better view, I follow him.

He strolls into Friendly Neighbour’s yard & heads to the quiet corner the local herd prefers. I don’t see anything much as he walks away, but finally, he turns a bit to the side.

What is all that extra stuff obscuring his antlers? It doesn’t look like hedge trimmings – which is C’s guess. Bucks are notorious for thrashing antlers along tree trunks and through shrubs.

My best guess is someone installed deer netting along their hedge this spring & the new growth obscured the fine mesh. Perhaps this fellow tried to walk through & was caught up in it? The tangle has trapped the shovel handle where it hangs…

Or maybe that mesh was protecting a tasty vegetable patch that he just couldn’t resist? I’m so curious… What’s your guess?
How did he get so tangled?
& How will he ever free himself from it?

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