Tag Archives: urban deer

sharing the garden

months 01-03: winter, months 10-12: fall, natives, perrennials, urban deer

What’s Eating The Licorice Fern

11/25/2019 svseekins 3 Comments

When we first moved to the slopes of Mt. Tolmie, lush licorice fern decorated the mossy rock outcropping in our side yard.

Licorice fern, Polypodium glycyrrhiza,Polypodium occidentale, Polypodium vulgare subsp. occidentale, many footed fern, sweet root, , garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

Urban deer wandered the neighbourhood. They spent long afternoons hanging out at the top of our rock, chewing their cud & enjoying the safety of the vantage point.

The licorice fern flourished. The deer seemed uninterested. Typically deer aren’t interested in licorice fern. Typically.

A dozen years pass & their family grows. The large buck has several generations of grandkids browsing the neighbourhood.

Just down the street, beside a busy pathway to the college, licorice ferns still flourish on a similar rock outcrop.

Perhaps the deer don’t linger there?

Looking more carefully, I find a couple fronds that have been munched. Mostly the ferns are full-sized & healthy.

On our chunk of rock – where several more deer now hang out – – the licorice ferns are small, nibbled and struggling.

Coincidence?

Perhaps they’re less ‘deer resistant’ than I think.

A couple years ago, I shifted a few small mats of licorice fern from our rock to other spots around the garden. In places where the deer rarely linger, the ferns grow to their regular size. Hmmmmmm.

Deer aren’t typically interested in licorice fern…

unless there’s a dense population of deer…
and the hyper-active fawns just want to taste everything…
and the herd’s favourite hangout is carpeted in licorice fern…
photo by SVSeekins

THEN deer can have a negative impact on licorice ferns.
Just because a plant is considered deer resistant, doesn’t mean it won’t suffer when the population of deer intensifies.

black tail deer near hiking trail in Sooke, Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

That’s my guess.
But really, who knows for sure?

Maybe it’s the raccoons?
Or squirrels?
Rabbits?
Ravens? Cats?
Maybe I’m just blaming deer because I notice them so often.

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Some other ‘resistance’ musings:

attracting birds, months 07-09: summer, urban deer

Belief In Magic

10/22/2019 svseekins 5 Comments

It was one morning in September 2006 when I realized fairies are real. Dancing in the autumn chill beneath the birdbath was a flurry of naked ladies.

I found them enchanting…
surely elves & pixies would pop up any minute.

Only a month had passed since we’d purchased our home. I’d done nothing in the yard, besides delivering a few pots from our old home. This magic just ‘happened‘… unprompted.

We were crazy-busy, making the house our own. It would be a long while before much time could be spared for gardens…
yet I knew, then & there, this circle of fairy dancers had to be incorporated into our landscape plans… Somehow.

Given the birdbath & tiny flower bed was awkwardly adrift in a sea of lawn, I needed imagination. It took me a while to figure out what to do with it.

birdbath bed 2008 01 — photo by SVSeekins

Finally, we moved forward, creating a corner border. Rock edging started at the forsythia & gate (to the right / east)…
encompassed the birdbath, & cherry tree at the end of the driveway (center-right)…
then followed the northern fence line to the rhododendron (far left). (photo: Xmas 2007)

birdbath bed 2009 08 — photo by SVSeekins

Early on, it felt like a giant, near-empty space that would take forever to turn into a real garden. The new shrubs seemed tiny & lost. The local deer nibbled the Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo). They nearly destroyed the Bottlebrush (Callistemon) with their antlers. Happily, the fairies came back every autumn to dance in the shivery sunshine. The deer gave them peace. 🙂 (photo: August 2009)

birdbath bed 2013 09 — photo by SVSeekins

Five years in, it was starting to look like something more. The Rhodo (far left) loved the company – growing almost as much as the newer shrubs. Those shrubs were now large enough to stand up against the deer a little better, so I removed their cages. The birds & fairies were enjoying the extra privacy as the garden grew up around the birdbath. (photo: Sept. 2013)

birdbath bed 2019 09 — photo by SVSeekins

After a dozen years, the party continues. The shrubs have matured into small trees. The border has grown into a mini-woodland. The birdbath almost disappears in the dappled understory! I reckon it’s even more magical than before. And each September, the fairies come to dance. (photo: Sept. 2019)

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bulbs, drought tolerant, months 07-09: summer

Back From the Dead

10/03/2019 svseekins Leave a comment

We were away camping for most of August + early September. The garden had to survive through the dry heat all by itself.

Amaryllis belladonna , Madonna Lily, Jersey Lily, Amaryllis rosea, Brunsvigia rosea,, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

Imagine my delight returning to a cloud of pink blooms hovering above the parched bed beside the front gate…

Granted, it’s only one stalk – – but what a cluster of flowers! AND the deer hadn’t feasted on it as they had the surrounding daylily & crocosmia blooms–Bonus 🙂

To be honest, I’m shocked to see this resurrection. For the past 10 years, I’ve resigned myself to being a Crinum killer.

The original bulb, a giant, came to me via a garden club plant sale. It was labelled Crinum × powellii (aka Swamp Lily or Cape Lily).
Now I’m thinking it might be Amaryllis belladonna (aka Madonna Lily or Jersey Lily).

I planted it, thrilled at the first year’s blossom, then searched for signs of life the following year…
None…
Nothing the next year either…
After that, I just stopped searching.

Perhaps a hard winter froze the bulb… (Crinum is zone 7: A.belladonna is zone 4.)
Perhaps too much drought shrivelled the bulb … (Crinum likes moist summers; A.belladonna prefers dry.)
Perhaps it had been crowded out by the crocosmia… (Both Crinum & A. belladonna, like nerine lilies, prefer their necks exposed to sunshine… last winter I’d removed excess crocosmia)

There are so many ways to fail in the garden. I resigned myself to losing another gem.

Now I’m thinking, it might have simply been a miscommunication in labelling. Both Crinum & A. belladonna have similar tendencies (pink clusters of bloom… bloom time… toxicity… origins in South Africa… ),
But there are some significant differences, too (A.belladonna leaves die off before it blooms).

Either way, I’m grateful for whichever bulb I have. It’s one tough cookie. It patiently waited years until the conditions were just right!!

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Here are some other pink autumn bloomers: