I was only away for a couple of months – – 3 at the most.
C had his hands’ full holding down the fort in my absence. Aside from watering the plants in the courtyard, the garden was left alone…
or so I thought.
photo by SVSeekins
Upon my return, the new crew that had taken over pruning, shearing & fertilizing, met me at the gate. One even approached us boldly to say hello.
photo by SVSeekins
There were 2 does, at least 1 fawn, and a very large-looking buck.
A family business!
Operating gratis!!
photo by SVSeekins
Feeling a bit ungrateful, I asked them to continue their duties elsewhere & give our blooms a rest. The does were very polite, gracefully jogging to the next yard. But the buck was much more grudging about it. Perhaps that was because the kiddies were too scatter-brained in following mum’s example right away. Following his crew, he walked slowly & purposefully away.
(Definitely the foreman.)
photo by SVSeekins
Imagine what our cities would look like if humans were suddenly eradicated? How quickly would they move into the house too?
🙂
This morning I spotted a visiting black-tailed buck feasting on the apple tree.
Because he was on the ditch side of the fence, I bravely (?) attempted a closer look.
Slowly zig-zagging across the yard I pointed the camera at the deer but was careful to never make eye contact. (That’s how to approach a nervous horse, so I figured: Why not?)
Surprisingly the buck just kept chomping!
I reached the branches of the apple tree!
Thank goodness for the fence.
photo by SVSeekins
He’s so much larger & more daunting than the fawn & doe that frequent our yard. As I admired his rack, another deer came into view.
Yikes!
Not a doe – – another buck!
Neither seemed particularly concerned that I was nearby. I suppose deer with antlers aren’t chased by angry gardeners as often as those without, so why would these fellas be worried?
Thank goodness for the fence.
photo by SVSeekins
Who knew male deer hang out together through the summer? I’ve seen plenty of family groups of does & children. Once, when we lived on Cedar Hill Road, a buck was included in the family lifestyle… but mostly, I expect bucks to be solitary creatures. So what’s this? The gathering before the mating season begins?
Bachelor party baby!!
Thank goodness for the fence.
I figure these deer are 3-4 years old because there are so many points on their antlers. Isn’t that how to tell the age of a buck?
Nope. ‘Turns out a deer that’s happy & very well fed can produce more points than usual. Perhaps apples are especially nutritious.
Thank goodness for the fence.
photo by SVSeekins
Admiring the 2nd buck, I lost track of the 1st. Where’d he go?
He’d walked along the fence & entered the gate … to taste our other apple tree.
Right behind me.
Agggh!
Now I was trapped by the damn fence.
Antlers look so much BIGGER from this angle! Especially with his head down, those points look even more dangerous!!
photo by SVSeekins
Thank goodness this fellow was NOT aggressive… just calmly nibbling on grass & approaching the Gravenstein.
I can definitely see how someone might jump to conclusions, live in fear & not want urban bucks in the neighborhood. I gotta admit I pretty near wet myself when those points were lowered right in front of me.
photo by SVSeekins
When the pair finished feeding and meandered to another yard, I started to breathe again.
In Greater Victoria, our urban deer population increases each year. Like many folks, I’m usually excited to see them & content to share space. Why some folks aren’t as welcoming is a little more clear to me today.
What’s the next step the city should take? Cull?
Catch, castrate & release for study?
Got any other ideas?
It first caught my eye on a walk in the sunny, rolling hills of Panama Flats. What a pretty shrub! AND It’s happily growing in the wild with no gardener to fuss over it!!!
hardhack photo by SVSeekins
My mind flashes to fantasies of a low maintenance garden. Isn’t this shrub a good candidate for membership?
My go-to native plant guide, Plants of the Pacific Northwest, helps identify it:
Common names: hardhack & steeplebush.
BUT it’s the Latin name that rings bells with me: Spirea Douglasii
Spirea !!
Cousin to the decorative spirea that I see in so many urban landscapes.
Very encouraging.
non-native spirea photo by SVSeekins
The Douglas Spirea ‘s deciduous leafs are grayish with woolly texture which leads me to guess that they’re deer tolerant. Word has it that black tail deer graze it. Then another source says it is deer resistant Who knows?
It tops out at 6ft./ 2m, which is handy for hedging.
The typical home is in moist areas. That explains why it’s found at Panama Flats as well as Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary. It’s suckering habit produces dense thickets along stream banks.
The pink steeples of Hardhack first appear in June. The flowers last through the heat of summer eventually turning to brown seed clusters that hold on long after the leaves fall. That’s a luxuriously long season for feeding bees, then birds!
hardhack / steeplebush photo by SVSeekins
This plant is just as pretty as the classic lilac (syringa) & butterfly bush (buddleja). Both of those shrubs can be dominating in a garden landscape, seeding or suckering willy-nilly. I reckon hardhack is a choice replacement option, especially because it is much more of a food source to local birds, pollinators, & wild life. It can be dominating like the other two, but only in very moist situations.
I’d like to grow hardhack in my yard, but the moisture requirements are too high. We do have a ditch that would supply the moisture needed… maybe C would give up a patch of grass along there ??
Garden Variety Life 