Sleuthing Deer Trails

There is nothing as good as snow on the ground to show exactly where the plant terrorizing deer walk around the garden.  One doesn't need extensive CSI training to decipher what is going on.  Fortunately the recent snow and frigid weather has preserved lots of evidence.

We now know the deer are coming around the end of the fence on the north side of our property, and walking along the top edge of the hill.  As the first photo shows, there is are regular tracks around that edge and up into the labyrinth.  The most frequent exit is through a visually open section of the hedge which has deciduous hollies, at the top left side of this photo.

In this second photo that same exit is also at the top left. But the trail continues around the path of the labyrinth.  "Continues" is the wrong word, since the deer clearly likes to hang out in front of the evergreens.  Occasionally the critter of destruction exits through the hedge along the road, on the right side of this photo, to go into the county nature preserve.

Maybe I am being cruel about the pointy toed creature.  In this last shot, it is clear the deer is following the labyrinth trail around the viburnum in the center.  Maybe walking the labyrinth is a spiritual practice, and it is drawn to the holy mystery of the place, finding God in the pathways strewn with treasured plants? 

However, eventually it is overcome by its voracious hunger and destroys the beauty around it!  Beast of destruction!

January Snow

The snow remains a week after it fell, which is good since it provides insulation for the soil from the record low temperatures.  It simplifies the picture, only showing trees, bushes and grasses that are more than a few inches high.  It has also provided evidence of the deer trails, confirming the coming and going of that vegetation terrorist.

The Hellebores, which were showing their buds, are buried, so there will be no flowers anytime soon.

Impermanent Snow

The winter storm that has been sweeping across the country has arrived.  It started this morning with snow.  Fortunately, I grabbed my camera early in the morning because even as I was taking pictures, it was shifting into rain. 

The upturned, curved leaves of the Osmanthus captured and collected the flakes of snow.  The meager light seemed to be concentrated by the snow and leaves, so they were almost glowing. 

Soon we will be pruning off some of those branches, to use for decorations in the house. The bright yellow green sets off the dark green and red berries of the hollies. 

The Viburnum rhytidophylloides 'Allegheny' is putting on a dramatic show in the snow.  Some leaves have turned yellow or deep red.  There are three stages for fruits, with newly opened flowers, then red or black berries. 

The snow in this shot is out of focus, so it just appears as irregular white patches.  With the light being dim, the shutter had to be wide open to have enough light to even take the shot.

This could become a favorite picture for me.  There is so much going on.

Now it is raining and sleeting.  The snow is washing into the ground, and has almost disappeared. 

December Dusk

The weekend was spent raking leaves out of edges, then using the mower.  Call it a process of mowing the grass as well as sweeping and shredding the leaves for the compost heap.  If you look to the left of the Crepe Myrtle tree, at the edge of the picture is the overflowing compost heap. 

The remaining work doesn't have a strict schedule.  There is more bits of clean-up and fall pruning around the house.  Then, I need to go down into the ravine to see what needs to be done to keep the weedy things under control.

Foggy Sunday Morning

I woke up to a foggy morning, which creates a feeling of secrecy across the garden.  I was unable to do any work yesterday to clean-up the scattered leaves or cut back dying foliage.  It seems a bit abandoned, with every herbaceous perennial dying back slowly to the ground.

Looking out towards the Chesapeake Bay, the water has disappeared into the fog.  The sun was attempting to break through, adding patches of bright light, though still diffused by the lingering fog.

Not visible are the multiple deer hoof prints, creating deep wounds in the soft soil.  In the corner of the labyrinth some deer browsed on the winter berry bush, tearing off chunks of branches covered with bright red berries.  Then it seems to have laid down under the bush, crushing the tops of the perennials growing there.  I look forward to hunting season, and hope the nasty creature will become venison stew!

Finally, here is the very confused Viburnum "Allegheny."  The berries are from the spring when it bloomed and formed them.  The flowers have been very confused by the alternating cold and warm weather, and are blooming now instead of waiting!

I am out of time, but I hope you enjoy a few pictures for the week.

Another Labyrinth

Last weekend I visited another labyrinth in the Santa Fe Railyard Park and Plaza.  I did not find it until the last morning when I took off before dawn to wander the park across the street from the hotel.  It is about a mile out of the center of Santa Fe, and the park was busy with people even at that early hour. Joggers, dog walkers, and morning hikers were moving through the park, nodding and smiling their greetings to me as I walked the modified classic labyrinth paths.  I wish I had tried walking the area days earlier, when I was waking up at 4:40 in the morning, still on Eastern Time.  I could have walked it every morning, with the temperature in the 20's, and the mountains all around.  I will be back to Santa Fe in April, and visit it again.

Fall Aster

It is a single Aster chewing on the edge of the road!  The Aster oblongifolius ‘Fanny’ has, in two years, grown up, out and over all that is near.  I love it!  I had a passing thought in the early summer to prune it back a bit, to encourage denser growth.  I never thought of giving it a wire support, which would have kept it all a bit taller, less blowsy.  But in a season when everything is declining, fading in color, here is Fanny.  

We spent most of yesterday catching up on over three weeks of delayed maintenance.  Today has been spent doing job search and course related paperwork.  With travel next weekend, it will be two weeks before I can see Fanny again; I wonder if she will still look as good?