Wildlife Welcome...

Carpenter Bees are even welcome!

On the whole, I am a generous wildlife gardener. I am willing and even eager to share my garden with the wildlife that visits and lives in this garden.

a peahen straggler was welcomed

I've even opened my door to a wanderer or, too.

Cute only works for a little while!

But right now, I am thoroughly fed up with the resident chipmunks! My friends, they've crossed the line and made peaceful coexistence difficult.

They ate every one of my Tommies.

EVERY ONE.

I kid you not. Every last one of the corms is gone.

They were so lovely last spring and I was so sure that these squirrel proof, but, not chipmunk proof,  crocus would finally make my Tommies On A Hillside dream come true!

It's time to order spring blooming bulbs and I refuse to let  the wildlife in my garden keep me from my dream! They're impossible to evict, but, I can make it darn hard for them to eat the bulbs after they bloom.  I shall take a page from my friend Frances of Fairegarden fame.  She has had pretty good success planting those especially tempting bulbs in sunken wire and rock!


Wish me luck!

Critters be warned...you're going to have to look harder for your food!
One, two, three, four, I declare chipmunk war.

xxoogail




Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone." She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Tommies On My Hillside Sing A Spring Song

The Tommies are in bloom!  I wish you were here to see them!  I know they must be making a statement because Mr I Do Not Garden or Blog thinks they look wonderful.

He's right, they do look pretty wonderful.

Just look at that flower, it's covered in golden delicious pollen.

 But, you don't have to take my word for it.

The hillside that has charmed me for decades!

 You might remember my inspiration!  A dream of a hillside with tens of thousands of Tommies.

 I think I've finally found my hill.  It was covered with forsythia and made the entrance to the house feel crowded.  Early last fall we cleared the shrubs and planted  Juniperus virginiana 'Gray Owl', Panicum virgatum 'Northwind',  stone unearthed in the clearing process and of course Crocus tommasinianus.

So far the Tommies are unscathed by the resident rodents!  The hill has perfect drainage, great soil and plenty of sunshine. They just  need one other  thing to insure that they naturalize with ease and

also planted on Tommie Hill

It sure looks to me like the bees are doing their best to make sure there will be more Tommies at Clay and Limestone!
xxoogail

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.