The first garden:

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.  And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.       Genesis 2:8-10


Photos by Joan Sholl Francis
GARDENING WITH DEER


Bleeding heart, yellow bearded iris, jacob's ladder, lily of the valley.

Some of my plants:


Bearded Iris - pale yellow, pale lavender, and a giant pale pink.

Ajuga (A. reptans (ajuga, bugleweed, bugle), ground cover. Variegated with white, green and purple leaves; blue/purple flowers on stalk. Very gratifying plant/ground cover. Photo was taken in heat of day and does not show variegation of leaves.


Ajuga

Asiatic Lily - Their sweet perfume fills the air! Beautiful large blooms.

Astilbe (Astilbe arendsii 'Rosy Veil'). Moved from the shade to a sunny spot; doing great, with pale pink plumes.

Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis). Large showy plant, early Spring. Started with a little dry root from Home Depot; now about 18" by 36". Wonderful large flowers.

Columbine. They love the partly shaded, damp areas but do well in full sun. They reseed easily.

Echinacea purpurea - Three to four foot tall, smell honey sweet like the alysum; bees, butterflys and hummingbirds love them.

Foxglove (Digitalis) - Yellows and pinks. Deer don't seem to care for them.

Heuchera xbrizoides hybrids (coral-bells, alumroot). Not our best performer.

Honeysuckle. I brought cuttings from our old house and they rooted here. These are agressive and grow strong woody vines; require strong support.

Hosta, Francis William - My prize! Beautiful plant but the deer love this one too. I keep it right up against the house and that helps sum but I have caught deer nibbling on occasion.


Lavender

Hyacinth - These do very well here. Daffodils are the only other bulb I plant and they thrive and multiply too.

Lavender - They flourish, and reseed. (Not the French variety).

Ligularia dentata (Chinese daisy). I don't care for the flowers (feathery yellow) but the large dark, purple veined leaves (six to ten inches) are wonderful in a shady area.

Lilacs, Old fashioned purple.

Lupine. Purples and pinks; after second year, full healthy blooms.


Monarda

MONARDA [Bee Balm]; Herb. Leaves and stems brew strong "sleepy-time" tea with no narcotic side effects.

Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia). This year (2000) was the most incredible season for the laurel. There were acres of them as far as you could drive. The forests looked like they had pink snow throughout the trees. Breath-taking views. Year 2001 was a low bloom period, but 2002 was exceptional.


Phlox

PHLOX. Sweet perfume. The wire "bridge" shown in picture is one of several I keep in the garden and move around. It keeps the deer frustrated and is not visible from a distance.

Poppies - The orientals flourished, too much! Lovely but take a lot of room; difficult to move/transplant. They reseed profusely. In mid June, cut them back to about 6" height. They will bloom anyway but a little shorter and more manageable.

Primrose - always hardy and ever growing. Bloom under ice.

Sedum (succulent)- Although the deer LOVE these, I'm able to see several plants through to Fall. These winter over very well, disappearing in the Winter and sprouting in the Spring. Showy, long lasting rosy blooms through the fall and early winter. You have to be on your toes to keep the deer from devouring these!

Vinca - V. minor (common periwinkle, creeping myrtle)- variety 'Bowles'. Ground cover; like pruning in mid season to encourage new blooms. Planted in semi-shaded areas; don't do well in full sun.


"Whitestar" Groundcover

Thyme - My favorites! Golden thyme - THE BEST!!!

Whitestar ground cover. Attractive in and out of bloom. Spreads easily.

Yarrow - Yellow cultivated, and white, wild. The cultivated are three to four foot tall with lovely heads and look great with the echinacea. Fragrant. Need to be cut back to about 6" in early June or they too will take over.

DEER "PROOFING" - Plant garlic cloves, onions, rosemary and thyme throughout the flower beds. In early Spring, cut rosemary and lavender sprigs from last year's growth and sprinkle liberally on your favorite plants. Visit the garden early, mid-day and early evening,when the deer feed. Then, get on your knees, and pray.

See you in the Fall!
April 8, 2000 - 70 degrees F.

Brought in some hyacinth (first blooms April 4th) and double daffodils this morning. Vinca's are blooming and the primrose too. The yard is full of junco's feeding on seed. Thought that was an omen, and sure enough, the weather station predicted 7 inches of snow for late tonight! Ugh! Thought we had escaped winter - we'll see. Stopped by the beekeepers place on the way home from the grocery store and bought some of his wonderful natural honey! Delicious! (See his link below). He told me that he had lost half of his bees this winter - because of last year's draught, they did not produce enough food for themselves to sustain them through the winter. Planted some lavender, chives, thyme, and some sugar snap peas outside - just couldn't wait. [Peas haven't done well at all 2000 - 2002.] While I was at the grocery store I picked up one bunch of organic basil for $1.99; planted it in a pot as soon as I got home - very heady aroma. It didn't make it.

March 30, 2000

Spring has finally arrived here in the Poconos. A stroll around the yard reveals exciting changes. Popping through the wet leaves are ligularia, ajuga, rugosa, thyme, iris, hyacinth, tulip, daffodil, all the sedum, mint, lupine, mums, rose bush buds, sweet william, jacob's ladder, and more! The primrose are blooming, and the crocus. The deer (5 now) or rabbit have decided to make a salad of my hyacinth and iris so I cover them at night with weighted plastic bags, and uncover them each morning.

January 18, 2000 - 8:58 a.m. - Minus 8 degrees F.
It's a sunny frosty morning and the wind has finally stopped howling.  It blew at around 30+ miles an hour from Friday night to Sunday midday; scary sound.   The birds came through it all, adding juncos to their group (chickadees, tufted titmouse, nuthatch).   The deer have also increased in number by one, so now there are five. Their coats are thick and tails broad.   I've added dark small sunflower seeds to the apple/bread crumbs mix, hoping to get a cardinal to stop by [finally sighted this resident and his mate, May 2002, although he's been around!].   Inside I have some seeds sprouting in the azalia pot - nasturshum, marigold - just a couple; the azalias (1 ea. white, pink, dark pink) are still blooming and so is the cyclamen (enclosed breezeway). The african violet seems to be finishing with only one dark purple flower holding its head high. I started some delphinium seed in the breezway too, where I keep the christmas cactus, spider plant and philodendren.

December 30, 1999 - 8:20 a.m. - 23F degrees.
I stepped out into the yard this morning to feed the wonderful little black capped chickadees and tufted titmouse [constant friends] that have learned to come to expect a gift each morning.   I chopped up some apples and left-over German stolen and tossed it all over the front yard, under the spruce trees.



Pike, PA Weather
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Checking the border gardens, I reached down to gather a handful of Thyme ("Golden Thyme") to put in the pocket of my jeans. Even though the plants are drying and less vibrant, the aroma is heady.  My favorite thyme plant is a varigated one, lemony in smell with dark green leaves, rimmed with pale yellow.   Whenever I go out I grab some to munch on and just smell.  My other patch is a pale greyish green, called a "nonblooming" variety.   Not true.   It gets tiny lavender flowers in summer that look lovely with its grayish leaves.   They grow quickly.   We have one other variety that Forrest bought for his rock garden and pathways.   It's tiny and low growing and thrives in the pathways [not true]; it will fill the air with fragrance this Spring [didn't].   I've put bunches of my lemony thyme into throw pillows I made for the living room - wonderful to put your face into!   Some of the pieces I took this morning had hairy roots attached, so I brought them in and planted them in with the Azaleas I repotted yesterday. They are right here beside my computer desk and I'll be excited if they root, and bless me all winter.  See:  The Thyme Garden.  

Here's a wonderful and informative site I found, and, it happens to belong to a neighbor! It's Michael's: The Beekeeping Page. Try his "Trivia" page.

Things are pretty dry out there; the primrose are still green and I can expect them to bloom when they are covered with a little snow or light ice, poking their colorful heads through the chilly gloom. Apparently the deer don't like them, or the thorns on my new rose bushes.   Hurrah!

The four yearling Doe that visit mornings about 6 a.m. and afternoons about 4:50 p.m. are fun to watch.   They've grown so much this year and their coats are thick and dark.   Only one is the guardian of the herd.   I went out late for the mail the other evening, not knowing she was near by with her friends - she blasted her trumpet sharply into the evening air and took off like a jet.   She can really fly - I expect she'll live to a good old age here, and keep her companions safe.   I heard her again at five.   She's frequently outside the window, gathering up the pieces of apple that the birds have left.   She has great eyes and a loud trumpet, any movement at all puts her 150 yards away in a flash!

That's all for today, except to wish you all a most blessed New Year. Much love in Christ, Joan.


This is a Hemlock in my back yard.
Photo taken 2/14/99, J. Francis



Check out Denise's site to see her garden in Smallwood, Sullivan Co., NY, north of me, very near Lake Superior, pictured below.


This beautiful Hemlock sits at the edge of Lake Superior in Sullivan Co., NY, very close to Bethel. Photo by J.S.F., Feb. 1997



TIP:   SAVE THOSE NEW PLANTS!     CHECK THE ROOTS NOW!

I have found this past year, that every new potted plant I purchased was root bound.   I never used to look - just bought them and unless it was Summer and I could put them in the yard, they withered and died.   Now I check the roots on all but African Violets (which seem to love tight feet).    I repot within a week or two of purchasing the plant, and now I get to keep them, and they thrive.   They may wilt a little during the first week after being repotted, but they rally, and grow.

Music: To Spring by Edvard GRIEG (Norwegian, 1843-1907)

There are two plants I receive as gifts each Christmas season, a cyclamen, and a poinsettia. I takes me less than a month's time before I kill them. In fact, they shudder as they enter my door, unbeknownst to their givers! In order to avoid that this year, the first cyclamen having arrived already, I went on yet another search for instruction in how to care for these most wanted, but most endangered guests.

The following information about cyclamen is from The Cyclamen Society

"What are Cyclamen?

  Cyclamen are a genus of plants containing 20 species, which are part of the family of Primulaceae, the Primrose family.  In the wild, their distribution is centred on the Mediterranean, being natives of parts of Europe, western Asia and parts of North Africa.  They are tuberous plants and have no obvious affinity with Primroses, although they do resemble the North American Dodecatheon in having reflexed petals.

Their habitats range from Fagus (Beech) woodland, through scrub and rocky areas, to alpine meadows where they flower in snow meltwater.  The genus is notable for the fact that although it is small, there are species which flower in every month of the year.

In cultivation, there are some species which are definitely hardy, some which are borderline, and a few species which will not tolerate any frost.  The genus also provides florists plants in the form of cultivars based on Cyclamen persicum.  These are generally winter and spring flowering plants which are available in a wide range of colours."  Visit their site to find out how to care for the cyclamen.

Poinsettias

The following care techniques for poinsettias is from The Poinsettia Pages
"Poinsettia Care:  The length of time your poinsettia will give you pleasure in your home is dependent on (1) the maturity of the plant, (2) when you buy it, and (3) how you treat the plant.  With care, poinsettias should retain their beauty for weeks and some varieties will stay attractive for months.

After you have made your poinsettia selection, make sure it is wrapped properly because exposure to low temperatures even for a few minutes can damage the bracts and leaves. &nbap;Unwrap your poinsettia carefully and place in a sunny window. Keep the plant from touching cold windows.

Keep poinsettias away from warm or cold drafts from radiators, air registers or open doors and windows.  Ideally poinsettias require daytime temperatures of 60 to 70°F and night time temperatures around 55°F.  High temperatures will shorten the plant’s life.  Move the plant to a cooler room at night, if possible.

Check the soil daily.  Be sure to punch holes in foil so water can drain into a saucer.  Water when soil is dry.  Allow water to drain into the saucer and discard excess water.

Fertilize the poinsettia if you keep it past the holiday season. Apply a houseplant fertilizer once a month."

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©Joan Sholl Francis, 1999 - 2004. Email: joanfran@ptd.net