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Meet Momma Bunny…

This morning, while keeping close watch on the dog, I turned the corner and found Momma Bunny hadn’t quite skeedaddled for the day. I think she was checking out the new chicken wire on the garden.

Just a few feet away, is the table I placed over the baby nest to keep out the rain and lawnmower and NOT the dog. Clearly that wasn’t nearly enough of a deterrent for him.

So, I’m the dog police for a few more weeks and I might take pity on Momma Bunny and put her some acceptable food out there — OUTSIDE of the garden. And, as long as she isn’t eating my plants, she’s kinda cute, isn’t she?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:54-06:00April 24th, 2008|Blog, Garden, rabbits, Sharing Nature's Garden|12 Comments

Bunnies and bounty…

So, clippers, multi-colored bread twist-ties,hammer and nails in hand, I ventured out into the sweltering, humid 86 degree afternoon yesterday and tackled the chicken wire.

You know, it’s not hard. And I’m glad to have it as a resource that I can handle. It’s just a pain. But, I now have an extra layer of protection for my garden fence and I hope the baby bunnies will soon be weaned and ready to move OUT of our yard in search of food. I am just crossing my fingers that they don’t snack their way all the way down the rock garden path, enjoying the sweet delectable blooms of the purslane, wine cup, allysum, sedum and other snacks!

There is no way to protect the path (at least no way that I can think of other than netting). And, just to warn you, I will cry shamelessly if they attack it, as it’s taken me a long time to nurture it along to mostly full coverage of plants between the rocks and path.

So, I’m just not gonna think about it. There – that works for me!

*** I’m sad to add to my report that Tanner brought me one of the baby bunnies today — into the house, alive but hurt from being grabbed by a dog with big jaws. I put him back into the nest, but checked on him after lunch and he’d gone to bunny heaven. So, I removed him and tucked the other little fuzzies back into their nest and I guess I will go out with Tanner EVERYTIME for about the next 2 weeks> (Based on the development of the baby bunny, that’s how long I think it will be before they leave the nest.) So, not only are they liable to eat me out of house and home and garden, but now I can’t leave the dog outside alone for 2 weeks. Sheesh! ***

On a much happier note, I had some more radishes from the garden in my salad last night – French Breakfast Radishes. They were delicate and crispy and yummy. (Though my 5-year old, enticed to take a trial bite with the bribe of a roll, pronounced them, “DEE-sgusting!” But she tried one, and that’s a good thing.

Here we have the first little paper “lanterns” of the Tomatillo plant. For those of you not from Texas or the Southwest, the Tomatillo (Physalis philadelphica) is from the Slanaceae or nightshade family. It has small, round, green fruit and it is surrounded by a paper-like husk that splits when the fruit matures for harvest. Tomatillos are the source of Salsa verde, or green sauces and salsas used in Mexican food. My DH make delicious fresh salsa with them, with roasted garlic and peppers and onion and cilantro. Ummmmm … makes me hungry just thinking about it.

But we’ll have a while to wait for a full harvest with enough to make a snack. They love the hot sun.

They are often thought of as being a tomato sibling, and are mistakenly called “green” tomatoes, and while they are in the same family, they are a different genus.

And, here’s a shot of my bush beans – just because they are so pretty and I love that Tee-Pee (purchased at the Natural Gardener).

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:54-06:00April 23rd, 2008|Blog, Sharing Nature's Garden, Uncategorized|12 Comments

Happy Earth Day!

Oh, it’s a glorious Earth Day here in Austin. The sun finally decided to make an appearance and it’s 86 degrees.

After visiting a sick friend, I came home through a neighboring community and stopped at a local nursery. Beautiful stuff. I bought this bougainvilla for the corner of the day lily bed. I plan to train it up a small trellis so that it has some height for the corner.

And after enticing you with the beautiful blooms, here are two sad sights, but with the full promise of the future. This is a volunteer white Crape Myrtle that I dug up and replanted in a sunny spot along the fence in the woods. I lovingly trudge over there every few days to water it with a watering can. (wonder how long THAT will last?!)

And this is a mystery sage, left by the previous owner. It’s tall – 3-4 feet, and has beautiful light blue blooms. But it didn’t belong next to our front pathway. I pulled it all out 3 years ago, but it came back this spring, so I decided to try transplanting most of the shoots to a place where they can be as tall and invasive as they like. If they grow all along the fence, that’d be fine with me.
And now I’m off to mess with the chicken wire to keep out the bunnies. So, I hope you have enjoyed your Earth Day and got to spend some time in your garden or connecting with the Earth.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:45:14-05:00April 22nd, 2008|Blog, bougainvilla, Crape Myrtle, Earth Day, sage, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Oh, baby …

If you look closely, you can see snippets of fluff, rabbit fur and soft downy bird feathers lining this little … bunny nest. Filled with sweet, little cottontails.

Sigh.

And here you see what’s in the direct line of sight of the baby bunnies and their Momma. Sigh.

It’s about a 20 foot hop to my garden.

My garden with the large gap under the gate.

My garden with the huge fencing squares that a raccoon would fit through. (Remember, I built it to keep out DOGS, not bunnies, since at that time, I had no bunnies, just tomato-eating dogs.)

Now I have bunnies.

So, tomorrow’s post will likely be about the misery of working with chicken wire!

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:45:14-05:00April 21st, 2008|baby bunnies, Blog, fence, rabbits, Sharing Nature's Garden, vegetable garden|6 Comments

Wow!

I have an iris, I have an iris! Planted two years ago, this is the first of a batch of irises I’ve been anxiously waiting to meet. And boy-oh-boy was I excited to see her arrival today. My DH took these amazing close-ups for me so I could share them with you. Thanks, sweetie!

I love these colors – they are so vibrant and unique. I can’t tell you what kind it is because this was planted before I kept any real records. If you know, feel free to tell me.

And here is one of our first roses from my spring bush plantings. This is Mrs. B.R. Cant, 1901. The deer did munch on it when it first went in, but I think it’s out of their main path and we’ll just keep trying. If she’s tough, she’ll survive…kinda heartless, but I have so few options in the sun due to the deer.

This bright yellow beauty is Euonymos.

And perky coreopsis.

Iris I.D. Guesses based on my online searching:
Victorian Love
Choctaw Ridge

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:45:15-05:00April 20th, 2008|1901, Blog, coreopsis, Eonymous, iris, Mrs. B. R. Cant, rose, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

The grass is always greener …

No, this isn’t an envy post! Actually, after looking at so many lovely GBBD posts of flowers, it made me realize that those beautiful blooms often overpower the other interests in our gardens. This Spring, in particular, I’ve been struck by the amazing hues of green bursting forth all around me.

From new growth that is dramatically different than its siblings to all the different greens in the color spectrum.

No, no flowers today.

Just green, green green. (I was humming that, then I realized that it was actually, “Dream, dream, dream…” so I couldn’t use that for a title — besides, I’d date myself that way, so pretend I didn’t write that!)

Japanese Maple