I
suppose it was at least ten years ago that I began my quest to plant lilac
bushes here at the farm. Lilacs were a favorite of the homesteaders. Grandma Ina had several bushes which are long gone, and re-establishing
them appealed to my vintage interests.
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| A cloud looms large behind the house |
So,
I bought and begged lilac shoots and kept Mike busy digging them out and
planting them, but it didn’t exactly go well. Even though they aren’t supposed
to like lilacs, the deer bothered my young starts. Each spring, I would find that
the previous year’s progress had been destroyed, the stems broken and in
disarray. It was disheartening.
Things
didn’t turn around until my family built a fence around some of the struggling
bushes in the front yard, and to my delight, they took off. I have three in the
compound, each a different variety. One blooms late, which delightfully extends
the lilac season. |
| Lilac bush on the island; Also, a volunteer maple. |
Meanwhile,
Mike came in the other day and asked if I knew of the lilac bush between the
barn and the pond. We planted one there, I said, but I thought it died long
ago. It’s small but healthy, and he will cut the grass back so that I can tend
to it. And then, we discovered a lilac bush in bloom on the island. We didn’t
plant that one. And looking closer, I discovered a second, smaller bush close to
it. I fear that the wild roses will eventually overtake these bushes.
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| Deer lie in the south field |
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| A blackbird objects to my presence |
I
saw eight deer lounging in the south field yesterday afternoon. They were there
for hours. Mike and I toured the perimeter of the north field and saw three
more deer lounging across the gully – and even another in June’s field. Then in
the evening, one came quite close to the yard. I counted nine more in the
distance. The close one was wary, often lifting her head and sniffing the air,
as if to see how close she could come to the yard without alerting Bess.
Of
course, you know what the deer are doing. They’re eating Farmer Kyle’s newly
planted crop. KW
