OF LILACS AND WHITETAILS

 

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.

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.

Deer lie in the south field

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