This is the second year someone has turned off the faucet. Rain was promised this week, but never came. I spent most of the week refilling birdbaths and moving the sprinkler around to soak as many plants as possible.
1. I decided my next project will be tackling the vinca on the slope below the walkway on the side of the house. The vinca is invading my neighbor’s lawn so the situation can’t be ignored any longer if I want to remain on speaking terms with them.
In the past few years I’ve added 3 dwarf fruit trees, a bush cherry, several liatris, a rhododendron and a hosta to the slope and they’re all being swallowed up by the vinca. It’s hard to take a picture of it because it’s such a mess.
2. I knew there was an oak seedling lurking in there, but didn’t know there was a Japanese barberry and a tree of heaven too.
3. On Thursday, all thoughts of gardening stopped.
Usually, you see bears early in the morning or toward evening, and then only briefly. They’re not interested in stopping by for a visit, they’re only interested in food.
So, I was shocked when a bear popped up around noon in the backyard with two tiny cubs. This is probably the same mom who raised the four cubs last year.
She went across the street to a neighbor’s yard where they crawled up into an oak tree and the cubs took a nap. Mom then roamed the neighborhood looking for food. She even drained my hummingbird feeder.
4. The picture below was taken by my neighbor through her window.
It must be just as hard getting two bear cubs to move in the same direction at the same time as it is with human twins. After a couple of hours, Mom finally got them back across the street. Just when I thought it was safe to go outside, they popped up on the hill in my backyard again.
5. I’m sure she couldn’t hear me screaming inside the house. “Noooooooo! My plants!! Not my plants!!”
Mom was thorough. She scoured every inch of the backyard looking for food. She even checked the blueberry plants.
6. Six long, anxious hours (anxious for me, not for her) after she first showed up, she finally got both cubs headed in the same direction and left.
Check out the lovely, carnivore-free garden created by The Propagator, the mastermind behind Six-On-Saturday. Then enjoy amazing gardens from around the world in the comments.
Blimey!
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OMG so adorable and yet so formidable a garden visitor! How on earth do you protect things like blueberries from bears?! There have been sightings near us, but as yet (knock on wood) none in our garden. I’m for them in the forests but can’t say I’m eager to cohabitate in the garden with them.
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I’ve never seen them show up all day like that before. I have a lot of blueberry plants, but the birds and bears get them before I even realize they’re ripe.
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Hmm, I guess when a bear shows up, she gets what she wants – no chasing her away like I do my yard bunnies that come to nibble. The cubs are adorable!
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Very true! The cubs were adorable. They had to be only a few months old.
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Oh, tree of Heaven is . . . well, not something that I would want in my garden. Brent and I used to refer to it as ‘ghetto elm’. However, it has not been such a problem for quite a while. Now that mature specimens are more commonly cut down, their seedlings are not so prolific.
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My plant id app said it was probably Tree of Heaven. I was hoping it was sumac, but no such luck.
I just dug it up. It had one impressive taproot! Yep, it’s a tree of heaven – the leaves stink!
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It looks like tree of Heaven to me, but I am unfamiliar with sumac.
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Sumac has similar rows of leaves, but it doesn’t smell bad like this thing does. I’m glad I found it when I could still dig it up.
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Watch for it to try to regenerate from the roots. If it is tree of Heaven, it is remarkably resilient. It is the species that is described in ‘A Tree Grows In Brooklyn’.
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Oh no. Looks like I hit the jackpot for invasive species.
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Not if you kill it NOW!
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I did! Dug it up yesterday. It’s got a really long, creepy root. I think I got all of it.
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Wow, that bear is gorgeous and intimidating! – hot and dry there vs. cold and wet here! I have some of the beastly vinca as well. Guess it likes all climates. Have a good week!
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Wow! The most exciting animals my garden gets are chipmunks and squirrels—well, there is an occasional raccoon. Love the bear photos.
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I thought we had dangerous animals in our gardens, but bears are another thing altogether. They are cute, those cubs, but they and their mum would certainly call a halt to any gardening ideas!
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That was a great armchair view of your bear- lovely to look at on photos but I’m not sure an up close and personal visit would have been so enjoyable. Anyway, as we don’t get them where I’m from, thanks for including them.
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Fascinating bear adventure and great photos! Wise of you to be safely indoors with a Mama bear around. She’ll protect her babies against anything and everything. In my region, the bears spend their time sitting in people’s pools and hot tubs and leave the plants alone, LOL.
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