Under Attack

No, we're not being invaded by a band of miniature garden gnomes.

There are much more sinister forces

 at work in our yard!

The little guy above and the red ceramic mushroom are the first

items I've purchased for a faerie garden.  I temporarily stuck them in

a pot of flowers by the back door.  Where they'll probably still be when autumn rolls around.

Do you remember my Redleaf May Day trees that bloomed just a few short weeks ago?

Gone.

After 6 years of coaxing them to stand up straight, we finally gave up the battle.

Both trees had numerous sickly branches, so we chopped them

down before they spread the disease to our few healthy trees.

One of my favorite

shrubs

shrub is covered with fragrant blossoms.

I had 2 Golden Mockorange shrubs,

one on either side of the front steps,

but only one made it through

the winter.

Thank goodness we planted a hearty Linden tree.

Sturdy.

Disease resistant.

Shade provider.

The seed pods have already appeared

and little buds will soon turn

into pretty white flowers.

Signature bright green seed pods.

On closer inspection.........

Attacked by a sapsucker over the winter!!!!

I have no idea when this *?+@> bird is pecking our tree,

but I see new holes every day!

And prepare yourself for the most disgusting of all......

 The Tent Caterpillar. 

Or as we Rangers fondly refer to them,  ARMY WORMS!!!

Don't let the pretty colored design...wait a minute!  I just noticed the design is

a series of skull and crossbones!  Fitting.

Anywho, don't let their fuzzy soft appearance fool you.

These big eaters can wipe out an entire super-sized forest lickety split!

This year we will see a minimal amount of these obnoxious critters, but

the next 3 years,  we I will be taking cover in the house when they pass through town.

Imagine an army of gazillions of these worms covering the side of your house.

They don't crawl around anything.  They march right over whatever happens to be

in their path of destruction.  These worms are trained by the professionals

at Cirque du Soleil to swing from tree to tree by their sticky web.

There is no safe haven from these fuzzy forest annihilators.

Needless to say, I'm going to enjoy every worm-free moment I can this summer. 

Here are a few photos of some new plants (annuals) and those (perennials) that have escaped the

numerous snackers in our yard.

Always dependable Columbine.

Hmm.....can't remember the name of this flower at the moment,

(Bachelor Button- thanks Carlene!)

but it has a pineapple-like flower bud.

Now that the little shade tree is gone, this barrel of plants is adjusting to more direct sunlight.

I bought this plant stand for $8 at a local shop.

Proceeds from the sale of these bright pink geranuims go to support breast cancer.

Petunias in my clearance teacup pots from Michael's.

You can just barely see the gnome peeking out of the pot of flowers

There's only one begonia so far, but what a beauty!

* It's squirrel stew for dinner if I find these flowers tossed aside

and replaced with peanuts.

I painted this sign years ago.  In fact it's dated '92.

OMG!  It's almost as old as our couch!

I picked up this vintage soap holder at an antique show in Anoka, MN last weekend.

My low-maintenance shade garden.  The only plant I water regularly

is the basket of double pink impatiens in the vintage urn.

They look like tea roses.

A peaceful sunset.

Its hard to be a disgruntled gardener on nights like these.

Wishing you a relaxing and pest-free weekend.

Vickie

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