What a Gardener Truly Needs... A Sense of Humor!

   So east coast it has been a rough summer. Record number of heat waves, little to no rain. A real struggle for gardeners and our furry outdoor friends too. Every part of the yard has been ripped & eaten by deer & critters like I've never seen before. I in turn am trying to keep my sense of humor about it all. I mean they are all just trying to feed the youngins & stay alive, right?!

   For a week or so I was noticing a change in my extraordinary hibiscus plant. Lovingly planted in a large ceramic pot & carefully placed in the right sun exposure on my patio, there was a big difference. Day by day, from bottom to top it was losing its healthy, glossy green leaves and along with them, the spectacular deep coral-pink blooms. Was it bugs? Nope.  OMG this sucks, WHAT is doing this?? Then the culprit revealed himself. It was a squirrel, using the plant to practice for his kinds version of America Ninja Warriors. I never saw him eat or chew, just scale to the top, over & over, every day so eventually every single leaf was knocked off. So, what's a gardener do?? Laugh because a great photo-op comes to mind. (see below) Yes, my little Charlie Brown tree form hibiscus is now making the big time with his picture on the internet! 

"I never thought it was a bad little tree."

     I also have a beloved tree form Rose of Sharon 'tree', happily rescued one fall from Lowe's clearance. It is now about 10 feet tall but needs some help. Parts of branches have not leafed out the past two years and in odd placements. This has been frustrating on how or not to prune it. A few weeks ago I was mesmerized by the number of chickadees, titmice, goldfinches, woodpeckers, hummingbirds & cardinals using the twig-like dead branches as their perches going to and from a close by for birds only 'food court'. (see pic, 'twigs' in background) 

I laughed and smiled as I watched & it came to me, to do the minimal because isn't that why we plant flowers & shrubs & trees in the first place - they give the bees, butterflies, birds (and now ninja squirrels) a place to hang out? That's why this gardener plants anyway. And there is the joy. Coneflowers that went to seed way early because of drought are now tiny seed heads home to those goldfinches. To truly be a happy gardener through all the seasons, one must take it all in stride and not take it all too seriously!