Before any plants get relocated, their new home must be prepared. Today I cleared weeds and trimmed herbs in the former bunny yard. Then I put down all the  cardboard I have been collecting to serve as a barrier between the ground and the fabric pots.

I also hooked one of the two labels for each plant to be moved onto the handles of a fabric pot. I placed the fabric pots and plant labels into paper bags for different gardens, so I can easily put the labels on the actual plants.

The crew will check to see if the plant label matches the pot label before moving it inside the fence.

I checked each garden this evening and found some plants that I had forgotten were there. These names must be added to area lists and labels will be made. Unfortunately, I also discovered a whole row that has disappeared. I will dig a bit to be sure they are truly gone in the morning.  These are old plants near the driveway which are easily accessible to deer from the woods

These disappearances confirmed that the moving is necessary. Once all “deer food” is safe inside the fence, I can then care for the victims and find new homes that do not have a herd of hungry deer.

I previously dug sedums and put them in pots on the deck bridge to the entrance. The deer found them and have trimmed them. Some pots were even pushed over and broken.

This behavior shows how hungry and desperate the herd is. Fawns learn what to eat from smelling their mother’s breath. I have had deer eating here since 2018, so seven generations have been trained to eat daylilies, sedums, Solomon’s seal, Pineapple lilies, tiger lilies, lily of the valley, Stokes aster Peachie’s Pick, butterfly weed and gladiolus blooms. Nature always wins. I am not mad about this. Nature must win. That is how it should be. My role is to remove artificial food sources. Discouragement techniques no longer work because of the drought, herd size and habitat loss due to surrounding development.

Mr. Flower saw some of the herd peeking from the forests’ edge this morning. I think they were wondering who that lady was in their produce section.

This is alot of work, but I feel it is the right thing to do for the plants and the herd. They need to disperse and forage on native plants.

FLOWER on the move

More changes are coming. No shift stands alone. Even if you are in control of the first move, you have less control of the effects. Sometimes I refer to this as a cascade.

The Butterfly Effect is real. Although it sounds ridiculous that a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a tornado, a small shift in one part of a system can result in a large change elsewhere.

I have witnessed this over and over. I know to expect the unexpected. Any instability can cause chaos eventually.  A subtle, barely noticeable change can turn drastic over time.

So being the proactive person that I am, I respond with what I call “turtle mode.” I get very quiet and still and hide while peeking out to see what happens. Until I have a grasp of the new situation, I try to just be an observer. This may seem reactive, but why fight the tide as it comes in?

I will be moving most of my plant collection next week, Mr. Flower will officially retire and the house next door in our neighborhood of three is for sale. That sounds like a tornado to me!

FLOW in her shell