Oh Those Pesky Rabbits

A few years ago, I had chicken wire installed all around the bottom of the picket fence in the backyard.  That solved the rabbit problem for many years.

rabbit fence

Over the years, the fence got bent, damaged, removed and generally became “holey”.  My first clue that this was going to be bad this year was the very cute baby bunnies I found in the yard.

rabbit nest

They disappeared out of the yard shortly after I found them, but they certainly had plenty of places to get in and out of the yard quite easily.

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I’ve done some temporary fixes, but I’ll get my boys who just got back from a church volunteer work trip to use their new construction skills to fix the holes more permanently.

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Here’s some of the damage the rabbits did when I wasn’t paying attention 🙁

Beets are looking sparse…

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The beans are almost nonexistent…

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and Kale seems to be a favorite…

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They also wiped out most of the early lettuce, swiss chard and spinach, so I’ve replanted and maybe with this cool weather I’ll get a mid-summer harvest.

Do you battle rabbits and other critters?

Spring Surprises

 As I was walking around the yard the other day, a few surprises caught my eye.  

Why was there fuzz in the garden?

rabbit nest

On closer inspection this is what I saw!

rabbit nest

rabbit nest

As best as I could tell, there were 4 babies snuggled in the nest

rabbit nest

The next day I went to show my husband…Gone!

rabbit nest

The Dead Man’s Fingers were back (Dead Man’s Fingers) although in a new spot.  I’m not sure why they showed up in a new location and what they might be growing on.  But, still as oddly interesting as before.

Dead Man's Fingers

We had a bit of a mushroom farm going after a nice spring rain.

mushrooms

I love looking up close at mushrooms I thought they were all the same, but on closer inspection actually quite different.

mushrooms

 

mushrooms

These tulips are some of the oldest flowers in my garden.  Most tulips here are considered annuals because of cold or rodents, but these keep coming back year after year.  Sometimes better than others, too.  This year they are stunning!  

Pink tulips

And lastly, while I was out on a recent walk with a friend we came across a beautiful yellow magnolia.  In an area with an abundance of the usual, but of course striking pink magnolias, this was quite a surprise.  

yellow magnolia

We loved the assortment of spring flowers underneath.  What a beautiful spring garden.  I may need to plant one of those trees…

Have you had any spring garden surprises?