Plants that Stop Deer from Eating Tulips

I love tulips but so do the deer and since my home is locating in the woods I have deer in my yard daily. We have tried everything to keep the deer away from the tulips but they are determined to eat them because they are rich in nutrients and the liquid in the stem is hydrating.

Deer in the garden, note the lilrope grass is left alone

My husband thought it would be good to compromise with the deer so he filled a bucket of water for them and put out a mineral lick along with corn and sunflower seed mixture in our side yard where there are no tulips. The deer sure did like that but when they were done with their snack they came back into my backyard to look for tulips.

Hide tulips in daffodils 

Repel deer when you hide tulips amongst plants that deter. 

We thought about installing a deer fence around in the backyard because that would certainly stop the deer from coming into our yard but it would also block all animals from drinking from our pond. So we decided to hide the tulips from the deer by planting them in the middle of plants that deer do not like. 

Deer do not eat daffodils we also read that planting your tulips in the center of  lilrope grass is a good idea but would need a thick border of the grass to deter the deer. Other plants that deter deer are bee balm, peppermint, chives, cosmos, oleander, oregano, and rosemary 

A friend said that any low-growing ornamental grass will work as it provides good coverage for the tulips. So this fall I hid the tulips by planting the bulbs in my garden. I planted bulbs in the middle of the daffodil garden and in the ornamental grass garden. I will let you know next spring if the hiding of tulips really works.

Note if you are not a fan of wildlife in your yard then buy a scarecrow motion-activated pressure water animal deterrent. The sting from the water burst makes all wildlife leave your yard. Learn more by reading my article here

Growing Pumpkins from Seed

I grew a pumpkin from a seed that I found in my wild bird food. I did not know anything about growing pumpkins until I planted that seed.

The seed was planted into a container that was directly next to a raised garden bed. Germination was in a few days and from there the pumpkin plant took off. The rambling vine grew to be 20 feet long and was covered with large leaves, and yellow flowers followed by pumpkins.

Planting the seed in a container was not the best idea but I did provide the vine support and it naturally grew into the raised garden.

I grew the pumpkin in Miracle-Gro potting soil that was amended with compost. The stem was surrounded with mulch to help aid in moisture retention. To prevent the soil from getting dry I watered the pumpkin plant in the morning and in the late afternoon. The combination of soil, sun, and water aided in a healthy pumpkin plant.

One pumpkin seed produced a 20-foot vine that was covered with pumpkins.

Most people have common pests such as beetles snails and slugs which eat the pumpkin leaves, roots, and flowers. I had beetles, grasshoppers, deer, and a groundhog.

To control the pest I sprayed the pumpkin with organic Neem oil, (after the flowers had bloomed because neem oil is toxic to bees) then I put up a fence that was made from chicken wire to keep the animals away from my pumpkin.

Know that it is best to keep the pumpkins up off the ground because they will not grow evenly and will not have the same color. I did lift them up with support and the other pumpkins have grown up the side of the fence so no worries about them lying on the ground.

Other Information:

• Pumpkins can be grown from seed indoors and then transplanted outdoors after the threat of spring frost has passed. It takes 80 to 100 days for them to mature.
• Make sure you have plenty of room for the plant to grow. If you do not have ample space in your yard then grow the small pumpkin-like pie pumpkins or sugar pumpkins” 
• Maintain your pumpkin patch by removing all weeds.
• Prevent pumpkins from rotting by lifting them off the soil, the moisture in the soil is what causes them to rot..you can put newspapers under the pumpkins or you can add a thick layer of straw under the pumpkins as they grow. 
• Turn your pumpkins every few days so they ripen on all sides.

Photo of pumpkins in the patch by Pixabay. other photos are by Susan Golis

Growing Sunflowers from Birdseed

I had not planned on growing sunflowers from birdseed but when I saw that seedlings grew from fallen seeds I was excited. All of the seedlings needed to be transplanted because they were growing too close. I did transplant all seedlings into a sunny garden bed. 

Sunflowers grow best in a sunny location and in soil that is well-drained. I found that the sunflowers are not particular about the type of soil as flowers have grown in rocky dirt as well as rich organic soil. The sunflower is a strong plant and as long as you give it what it wants, sun, water, and protection from wildlife; birds, squirrels, and deer then the sunflower will grow well.

How to grow sunflowers

Since I was planting birdseed I was not aware of the type of sunflower. The birdseed could produce a large flower or medium size so to be safe I did separate the seedling by planting them 2 feet apart.

I dug a trench that was two inches deep then added the seedlings 2 feet apart. Back-filled the trench and firm the soil around the seedling stem.

The seedlings were watered twice a day, morning and mid-afternoon so that the soil never dried out. Once the sunflower was established (20 days) I watered it once daily as this plant is drought resistant.

To help retain moisture I added cypress mulch around the sunflower stems.

The sunflower is a hardy and fast-growing flower on average the plant matured and developed seeds in approximately 80 days.

The birdseed produced flowers that were medium size but I did grow a few rather large sunflowers that were three feet tall. The taller flowers did need to be staked because the stems would break easily during a rainstorm or on a windy day.

Throughout the summer I would add new seedlings that grew from the birdseed as a new row planting and by doing this I had continuous sunflower blooms until the frost in the fall.

Enjoy this end-of-summer blooms as cut flowers for a centerpiece or harvest to enjoy the tasty seeds.

Pest Control

The sunflower is a magnet for birds, squirrels, and deer. The deer enjoy eating the entire plant but really like the flower blooms. Squirrels and birds love the seeds.

To keep the deer away from sunflowers I installed a 6-foot chicken wire fence around my sunflowers. To keep the birds and squirrels away I kept the bird feeders filled with their favorite seeds. Of course, there were always a few birds that preferred fresh seeds from the flower.

Here are some products I created from photographs, watercolor illustrations, and graphic designs of sunflowers.

Gardening on First Warm Day in Winter

This winter has been long, and cold and there has been more snow this year than in previous years. Being unable to putter in the garden has been hard on me. Normally our winters are mild and my husband and I can work in the yard and gardens throughout the winter months.  So you can imagine how excited I was when I learned that tomorrow would be the first warm day in winter.

The alarm went off at 5 AM and I started to get ready for the first warm day in winter. I was out of the house at 7 AM but found it was still too cold 36 degrees. This afternoon the high will be 55 degrees and that is perfect weather for getting garden beds ready for early spring planting.

I intend on concentrating on cleaning up the gardens. There were branches that fell from the trees during the last ice storm. The debris (branches and leaves) will be removed from the gardens, then any wild grass will be dug out.  I will add a layer of compost to feed the perennials that are planted in the garden beds before moving on to my next garden project. 

The warm weather will last only two days then snow is in the forecast. So I am enjoying the winter warm weather while I can.

If you reside in a cold climate and love to garden, why not plant seeds indoors. You can plant annual, and perennial flowers and vegetables in the grow kits. Then transfer the seedlings outdoors in the spring.

Here are a few photographs of my gardens.