Fauna can be tough on your flora

With June in full swing, and the potted herb garden on my front porch is growing strong.

I planted it differently this year than I have in years past. Called the Simon and Garfunkel pot because of the parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme I had planted together, nothing but the thyme in the biggest pot had wintered well. I decided the big pot was just for thyme and for the one late sprouting, volunteer sage and planted the other herbs In other pots. I grow basil and mint and cilantro and lavender in other places.

I love having fresh herbs to snip and use in cooking all summer long. I love the brightness that parsley gives almost any dish and use it most frequently. That was why I was so dismayed when I came out onto the porch one evening and discovered that it had been partly eaten. My mother, long a hater of groundhogs, declared that it had been an errant groundhog who had eaten it. My husband, the problem solver, agreed and put the pot of parsley up on a little stand thinking that no groundhog would be daredevil enough to climb it.

I disagreed with the groundhog theory but having no proof, decided to see what would happen next. I didn’t have long to wait. In the morning what was left of the parsley was chewed down to the roots. As I had suspected, it was not the work of any groundhog. It had been a bold deer who no doubt appreciated the more comfortable angle of the parsley for her nibbling pleasure. Parsley is now replanted and relocated to the back deck up 13 steps that no deer dares to climb.

It is just one more concession we make in our neck of urban woods coexisting with the deer, groundhogs, the raccoons, squirrels, skunks, opossum, the occasional fox, the hawks, owls, and assorted creatures. None of the forest creatures seem to read horticultural articles about those plants to cultivate that don’t attract wildlife. They have eaten some annuals that had been touted as deer proof, posing attractively for photos while munching away. They seem not to enjoy daffodils or lavender so I have learned to be content with those.

I learned how to grow patio tomatoes hanging upside down one year, imagining that I had outsmarted the wild things. The morning that a hefty gymnast groundhog was seen upside down getting his dose of lycopene and antioxidants from my almost ripe heirloom tomatoes, I conceded defeat. I’m trying them on the deck this year along with the new parsley and the cilantro, but I’m only cautiously optimistic.

There are moments with our wild neighbors that more than compensate for our necessary forages through area farmers markets for our flowers, fruits and veggies. Last year, one mama deer made a habit of dropping her twins off for us to babysit while she went about the business of being a deer. I’ll take fauna – especially fawns - over flora any day.

Lori Law can be reached at lori@columbus.rr.com.