Organic gardener growing food and flowers, lovin' pollinators and birds.

Calling a truce with squirrels


I signed on to Twitter this morning and learned that today  Jan. 21 – is National Squirrel Appreciation Day. The day was created back in 2001 by wildlife rehabilitator Christy Hargrove, a longtime volunteer of the Western North Carolina Nature Center.

This knowledge made me laugh out loud for two reasons: If any animal needs a successful PR campaign, the squirrel falls into that category. As a gardener, I often hear others lament how squirrels dig up bulbs, destroy plants, dive-bomb bird feeders and can be a general nuisance.

The second reason is ironic: Today  a day declared to appreciate squirrels  is also my grandfather's birthday. And he loathed squirrels.

Acrobatics on the shed.
I'm not sure what specific event caused him to declare war. It could have been the typical complaints: destroying bird feeders, digging up plants. All I know is that when I was in elementary school, and he was his late 80s, he developed a routine of using a Havahart trap to catch squirrels. He would then place the trapped squirrel in the back of his 1986-circa station wagon and they would both go for a nice little drive to Forest Park, where the squirrel would be set free to wreck havoc there. My grandfather was quite proud of this process: he had created a solution to his problem. Gradually, one-by-one, the squirrels would be trapped and driven 12 minutes across town. I'm not sure what it did for the preexisting squirrel population in Forest Park, but at one point, he actually accomplished his goal of having a squirrel-free garden. For a week. Then a new squirrel realized there was this nice quiet garden that wasn't being used and was territory-free. The process continued until the squirrels outlasted him.

So you see, I wasn't raised to be a squirrel aficionado.

This white squirrel hung out with the
gray squirrels in my garden for two
winters. We think it was a recessive
gene that gave him white fur.
After purchasing our first home, I too began to feed birds, and would get frustrated  even angry  when the squirrels outwitted me. I bought various baffles. I moved the feeder away from fences, trees, shrubs, the shed  anything they could use as a jumping-off point to crash land on the feeder. I eventually found a great squirrel baffler that the sales clerk assured me would do the trick. He was right. Only once in a while would a young, brazen gray squirrel have enough youthful energy to run right up the pole and somehow clear the baffler to get to the feeder. (It must have been the sheer force of his sprint.) But, like any young athlete, he eventually matured, and his adult body restricted him from completing his younger feat. I had finally outwitted them. Checkmate.

But squirrels are ... squirrely. And still hungry. They had other ideas. And an extremely great sense of smell.

A squirrel escapes with a piece of stale marbled rye.
So great, that when I threw out stale gingerbread cookies one winter's day, they chewed through my plastic garbage can to retrieve them. And while they were there, they grabbed the stale rye bread, too. I watched as they precariously dragged the bread slices – which they could barely fit in their mouths – cross the garden.

I realized, watching them, that they were hungry clowns, and it was hypocritical to have a wildlife sanctuary sign on display in my garden and to be enemies with the squirrels. So gradually, as I would purchase bird seed, I would begin to buy them food as well. Now the squirrels are given a dish of corn kernels to eat while the birds feed overhead. (As for the trash can, it still has its battle scars: I ended up duct taping the holes closed, and putting bricks on top until they lost interest.)

This red squirrel is the newest addition to the garden.
Since I declared a truce with the squirrels, more have arrived. When they get too rambunctious, I stop feeding them (usually in the summer) so they don't destroy my plants as they race across the garden. In the past few weeks, my husband and I have counted as many as 10 gray squirrels feeding in the garden, along with our newest resident, the red squirrel, who is crazier and faster than the gray squirrels ... and one I really like.

Do they still steal my green tomatoes before they are ripe? Definitely. Do they dig up bulbs? Of course. But they've made me a smarter gardener, as we continually play the game of outwitting the other. I've stopped keeping score of who's winning. Now they are just part of the everyday routine.

So on this national appreciation day, I ask that you too, consider putting aside your differences and grudges against the hyper, crazy garden outlaw.

And of course, happy birthday to my grandfather, who would have been 109 years old today. I'll have to buy a seed block for the squirrels to celebrate.

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Floral Friday: Jan. 20

Outside there are subtle signs of spring appearing, such as these buds on the white forsythia (which I also love the color of).


The hellebore is still blooming. This variety - niger - is definitely peaking now.


The coneflowers are showing signs of being snacked on by the birds.


And there's signs of new growth on my other hellebore plants beginning as well. I believe these will be new leaves; I haven't seen any buds on this plant yet.


Meanwhile, inside the house, the amaryllis bulbs have had a major growth spurt since last week!


And the blooms on the dainty queen's tears are still forming.


What's blooming in your garden? To view last week's Floral Friday, click here.

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Floral Friday: Jan. 13

This week, after the snowstorm, the hellebore bloomed! 


Indoors, the queen's tears is just about ready to peak.


And the amaryllis are still growing.


Meanwhile, in the non-flowering category, the birds are visiting daily at the feeders. And are quick to remind me when they run out of seed.





What's blooming in your garden this week?
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Floral Friday: Jan. 6


The New Year started off with the hellebore in bud in the back garden, but the cold temperatures this week have not allowed it to bloom yet. This is the niger variety, which is the earliest to bloom in my garden. (Last year it bloomed in early December!) 

I was also (finally) able to identify the new creature living in our back garden - the red squirrel. He's very fast - much faster than the gray squirrels that I am used to. He's sassier too: He'll chase the larger squirrels away if he feels they are intruding on his territory. 



It turns out he likes black walnuts. Which is good for him, since the land behind my fence is littered with them.


He is pretty cute, though. Even if he has an attitude.

Inside, the orchids are making promises of future flowers; many have new shoots, which will carry future buds.


And there are the other usual suspects as well, such as air plants.


And my free poinsettia that the office was giving away before Christmas. (The best poinsettia is a free one.) I took it home even though it's flowers were finished.


I am also trying to grow amaryllis this winter. 


The Queen's Tears (below) which I didn't actually want to take home from the garden club plant sale, has also grown on me. It turns out it's in the bromeliad family, and one of the easier ones to grow. I kept it outside all summer and pretty much ignored it. When it was time to move plants inside for frost, I obliged and brought it inside. Now it looks like it will bloom soon, as if to say, "See, I was worth saving." (Sometimes gardeners can be a little skeptical with new, "unknown" plants.)


And since there's temporarily a lack of color, I purchased this cyclamen, which is now living on the kitchen counter. 


 What's blooming in your garden (or house) this week?

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The Gardener's January Calendar ~ 2017


Welcome to 2017! This month is the best time to plan how to make your garden deliver everything you are looking for, whether it be an abundance of cut flowers or food for your table. January is all about planning and dreaming, which carries me through all the cold, gray days. The good news: The days are getting longer, which means the return of daylight! (If you follow me over on Instagram and Facebook, you'll see the return of my daily spring countdown graphics.)

Let's get on to the chores, shall we?


  • Cue the lights! If you use grow lights, clean your equipment. In the past, I used a diluted bleach solution to wipe down my trays, but you can also use soap and water first, and then vinegar to disinfect. Make sure grow light bulbs work. I use the three-tier grow light stand from Gardener's Supply which I purchased in December 2010. It's a big investment (and takes up a good amount of space in my kitchen) but I save lots of money on plants later in the season by growing what I want from seed. The fixture uses T-5 bulbs that provide full spectrum light. They last about five seasons before they start to dim (about 10,000 hours of use). This year Santa brought me six new grow light bulbs, which I'm looking forward to plugging in! (Older bulbs can be used for houseplants if you feel bad about chucking them.) 
  • Disinfect plastic cells. If you reuse plastic seed starting cells (like I do), begin cleaning them now with a diluted bleach solution (or the vinegar solution I mentioned above) to kill anything that might compromise your plants for this year.
  • Get rid of old seeds. Chuck older seeds that have reached their storage limit. I HATE this part. I feel like I've wasted money when I find seeds that I haven't planted. Vegetables all have a different lifetime for seed viability (a good source is here to help you decide what to keep). If you try to grow older seeds, they may sprout, but won't grow as strong as newer seeds will. If you decide to try it, make sure you have a backup - just in case!
  • Figure out what your growing calendar looks like. For me, seed starting begins later this month with pansy seeds. This is a good way for me to beat the winter blues and have my own pansies for early spring. Figure out what your estimated last frost date is. (This website will help.) Then count backward from that week. This is your growing season. So when a packet of seeds says to start them inside eight weeks before the last average frost, for example, count back eight weeks from your last frost date.
  • Help the birds: Keep feeders filled. I use black oil sunflower seeds in a small feeder. I also use a suet feeder that attracts woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees and wrens. It's also very important to keep unfrozen water available to birds when other sources of water are frozen. (Here's a review on the heated birdbath I use.)



  • Make plans. Which new gardens will you visit this year? Here are some places I visited last year that you might want to consider (if you live on the Eastern coast of the United States).
  • Help hydrangeas: Consistent, super low temperatures kills hydrangea blossoms on old wood, as Chris Valley explained in a story I wrote previously for Frau Zinnie. While varieties like Endless Summer can be affected since flowers bloom on both old and new wood, it is mostly the varieties were flowers only bloom on old wood that are affected the most. Several of my hydrangeas fall into this category. Valley suggested wrapping large hydrangeas by taking a string, tying it to a sturdy branch and walking around the plant to tie it up. Then cover with burlap and leave the top open. Do not fill it with leaves. "Otherwise you will make a condo for mice," he said. If you can stand the cold at this point where you are, give it a shot.
  • Help perennials: To prevent frost from heaving plants out of the ground, recycle Christmas trees so the branches protect your plants. (Read more here.) If you see plants coming out of the ground, push them back in. If it's too cold to chop up a Christmas tree, consider leaving it standing in your garden. It will provide protection for songbirds.


  • Make plans! Dream big! What have you seen on Pinterest that you love and want to try? Maybe you earmarked some pages in a gardening magazine concerning a specific plant or a design you admire. Take these ideas and assemble them on a piece of matt board, a bulletin board or large sheet of paper. Having a visual representation available of what you want your garden to emulate helps make it a reality. 

Remember - spring is coming. To view the countdown to spring daily with my photos, visit my Instagram or Facebook account.

I live in Central Connecticut and garden in Zone 6b.
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