Three decades ago and expecting our third child, we finally built our forever nest.

We never quite finished inside, and outside is a work in progress, a tug of war between we paltry humans and the forces of nature. Creatures free range in the perennials and the weeds. Birds have gifted us by pooping plant seeds…we have barberry, cotoneaster, and deciduous holly that we never sowed to soil. All the while deer ransack the hostas and the lilies, pheasants eat my zucchini and cukes. Nature giveth and taketh away!

As well, friends and neighbours have gifted us transplants..and seed. This collaboration, with little rhyme or reason is a masterpiece.

We have learned to surround the yummy plants with ones that deter these foraging fauna. Deer hate scented things and fuzzy things. Marigolds, daisies, and the robust rudbeckia all smell like dirty feet. My scented geraniums take scent even further. Furry things like Mullien, Lambs Ears and Mountain Bluet must feel funny on their tongues…Rudbeckia are both…stinky and fuzzy. The perfect combo.

Many years ago l was given two or three rudbeckia plants. They multiply by reseeding and from year to year we’ve let them ramble unchecked! Now they grow everywhere here. Everywhere. They and the foxglove..free-range flora you might say.

We have tried to impress our human mark on the landscape but the hand of God and nature generally prevails. Our pretty additions thrive while surrounded with “weeds” but to the pollinators it all nectar. To the deer and pheasants it’s the most bountiful produce section. So in the morning l grab a coffee and wander out thru all of it. I could do blogs and blogs on what l find, every day.

I live in paradise.