Friday, March 21, 2008

Those Darn Birds and Pill Bugs

So I planted a bunch of seeds..and the birds and pill bugs gobbled the new seedlings up post-haste! I will now have to re-start these inside and MOVE them outside when they are big enough to fend for themselves.

One lone Nasturtium survivor (I am SURE it will be gone tomorrow):



No more Cantaloupe seedlings - ALL GONE.



*Sigh* Oh well. What can ya do? I have re-planted these all in pots INDOORS.


On the bright side, I do have some nice Columbines blooming for me:




A closer look:



This is my crossvine. I bought it 3 years ago, and it is finally really starting to take off. I THOUGHT it was the 'Tangerine Beauty' variety(because that is what the tag said), but when it bloomed, it was definately looking more like the native version with the yellow trumpet and red insides. That's alright though...I think I like the native one better anyway.



Then I have these little orange flowers that I think are Carolina Mallow that come up everywhere in my front bed. I really like them, although I suppose they are technically a weed. I pull out some of them so they don't take over, but I always leave a few draping over some of the rockery. Weeds need love too!



And here is some purple salvia that is attracting the first Black-Chinned hummingbirds of the season!

10 comments:

Melanie Chopay said...

I didn't know pill bugs eat seedlings. Here they just seem to roll around the bases of my pots.

Beautiful columbines!

Lee17 said...

melanie,

Yep, I caught one of those pill bugs in my pot of strawberry seedlings too - he had just mowed one of them over! I game him a good squishing!

I never had a problem with them in Washington state, but in Texas...they eat everything!

Diana said...

Lee - I'm so sorry for your loss. That just bites, doesn't it? Hope you have better luck starting inside where it's safe. Your columbines are lovely -- I don't think i have the right place for them -- haven't had much luck. Yours look very happy. Guess you taught that pillbug a thing or two!

Anonymous said...

Ha! Plant tags---what do they know? As with my pink bluebonnets, you got a native crossvine instead of the Tangerine Beauty. I have both crossvines in my garden, but the native one hasn't started blooming yet.

Anonymous said...

Something keeps nipping the stalks off the bluebonnets just about to flower. They seem a bit big for pill bugs; maybe it's cutworms.

Pill bug seems such a cute name for such a destructive beast. When you're mad at them you should call them by their other nastier name, wood lice.

Lori said...

For some weird reason, I've been resistant to putting yellow flowers in my back garden. But I have to say that last picture of the yellow columbine has convinced me of the error of my ways.

I'm ready for some cheerful color after the boring brown garden I've been looking at for the last few months!

Lee17 said...

Diana,

Yes, my seeds indoors are starting to come up now. I guess I should just start them inside from now on.

Lee17 said...

Pam,

Now that is an idea...purchase ANOTHER one in the Tangerine color..I am always looking for a good excuse to buy more plants.

Lee17 said...

mss,

You know,it probably was cutworms that cut the tops off the cantaloupe seedlings...but I definately saw the birds nipping the tops off my flower sprouts. Last year they ate my african daisy sprouts all up. No daisies for me!

Lee17 said...

Lori,

I do love yellow flowers. And columbines are in my top 5 of favorite flowers. Put them together and you have perfection! One cannot go wrong with a yellow columbine.