It is Victoria Day weekend and the traditional time to plant the annuals for the summer.  Unfortunately we live in Deer Paradise.  There is no hunting of any deer in Comox Valley.  So every deer on the island has migrated to our valley for sanctuary.  We are infested with them.

Of course they get hungry and move through our properties, immune from any punishment, and able to eat flowers and exotic plants at their leisure.  Let a home owner rush out to defend his garden with a bat and some do-gooder would report him for animal cruelty.  They are like swarming rats, just better looking.

As we plan our garden we must look for plants that smell so bad the deer avoid them or, as our neighbour did, build a high wall around the yard.

This is so bitter because we live in garden heaven.  We could plant the most luscious flowers and plants, but each night at about 3 am these roving rats(deer) would come and hoover them down.

So we must select annuals that we would not ordinarily wish to use in our garden.  If we plant a Peony we must surround it with Marigolds.  If we want Iris we must build a net or surround with petunias.

Blaine suggested a solution a few years ago.  Sit up each night with a sling shot and frozen Ice pellets and shoot them at the deer as they came in.  No dead bodies and no evidence of bullets for the animal loving gestapo to find.  Unfortunately what he missed in his plan was me sitting in the back yard at 3 am.  Not going to happen.

So we plant Marigolds and Petunias and Verbenas and Lobellas and Zinnias etc.  Not bad flowers but noted that they do not smell sweet so Deer do not eat them.

We put the flowers that we love in the hanging baskets so the rats cannot reach them.

As Pat says, apparently, I am opinionated.  Still would it not be nice to enjoy a little local venison?????