I have given up...

...on growing anything that the deer like. My last apple tree was decapitated the other day and I mean decapitated. There is nothing left but the trunk. Last year these brown eyed monsters ate my two other apple tree seedlings.

I have always had a dream of having an English Cottage Garden and a small fruit tree orchard, but as of today that dream has died. I am sticking to what the deer do not like, and that is mostly weeds--I mean wildflowers. Jeff Foxworthy has it correct in his "You might be a Michigander if..." when he says: "Your idea of creative landscaping is a statue of a deer next to your blue spruce". I surrender: next year spruce trees will fill the spaces where the apple trees stood.

So here is a small photo essay of what the deer leave alone:

Daisies

Wild Dune Roses

St. John's Wort

Wild Honeysuckle

At least this year, the deer left the honeysuckle bushes alone. What a feast a large flock of Cedar Waxwings have had. Cedar Waxwings love to eat small fruit. I suspect these are also the thieves which have stolen all our gooseberries. Did you know that Cedar Waxwings are the only birds that share their food? They also don't have a song, but a call. Only the lower branches still have berries left. I figure these will be gone soon as well.

unidentified wild flower

Day Lilies

Bearded Irises

And of course, all things pine.

So good bye dear apple trees and English Cottage Garden. The dream was nice as long as it lasted. From now on I shall drool over pictures, not the actual thing.