Happy Father’s Day

Share with me!

Attack Cobra for Grumpa Joe's Garden by Benjamin age seven

This card is very inventive. The cobra pops out when the card is opened. Ben is also the lad who sorrowfully asked Grumpa Joe not to harm the Wabbit. He has seen the error of his ways, however, by offering a carniverous reptile to help reduce the Wabbit population.

Love from Grumpa Joe's Oldest- notice the Wabbit lurking in the corner waiting for the Lobelia to bloom.

Love from Grumpa Joe's artist Jenna Rose age seven

Wabbit Wars and Mosquito Terrorism

Lobelia erinus

Image via Wikipedia

I just stepped outside with a glass of Shiraz in hand after finishing a beautiful plate of Tilapia and wheat rotini to admire the 2011 Monet Vision. I looked forward to wandering about  the yard sipping the sumptuous full-bodied red while admiring the perennials at sunset. Within nano-seconds, a swarm of Mosquitos attacked. Caught by surprise, I flailed about vigorously swatting with the Shiraz swishing dangerously close to sloshing over the lip of the glass. I fled to the safety of the house without spilling a drop of the mellow red, but now I itch all over. Without a doubt the Mosquitos are a formidable enemy, and put the Wabbits to shame. The Wabbits confine themselves to eating flowers, the Mosquitos attack people. That is not fair.

Thank God, the new air conditioner is working well. I can hide within the Man-Cave in comfort and admire the Vision from behind the safety of glass.

It will be painful to watch the Wabbits accost the Lobelia and be too afraid to leave the safety of the house to chase them away.

A new ally will be visible tonight. The Fire Flies have arrived. I look forward to watching their showy aerobatics around the darkest corners of the yard. The Fire Fly Air Force of 2011 will enhance the 2011 Monet Vision to add a moving light show, and night-time splendor.

A side benefit, the Fire Flies eat mosquitos.

Fire Fly Air Force 2011 Arrives Just in Time To Save Grumpa Joe

Nature is cruel at times.

Baby Bugs Takes Out the Lobelia

Fictional characters on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Image via Wikipedia

On Mother’s Day Grumpa Joe’s grandkids spotted a big fat wabbit building a nest under the dwarf pine tree. Grumpa Joe’s grandson Ben looked into his eyes and asked him not to harm the bunny. As tempting as it is to trap the little ba____d, Grumpa can not do it. A promise to a grandson is like a marriage oath. It is not taken lightly.

About two weeks after the wabbit spotting, Grumpa Joe spent a day pulling weeds. He yanked a big one from the base of the dwarf pine. A furry little creäture with long ears jumped out of a small hole, and ran for his life.

Since then, Baby Bugs hops around the garden to different places, always chomping on some greenery. This week, however, Baby Bugs found the Lobelia flowers. His ancestors took out the Lobelia last year in a blatant act of terrorism not seen before in the garden. Is it a wabbit thing, or does Lobelia taste like chicken’?

Today, Grumpa Joe spent a couple of hours building a new wabbit barrier that will be more effective than the 2010 experiment.

The 2011 Monet Vision will not become reality without a streak of royal blue accenting the pond. If this barrier fails, Grumpa will use more drastic measures to convince Baby Bugs to leave the yard.

“Don’t worry Ben, Grumpa won’t hurt him, . . . YET.”

Lobelia, a Basic Color in the 2011 Monet Vision is a favorite of Wabbits

The New Wabbit Barrier Dome

Eighteen Feet of Royal Blue Lobelia Highlights the Pond

Answer to Riddle

As beautiful and graceful as she is,  if  this critter continues to eat my flowers, she will adorn my office wall. This week, I’ve watched her come through the yard. She ate leaves from a mulberry tree. The next day, I saw a pair of them walk through. Since they saw me both times, they skittered off into the wetland. I never saw them eat any  flowers. The next day, I began to notice deer tracks all about the yard, and many of my plants showed signs of deer damage. Allot of mysterious things began to make sense, like a bunch of lobelia plants without buds, Canna Lillie’s with tops missing, and Asiatic Lillie’s with stems clipped.Bambi's Mother

A week ago, my friend Tom called me to come over and dig some hosta plants from his yard. He helped me dig out several varieties. I drove home, split them and planted them around the yard. The plant in this photo is  under the squirrel bungee. Notice how neatly the leaves are clipped from the stems. Next to this one is a different variety that was tasted, and pulled by the roots from the ground.  Evidently, deer do not like the taste of bright green hosta leaves. They love the dark green best. All around the yard, wherever I planted the dark green variety the leaves were snipped from the stems.Hosta Plant Eaten by Bambi's Mom

Last evening, as I watered the flowers, I noticed the Stella Dora  Lilly was different. Earlier in the week the plants were loaded with buds. I looked forward to the color splash. Now, all the buds are gone, and the stems stick up like toothpicks. It’s been so cold this spring that they were late blooming.  Well, they will really be late now. I hope the critter liked ’em.