Cicada Video

on Jun 2, 2011
My spontaneous reaction to video a cicada that hitched a ride with us in Nashville.
Anyone that does any gardening knows that these little "buggers" can wipeout some serious vegetation of crops, scrubs and trees. Spending many of my early years on the gulf coast I recall times when these fellows would sing you to sleep at night along with a multitude of other bug friends to join along in the chorus! But it wasn’t necessarily a lullaby melody! The only reason you were able to rest is that the heat exhaustion from playing outdoors and swimming with one eye on the alligator, had you so tuckered out that sleep spontaneously happened after about five minutes!
Cicadas are the largest population by weight of any known herbivore in North America. The female will lay her eggs by cutting slits in the bark of tree and branches. They may do this in several locations and lay several hundred eggs. When the eggs hatch the "nymphs" drop to the ground to burrow into depths of one foot to eight and a half feet. There are several (about 2,500) different species from all around the world. Usually cicadas live in tropical climates but last year Nashville was reminded of their presence beneath our earthen floor. This is a return of the "Great Southern Brood" according to Belmont University, entomologist, Dr. Steve Murphree. He says that they were the largest emergence group of 13 years in our nation. Our next emergence will be in 2024! Imagine how crazy that will be if they grow in numbers! Luck for us gardeners they only come around every 13 years or so!
I understand that Vanderbilt is studying the effects of the cicadas' noise level, which at times can be as loud as a motorcycle or subway approaching at 25 feet and peaking at 85 to 88 decibels according to Dr. Murphree. Many people refer to the cicada as a locust although they are not really related to the true locusts, which are actually a kind of grasshopper. Cicadas are actually related to leafhoppers and spittlebugs. And lucky for me cicadas have proven to be virtually harmless to humans since that is CrAzY me holding this one between my fingers and joining in it’s singing out of desperation!

Soft heart!

Early Tuesday morning I was doing my usual...walking our two Golden Retrievers, Sam and Carly. Just beyond the barn I noticed our two dogs chasing a fawn. Of course, I had to reprimand them and save the baby deer! The mother came whizzing by me at a speed that seemed to exceed what was possible! If I am ever found laid out, you all will know what happened to me! The mama deer was not happy and I do not blame her! I usually encounter a baby deer each year and sometimes a few in a season. It is always a fun experience!  And this is my second such event in two weeks! I’m going to be cursing this animal next spring when it is eating at my plants What can I say?....I have a soft heart.

A deer problem with the wedding flowers

Hello everyone! I love gardening too. Yeah another hobby! Our daughter got married June 28, 2008 and my friend and I grew all of the potted flowers. She has seven big green houses! We have a deer problem where we live in Sewanee, TN. So she let me house many of the pots there and the others came to our deck. And I grew 60 Star Gazer Lillies or (Asiatic? Not sure of the difference) from bulbs. They are my daughter's favorite flower. I took a chance and planted the bulbs about 9 weeks prior to the wedding. I got lucky they started blooming at 8 weeks (a week before the wedding) and the last ones bloomed out about two weeks after the wedding. They were amazing.

After the wedding we had lots of potted flowers to give to family and friends to enjoy. We still had an amazing container garden going on! I started putting the flowers everywhere. The deer attacked! I fought back with a product call “Hinders” it worked ok. The deer still nibbled or just pulled plants up. I had trouble finding the product. It is a concentrated formula that made around 5 gallons for $14.98 when mixed with water. I found a product at Home Depot for $18.98 and it was a 32 oz bottle not concentrated. So.....I came home frustrated and decided to work on a concoction of my own. It is working! I've been testing it since mid-summer 2008. I was covering everything with sheets at night and running out early to uncover everything last spring. It was embarrassing! I couldn’t go a day before the deer would ravage our flowers if I didn't cover them up. The plants are now recovering nicely. And it is wonderful not to have to cover everything.

Spring is here again and I put all the flowers in our garage for the winter. Many of them survived and are starting to put on new growth. I am looking forward to new and more gardening this spring without the frustration of the deer eating all of our flowers and plants.