March chill

it's raining ice right now, due to turn into several inches of snow soon. I'm kind of glad I don't have tender seedlings out. Earlier this morning I went outside and opened a bag of saved leaves. I added a leaf blanket over the tender, newly emerged rhubarb, arum, sage, daylily, sedum, dusty miller, chrysanthemum, salvia and columbine foliage. Heaped up a bit more leaf mulch around the young euonymus shrubs, the lilac and lenten roses. The rhodies and hydrangea still have several good inches of mulch, and the hostas too -which haven't shown any growth yet anyhow.

Incidentally, the deer have been coming through my yard again. I find their sharp hoofprints and droppings, some plants have been nibbled. They have left completely alone the fat new buds on my forsythia, and the young shrubs near my compost heap, both of which had irish spring soap hanging on them or nearby. The little shurbs further off, and my nandina on the side yard slope, have tons of leaves neatly missing. Two of the little shrubs are bare stems, stripped entirely. I bought another package of that green soap and made a few more hanging bags of it. Small enough I hope they aren't an eyesore, cut the soap bar into several chunks and hung one piece on each bitten plant. It does seem to work as a deterrent.