Outdoor Adventures with Gary Lee - Vol. 262
Summer came and went away this week as it was up to near ninety and now back into the fifties. One thing that we don’t need is a frost like the late ones we got last year which came on May 25 and 26, then close on the 27, Then on June 4 and 5 it was 34 and 36 by my records and I’m sure in many places in the Adirondacks there was a frost on those mornings. I know many fruit growers took it in the shorts on those mornings and so did many people who had all their flowers in. I washed off my fruit trees with the hose, which were all in blossom and they produced lots of crab apples, maybe my best crop. The turkeys enjoyed them all winter until they were gone.
I did get two and a half inches of rain in the last few days which we did need. One downpour was about an inch in an hour and that is not good as much of that runs off and the ground does not have time to absorb it. I still have not got all my garden in and if I had the little seeds in, they would probably all be on top of the ground with the hard rain. I have put several flowers and flower seeds in the ground in the last week and the rain should pop them right out of the ground and the plants got a good start. I put down lots of fertilizer this spring and my plants love it as I have hollyhocks six feet tall already and I had to tie them up. Many of my lilies are over three feet tall and staked. The deer have been munching on some plants that I did not get fenced or sprayed. I saw them eating sensitive Ferns the other day as they cruised through the backyard. I had never seen them eat those before. They can eat all of those they want. They also chow down on the buttercup plants which I got from some bird seed mix, and they have about taken over in places.
I was out planning in my front garden this afternoon and pulling the New York and hay scented ferns that keep creeping in from the woods. They spread from underground roots as well as spores. In a thick place in the ferns, I saw some movement near to my right foot and a day-old buck fawn stood up almost under my foot. I just stood there as did the fawn, like what just disturbed me from my summer nap. It was not very steady on its feet yet and it went over the stone wall and up toward the ski trail. A couple of e-bikes went down the trail, so the fawn laid back down beside a log not far up the hill. I went in and got my camera and got a few shots and left it there. So, these fawns are out there and some are following mom already, so watch out when a doe crosses the road as there may be a fawn not far behind.
I got an email from Joan Hermann that the showy lady slippers are out in full bloom which is way early. I have never missed them on Father’s Day but sometimes there would only be a few of them out then. This warmer weather early has put many wildflowers ahead of schedule. My wild azalea bush has about passed. My orchid cactus is out on the porch, and one has already had fourteen blooms with a few more to come out. The other one has had only two blooms so far, but it has lots of flower buds popping out. Last year they bloomed all summer and I had never had that happen before. My sweet peas are up more than three already and they will surely grow past the top of the trellis they are on. My honeysuckle vines are all in bloom and the Hummers love them. I have a new one which is three feet tall, only one stem. I got seeds from one that bloomed over at Crown Point, and it has a very pretty flower. We will see if this one has a bloom when it finally gets to where it is going. I also have a yellow one that I got seeds from plants by the old dump site in the Plains and it has taken over one side of the garage. Birds have nested in it a couple of times.
The Loons are all getting on nests. I was down to South Lake one day this week and all three pairs that I know are on the lake were all on a nest. A couple may have had to add some vegetation to their nests with this amount of rain. They seem to know when it rains that hard that they need some more high rise to their nests to keep above it. I have seen where they have added over a foot to their nests and still lost it, especially on Big Moose Lake which has a big watershed. The Stillwater Reservoir also comes up a lot when it rains as they hold the water to keep it from flooding downstream. If you see one on a nest, give it some space as they must sit there for 27 or 28 days before the little one’s hatch. It is critical during the last week or so as the baby inside the egg is close to the shell and it can get cold or warm very quickly.
Other critters are having babies this time of the year so give them all some space and leave them where they are, but that is another story. See ya.
Photo Above: Day old buck fawn
