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Cottage Gardens

The Garden in Motion

14 years ago

We note fragrance in the garden, hear bird songs, feel texture and other tactile experiences of leaves and blossoms like the velvet of lambs' ears; taste herbs and fruit. Motion is yet another garden experience, adding pleasure to the sights we see.

'Black Magic' Colocasia tossing in the wind like the ears of real elephants reminded me of this.

Nearby tall grasses gracefully swayed and a fountain's spray created motion and sound.

Right now I'm getting the most movement from butterflies.

I once had a cute little plastic yellow jacket whose wings were a pinwheel, but he fell to the mower.

I always wanted one of those copper motion sprinklers that form patterns.

What is in motion in your garden?

Nell

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Comments (4)

gldno1
14 years ago
My grasses are just now putting out the seed heads.

This is miscanthus Morning Light.

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token28001
14 years ago
The motion usually comes from the Goldfinches having their way with the zinnias and sunflowers. I'll be lucky to have any seeds this year. The trees here soften the wind, usually. There's a huge windchime that moves, but rarely makes a sound. And lots of bees.

I have grasses, but all were divisions or divided when purchased. I'll have to wait a while to see them sway in the breeze.
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I removed mine 2 weeks ago so that I could plow and plant my fall garden. The next day the deer tracks were everywhere! I put them back and no more deer tracks! Tish, I use regular batteries in mine and they last about 1 month. But I have deer and other animals triggering them often. If I let the batteries die accidentally, the deer will raid my garden the first night, sometimes during the day! I have started changing them every 30 days just to be sure. I get them cheap from Battery Specialists, my company has an account with them and they give me the same 25% discount on cash sales. I also save the possible good ones for my nonessential gadgets.
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Yes and no. I does detect if an animal walks into the area of the motion detector. It emits a multiple-second squirt of water. The noise, and getting hit by the stream of water, surprises the animal and sends it running...the first or second time. In my limited experience, a habitual user (squirrel, dog, cat-no experience with deer) will learn to go around the outer perimeter of the covered area or just move to another part of the yard. In my own situation, moving the scarer around to try to keep the critters guessing was not effective because of mature trees that provided a barrier to the stream of water. I'd still try one though. Your conditions may allow you to set up your target area more effectively.
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the Motion-Activated Garden Sentry.
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They work just fine for the intended purpose. However, they also sprinkle everything else that moves in their "sight". Mostly that turned out to be me and cars coming up the driveway, usually with open windows! Also if you don't have a well you can use a significant amount of water if you have lots of critters. Hope this helps. PQ
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I enjoyed looking at these pictures again myself. It's my understanding Billie and her hubby did all the work themselves. Her acre is an inspiration for sure. "Junking" for items that can be repurposed is great fun. Pippi, you should definitely stop at the junk yard you've been driving by and let us know what you find. Take pictures! Yesterday Patty and I visited my neighbor Georgianne's garden and with less foliage due to the drought I noticed lots more great repurposed items than I had before. Georgianne is a pro at finding 'stuff' to use to decorate her yard. And like Billie's yard every thing in it has a story. For instance someone put two large concrete pillars out on a curb to give away and all by herself Georgianne wrestled them one by one into the back seat of her long white Cadillac and used stacked up sofa pillows to roll them out. She then 'walked' them to where they were to go in her yard. I need to take some pictures of some of her stuff to show y'all.
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treelover
14 years ago
I'm seeing more butterflies this year than last summer, though still not as many as previous years. The black swallowtail cats ate my fennel right down to the stalks.

The Mexican feathergrass out front catches every breeze, and a strand of coral vine has come loose from the cable wire it's climbing and flaps around when the wind blows.
bluesunflower
14 years ago
hmm.. Great question Nell! For mine there are the three waterfalls, the fish, tons of birds -eating tons of food-crocosmia, blue fescue grass, blue flax, bees and butterflies. Hummingbirds are a thing unto their own and they move lots of stuff as they buzz around. Red ribbon grass, oat grass and pony tail grass. Sumac trees and water lilies that open and close with the sun. The white curtains on my outdoor studio billowing in the breeze. And me, I am in motion in the garden. LOL

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