Fall at Lucas House
Every fall, I’m reminded how glad I am that I planted little bluestem at Lucas House. This is the season it comes into its own.
As I learn more about coping with deer, of which as you know we are inundated, I am learning how this grass can be used to keep the flowering safe.
This fall, as well as adding more plugs, I am going to experiment with seeding some perennials amid the bluestem, hoping that the grass (which the deer don’t eat) will deter the deer, like a bodyguard. We will see.
Slender mountain mint in front of little bluestem. That one blurred stem in front is sideoats grama – you can identify it by the seeds that are on just one side of the stem.
New England aster. It’s nestled amid the bluestem. Yes, the stems of the grass are reddish right now. Look closely and you will see a multitude of tones.
I love how the low light catches the seeds of the little bluestem this time of year.
Spotted beebalm is a fun plant which the deer don’t seem to like. Here it’s in front of the common milkweed.
A better view of the milkweed seed pods, in front of a block of slender mountain mint.
Flat-topped aster, early goldenrod and little bluestem. By time time you read this, I will have planted the strip along the sidewalk where the hedge was with plants I know are less favoured by deer: more bluestem, more mountain mint, anise hyssop… I will also be seeding amid the bluestem.
