Sunday, March 5, 2023

Cutting Back

 

It’s that time of year when warm temperatures and spring growth inspire us to cut back or tidy up the perennial and annual plant stems that we deliberately let remain over winter. We left them there so that overwintering insects could finish out their lifecycle (or be eaten by winter birds, whichever). Need a refresher? Read my blog entry from March 2017.

This year, as I eyed the jungle of dried stems, I found yet another reason to support having those old stems. I spied a small blob of bright green: a young green tree frog (the Georgia State Amphibian) was clinging to a dead fern frond. As I looked more in that area, I found 3 more frogs doing exactly the same thing

Clearly the thick growth felt like a safe place to them. Each evening they would disappear, emerging the next day in the sunshine, sometimes clinging to a different stem. I’ve had tadpoles growing in a container on the driveway nearby for several years in a row. I wonder if these little guys came from there. I can’t wait to grow some more this year!




No comments:

Post a Comment