blueyedkitty04's Profile

Hello, I am new to this site and somewhat new to gardening. I grew up on a small farm in Oregon, but now live with my husband and daughter (16 months old) in B.C. Canada. I have a small "rock" garden that I have been working on now for the second season. I had a lot of trouble last summer when my plants were continuously destroyed by the "beast" just as they were about to bloom. I was so frustrated!! It turned out to be what we call a "Pack Rat", not sure if that is the normal name or not (they kinda smell skunky and hoard bits of stuff). I ended up setting up a "game-cam" of my husbands (a 35mm camera used for scouting deer) and caught the "beast" in action standing up on it's back legs eating the tops off of my Columbine. We were so shocked!! It took us a while to figure out what it was in the picture and really were not positive until we caught it in a live trap. I am hoping that this year I will not have the same problem as we have caught and relocated 6 or more "Pack Rats".

Currently I am experimenting with indoor seeds but am not having too much luck. I had a great start, but they ended up getting a bit dry, then a few started to rot at the bases of the stem (probably from "over-watering"). I will just have to see what happens next and try some other techniques on some new seeds.

I would love to chat it up and share stories/pictures with other gardeners in B.C or through out the North West. I need lots and lots of advice and have tons of questions!!

 ~M~