My favorite non-human gardening companion is...

I voted for my dogs... but hummingbirds, butterflies and the birds are always with us as well

edit - my one yorkie always chases the chipmunks ... and will sit for hours watching the birds

This message was edited Aug 10, 2009 6:21 AM

For the first time, i simply could not vote. Mine has to be all of the above. My dogs have always helped me. Mainly by not digging up the flowers. I have had the company of cats who reigned supreme while i worked. There are always frogs,salamanders,lizards,turtles, and an occasional snake. Butterflys,bees,catterpillers,worms, Songbirds, wrens, sparrows,hawks,woodpeckers. My garden is always abuzz with activity.And i live 30 miles from town.

The Bluejay and the squirrel. The Bluejay wants me to feed him peanuts all the time and the squirrel wants to make sure he knows where I plant things so that he can dig them up again! lol!

My cat, Rosie, offers moral support when I'm gardening. She simply comes and sits close by and provides an occasion comment. Of course, she's easily distracted by birds, bees and grasshoppers, so her gardening assistance sometimes is brief, but comforting.

My old friend Max. My dog. Loves to dig up mole hills, chase squirrels and poke his nose into what ever I do. Have to give him credit on the mole hills, he is persistant.

How about "all of the above". I couldn't pick just one. Gardening here with two dogs, six cats, hummingbirds swarming overhead, birds singing. I am delighted when the butterflies and dragonflies choose to visit and happy to see toads & frogs because I know they dine on mosquitoes. The only varmint I'd gladly do without are the legless ones that startle me!

My companion is Larry a 2 yr. old peacock. Since Larry arrived I haven't had a snake in the yard in 2 years. Best bud for me!!!!

Best bud, NO joke! I'd keep him close... lol What does your cat collection think of Larry?

I would vote 'all of the above'......

Dragonflies and Damselflies are my constant companions in the back yard. my yard is full of them.

Right now I have magnolia tree full of hundreds of cicadas! They are driving us nuts!
Dog, hmm he just barks at them, dont care too much for snakes. OK butterfles then.

This message was edited Aug 10, 2009 10:57 PM

I voted butterflies, but hummers, b'flies, birds and cats are our constant companions when my sister and I are gardening.

Barb

Really it is all...My elderly dog when she can remember where I am...my kitties always (4 of them) all the birds, bees, butterflies.

D

All of the above! But I had to vote for my "faithful dog" Rusty, a 2-year-old golden retriever. He loves it when I'm gardening and follows me all around the yard. When I stop to work in one area he loves to roll around or lie down in the grass next to me. He also loves giving the lizards a workout ;)

I had to pick Songbirds, although I love all the butterflies too!

I have quite a few birdfeeders around the yard and yesterday I counted 9 different types of birds at the feeders. Of course that attracts predators as well. We have a few different types of Hawks in our area and late yesterday afternoon I heard a commotion of wings and doves scattering. The Blue Jays and Mockingbirds started making a racket so I knew there was a predator nearby. I walked out into the yard and around the house and a beautiful Hawk came flying right past me ... at shoulder height! They are so silent in flight, and it was so fast I couldn't tell what kind of hawk it was, but it looked to be a young one ... didn't have anything in it's beak so it either missed, or dropped it's dinner! It's really something to watch the songbirds gang up on the predators to chase them away.

I love gardening with the songs of birds in the background. One of my favorites is the Mourning Dove:

This poll was necessary due to all of the non-human 'assistants' that were noted in a previous week's poll....I felt that the non-human assistants deserved their own poll.

My best assistant is my sheltie, Carly.

The hummingbirds this year are incredible. They buzz around the entire time I am out in the garden. They seem to be unafraid, especially when I wear a floral or brightly colored blouse. Unfortunately, the deer also keep me company. I can see them observing from a distance...then in the evening or early morning they come in close for a visit and a snack. This in spite of rotation of scent deterents! We have a lovely golden retriever next door who should chase them off but she likes to sit and watch them instead. A pacifist hunting dog...you have to love it!

This message was edited Aug 10, 2009 4:14 PM

My favorite helper is a duck...at least one, sometimes many more! The only problem, when I dig a hole, they want to play in it. So, I have to dig a hole for them and then run dig another hole and plant before they realize what I have done. LOL

The mockingbirds in our yard are always very aware of when we mow or dig. If I come across a grub, there's invariably a mockingbird over my shoulder, watching and waiting for me to toss it over to him. (I've also seen them chase cats and squirrels out of the yard!)

I voted songbirds, but I garden for hummers and butterflies too. And now Chickens. I feed them weeds and bugs from the garden almost every day.

I voted that the Crazy Ole Cat is my favorite 'assistant' but I'm stretching the 'assisting' part because 'flattening' things often isn't assisting sigh. I wanted to vote for Bees!!!

bunnies. They follow us around like cats, watching what we are doing in "their" garden.

I could have voted for everything but the dog...sadly no doggie here. But as posted above, the humming birds are in fantastic numbers this year, and finally I,ve got Yellow Swallowtails and Black Swallowtails, and the buzzing of bees of every kind, big and small.

You know what they say, "You're closer to God in a garden than anywhere else on earth!" Thank you God.

I think the sounds of my nice quiet windchime are my favorite in the garden. My cats and dog run close behind, tho.

I voted for "My Cat", but in reality the kitty that I am refering too has crossed over the bridge. When she was with me she was the best gardening bud ever. Never got in my way, just hung out and watched me or snoozed under the rose bushes while I worked. Callie was the best companion ever. It's been four years and I still miss her terribly.

I voted songbirds, I love listening to them while I garden...I would love to say my dog but he's still in that doofy puppy stage and mows down everything and loved to dig and rearrange all my rocks I had bordering my gardens......

My 13 year old lab likes a daily snack of echinacea and likes to play hide and seek in the daylilies. Most of the time she naps close by as I deadhead and weed.

~Sharon

Unfortunately, the only "helpers" I currently have are the mosquitoes :(

But wait until next year...

I voted for Songbirds, but .....

there are always Hummingbirds, Butterflies, Wild Rabbits/Bunnies, Gray & Fox Squirrels, Bees, an occasional Toad, an occasional Red Fox, White Tailed Deer and horrors..... an occasional snake! :-((

One year in June, I had a family of snakes living under my front porch. As I walked past, they were all sticking their heads out. :-(( The same day, as I was rounding the back facet and hose, I saw another type of snake laying there. :-((

I feed the Songbirds on the ground and in feeders every day of the year.

I garden organically and I garden for the Birds, Hummingbirds and Butterflies. Love to see them all! I also have 3 Hummingbird feeders that I change the sugar water solution (no red dye) every day whether they need it or not. I had 4 Hummingbird feeders up, but during a recent hail storm, one of the 4 ant moats got cracked, so I make the 2 cups of sugar water and now divide it between the 3 feeders and it works very well. I now have one feeder in the front and 2 still in the back. The Hummers are always buzzing and making their little sweet chirping, squeaking, chittering sounds every day! :-)

The Wild Rabbits and Bunnies are so cute! They sometimes sit and lay in bare spots in my garden and I try not to walk too close to them, as I might 'bother & disturb' them! :-)

DH and I have 2 adorable Mini Lop Bunnies that have free range of the house only. The closest they come to 'being outside' is whenever there is a really cool and breezy day, we open the windows and they smell the outside through the screens. It doesn't happen too often, because I have MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and I have to have the AC on cold most of the year.

Marilyn


This message was edited Aug 10, 2009 2:19 PM

A very large and curious Garter Snake

LOL he's checkin you out!!!

Yikes!!!

That's a garter snake?! I thought the garter snakes were alot smaller in width and length!!!

I picked A. Jack (Sharpei/Black Lab) likes to lay near by, where ever I'm working. I think that's when he's most content.

My cousin calls them tree rats, but the antics of the squirrels are so amusing I find it hard to acknowledge them as rodents. They scamper along the fencetop, sometimes chattering as though scolding me for keeping them away from the sunflower seed bird feeder. They beat me to most of the pecan crops, too, but I really can't fault them since it is I who made the place hospitable for them. I enjoy the birds, butterflies, geckos, toads - just about all of the critters except skeeters and fireants. My cats accompany me sometimes as observers, but offer very little in the way of assistance.

Yuska

I voted "Butterflies" but actually I could vote "All of the Above".

I did forget the 'family' of Blue-tailed Skinks that live in my herb bed...apparently, we have a family, because several little ones no longer than my little finger showed up last week in the oregano. Poppa Skink is sans his tail, so the neighbor's cat must have had a tussle with him. There are many insects in the oregano and they hang out there and I often see them with their 'prey.'

I have 2 kitties but Isis helps the most by keeping me company.

My cats seem to have a vested interested in my planting, as in "what are you doing to my litter box." I've been landscaping the front yard.

I would have voted "cats" but my cats are terrified of the outdoors. Poor little spoiled things. NOT! So I voted Songbirds--loads of them. My favorites are the brown headed nuthatches; I love their little "beeps". I think we have at least 4 families of Cardinals in the yard this year as well, so they follow me around while I garden.