More Than One Purpose For a Bird Bath
I always try to find a use of what I have on hand and to take care of what I have as I may not be able to attain it again. I have no idea when my Mom came upon the Duck and Ducklings little cactus that she incorporated into her garden. They are similar to the Hen and Chick cactus. Either of these continue to produce off spring with little or no gardening skills. Mom would share her favorites with me for my garden and then the challenge was on to keep them alive. After I had found a spot in the garden dirt for the Duck and Ducklings the squirrels would also find that area suitable for burying nuts or digging up nuts they had saved from the year before and Ducklings didn’t stand a chance.
The Duck and Ducklings plants, safe from harm and
from squirrels in their bird bath home
Thus the bird bath came into the picture as a solution. For several seasons earlier I had been very diligent in supplying fresh water into a clean bird bath for our flying friends. A particular time every spring the Black Birds would clean up after the babies in their nests and dump the mess into the bird bath. This was a nasty business that I and the Robins did not appreciate it. Shall we say that I decided to kill two birds with one stone? We have a creek two blocks to the south of us so I was very confident the birds would not go thirsty. I felt confident it would take more than me scolding the squirrels to stop their architectural digs that scattered the Ducklings.
The Duck and Ducklings were elevated into the bird bath and they have loved it now for several years. As they produce more Ducklings and the new ones begin to drape over the side of the bird bath, I do try and save those and nestle them within a pod of dirt, protected by some rocks. Each fall of the year the bowl of the bird bath is taken off of the stand and covered with a blanket of leaves to protect the cactus from winter kill. Gardening is trial and error and I have found this solution to be a winner as it also adds some texture to the garden.