The sporting season on Stauffer has started.
Lena’s Fern Peonies: Struggling.
Butter Ball and Snuggles: Scoring with each bat of a paw.
It was time for some intervention: Critter Ridder.
We have an acre of various types of vegetation for the cats to play in or demolish, just because they can. The Fern Peony plants were shared with me from my mom, Lena. She, in turn, received them from my Dad’s mother. The Fern Peony tubers are very expensive in nurseries to the tune of $40 for one little spindle growing in a four inch pot. It does take years for the tubers to multiply into a wonder showing in a bush.
Dennis has witnessed Butter Ball batting at a stem with a bud on it until the bud falls off. Then the bud is fair game as it is played with. Of course, the peony bushes are also a lot of fun for the two cats to jump into and lay on the cool stems or start a tussle with each other.
Tomorrow morning, when it is fairly cool, I will spray the two peony bushes that are under attack with the product Critter Ridder. The label reports that it smells and tastes awful, with their paws also feeling a reaction.
I do realize that the tubers will be intact for the next year if the buds do not result in beautiful blooms this year. Hopefully, by the 2016 growing season, Butter Ball and Snuggles will be fat lazy cats, lying on the patio, watching birds strut by their noses.