To the tune of Rise and Shine
A……………………D
So you’ve got this great piece of land
A………………………..D
And you know all your plant palette at hand
A………………D
Pen and paper is really grand
A…………………………………E……………….A
And looking up things on my cellphone isn’t banned
But then you look up and what should appear
A friendly groundhog and two thousand deer
What will they eat in the landscape this year
It’s time to get into gear so we don’t tear
Even if they eat almost everything I can still make art
Composition and design are so close to my heart
From looking at this design you’ll never want to part
I can’t wait to start this song is so smart
I’m going to spend a lot of time on the next part of the song, which will be a list of deer proof and groundhog proof plants, like the U.S. presidents song, or the U.S. states song
My goal is to look up varieties of the following plants, and rhyme the lines together with the plants in alphabetical order with also some fun attributes included. Feel free to send me suggestions for a second 50 plants!
Abelia’s a great shrub for sun or part shade
Acanthus, bear’s breeches, are stately, and not at all played
A rainbow of Alliums look good even when they fade
Don’t cut back your Amsonia for winter or more will be paid
Anemone is windflower for spring or the fall
Artemisia makes absinthe and then you’ll want to sprawl
Asclepias will make the bees come to call
Astilbe for shade will last through rainfall
Don’t overwater your Begonias, the garden they’ll carry
Calamintha ‘White Cloud’ is whiter than dairy
At Greenwood Gardens is Caryopteris ‘Snow Fairy’
Learn the three types of Clematis and you’ll be very merry
Cleome can get as tall as six feet
Coreopsis can be yellow or red as a beet
Corydalis has ferny foliage, quite neat
Dicentra, bleeding heart, will make your heart beat
Digitalis means finger and you can put your finger in it
Eremurus is uncommon but once planted you’ll never want to quit
Euphorbias are remarkable, truly a hit
If you want to plant a fern there are 20,000
Forsythia helps you look at yellow lines
Galanthus ‘David L. Culp’ is really fine
You’ll want Geraniums to fill in until you go blind [Google search “hardy geraniums”]
Grasses are so chill they will help you unwind
Your Helleborus that died in 2019 you’ll surely want to replace
Heuchera ‘Brownies’ and ‘Caramel’ you’ll want to taste
Your Iris that died in 2019 you’ll surely want to replace
Jacobaea maritima looks very laced
You can cut your Lavendula and make pot pouri
Ligustrum flowers are scented peculiarly
Liriope is grasslike but has flowers and berries
Lobularia is as delightfully scented as can be
For actually several months Narcissus is at bat
Nepeta is great for attracting lots of kitty cats
Nigella is sold in England in flats
Pachysandra is a mowing saving mat
Papaver will have seed pods to see from Santa’s sleigh
Perovskia is indigenous from Iran to the “Himalays”
Pieris is lovely and the most “satisfactoray”
Ranunculus repens boasts the most for Mother’s Day
C………………..Am…………C……D…..Am
Not Parsley, but Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme
Salvia tender or hardy is really prime
Schizophragma really can climb
Stachys you’ll want to touch until bedtime
Tagetes foliage is scented you won’t want to be shy
Doublefile Viburnum is very wide
Korean spice Viburnum’s scent you’ll want to try
Leatherleaf Viburnum in winter is green against the sky
Thanks for singing! My influences include my mom, who is a professional musician and composer, her mom, my grandmother, who was one of the first female cantors, Kimya Dawson, They Might Be Giants, Kol B’seder (grew up going to the same temple as Dan Freelander), Debbie Friedman (have seen her perform), and my musician friend Terence Ma. I studied classical guitar with Keith Fanella for two years in high school. This song is three chords, A, D, and E. These videos are not made by computer graphics, but were taken with my computer’s camera!