Sunday, July 15, 2012

DSI = Deer Scene Investigators


While the Mini Pearl daylilies look fine (new bloom, yesterday's bloom and numerous buds),


daylilies in other locations around the garden, don't look quite the same.


It started with the small Rose of Sharon bush. I noticed sharp, 45 degree angle cuts on the lowest leaves.  This indicated rabbits.  But at the top, you will notice ragged edges of ripped stems.  Deer!


And what the deer didn't get, the insects finished up.
I wonder why the bud was left uneaten?

Along the backyards of four neighbors, the flower borders show deer damage.


The damage in my garden is minimal compared to the daylily border in my neighbor's bed (with the blue tear drop garden ornament) and the daisy and daylily border in the next neighbor's back border which continues the line of the fence along the top of the hillside.
They have no blooms left!

We have left on the rear floodlights, covered the blooms with sheets and plastic, sprayed several deer repellents, and turned over the birdbath when hoof marks were found near the water source.

With some luck and today's rain, the blooms may return. But tomorrow we begin
our 5th heat wave for the summer!  A gardener is always an investigator:  weather, insects,
disease.  There is always some type of invader. 


One known fact: the entire hillside of Black-eyed Susans beyond the fence is untouched by the deer.

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