The rabbits and chipmunks are going to be my undoing. I figure the critters have damaged or destroyed several hundred dollars (if not more) worth of lilies alone. I was so excited about all my Orienpet and LA Hybrid lilies that I’ve collected over the last several years. This summer I was counting on a spectacular show. Now I’m pretty sure most of them are gone for good.
First the rabbits chewed off all the leaves. When there were no more leaves to enjoy they gnawed on the stems until the lilies fell over. Then they ate all the foliage and left me with stumps. That’s not nearly enough foliage for the bulbs to regenerate. Meanwhile the chipmunks discovered the bunny destruction and decided to join in. They are digging 4 to 8 inches into the ground to get at and eat what’s left of the bulbs. It’s a massacre out there.
Once the lilies were destroyed they moved on to my coneflowers. I probably have 20 various coneflowers growing in different flowerbeds throughout my yard. The rabbits mowed all of them to the ground except one. I made that discovery last week.
The surviving plant was protected by deer fencing. However the next day I noticed a squirrel in that fenced-in flowerbed. I went outside to chase him out and watched as he ran through a large hole in the fencing. Some beast chewed a hole in double-thick vinyl deer fencing. How can I compete with that? Sure enough my last remaining coneflower was reduced to quarter-inch-high stems. The bunny also found some time to chow down on one of my last remaining lilies.
I usually put up the deer fencing for a couple of weeks each spring until my homegrown annuals get established. This year because of the cool weather the plants are growing very slowly and I’ve left the fencing in place. It’s annoying because it makes it difficult to do any weeding or take any decent photographs. Now I’m thinking I may have to keep the fencing up all summer if I want to see any flowers.
I have one annual bed that is unprotected and the bunnies have now started their third wave of destruction. They’re stripping off the leaves from some plants and lopping others off at the ground. Each morning brings a new and horrific “surprise.”
All this and the Japanese beetles haven’t even hatched from the ground yet. All the deer fencing in the world won’t keep them from causing mass destruction. It’s going to be a looooong summer.
At least I know I’m in good company. I was reminded that someone I’m very familiar with had a similar crisis in 2010. If she didn’t give up I guess I won’t either.