I’ve been bamboozled by chipmunks. They made a mess of my planters this year, but they left my lilies untouched throughout the entire summer. That lulled me into a stupor, and I decided it was okay to order some replacement lilies for the massive damage and destruction they caused the previous summer.
Of course once I placed my order the adorable but exasperating rodents sprang into action. Now I’m finding lily stems lying on the ground throughout my flowerbeds. They’ve all broken off at the base. So far all the victims still had healthy, green leaves and had not yet started to draw energy back into their bulbs. The chances of those bulbs surviving are slim.
This is the latest casualty:
The beasts chew into the stem until the lily can no longer support itself, and it tips over and breaks off. You can even see the little teeth marks.
I’ve been spraying the remaining lily stems with Liquid Fence. If the chipmunks are going to chew, I’m going to make it as unpleasant for them as possible.