Garden

[Icegoddess]

My Indian Pinks are getting ready to bloom.  What's with the cage you ask?  RABBITS!  I will not lose my Indian Pinks to rabbits.  I have planted a systemic bitter pill underneath, but it takes time to get to the leaves.  After it blooms, I'll at least remove the top cage and see what happens.  There's currently one stem outside the cage and it hasn't yet been eaten.  

I planted Indian Pinks a few years back and it was doing really well and expanding.  Then, one day I see it's totally gone.  Eaten all the way to the ground.  It didn't come back.  

I seem to have a resident rabbit that hangs out underneath the "sunroom" which was built by the former owners on top of the deck.  It refuses to leave the yard, even if I chase it, and I can get within about 5 feet of him before he casually hops a little further out of range, so he's quite comfortable here.  Hasenpfeffer, I say, Hasenpfeffer!

Looking on the bright side, I think mine is the male.  My neighbor across the street has a female in her yard, so gets her plus all her babies eating her plants.  I'm always on the lookout for cages fo all sizes to put over mostly my hostas until they finally outgrow them.  

BTW, if you do a search for Indian Pinks in the search bar (Search Blogs & Forums) above, there's another with the same title from 2020 showing my previous Indian Pinks in bloom before they got eaten.  I'd like to get another one and put back in that spot.  

[cheriere]

@Icegoddess 

I'm so excited to see this plant bloom!  This is definitely one for me to look up and consider.  Thank you for posting.😃❤️

[Icegoddess]

@cheriere You'll probably have to look online (and check the hardiness zone).  I lucked into my first one at a local nursery since the owner liked to curate different offerings.  But, I guess if they don't sell well, he no longer carries them.  I have several of his one time offerings in my yard, LOL.  I used to see them at a larger nursery that was a bit of a drive for me, but they always looked puny.  At the time, I wouldn't take a chance on a plant that didn't appear to be healthy.  I will do it now, but I expect it to be discounted.  The one I have now, I got online.  They're native plants, so a retailer that specializes in natives are your best bet. 

[cheriere]

@Icegoddess 

Thank you for letting me know.  I sure hope yours do well.❤️

[spiderw]

Thank you for sharing this lovely photo of Indian Pinks.  I am not familiar with this plant as your rabbit is!!!  The leaves are beautiful and I do hope Mr. Rabbit allows you to enjoy your plant and finds something else to munch on!!!  Flowers always make me happy.

[jlkz]

@Icegoddess 

Rabbits are notorious eaters !  One year they all but decimated a huge gorgeous hosta centerpiece.  Then I discovered something to stop the munching....and it didn't smell !  

Having problems posting the photo.  It's called Plantskydd.

[Icegoddess]

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@jlkz wrote:

@Icegoddess 

Rabbits are notorious eaters !  One year they all but decimated a huge gorgeous hosta centerpiece.  Then I discovered something to stop the munching....and it didn't smell !  

Having problems posting the photo.  It's called Plantskydd.

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@jlkz Thanks.  I've been using Natura Plant Saver systemic Tablets but, true to form, anythning I like seems to go away.  I don't mind the smell of the sprays so much.  I usually spray in the evening and by the morning the smell is gone.  What I don't like is having to re-spray after rains.  

Currently, Repellex has a systemic tablet I'll try.  I don't think the active is the same, but if it works, I'll be happy with it.  

[Icegoddess]

@cheriere I have removed the top cage and you can now see the blooms without it in the way.  I need to come up with some sort of grow-thru cage that allows it to spread out but also keep it from getting eaten to the ground.  It should be able to recover if it only gets eaten partways down.

[cheriere]

@Icegoddess 

Those are BEAUTIFUL!  Even better than I'd imagined!  Thank you so much for showing me.  Now, I want some lol.😃❤️