I have a lot of deer here. I am willing to lose a little but if it gets invasive and their appetites get to big they might have to get used to Freezer weather…I’m not sure how much damage they might do but I have a sizable Bear Population here as well. The State is still debating a 2018 hunting season for bear so It appears I may have to figure out scare tactics. I’m pretty sure I’ll go with Electric Netting for my Garden and Fruit Trees…
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Here the deer are very limiting. They destroy almost everything in their path, even things that books and ingternet say they don’t touch. I’ve found some things they don’t care for, and that’s what I grow outside of fencing. Among flowers, it’s peonies, bearded irises (which don’t do well in my wet climate), daffodils, camassia, zinnias, marigolds, gladiolas, tigridia, rhododendrons, vibrunum, laburnum, forsythia, hyacinth, and of course this is not an extensive list.allium family plants - although they eat young garlic and young onion plants (or maybe that’s rabbits). I think ferns are not touched, too. Among fruit trees, they eat almost any of them, but for some reason don’t bother the Illinois Everbearing mulberry. They do some grazing on grape vines, but are not fond of them.
Thats a great list…I just am amazed at one part of it…They call The IEBM “The Protector tree” So i planted 4 of them around my place…I hope my deer have different taste then yours!! LOL…I planted 2- Persimmon and 5 Robinson Flowering Crabapple to sacrifice to the animals as well so I’ll see how that goes…,.,Maybe Electric netting is in my future? Time will tell…
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Also…I have been reading and see in many places where a spread around of BLOOD MEAL will deter Deer. I use it in my garden for Nitrogen so maybe you would want to look into that? A decent size bag is actually not very expensive. I am going to give it a try myself. EXCEPT…Possums- Coyotes and raccoons are actually usually attracted to it… 
Blood meal did not deter my deer. Neither did Milorganite. I did have a tree that I sprayed with stinky spray - some commercial deer deterrent. It did help but needed to be re-sprayed after every rain. Around here, thats a lot of spray if you have more than a couple of trees.
I would love to know if the electric netting works. A net with 1-inch square holes is helpful for some plants, without the electric.
I will no doubt. I am not always at my place where I have my garden and fruit trees so I’m sure I’ll eventually have to do something. Lots of raccoons, possums, turkey,deer, bear…
All my columbines end up purple or white. Usually without the contrasting colored middles.
Still I like them because of the leaves, though I usually get leaf miners in about half of them before midsummer.
Scott
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Columbines are perennial for me here. (I’m a few miles east of Drew). I’ve got one which died down, but never fully died back this past winter. Looks good right now, though not yet sending up blooms.
Someone mentioned corydalis, I find most of the blues to be pretty wimpy plants and if they dry out even once before established they are goners, the yellow ones on the other hand are wonderfully hardy…there is one (blue) corydalis “Dudu temple” which seems better than the others
Scott
http://www.arrowheadalpines.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2327
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Hardy hibiscuses in full bloom in VA.
Midnight Marvel
Summer Storm
Variety I forgot
Lord Baltimore
Jazzberry Jam
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This is my third year of electric woven fence around my vegetable garden. It has kept out the deer, coons, and groundhogs. The rabbits and voles still get through it, and ground squirrels dig under it.
Wow they look great I just planted my first Hardy hibiscus last week called mars madness
I have read the description of Mars Madness. It sounds very much like Midnight Marvel. I really like the varieties with dark foliage. It helps them look interesting in the garden even before they start blooming.
Deer are so bad here I wonder how anything wild ever makes it to maturity.
Deer won’t eat hardy hibiscuses. That is part of what got me interested in them in the first place.
Mine are blooming. ! I can’t remember what the other ones are. Maybe daylilies?
They look great regardless. IMG_20180720_110715|562x1000
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Daylily, spider variety:
Another spider variety: Lots of butterfly’s on the coneflower and lilies this year: Lily’s (lilium) went nuts this year:
All American Plum daylily (hamerocalis): Barbara Mitchell daylily: Bama Bound daylily: Daylily - not sure on this variety name: Daylily Cherry Festival: Gooseneck Loosestrife :
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Andy,
I like daylilies. I bought (3) diploids and (3) triploids. They’re probably four years old, this year. I’ve been going every morning and every afternoon to hand-pollinate. I got a whole bunch of pods. The diploids that is. The triploids I hope to get some development on my last one blooming, ‘Jovial’. I’ve been pollinating it with ‘Awakening Dream’. Last fall I had to replace one and it shot up a scape to my enjoyment that I pollinated with ‘Schnickel Fritz’. I got a nice, juicy, pod. My Schnickel Fritz never produced in the past years and it now has two big old pods. I kept things simple. I pollinated my diploids with Schnickel Fritz and my triploids with Jovial. For Schnickel Fritz I used ‘Maho Mite’. ‘Maho Mite’ on its’ own produces lots of pods, annually. So got a ton of pods on Maho Mite from Schnickel Fritz pollen. This is one of my newer obsessions that I don’t believe I’ll stop anytime soon. I have the land, so, I’ll plunk them everywhere.
Those Asian lillies of yours are cool. Good colors-blend.
Nice yard, too.
I saw the Bee Balm so I am now confident you know what you’re doing. You and my Mom can get together on the Gooseneck loosestrife, however. I told her not to keep it and she said, ‘it won’t get out of hand.’
Dax
The local “Daylily Lady” is going to be closing her garden to the public so I’ve been buying what I can from her, Daylillies and Hosta. I haven’t tried crossing any of them, but would love to try a few. The loosestrife is easily controlled by pulling back the roots each spring, but I can see it could get a way from you if not attended to. I may eventually pull it but it’s okay for now. The monarda has a very reduced footprint this year, I think because of the volunteer and spreading fern. I need to overhaul the entire round bed and then mulch. It’s one of two beds left to be mulched for the season.
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