Any ideas? Re: Lily bud-chomping

[kfred]

Never have seen this before. Asiatic Lilies in the front flower bed. Something has been chomping on the buds, not the whole thing, not the leaves, no worms to be found. I am perplexed.

[blue neen]

1. You don't say where you are from...in my area the deer will eat the lily buds.

They particularly like to wait to eat them right before the flowers are ready to bloom. :grr:

[Blue Gardener]

3. I had the same problem once

The neighbor left her gate open, the deer came into her yard and reached over the fence into my yard to eat my lilies. Just ate the flowers and left the rest. Now she closes her gate.

[bvar22]

4. The deer do that to our roses.

When we first moved here (very rural Arkansas) in 2006, we were delighted to wake up and see deer in the front yard.
We would quietly drink coffee and watch the deer nibble on the weeds and stuff being careful not to scare them away, taking delight in the natural beauty of this pristine area and congratulating ourselves in choosing to move here, far away from the noisy and hectic Urban Life of Minneapolis.

NOW, we do everything we can to scare these BIG RATS away short of shooting them....scream and yell, blast a canned air horn, pee around the roses and fruit trees. They ate all of our peaches last year...every single one...all in one night. (It was a small peach tree.) They consistently eat the buds off of our roses just before they bloom.

We still love seeing these beautiful animals, just NOT in our yard.
We haven't found a good Porch Dog yet.
That would solve the problem.

[MuseRider]

6. Your post made me laugh.

BTDT, several times. Now I just string a little electric braid around them and electrify it occasionally. My problem is not deer any more, it is my darling goats! Sorry, your post just hit an old funny bone.

[bvar22]

7. We laugh about it too.

Thats the reason we don't have goats yet.
They are in our future, but first we will have to build a goat proof compound/barn, and fencing to contain them.

[MuseRider]

11. Goats are one of the most

fulfilling additions to my family I have ever had. Of course mine are not full size goats and I only have two (both male, they were gifts). I am certain the personalities are very much the same and they are just delightful as long as you remember what they are. I have to remind my husband occasionally that they are goats, not dogs even though they certainly go on walks with us and the dogs. I absolutely adore them. With the small ones containment is not such a problem. BTW, they are very smart. One zap of the electric fence and they never walk by it without watching it and staying well away. That will save you a bunch of trouble. You may have already had goat experience. If not there is a lot of info out there on the net.

Have fun and don't forget the pictures when you get them.

[MrsMatt]

5. I planted lillies 5 years ago - I can no longer remember

what color they are because every year the deer eat the flower buds.

[kfred]

8. No - not deer

I was thinking something bug or bee like.

I'm up in the Twin Cities of MN in a 'burb. You're just supposed to read my mind and know that.

These are like nibbles but bunnies can't reach that high and I can't find a worm which was my first suspect, especially since it's limited. I'm perplexed. I've been gardening for 30+ years and have never seen this. And it's not all of the buds. Just those closest to the sundrops and veronica next to the sidewalk.

Maybe a worm WAS there, cut a design like you would with a paper snowflake, morphed and flew on. I don't use chems, but I can't even address this naturally without figuring it out.

[LiberalEsto]

13. You'd be surprised at how deer get around

I'm 15 miles from Washington DC and there are deer and foxes in our neighborhood all the time. For that matter, deer and foxes show up in some areas of DC.

[kfred]

14. No - definitely not deer

If it were deer, they would have stuck in the backyard instead of streetside. We're on a golfcourse with a wooded area up yonder. We have had fox, deer, coyote, owls, hawks and various birds. Heck, I've even had a possum parked on top of the bird feeder. Scared the bejeebers out of me when I heard him. There's lots of stuff deer would have eaten first, including a little garden. A baby bunny munched all the lettuce and spinach. Kept him busy and away from the rest of the greenage though.

The lilies have opened naturally, and they look fine except for that area where the chomp was taken out. Not big - on a 4 inch bud it was part of the top most inch. Not a bug in sight, much less a worm.

[amerikat]

2. I found a forum that may be of some help.

The main question is, have the buds fallen off and are on the ground or
are they just gone.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/737575/

[kfred]

9. Hmmm - thanks for the link

ants or sowbugs, we DO have ants, though there aren't any "ant sandpiles", sowbugs? Gonna have to do some research.

That's a good link! Thank you.

And just to make it clear (don't have a camera or I'd upload a pix). See top of bud, see what looks like manicure scissored snip from the tippy top of said bud. I'm wondering what the heck they'll look like as they open! Could be interesting!

[kfred]

10. I peeled a bud apart

No sign of bug or worm whatsoever, ants aren't known for this and the sowbugs chomp leaves and there is no leaf damage.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

12. Mine are getting devoured, too

The leaves are being eaten up. I assumed it was slugs because the weather has been damp and rainy here for the last 3-4 weeks. I know I don't have deer. A coworker has the same problem and was blaming rabbits, but I don't have those either