Anybody try Bloomin' on the East End mailorder?

Does anyone have any experience with this mailorder company, who has deer resistant plants? A search on Garden Watchdog turned up nothing.

http://www.eastendcommunity.com/plants.htm

I don't have experience with that particular mailorder company but I do have experience with deer. In my state, their herd numbers are about 7x that which they were in 1904 which is a big problem particularly insomuch as their habitat shrunk due to development.

There are many threads out there on what to do. For me, there are so many deer documented as browsing plants that nurseries sell to us claiming them to be "deer resistant" that I don't bother spending my money on plants touted as being "deer resistant" any longer. Great marketing plan to label plants as "deer resistant", but I don't see many of these plants as being truly resistant... I will never forget the hoof prints on my sidewalks that led straight to my house where the deer chowed down on several expensive plants flanking my front door that were "deer resistant". I suppose I should have picked up on the word "resistant" a long time ago. There probably are a few plants that when planted with plants that are tastier could be deemed "resistant" but there are so many deer out there that it's down to survival over taste buds. Never underestimate the damage a hungry animal trying to eek out an existence can do.

I use Miracle Tree Tubes on all of my newly planted trees and shrubs to give them a chance to establish. This helps considerably and the long term costs have been considerably less than buying all those deer repellent products and replacing all the plants that were allegedly "deer resistent". I also use chicken wire on stakes around other plantings. When I had a vegetable garden, I put an 8' wire fence around it. It's considerably less time consuming placing tubes around saplings and chicken wire around other plantings then running around trying to spray or dust everything only to repeat the process every time it rains with any of the products that flooded the market when deer populations exploded.

Really sorry, I'm in the same boat as you. I could go out and take photos of all of my deer deterrents for you if you'd like some ideas. I've really cut down on the destruction caused by deer by me by using tubes and such and now I buy what ever I want.

I have noticed that they did bite off the top of my althea that was supposed to be "deer-resistant"! LOL And I do spray "This One Works" on the hosta. I guess it's just a constant battle, no matter what you plant. I even tried putting corn out just for them in a place away from the gardens. They do eat that, but head for the gardens for desert...

I left a brand new plant in the driveway last night in the middle of a 5' kiddie pool of water. It was a wetlands species, Marshallia grandiflora (Barbara’s Buttons). This morning I woke up and went out to get as much planting done as was humanly possible because of the cool weather and what do I find? Hoof prints across my new mulch right to the upper driveway and every single bloom save one on the Barbara's Buttons was "sampled". That was no rabbit that got that plant in the middle of a kiddie pool. Good thing I took photos of that plant last night right after I bought it. I can savor the memories. It would have been safe out in the wetlands. The deer don't go there at this time of year because they sink. Matter of fact, I don't go there at this time of year because I sink which is why the plant was in the middle of a 5' kiddie pool.

Question for you, did you get a photo of your Althea so that you too can savor the memory?

Sorry Equil, but I have to laugh. HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA. Why? Cause it happened to you.

What a sweetheart you are!

Yesterday after I bought the plant-

Five minutes ago after Bambi visited last night sometime-

I am still laughing cause I cant help myself but I do feel for you. I get mad at all the slugs and ants that eat my stuff.

Bambi sampled quite a few things while casually strolling up my driveway in the light of the silvery moon last night. I thought that particular "deer resistant" plant was "safe" in the middle of the kiddie pool. Maybe I should rent a crane and hang every plant that isn't in the ground from it like construction companies do with generators at job sites. I always wondered why I saw big generators hanging from cranes so one day I asked. So, if you ever see a crane in my driveway with a bucket filled to the brim with plants... you'll know why. Sorry about your slug damage pep. Have you tried beer? Baits for ants are pretty effective these days.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/p.php?pid=3538638

I have so many ants here that it's impossible to control them. They were eating my hosta that was planted on the edge of my wildflower garden. I moved them across the driveway and now ants aren't bothering them so much and my halycon and june are blooming. Francee isn't for some reason but oh well. All three plus 2, 2 leaved standards or sum and sumstance are also over there. Over 10 yrs old and that's all there is of them. lol. Blame the ants and slugs. But I am learning pretty quickly what plants survive them and what don't and plant accordingly when possible.

OH, noooo, Equil! That 'bites'....sorry. Will the plant bloom some more this season? I hope so, but you'll have to stand guard 24-7! They do look rather tasty.

Pun intended! That was pretty funny.

Nope, I think that was it in the bloom department for this year. It's too dark to go out and check the plant again but I don't recall seeing any blooms other then what Bambi ate and the one Bambi missed. Rats, I doubt I'll even get any seed from the plant.

With most nurseries, what they actually mean by "deer resistant" is that it isn't on the deers list of "favorite foods." They will eat almost anything if they are hungry enough. And if conditions are dry, they are much more apt to come out of the woods into our yards looking for all the tender young growth on our plants we have been keeping watered. Deer prefer "young and tender" because they aren't able to process nutrients from old woody growth.

The best way to make your garden deer resistant is to get a dog. A dog that lives outside, that is. It won't help if the dog is inside at night. It doesn't even have to be a big dog, although that might be a good idea - if there are that many deer there, I'd wonder about coyote as well.

Sojourner