One of my very young coneflowers has had the new growth and buds removed! Not the mature ones loaded with buds that one is okay and so are all the other plants around it. I don't know what to think. Okay here is my story, tell me I am jumping the gun?!.
I have a neighbor who has down syndrome. Usually he is very friendly and outgoing. But his mom has been sick and he has been acting out and his behavior is out of character. I have a dahlia bed that i started between our houses. I started with one dahlia. The second day it was planted it disappeared, gone. I thought okay a animal ate it.
So I went to the store and replaced it. I planted it, talked a little to my neighbor across the street for a few minutes, went into the back yard filled my watering can came back and to my amazement my plant was gone! Not even 15 minutes later it was gone!! Now I'm thinking am I crazy? I did plant it right? I dig in the dirt, no tuber, no root, no nothing!!! Now the neighbors have been telling me that Johnny (name changed to protect the innocent) has been taking their mail and switching up the newspapers (if you subscribe to the Schenectady Gazette you might start getting the Troy Record) and doing mischevious things. It's garbage night and my neighbor suggests that I check Johnny's garbage, I think no I can't. Besides he wouldn't do that, would he?? Curiousity gets the best of me and I think what the heck one little peek. To my surprise there is my dahlia.
Now I want to ask Johnny why. What's going on? For 2 days every time I see him I walk up to him and he runs in the house. It has become a game between us. Finally I catch his sister outside and tell her what has been going on. She asks him about it and he confesses to her that he has been doing this.
Okay, now it gets funny. The next time I am outside Johnny comes up to me with a handful of hosta and tulips, bulb and dirt still intact, and tells me that he is sorry and asks will I still be his friend. I tell him of course we are still friends and he goes home. As my husband and I look at the bouquet Johnny gave me my husband says "Those look like your hosta." I said "Wait they ARE my hosta!". I told my husband that the next time I saw Johnny that I was going to tell him that it wasn't nice to take his mom's tulips to give to me and thougth to myself "I have yellow tulips NOT his mom!!" So he stole plants from my garden to give to me as a peace offering, kind of funny, right.
All has been well Johnny says "Hi friend" everytime he sees me. Then today I go outside to look at my new small young cone flower and it has been cut. All the buds have been cut off. There was 1 bud left on the ground everything else is gone. Could a animal have ate it. Left the other plants and other coneflowers alone. Am I jumping to conclusions? I didn't think that rabbits liked coneflower. Squirrels, do they eat them? Cats, would they eat the green? They will eat grass....after that I don't know what other animals that are around me. I have never seen deer around...
Tell me what you think.....am I being unreasonable? Could he have??? No, I don't think he would...would he?
Animal or Human
Squirrels will try the buds then leave them on the ground. Rabbits and ground hogs will also nibble when they are young tender plants. If only one plant was beheaded I would suspect squirrels.
Hi - not sure if it is your neighbor (you can ask him I guess) but I will tell you that the rabbits eat my coneflowers every single time. I keep trying and they keep eating!
Maybe I could put a chicken wire cage around them until they are a little bigger? This may keep the rabbits out, but what about the squirrels?
I have squirrels aplenty but have not seen them in the coneflowers. Doesn't mean that there is no problem, but I haven't caught them. You are right about the bunnies.. they get them when they are low. h
I am going to try the chicken wire. Maybe they will come back. There is still a little green leaves and stems.
I've watched the rabbits bend the stems to get the blossom and chew them up right in front of me while looking at me! We can bunny proof our plants but how do you "Johnny-proof" them? Yours is a funny story. The down syndrome kids I know are sweethearts too but also get angry and show their emotions the only way they know how. I hope you and your gardens survive and I pray his mom gets better soon!
Johnny is usually so sweet!! It is a funny story. His sister was afraid I was going to be mad but like I told her if you don't find humor in what happened you don't have a sense of humor! But unfortunately he is acting out again. My neighbor went to open her door to get the newspaper out from between the screen door and the house door and ran right into him, literally ran into him, stealing her newspaper. I feel bad!!