Gee, I hate when that happens. Your deer must in an area with less food sources so they have to go where the banquet is. You may try planting your daylilies with perennials which offend the deer by smell. Otherwise once they know where the food source is they will keep coming back...unfortunately.

To add insult to injury, I found one of the culprits (an adolescent with spots still visible) sleeping it off in one of the beds! Ah, well. Can't blame him for doing what comes naturally.

The repellent is very stinky and usually quite effective, but a heavy rain like the one last night will wash it off. Do you have any suggestions for perennials that deer find smelly? Most of the "deer-proof" perennials I currently have are distasteful to deer because of texture rather than smell...which probably makes the daylilies all the more attractive to them.

Sorry that the deer did so much damage. They can be a real pain around my daylily beds too. The past couple years I've had good success using Sweeney's deer fortress stakes around the daylily beds. I still occasionally see hoof prints in the beds, but the deer don't stop and munch off my scapes like they use to. If you have a lot of beds to manage it might be cost prohibitive, but they have been very effective here in my beds.

Linda

Thank goodness I don't have deer, but I do have sympathy for your situation. To wait all year for something only to have it gone overnight is so sad. I hope the other daylilies make up for it with a glorious show.........Maryl

My condolences to you. I hope you don't have any more deer damage. It's so frustrating.

Debra

Oh, my sympathies. You are made of strong stuff as I think I would probably give up.

I once saw a garden (think I might have mentioned this in the past) in PA that used cleome to border (which would be a lot of cleome). The deer went around it and we parted the cleome like a curtain to see the daylilies.

The problem I think is when they get used to coming and the habit has to be broken.

For smaller vermin, I've had good luck with the shake away products...but, they, too, probably have to be reapplied after heavy rain.

Good luck! I hope you get to see some pretty blooms.

I am so very sorry. A very big disappointment to lose loved blooms about to open.
kay

So sad! I have Dragon King and love it. I couldn't have daylilies when I lived in deer country but I grew plenty of other stuff. I feel for you. You can't beat nature.

An acquaintance of mine uses heavy doses of milorganite, spread thickly around the plants. She still hasn't had damage and lives right near the forest.

Thanks, everyone, for your helpful suggestions and your kind commiseration. Gonegardening, I had about 30 seconds of complete despair when I considered removing every daylily in the garden...followed by a two-minute fantasy about super-charged electric fences that would fry any deer that even looked at my yard. But the moment passed, and tomorrow I will enjoy whatever is left while researching Sweeney's, cleome, and milorganite as possible back-up measures to our usual repellent spray. Thanks again.