Who ate my tulips?

juudyshouse2012

14 years ago

I am baffled about this...I have a bunch of tulips planted around my yard. This is the first year I've planted tulips because in the past, we have had many deer and elk. But last year we put in 7' deer fencing all around our property and I decided to plant tulips. We have not been bothered this year by the deer or elk and all my plants, shrubs and trees are leafing out beautifully. My yellow tulips are blooming, but the red ones have closed buds and are getting ready to open. This morning when I went out to look at them, the unopened red buds where off and laying on the ground right by the plants. It looked like the stem was just cut right below the bud. All of the yellow tulips are still in full bloom. I didn't see any hoof prints and the strange thing is that the buds were not eaten, just laying next to the plant. Could it be a chipmunk or a groundhog? I don't have any mounds from an underground tunnel digger, but I think I've seen a small critter like a chipmunk. Some of my young azaleas got eaten as well.

Any ideas?

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Comments (4)

jean001
14 years ago
Perhaps squirrels?

I know they dug up *all* the bulbs I planted for my son. They didn't leave any to show aboveground.
JudyWWW
14 years ago
Many years ago I had a dog who nipped them off...I saw her do it....that was an Airdale before we switched to more sensible Australian Cattle Dogs/heelers. I've also suspected crows were responsible for nipping off and dropping my daffodil flowers. jwww
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ianna
14 years ago
rabbits and field mice. Once a couple of field mice managed to do very extensive damage in my garden in as little as 1 hour. Rabbits managed to cut off some young branches off my service berries.
juudyshouse2012
Original Author
14 years ago
These are the things that may be causing it. There is a dog that comes onto our property sometimes. I definitely have rabbits and chipmunks and lots of birds around. Do the rabbits eat tulips or would they just leave them next to the plant? I have never seen a squirrel on my property. It must be one of those things. Now, the question is, how do I stop it???? What about spraying the plants with some of that deer and rabbit deterrent that is made from natural ingredients like blood meal, garlic, cayenne pepper, etc.? Do those things work?