Some Durn Critter

[Edwina's Secretary]

When we moved into our current house three and a half years ago I was excited to find rose bushes. (I had lovely roses in my garden at my prior home.) I have been frustrated working with them but was determined this summer. I pruned, fed, mulched -- everything. And, hallelujah, every bush had a bunch of blooms!!!.....until some durn critter came along and bit the blooms off! Adding insult to injury he/she left beautiful rose petals strewn across the hosta behind the bushes.

It must be a small critter because blooms above a certain level are untouched. Edwina either doesn't know who it is or isn't willing to tell me.

The deer (who LOVE roses) can't get over the fence, and I think the chipmunks are too short. That leaves the possum, raccoon, and squirrels -- unless I have bunnies I don't know about???

Any thoughts about who could be doing this (is it the same critter who bites some of the heads off my tulips) and what I can do???

[sasvermont]

1.) Get a gun 2.) Get a dog and post it outside 3.) Move to another house!

[lizbud]

That's really strange. Don't think the
possums, raccoons or squirrels would eat roses.
Maybe rabbits. We had plenty of wild rabbits come
through our back yard when we lived in the burbs.
It's a mystery.

[jennifert]

I think it's Edwina.....

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Get some corn starch or flour and sprinkle around one of the bushes then watch for tracks. Maybe you can tell what type of critter it is from that or at least how big its feet are.Just another thought: Do you have any little neighbor kids that could be doing that? I had one once who would toddle over and pinch all the heads off my tulips. He couldn't talk very well and looked so darn cute, I couldn't get too mad at him.

[Karen]

I doubt that it's rabbits - my parents' yard is full of wild bunnies in the spring and summer, and no one ate any of the roses! When pulling into the yard on a summer night, there'd be 20-30 white tails hopping over the brook into the woods!

Maybe a woodchuck? Any suspicious-looking holes in any bankings nearby? Or maybe you have tastier roses? Miss Hoppy eats lots of flowers - clover flowers and dandelion flowers are particular favorites!

Rather than a gun, I'd just put up a discreet metal/wire fence - like rabbit fence, right around the bush. They usually sell them painted green that'd blend right in.

As soon as the tulips even sprouted, back home, there would be bunny-nibbles on the leaves, and the small white fences went up around every small garden, and the veggie garden, too.

The funny thing is, no one here (just 45 miles from my parent's house) eats my tulips, and I know we've got wild bunnies, lots of squirrels, and raccoons.

[zippy-kat]

Originally posted by sasvermont
Get a dog and post it outside

I don't know that this would actually work--Sara ate my mother's rosebushes down to a nub--yes, that BLOOMS, THORNS, and ALL!!! lol

[Cincy'sMom]

Originally posted by sasvermont
2.) Get a dog and post it outside

It is my dog that eats my roses!!! Cincy, the eatin' every thin' in sight puppy!!!!

[Edwina's Secretary]

Someone (not on Pettalk) has suggested to me CROWS, which are around my yard as well (or as she said...those big, ugly, mean black birds.)

I'll report on my investigation!

[Freckles]

I haven't seen this with my floribundas, but once I caught a squirrel nibbling on my miniature rose buds. They are the size of a pea, but I guess they weren't tasty enough as haven't seen it since.

[lizbud]

After reviewing the list of possible "perps", I came back
to the deer. How high is the fence that keeps them out?

Cincy's Mom, LOL. I actually read an article last week that
listed edible flowers.(by humans anyway)

[koxka]

Poor wild critters!They might be feed in one way or and other!
My former hamster was mad about carnations!

[Pam]

Although I don't have an idea who is eating your roses I can commiserate with you. My neighbor had a vegetable garden and was told to plant marigolds around it to keep the bunnies from eating the veggies. Well, they ate the marigolds. Guess that was an old wives tale!

I tried growing some sunflowers one year from seeds. The dogs had left the little plants alone and I was feeling very hopeful. One morning I came out and found a mole mound right in the flowerbed and my sunflowers had all fallen down due to these little critters plowing through.

[Karen]

Well, we did an in-home test for you. We were visiting someone who has wild roses in the back yard, and got permission to bring some home.

Within minutes, Miss Hoppy had eaten one of the small blossoms, and snipped the stem to separate the others. They are now all gone! So maybe it IS wild bunnies - how high up are the remaining roses?