Re: I'm puzzled

**J* E* M* S* <h*@sbcglobal.net>**

I vote for rabbits, but it might be the squirrel.
jems

On May 27, 2012, at 6:33 PM, Larry Maxcy wrote:

Hi,

I live where the deer outnumber and outeat the human population, so I can't plant much in my yard, which is OK since my yard has impenetrable clay "soil." So I grow most things in pots.

Last week I bought three Iceland poppy plants and potted them up. They even had tiny flower buds on them. The flower bud stalks grew quite quickly. Then one morning I noticed one of the flower buds had disappeared, evidently snipped cleanly off. The next morning bud #2 was gone. The stalk was there, too, the bud decapitated. There is absolutely no evidence the foliage has been disturbed, just the buds.

I have two suspects. We feed birds, but the poppies were in the back, where we don't see many birds. The feeder is in front. So while it's possible birds are debudding the poppies, I'm skeptical.

My second suspect is our resident Douglas squirrel. Or his relatives. I haven't seen Walter near the poppies, but it's certainly possible he's the culprit.

Any thoughts?

Larry Maxcy

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