RE: Deer resistant iris

 

Morning everyone.
 
Deer live in the mini woods on the left edge of my country property.  I've seen them roaming the adjacent farmers fields, but not on my property as we've always had large dogs, even though the big boys are usually in their kennel run.  One deep bark and the smarter creatures are gone.  Rabbits are another story.  They've chewed on iris a few times over the years, and that's when the hubby goes huntin' wabbits.
 
El, Ste Anne (near Winnipeg), Manitoba, Canada
 
To: iris-species@yahoogroups.com
From: dwiris@aol.com
Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2012 03:22:24 -0500
Subject: Re: [iris-species] Deer resistant iris

 
Hi All,
 
My deer pull up newly planted irises and chew on nice green leaves, but usually don't eat the blooms except for Japanese irises. I wait for a bloom to open and find it gone the next morning. They have also been known to eat nice fat seed pods that we had crossed.
 
Dorothy Willott
 
 
In a message dated 12/3/2012 12:13:28 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, ChatOWhitehall@aol.com writes:
 

 
 
Deer will eat almost anything if they get desperate enough, and what they don't eat they will walk all over.
 
That said, both Ii. cristata and verna are dormant in winter so that at the time of worst deer desperation, they are leafless. At other times of year, there are other, lusher, things to eat. That fact is no gurantee that deer won't eat the irises in summer, however.
 
The stuff with persistent foliage is what really gets hit hard, in more ways than one.
 
The only evergreen Iris I've observed being left alone by deer is I. foetidissima.
 
The thing that really destroys I. cristata is slugs.
 
Cordially,
 
AMW
 



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