[Fwd: Goat-proof plants?]

  • Subject: Re: Goat-proof plants?
  • From: B* B*
  • Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 08:04:20
  • Delivery-date: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 09:04:23 +0100
  • Envelope-to: lyman@lyman-dixon.freeserve.co.uk

Hellebores should do well too; I have seen pictures of H. orientalis growing in dense stands on mountaintops in Yugoslavia where the sheep and goats had eaten everything else to the ground.  H. arguitifoliius (formerly corsicus) is well-adapted to dry Mediterranean conditions.  H. x sternii, a cross between H. argutifolius and H. lividus, should also do well.  With a little shade, H. orientalis hybrids should also do well; though they grow in full sun in nature, Imvros would be a little much I'd imagine.  If you can get seed, you might even be able to grow H. vesicularis, which naturally grows in SE Turkey.  It grows and blooms in winter, and dies down in the summer but in addition to dark maroon flowers, it produces decorative inflated seed pods.

In addition to Hellebores, almost nothing will eat Iris, and besides the common I. germanica that is planted in graveyards in Turkey, you could, if you could get them, grow some of the many other species adapted to dry conditions.  I. buharica, and the "Juno" irises (which many Americans and Brits love but have to grow in dry greenhouses to keep the rain off) should do well.

Narcissus don't last long but they are poisonous and pretty much everything leaves them alone.

In SW Turkey, I saw some wonderful Verbascums (mullein, Turkish "sığır kuyruğu") growing undisturbed where goats grazed.  Their hairy leaves are distasteful to many animals.  V. olympicum grows on Ulu Dağ, if you were in the area you could probably get seeds in autumn; it's pretty common there.  Also V. bombyciferum grows there, it's even more common.  Both are valued garden plants in the west, and both are very hairy and I'd imagine even a goat would find them distasteful.  I have seed for V. undulatum from Greece -- there is a similar plant that grows in NW Turkey but not nearly as nice.  If you would like a little seed of that I can send you some (I live in Istanbul).

I hope this helps!  (And may the goats leave your garden alone!)

Bob

Bob Beer sazci@hotmail.com
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