Every night is party night in my outer gardens. The local deer regularly invite all of their distant deer friends and relatives to my meadow for a sleepover. It is not unusual for 20+ deer to converge on the meadow at nightfall and remain there until we roust them out in the morning. Whatever grows in the outer gardens, beyond the safety of the cottage garden fence, has to be deer resistant without the use of repellents.
I love zinnias and the cottage garden is overflowing with blooms. I want to have the same kind of mass planting in the outer gardens next year. And so, I experimented. I tempted and tested the deer to see if they like to eat the flowers that I like to grow.Although zinnias are listed as deer resistant on many "knowledgeable" lists, I started with just a few flowers to see if my deer agree with the experts. I sowed zinnia seeds in various places that are easily accessed by the deer - such as right under their little noses along their favorite paths and the garden/meadow edge. Seeds are inexpensive, so I didn't break the garden budget with this experiment.
All of my zinnias are Benary's Giant (zinnia elegans). These are tall zinnias, some growing well over four feet high in the rich soil of my cottage garden that is on drip irrigation, if needed. The cottage garden zinnias were sown in late May with a few more sown in late June.
In the outer gardens, life is tougher. No babying out there, so the zinnias are sown in leaner soil and had to withstand the summer heat and drought without supplemental watering. The zinnias in the outer gardens were sown in mid-July and that has also contributed to a shorter height at this point.
So what happened to the zinnias in the deer gardens? Not much. One zinnia at the meadow edge was pinched back early on by the deer tasting party. It must have been something like a wine tasting. Taste a small amount and spit it out. The deer didn't like the foliage of these zinnias at all. The sampled zinnia is short, but has branched out to be loaded with buds and one bloom, so far. The other zinnias in the deer gardens are taller and have been blooming off and on like their sisters in the cottage garden.I am happy with the results and plan to include a big swath of zinnias in the outer gardens next year. So, I have high hopes for a large cutting garden of zinnias in 2010.
Whenever I mention deer resistant flowers in my garden, I must also say that your deer may like plants that my deer won't eat (and vice-versa).
Words and photos by Freda Cameron; Location: home garden; September 2009
Charm is doing better today. The vet called this evening to check on her condition. At this point, it is looking like a bacterial infection (treatable) and not the kidney disease, though that has gotten worse. She still has a way to go to make a complete recovery, but she is eating and keeping it down. We're trying to keep her hydrated as she wants to stay in bed instead of walking to the kitchen for water.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your concerns.
I do hope your beautiful and kind Charm gets well soon. Good wishes coming your way. So glad zinnias are deer resistant as they are most colorful and will look really great in your garden in large swathes.
ReplyDeleteI've had zinnias here every year along with the deer and haven't noticed them munching yet. I just saw a mother and her 3 fawns the other day but have no damage to report. I would say your safe with zinnias and since they grow so easily from seed its not too big of a deal if the do munch on them, at least a little!
ReplyDeleteHi Cameron. Here it is some kind of green bug destroying the zinnias and sunflowers. Very frustrating.
ReplyDeleteHope your dog feels better soon. I know how helpless we pet owners feel when our pets are ill.
Marnie
Hi Cameron. I don't have deer, only foxes, badgers and squirrels - and, boy, do they love hostas! Oh, and the foxes ate my sweetcorn!
ReplyDeleteI've never grown zinnias, but they have figured highly on lots of blogs this year and I've been drawn to their gorgeous rich palette of colours. Guess what's on my planting list for Spring?!
Hope my wildlife don't like them :)
Hi Cameron,
ReplyDeleteGood news regarding Charm.
It's slugs and snails which have attacked my zinnias in previous years. In fact I think it's slug 'n' snail central here. Some evenings, especially now and in spring, I go down to near the river and the lawns are crawling with them. It's like 'night of the slugs'.
Good news regarding Charm, I know you all must be relieved. I haven't seen the dear deer since last fall; when I shipped them to NC! So I cannot report on their snack preferences. Good luck..that partying has to be very annoying;-) gail
ReplyDeleteI miss having Zinnias this year.
ReplyDeleteGotta try that direct sowing !
I'm glad your experiment yielded good results. I hope the deer don't develop a taste for zinnias.
ReplyDeleteI hope Charm is continuing to recover. I remember having to take water to our Katie when she didn't want to get up to drink. She had had some strokes, though, and was not steady on her feet.
Hi Cameron,
ReplyDeleteSo glad Charm is recovering and hope her progress continues rapidly.
It is always interesting to hear your 'testing' methods and it certainly makes sense to use seed to do it. Glad your zinnias are deer resistant. The photo in front of your window is beautiful.
Zinnias have become a favorite here, too. No worries about deer just the 'too humid' weather that so many cutting flowers won't tolerate. This year my zinnias lasted even till now. Blooming since May (sown in March). You've reminded me I need to do some experimenting of my own and sow some seeds now just to see if they bloom before January. hmmmm????
Meems
What a beautiful display of zinnias, Cameron. Luckily, the deer think so too!
ReplyDeleteIt feels like AUTUMN today - cool temps and rainy. The zinnias are glorious. I took photos this morning, but just uploaded and noticed that a lot look fuzzy -- oh-- it was misting rain! LOL
ReplyDeleteCameron
Update:
ReplyDeleteThe zinnias in 2010 were typically left alone by the deer until September. However, the rabbits were cutting down the tall zinnias like little lumberjacks. Timber!