Things seemed odd, witch hazel and quince with disappearing flowers, pear trees denuded, filipendula chewed to the ground - that can mean only 1 thing, deer! So as the conflict begins, I will share some photographs of things that have been left undamaged.
This is an adorable dwarf daffodil species, Narcissus canaliculatus.
Primula sibthorpii from Dan Hinkley and Heronswood Nursery (way back in the day). I have always thought his selection had the best color.
The small pink puffs are the female flowers on comptonia or sweet fern, the male catkins or pollen source, are the male.
Stylophorum or wood poppy is a native that oozes an orange sap that is toxic, so I know I'm safe with this native.
Epimedium x versicolor 'Sulphureum' is sister to the following E. versicolor 'Versicolor'.
Daffodil 'Pistachio' is a strong contender for replacing my favorite D. 'Lemon Glow'. Both have that soft yellow color that goes with everything.
The male carpenter bee has the black dot centered in the yellow fur on his back, the female is completely black. The male has no stinger and is also known as Xylocopa virginica, indicating that it is native to Virginia. His tactic of intimidation is flying near or at you, but he is incapable of stinging. Also known as long tongue bees, they are able to access pollen and nectar from tubular flowers, although they will also steal nectar by making a slit on top of the flower and stealing nectar, particularly when they don't fit in the opening.
For now I have built loose branch domes over plants I want to protect until I figure something out. Russian olive branches have been perfect because they bend and can be speared into the ground. Plus I enjoy cutting them down, as we should all be doing. The deer don't like the smell of the new leaves and stem, so that's another plus. We are very close to a large hunt club property which about to be converted into solar panels, so my deer problems may have just begun, I had zero deer last year. For the first time I put out a radio, just last night, tuned to a boring talk show; they ignored it. My trail camera shows 2 who seem very familiar with my garden space, tonight I might sleep in the garden.
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