My rabbit doesn't eat my rhizomes. He just gets the sweet weeds in between.

I'm not sure we have voles in northern Michigan. I know we do have moles, rabbits, lots of squirrels, deer and an occasional bear is spotted about 2 miles from us.

Feels like this post jinxed me. When I came home 2 rhizome were out of place. One, I though it was the heavy rain today. The other was 3 rows up the slope...I didn't know gravity work that way.

Well, if it is dogs, cats, raccoons, they are very sensitive to smell. If you crush up the toilet bowl cleaners that you drop in the tank, then spread them where the animals mark then they get a strong bleach whiff and start avoiding that area. I have to do this every year to get dogs to quit pissing on my figs. Because their owners are too stupid to read the signs and keep them from peeing on a food crop.

The only problem I've had with critters is wild cockatoos yanking off the blooms.

Sorry Gabe. Hope it doesn't happen again.

Robin - I rememberseeing a large number of cockatoos when I have visited Oz. Never thought of them as garden pests, since they are so exotic to the Yanks, but they could do a fair amount of damage I am guessing. Maybe not as much as Rob's turkeys but they are sizable birds.

The "eating" is really the "small part" of critter damage.....although harsh conditions can make some that really "not on the menu", needed for survival in tough times...it's the "planting of nuts" next to a plant, or, digging it up to use the toilet, or, laying / walking / sitting on it while passing through the garden, or, in some cases, just "exercising their teeth", or even "idle curiosity". And, "critters" come in all manner of forms....a while back , while working in the garden, my little "toddler" neighbor girl came and handed me a handful of plant tags she had pulled out of some potted iris ! It's all part of gardening...my dad always said, 'Plant four!... One for the worm, and one for the crow, one to pull out, and the last one to grow !"

I have had that happen too, Arlyn. A friend brought her precocious grandson to visit and I was not at home so they visited my garden. By the time she noticed his 'bouquet' it was toooooo late. Since they were in pots I do not have a map so I am waiting on each to bloom and then will replant the tag. I put all but five tags back in this spring. Hopefully those that did not bloom this spring will bloom next and I can finish.

So rabbits don't like marigolds, and they'll avoid things planted with marigolds around?

Hmmm....

Too bad my color scheme in one bed isn't yellow/orange compatible... I suppose I could try growing white marigolds from seed again, but I'm lazy...

wish i could use arlyn's advice of planting four. my small space will accommodate only one if i want to plant a variety of iris😕. if not i would only have maximum of six or seven varieties.

i tried to order some smaller varieties from a grower in socal, and was warned against them because of the lack of the chill factor in my area 10a and desert like conditions.

you all have been very helpful and very informative.

Lestv said:Robin - I rememberseeing a large number of cockatoos when I have visited Oz. Never thought of them as garden pests, since they are so exotic to the Yanks, but they could do a fair amount of damage I am guessing. Maybe not as much as Rob's turkeys but they are sizable birds.

They are a major pest if you have an orchard. They (along with rosellas and galahs - although technically a galah is just another type of cockatoo, I think most people just think of the white or occasionally black ones as cockatoos) love to eat almonds off the trees. Never seen them damage the garden flowers, though.

I many years ago I had a condo that I rented out. The renter had a cockatoo and a cage for the bird. When his girlfriend moved out the cockatoo got bored. The cockatoo ate my baseboards, carpet, and dining room chairs. Plus bird **** down the doors and on the carpet. I don't like cockatoos any more.

I had slugs(?) eating dahlias I planted in a more crowded area this summer. Diatomaceous Earth from the feed store ended up doing the trick. Right now I have been seeing more grasshoppers than ever. I haven't done anything to treat my Iris for pests yet.

This is the rotten cockatoo that attacked my irises.


I saw him on my fence and grabbed a photo. Then I watched in horror as he yanked the flowers off. I didn't know that cockatoos do that.

At least the bird is more interesting to look at than the slugs who chew on my irises!

May be more interesting to look at than slugs but just look at those blooms on the ground. Instant end to a years worth of effort and waiting. I know how to get rid of slugs but how do you get the cockatoos to stop their sport with the iris blooms?

Unfortunately they're a protected species, so unless you have a permit, all you can do is try to scare them away or physically protect your plants...

This article is worth a read if you're interested: http://www.abc.net.au/science/...

Oh my, Joshua -- I'm so sorry..................

Interesting article, Joshua. The only cockatoos I have ever seen here have been in large cages. I hope no one ever lets one loose here. They sound like a survivor.