Hi,
I recently (5 wks ago) planted a few more (white)coneflower from small plants. I fertilized them and watched them develop nicely. Before long one very large flower with equally large center opened on one of the plants, and I was enjoying it out my kitchen window for several weeks. We got some heavy rain which was a relief as I believed it would help the bloom stay fresh a bit longer as we move into fall. Well, two mornings ago, the bloom was GONE! from the top of the stem ...it look broken, not a clean cut as rabbits usually do. It sits a bit low to the ground. no trace of petals or the head anywhere. We do have rabbits around and they have eaten on some of my pink coneflower plants, but usually go for the new shoots....and leave the damaged stems and flowers on the ground. So, I suspect it was a neighbor who helped themselves to my single white bloom. It was very eye-grabbing with a diameter of about 4 inches. Why would a rabbit carry it off? Am I right or wrong. Do I have a flower thief in the neighborhood, or was it Peter rabbit. Any thoughts? I'm really disgusted!! Thanks.

Hi,
Unless you can put up a game camera, you'll probably never know what took your flower. I've had them taken completely away by deer, rabbits and the worst seem to be chipmunks. Do you have them there? It's very annoying when they bother something special that you've been watching.

Hi Karen, Thanks for your reply. I live in a city, so it is not deer. It is either a rabbit or an admiring passerby. I just had no idea if a rabbit would take away a bloom from the area for later? I'm not sure about their behavior. They seem rather aloof and easily frightened, rather than performing deceptive tasks...such as stealing.

Have you thought about squirrels? They have gone wild now! They've eaten 2 Lewisia plants, numerous seed pods and it seems will go for just about any flower. Forget sunflowers! With the large flower heads I wouldn't be surprised if it was a squirrel looking for seeds. They tend to drop down on taller plants so that could explain the broken looking stem.

I honestly never had this much of a problem before. I guess this year their natural food sources are low. So they are tasting everything in my yard to see if they like it.