Jack rabbit, perhaps a magpie is attracted to the bright color?
Linda C

I have watched squirrels do this. Some birds might too. Seems to be something inside the calyx they like. Odd how they drop the perfectly formed blossoms on the ground.

Do you have new fawns in the area? I can always tell when there are new fawns around as they sample blooms that the adult deer don't normally eat.

Cameron

I read somewhere that rabbits don't like marigolds....

I know I have tons of goldfinches and they pick apart a lot of my tall zinnias, BES and others - but they are so gorgeous that I don't get very upset...but marigolds strewn all over the place sounds annoying...

Carrie (time to set up outdoor cameras... :0)

Mystery solved!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:21186}}

Awwwhhhh, so cute! Adorable!!

Carrie

Rabbits here have eaten down marigold plants repeatedly. Have large variety that should be 3' by now that are struggling to reach 1' and finally have buds to bloom...as long as they don't get eaten down again.

Think I'd be more ticked off if the flowers were snipped off and strewn around the lawn!

The young deer suggestion is a good one.

Also read somewhere here on forums that every deer in herd is likely to "try" something rather than take the word of deer at head of buffet line...LOL.

I have rabbit munched 10" gomphrena blooming..."cute" rabbits are in someone else's yard.

I'm almost looking forward to just fighting off deer over winter after my first year gardening trying to contend with rabbits, groundhogs, deer, chipmunks, moles and voles.

Newbie, I can relate to the chipmunk problem.

A neighbor two houses down has a very run down garage...anything and everything lives in there, and the critters travel to and fro the neighboring yards.

Each morning I drink my coffee...see the little critters run across my driveway next to my garage...to the cover of my hostas, sandcherry, elevated planter...I see movement of perennials behind the planter area, he jumps up into my "fountain" where I have kale planted now...and I get up to let my dogs out to scare them, but instead the dogs prefer to lie down in the sun and pay no mind to the chipmunks.

This morning, chippy was crawling around my Don Juan climbing rose bush! You would think the thorns would deter them????

I was happy with our recent addition of the fenced in yard...keeps rabbits out, but now the chipmunks are free to roam. Are chipmunks prey for rabbits?

I've thought of catching and relocating them, but who knows the population size...probably a losing battle.

So far, I haven't seen any damage to my plants. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. For the most part, I see them exploring, but they seem quite interested in my kale. I treated it with an insect repellent not too long ago (Bayer), so maybe that's why they haven't munched on it yet.

But then, we'll see how I feel once I give it my first go on planting bulbs this fall. Perhaps I will be more inclined to relocate them. LOL

We have about 20 or more chipmunks in a population explosion this year. They've made an extension of one of their existing tunnel complexes right through a new Iris bed.

Where they used to tunnel in garden bed up against outer garage wall I'm afraid voles are now using their tunnels and making more. There are spring blooming bulbs all along that wall and I have a sinking feeling I'm going to have to carefully try and find out what's still intact and what may have been nibbled. I really can't tell what holes are from chipmunks and which from voles. I raised that bed for better drainage and something is continually tunneling right into the root zones of a number of new plants. Guess that's voles. "How to" articles say to set up mouse traps along burrows but can't see anything but holes. What the slugs aren't eating above ground I fear the voles are taking care of below ground.

Kimcoco, if I were you I'd take special precautions when planting your first bulbs this fall. I went overboard my first attempt last fall but at least I had flowers. I'm pretty sure I posted this on bulb forum but I wouldn't want you to lose money, time and expectation of flowers if I didn't mention it here.

I used Repels All spray on ALL bulbs before planting letting them dry on newspaper after spraying. Next step is controversial with some, but I wrapped bulbs in light layer of fine steel wool. Unlike some people I like my little squirrel pals since finding way to protect bird feeders from them. They didn't get tangled in steel wool since I sprayed ground over bulb plantings with more Repels All...maybe they don't like the smell since I didn't have any digging in bulb plantings. For most threatened bulbs, Tulips, I took a further step and put them in bulb cages. You can use chicken wire to rig up same arrangement which is cheaper than buying bulb cages.

Don't know what your soil is like in Wisconsin but I had to spend days chopping through hard clay, roots and invasive vines followed by amend soil to 24" to even get these bulbs in the ground. After all that work I was intent on doing whatever I could do to keep bulbs intact and then sprayed the heck out of them with Deer/Rabbit repellant every week once they showed the first bits of greenery above ground. Like I've said before...I spent more on repellant sprays than bulbs.

And I've got another 140+ bulbs ordered for planting this fall. I should have my head examined but don't know what's intact below ground with moles, voles and chipmunk activity observed since late spring.

Sorry if bulb discussion is OT for annual forum but when they get eaten or damaged they're rendered an "annual" planting!

Thanks for the forewarning, Newbie. I remember reading another post of yours on the bulb forum. The lengths we are willing to go to, but worth every effort once they bloom, right? I can hardly wait for my tulips next spring.

In addition to tulips on the way from ColorBlends, I also purchased locally daffodils (large cup variety), hyacinth, and blue muscari, and I'd like to get a few calla lily bulbs.

I'll have to post on the bulb forum again as I have more questions about the bulbs...wrapping them with steel wool. I do plan on getting Repels All.

Not sure I have room for bulb cages for my tulips. I have a small area between my driveway and house...maybe 5 inches at best, and will plant the bulbs between my ajuga plants...still trying to figure out how I'm going to do this without disturbing the ajuga roots.

I have a bulb planting tool, but the base is too wide to fit between these plants. Never done this before...I planted some bulbs earlier this spring (they came with a sprinkling can I purchased), and later found out I planted them upside down....LOL....I had no idea until my neighbor told me she had done the same thing with bulbs she had just planted.