Spray with Liquid Fence.

Yes, I've had good results with the commercial deer sprays. You can make your own but I could never bring myself to make one of those recipes lol. One thing that is recommended is to switch them up every few months. For instance, use Deer Off for a few months, then try Deer Away, then Bobbex, etc. The reason for this, according to the articles I read, is that the deer get used to whatever you're using and will start nibbling again.

I've used pepper on occasion, but that was usually to deter digging (bulbs, tubers, rooted cuttings, etc). I don't like using that though because I think of the squirrels, much as I hate them, rubbing their little eyes after getting pepper in them, poor things. I've never made a spray, (usually just sprinkle over the area) so the spray may be better - more of a taste repellent and perhaps not as irritating to their other senses.

And, I do think that might have been a deer that ate your flower, although in my experience they prefer flowers in the bud stage, lol. Deer damage can be so discouraging.

What a gorgeous echinacea, by the way!

Good luck!
:)
Dee

Looks like the work of a groundhog.

I second the vote for groundhogs - those little ....critters freaking love coneflowers; I stopped planting them altogether.

I use Messina's Animal Stopper or Deer Stopper (they're interchangeable), both the liquid and the granular depending on what it is I need to protect. Liquid Fence works but man does it REEK! The Stoppers use essential oils and smell quite nice to a human nose.

mxk I wish I knew that a few years ago lol. I take care of a few gardens part time, and after my "real" job I stopped by a customer's to check on things. I was dressed in my work clothes, but decided to give a quick spray of Deer Off because I saw some nibbling. This stuff smells like rotten salami. I got the bottle from my car, went over the to bed, pulled the trigger... and at that moment the wind came up and blew it all back all over me! Ugh! I had to drive home, choking all the way, knowing that my car would now smell. I took my clothes off immediately inside the door and jumped in the shower, but I swear later that night I could still smell it in my hair! LOL.

I always say it will keep EVERYTHING away, including humans! I'll have to look into Messina's products.

:)
Dee

Thanks for the suggestions-- and warnings about the stench of Deer Off ;) We live in a residential area where we have the occasional deer wander through or graze in the fields on the outskirts of the neighborhood, but they've never gotten as far in as our house. I've also never seen groundhogs in our neighborhood, though there are massive prairie dog colonies in the surrounding open fields. We do get voles digging holes (and leaving mountains of dirt where they surface) from time to time, but haven't had a problem with them lately.

The squirrels are our biggest garden nuisance, but they're awfully cute and I have a couple that I spoil so they think they own the yard :-/ Rabbits have visited more frequently as our yard has matured, and this is the first year they had babies in our backyard. Unfortunately, our neighbor's cat preys on them and I think she may have killed all of the precious little babies :(

I'm going to mix up a batch of the pepper spray this evening and start with that as soon as the remaining buds start pushing out petals. I also don't like the idea of my little squirrel brats getting pepper in their eyes, but hopefully the spray will make the flowers taste bad to them.

This makes me think of aloha2009 who basically gave up growing echinacea because bunnies were always thwarting her attempts. I think they are a favorite of bunnies and yes, they can bend and eat the blooms quite easily.

We don't really have groundhogs here. So I vote no on that.

Squirrels don't bother coneflower in my yard and they bother most other things so I don't think it's squirrels. And sadly, they are not deterred by any pepper concoctions, tried it.

If it's bunnies, which I am pretty sure it is, you will have to build a barrier/cage, etc. to keep them out. I have heard that they don't like Milorganite which bonuses as a fertilizer. But I have no proof of that.

aloha2009's yard backed up to a waterway, right? Haven't seen any posts from her lately, but I can picture her property.

popmama, I think you're right that it's the bunnies. I had an echinacea (the standard purple variety) years ago that fizzled out as it got shaded out by a tree, but this is the first time I've tried growing it since the bunnies have been regular visitors. I fell in love with the orange blooms of this one and really hope I can figure out a way to keep the bunnies off of the blooms.

I hate the idea of building a cage around them, but if that's the only way to keep them off I suppose it's worth a try. I just remember when I started dating my husband, the only flowers he had in his yard were irises and they were caged in by lattice on all sides to keep his dog from eating them. You had to go up and look over the lattice to see them, which seemed to defeat the purpose of having pretty flowers in the yard. Maybe if I can build something out of chicken wire it won't be as much of an eyesore.

I'll see if my in-laws have any Milorganite; I think they fertilize their lawn. Thanks for the suggestions! Hopefully I can find something that works!

I know you can buy Milorganite at Echter's. It comes in a huuuuge bag. I use it to fertilize my hostas. I think I'm on year 3 of the same bag and I gave some of it to my mom too. If you can get a little bit of it and try it around a couple of plants to see if it helps, that would be a good experiment.

I know what you mean about the cages. Each year, I buy this beautiful purslane to put in planters. T he squirrels seem to like it. So I grow it in a birdcage. It's kind of decorative. But I would prefer the squirrels just leave it alone!