Okay, who ate my astilbe?

[xapabwa]

One of my astilbes is gone - seems to have vanished. There were two leaves on the ground where it was (it was a very small plant) and a stub sticking out of the ground which sort of rules out a vole. My bigger astilbes still seem to be in tact. I know my rabbit is back because my poor little asters have been nicely pruned back to about 8" tall, but I always thought that rabbits pretty much didn't care for or bother astilbes.

[simpson]

Could be a number of things. Even slugs can take out a small plant over night.

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[MorpheusPA]

They ARE tasty, you know.

Er, no, I know nothing about who ate your astilbe. I swear.

Oddly, I let the dogs out to discover a frozen rabbit in the garden. I turned my head and he or she had simply disappeared somewhere. I never saw it go...

[Jackpine]

Hey X! speaking of Astilibes remember me saying the hard frosts turned mine to toast? Well they are making a comeback with new shoots coming up to replace the dead ones.

[xapabwa]

Jack - that's great news. Glad you didn't lose them. I've never seen a slug here - guess that's the silver lining to living on a sand dune - slugs don't like sand because it sticks to their slimy little bodies. I'll have to keep any eye on my other astilbes to see if anyone is nibbling on those. It's odd, like I said, my asters have been nicely pruned but the romaine lettuce in my veggie garden has gone untouched thus far. Perhaps I raised the bed high enough the little rabbits can't get up into it.

[Jackpine]

Maybe when the little buggers get bigger they will leave the Astilbie alone in favor of the tasty Romaine. So far, knock on wood, I have not had slug problems. My Hostas beds get enough morning sun to keep things on the dry side during the day fortunately. This spring I moved two that were divided last year from the parent plant to the NW side of the house so will keep a close eye on those as it is good slug type territory.

[xapabwa]

Hopefully my lettuce will be over and done before they are big enough to get into the raised bed. Chipmunks - not so luckly there. Looked like they were making salsa with my tomatoes last year - little diced tomato pieces all over the ground. I don't mind sharing, but geez if you pull it off the vine at least eat the daggone thing! I'm very lucky in the slug department (let me find something wooded to knock on quickly). I've yet to see my first slug and I've been here 6 years. I really think it has to be the sandy soil. I moved here from about 8 miles away and had lots of slugs there, but had a totally different soil. I'll call it a clay, but I never had it tested so it could just have easily been silt.

[Jackpine]

Chipmunks munching tomatoes that would be a sight! Back when I was a kid (years ago!) living out in the country we had a Malamute that would walk through the tomato plants inspecting each one until he found the reddest and ripest tomato to carry back to the lawn where he would lay down, hold it in his paws, and nibble away.

[MorpheusPA]

Which is really weird when you consider that dogs can't see red. Maybe he was doing it by smell?

[xapabwa]

I wouldn't be surprised at all if he was going on smell. Even my human nose can smell the difference between a juicy, ripe tomato and a green one. The one dog I still have, loves tomatoes, but she doesn't pick them herself. The dog I lost a couple of years ago loved lettuce. Out in the yard my lettuce lover looked like a little cow out grazing on grass. The other one looks a lot like a deer to begin with, but even more so when she's nibbling on shrubs. I've had to be very careful with what I plant in the back yard because she'll pull leaves off just about anything and nibble away and then puke them all up. Unfortunately, that last part usually doesn't happen until she's back in the house!

[Donald]

We used to have a lot of rabbits every year. But now coyotes and foxes make sweeps through the neighborhood when rabbit population become established.

Maybe establish a wolf pack?