Ken, you called it. ==>>> you are welcome .... lol ... no.. wrong answer ... i mean.. translating it to YOU WERE RIGHT ... i cant hear that enough.. around my own house... lol .. so i have to get it from you guys... welcome to reality ... rabbits are vermin ... and not to be encouraged ... as i previously said.. so i will not repeat it ... mine all worked above the snow.. your history of them tunneling under snow.. makes no sense ... mine also girdled shrubs ... striping the bark.. not eating the center wood on a variety of stock .... again.. you confuse me ... i have a lot of damage... now that the snow is gone.. 2 or 3 feet up a branch/trunk ... where they worked their magic ABOVE the snow line ... i have what used to be a 5 foot paladin lilac .. dwarf huh??? ... that is about 8 feet wide.. now half is 5 feet tall .. the other 3 feet ... lol .. no flowers on the shortened stuff ... and they did eat it all on that ... i wouldn have thought deer damage.. but i didint see any tracks in the deep snow ... or it was done before the snow.. and i missed it .... but the upside is.. that you are going to learn about what i mean when i say that most of what you planted.. you can run them over with the truck ... you cant kill most of these things ... as i recall you not having anything that foo foo ... so tell hubby.. to suck it up.. and trim everything effected to about 3 to 6 inches.. and watch how mother nature responds ... with no insult to the root system.. you might be pleasantly surprised how well everything responds... growing to near the same size by fall ... this is the next prediction.. and i will look for the 'you were right' post in fall ... lol .. and try to contemplate.. anything lost ... is a planting hole for something new... and while you are at it ... may as well dig out the burning bushes ... as apparently they are fodder.. and irritating.. not to mention that which you dont want to hear about .... sometimes.. regardless of your wishes.. certain plants just arent worthy ... of the space provided ... look forward to the pix.. i am guessing.. they are not going to be as bad as you think they are ... yesterday i cut down a 10 by 15 foot shrub... to 6 inches.. i have no worries.. it will come back ablazing .... though i will miss its flower show.. but the other 20 of them..will take care of that ... ken ps: and tell hubby.. who cares what the neighbors think.. we dont garden for them ... live and learn.. its all a learning curve ....

Another deer avoided perennial would be Asclepias. I have several varieties and none have ever been bothered by deer or rabbits even though these eating machines go through my yard daily/nightly. Someone above mentioned Potentilla. Deer do snack on my P. Monarch's Velvet early in the growing season. Just tends to keep the plant at a more reasonable size, so it is ok with me. Keeps me from having to pinch it back. The same with Montauk Daisy. Deer nibble the newer spring growth of this fall blooming daisy, but stop at the right time to let the plant grow to a nice sized mound with little help from me. I am going to suggest Geraniums also. I also have several varieties of Perennial Geraniums that have never been touched by deer.

If rabbits do not eat hostas, it must be some other creature, since my hostas are eaten to the ground, and practically no leaves are left behind. Hawks are awesome! We have some of them flying above - they take my breath away. I am not sure what kind they are red-tailed or what. My husband said he saw the neighbor's cat carrying a baby rabbit few times on our property. I will definately give Liquid Fence a try. Watching my flowers disappear when I do my morning rounds... makes my patience disappear, too. I like these furry creatures, just someplace else far-far away from my garden. Thank you all for the great advice and letting me vent. ~Natalie

ALERT: THE SCENT OF ALFALFA ATTRACT ALL ANIMALS, including squirrels, dogs, rabbits and deer. From the web: "Deer love to eat alfalfa hay and will flock to established alfalfa plots. Animals like rats, dogs, bears, and bloodhounds have some of the most incredible noses ... These animals can detect a scent from a considerable distance and have a good sense of taste as well." I saw how squirrels ate my rootings in June, so I chopped up strong scent Italian Basil and put in my air-pots. The scent of Basil stopped the squirrels from eating roses in air-pots. I used invasive mint before to repel deer from my roses in the front. My TALL air-pots never have squirrels jumping in it, until I fertilized them with a STRONGER DOSE of alfalfa, since I'm out of ORGANIC Nature's Care soluble fertilizer. Thank God that the squirrels didn't eat the 10 buds of 4-months old Augusta Luis (bought as band-size from LongAgoRoses), see below: Early June a rooting did great, until I fertilized with alfalfa tea, squirrels are attracted to the scent of alfalfa and ate that rooting 1/2 off. Same with another 2 rose rootings: squirrels jumped into the pot and dug up both, after being fertilized with alfalfa tea. Besides squirrels, ALL ANIMALS are attracted to the smell of alfalfa, including rabbits, deer, and dogs. My 19-year-old daughter wants a pet bunny, and she asked me to get alfalfa to feed her future bunny. One time I poured a bag of alfalfa meal into the planting hole, and a dog broke away from its owner to rush to me. That dog was FAR AWAY (at least 1/4 acre away). I'm amazed that animals can sniff that far. That same evening, that dog which lived 3 houses away, broke loose from its home to my backyard in search of alfalfa. The dog was so attracted to the alfalfa smell that it came back the 2nd time. The owner came to my backyard looking for her dog. Years ago, when Ingrid had a problem with rabbits eating her roses in CA, she mentioned that she fertilized her roses ONLY with alfalfa meal. I wish I had known this earlier to inform Ingrid so she would not have quit roses altogether thanks to rabbits and drought. These pests have sensitive nose, farmers used to dunk corn-cobs in vinegar to repel rabbits. Another suggestion is to soak stinky ammonia in paper towel and put that in pots to repel squirrels and chipmunks.