Our rabbits must not be hungry enough yet. I did cage a bunch of bushes, but they are eating my brush pile!! I was very surprised as I walked by in broad daylight, to see so much bark chewed off the dead limbs and branches in the pile. The white spots positively gleam against the dark of the pile. Not sure exactly WHAT branches they are eating, but they have removed a lot of bark. Some was my trimming from the dappled willow that wouldn't fit inside the cage, took a thick branch out. Most of the branches are Oak, from having the trees trimmed last fall. Some other odds and ends of brush trimming I did. I know they like the willow, caught them gnawing on it as taste test, even BEFORE snow was here. Hence the cage. Caged all my new pasture willow trees too, hoping to protect them over winter. Rabbits check out the yard bird feeders every night, snuffle up the sunflower seeds they can find. Drive the small dog crazy, she can't chase 3 at one time. I expect the neighbor's Pussy Willow will be in rough shape this spring. It has no caging, and the rabbits did a big number on it a couple years ago in the deep snow. It is mostly sprouts, 3-5ft tall, so they are probably pretty tender. My SIL up by Traverse City MI loses most of her Burning Bushes each year to the rabbits. They nest under her deck, eat the bushes beside the deck. Caging is useless, because snow is over the top of any fence and the bushes. Heck they had to dig out her windows last year, she couldn't see outside! I guess they are tough bushes though, come back each year, just small.

Thanks for the input everyone. phylrae, I don't usually winter protect but if a few shovelfulls of topsoil means the difference between life and death I will try it. Frederic Mistral was mentioned in an article by Bill "Knockout" Radler about easy care roses for the north. It was the only Romantica mentioned. Radler says that the roses mentioned in the article should not be given winter protection (I think he was talking about zones 4 and 5, not zone 3). I wanted to experiment with other Romanticas since forum members in zones 4 and 5 have mentioned growing them. I sure hope Rouge Royale makes it because the fragrance on the bloom that came with it from RU is out of this world. Another rose that died this winter was Tamora which was growing right next to Peter Mayle. I did not expect this as Tamora survived the previous winter. It is definitely mysterious to lose a few roses per year for unknown reasons. We had a lot of freeze-thaw cycles this winter. I am also considering some of the Clements rose, particularly Fragrant Masterpiece (I am a sucker for fragrance). Are any of these hardy in zone 5? If all else fails I will try some more Bucks, although some of them aren't particularly hardy either. Rose de Rescht also does pretty well and I am looking into some other repeating OGRs.

Ron, that is so funny you would mention gophers. One of my DILs just called me, almost in tears and I could hear my grandson screaming, "Don,t, Dad, don't." They wanted me to tell him to let the gopher go that he had caught in the trap set in the flower beds. Gopher was not dead and he was going to kill it. They did not want him to and she was almost crying and grandson was screaming. I was not very empathetic with DIL and grandson. I know what a gopher war they have suffered in their garden. He spends hundreds of dollars each season on plants and within days, the nasty little gophers had done a disappearing act on them. I expect if either one of them would take to gardening they might feel the same. :)

I am on this yearÂs third...yes third generation of bunnies, Joe and I noted that this brood is right now about the size of a chocolate bunny in an Easter basket...very cute but equally as destructive. Call me Mrs. McGregor but I am often out there telling them to go away and find a new home. I have been using Bobbex for rabbits and I must say it has really been worth its weight in the great amount of gold I have been paying for it. This is the first year that I can remember where all of my daylilies are actually blooming. A note of caution Bobbex although *organic* is (to me) so foul smelling that when I spilled some on my hand after spraying and washed my hands over and over again with every type of soap that came to mind I considered the possibility of gnawing off my hand. When I mentioned this to a nursery owner he told me he once got some first on his hand and then wiped his mouthÂthere was no toothpaste, mouthwash, or drinkÂyes by that time alcoholic drink that could remove that foul taste. The ingredients say it all; putrescent whole egg solids, castor oil, cloves, garlic oil, paprika, vinegar, meat meal, fish oil, urea, water, magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, aluminum magnesium silicate, glue. Are you gagging at the thought of it?