My first three guesses would be mice, slugs/snails or a grasshopper/locust. All dreadful creatures. Try sprinkling some diatomaceous earth and putting out bits of rodent bait - see what you find dead or what you find eaten. Regards - Nancy

I was going to mention the 'orange dog' caterpillars, but Larry beat me to the punch! I'd surely be on the lookout for them, as well as slugs and snails. Don't forget that they hatch from very small eggs, so are teensy for a few days and often overlooked. But you can't miss that beautiful Giant Swallowtail Butterfly! I also want to second Patty's suggestion of the Sluggo (or other iron phosphate snail and slug bait. If the gastropod population is out of control in your vicinity, it might be necessary to employ the copper tape (I've used copper window screen, too) AND apply some of the bait. Guess where I found slug nurseries? At the end of the season, I dumped several containers of summer annuals out and found (to my horror) that slugs had entered the pots THROUGH THE DRAINAGE HOLE and had a major love fest in there. After that, I began to use copper screen to cover the drainage holes.

Lonicera - a vigorous (to the point of invasive) plant, but not at all fussy, takes dramatic shearing and pops back, and I will never tire of the fragrance. I keep it in bounds by growing it as a standard, which has the extra advantage of keeping the flowers at a convenient height for sniffing.

debra, first, i would like to suggest that if you don't know what the pest is, please don't use all those poisons. obviously, you are putting a lot of good things at risk without taking care of your problem. In the past, I had a real problem with earwigs eating petals at night. No one believed me that these guys were eating my flowers. But I figured out the problem by going out at night and catching them in the act with a flashlight. Definitely figure out what the problem is first before going to battle. good luck