I have had my 'allotment' for 10 years now. It is 5mins away from my house on foot. There is a water tap at the end of my 15 x 75 foot plot. The allotments are under the jurisdiction of the City Council Parks Department. They provides leaves in the Autumn from the city's open spaces which are dumped in huge bins for us to help ourselves. There is rubbish collection for non-organic refuse and weeds (for those who don't compost). The City Council does not interfere at all unless there is a complaint, which is seldom. Their approach is very hands-off but they respond quickly if you need them. The allotment holders have an association which is voluntary and each site (there are several in this small town) has a site representative who you can contact if you want to. Most people just get on with gardening and do not poke their noses into other people's plots. We are not allowed to put up permanent buildings on my particular plot because it is in an area of great architectural importance, but most sites allow a small shed. Nor are we allowed to keep animals. I keep my tools in a locked chest after a theft some years ago. This was the only time I ever suffered any theft and I have never had any vandalism. (Fingers crossed). I love everything about allotmenting, especially that it is away from my home, so when I am there I am my own person. It is my own thing, not a family thing. I have no dislikes, except people who use weedkillers and pesticides and don't compost. Also I would like bigger plot. I am on the waiting list, so even that might be solved eventually.

Deer herds will have different preferences by regions, depending upon availability of other foods. I've found these flowers to work well in my deer resistant garden (no fencing, no repellents in use). SL Magazine was here this summer and has a copy of this list that they are going to use in an upcoming issue in 2010 that features my deer resistant garden. I am listing only those plants that I've personally grown in my garden where 20+ deer wander through at least once a day. I'm sure that I've forgotten a few plants, but these are the best. Top Flowering Deer Resistant Perennials: Agastache 'Salmon & Pink' 'Blue Fortune' 'Purple Haze' 'Purple Pygmy' 'Heather Queen' Echinacea 'Ruby Star' 'White Swan' 'Sundown' (I think that's it -- orange) Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' 'Jacob Cline' 'Blue Stocking' Nepeta 'Walkers Low' and 'Six Hills Giant' Salvia guarantica 'Black & Blue' ulignosa (bog sage) greggii 'Dark Dancer', 'Navajo Bright Red', 'Diane', 'Texas Wedding', 'Cherry Queen' nemorosa 'Marcus', 'Caradonna' Other good deer resistant flowering perennials heliotropium amplexicaule 'Azure Skies' gaillardia ageratum 'Wayside' baptisia coreopsis 'Creme Brulee' and verticillata 'Zagreb/ amsonia hubrichtii verbena 'Homestead Purple' verbena bonariensis crocosmia 'Lucifer' delosperma cooperii stachys hummelo anemone 'Margarette', 'Prince Henry' rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' iris ensata (there may be some bloom picking. I grow many of these and lost only 3 blooms that I noticed) Top Flowering Deer Resistant Shrubs & Trees Crape Myrtle 'Tuscarora', 'Muskogee', 'White Chocolate' Buddleia 'Pink Delight', 'Royal Red', 'Adonis Blue', 'Honeycomb', 'Black Knight' (and another one that is lavender/orange eye) Vitex 'Shoal Creek' Spirea 'Neon Flash' for blooms and a few other varieties for the foliage Lantana (multiple varieties; some bloom nibbles may occur in late fall) osmanthus fragrans magnolia - Sweet Bay Magnolia and Southern (must protect trunk from antler rubbing, but they don't eat these) Winter Daphne Gardenia 'August Beauty' I've just added the Proven Winners 'Blue Satin' Rose of Sharon to try. It is listed as deer resistant Flowering Deer Resistant Vines Carolina Jasmine Confederate Jasmine Flowering Deer Resistant Annuals and Bulbs daffodils Spanish bluebells allium 'Purple Sensation' Dutch iris larkspur snapdragons petunias (I grow only the deep purple that are very fragrant. Not Wave.) zinnias (Benary's Giant tested) marigolds angelonia cosmos Deer Resistant Foliage Plants (shrubs, trees, herbs and perennials) canna 'tropicana rose' stachys 'Helen von Stein' colocasia esculenta white butterfly ginger lysmachia nummularia Aurea lavender (Spanish and 'Munstead') rosemary oregano (culinary officinalis and ornamental gold) sages (culinary officinalis, purple, gold leaf, pineapple) thyme (rose, lemon, culinary) chives basil (Thai, sweet, spicy, purple) miscanthus 'Cosmopolitan', 'Little Zebra' carex (multiple varieties) pink muhly pampas grass chamaecyparis pisifera wax myrtle carex holly oakleaf holly osmanthus 'Goshiki' cotinus - purple smokebush (I grow it for the foliage, not the bloom) clumping bamboo (fargesii?) weeping willow, curly willow river birch cryptomeria (Black Dragon and the large trees that are probably one of the Tsugi?) deodar cedar Cameron Here is a link that might be useful: my gardening blog (select deer resistant topic)

Sandy(mosswitch) I have a hosta which was labeled as Northern Exposure with the same drawstring trouble as yours. Mine is only a few years old. I thought maybe there was something wrong with it or where I have it planted and kept thinking I might dig it up and move it to a pot to see if anything changed. Sounds like that isn't going to make a difference but it is interesting that yours turns out to be something different after all. Wonder if mine is actually a Lunar Eclipse too. I will have to take a good look at it. Here I was thinking that Northern Exposure was such a disappointment because it always looks so crummy, but it may not be NE after all.

Hi Barbara, I'm in eastern Bartow county, about 3 miles from the Cherokee county line. We live in a wooded area, so I'm sure we do have possums and raccoons. My spinach is up, so I'm about to go off to get some blood meal--thanks, JT and Jules for that advice...been wondering how in the world to keep them out of that little patch without putting a line of the electric fence down low. Didn't want to do that because my mini-doxie might get into the fence and that would break my heart! So far, my hosta that the deer were eating has grown additional leaves with no more dear nibbles and what was left of my Asiatic lilies is coming out. I'm beginning to like this electric fence-thing, although it is a pain to try to remember to unplug it before going out to the garden. ZZZZT!!! It's much more attractive than the CAUTION tape, that I'm certain the deer could read! JUST KIDDING! Can you visualize deer wearing glasses, reading the word, caution, and saying, "Hey, Bubba...I guess that means we can't go in there!" JT...I hestiate to ask because I feel so stupid, but what does hornworm pupae look like? I'm not even sure that I would know it if I saw it. My son planted all the pepper plants last Saturday, and as far as I could tell, there were not pupae of any kind in that area. I did find what I think is Japaneese Beetle larvae in the surrounding yard. I'm expecting their visit as adults very soon. Thanks, again, to all of you; you have been so helpful! Beverly