Sometimes, the things you hope for don't happen...

[MineralMan]

For example:

At my wife's suggestion, I planted a couple dozen tulip bulbs last October, on both sides of our front stoop. I forgot about them during our very long, very snowy winter, but a few weeks ago, I noticed them emerging from the soil next to the stoop. Both my wife and I have been watching them ever since, in expectation of the showy blooms. As they grew, stalks with buds emerged from the leaves, increasing our anticipation. What color would they be? When would the blooms open? Would they be as beautiful as promised on the label on the bag?

A couple of days ago, I remarked to my wife that I thought they'd probably open today. This morning, when I opened the front door to get the morning newspaper, I took a look at the tulip plants. Each bud had been sheared off neatly, and the outer coverings were scattered on the stoop and on the ground around the plants. Every last one was gone. I took a closer look. There, on the stoop were scattered little brown rabbit pellets. It was obvious that the buds were just the right distance from the stoop for the bunny to lean out and snip them off their stalks.

Both of us were disappointed. The promise of the colorful flowers we had waited for all Winter simply wasn't going to be realized. It wasn't the bunny's fault. It was just doing its bunny business. It looks like I'll have to replant the bulbs next fall, but beyond the reach of a bunny on the stoop. The promise will still be there. I'm sure we'll have tulips next spring. And so it goes...

(Note to those who see things literally: There's more to this than a story about tulips.)

[RagAss]

1. Eat the Bunny and enjoy the flowers !

[MineralMan]

3. Can't do that. We enjoy watching the bunny in the yard.

It amuses us, just like the squirrels, birds, and raccoons that visit our front yard. I'll solve the tulip problem just fine. I'll just have to take another approach, and remember that bunnies like tulips. I did not know that. Sometimes, things you don't anticipate interfere with the things you plan. It happens.

[jberryhill]

2. Navy Seals Can Blow That Rabbit To Smithereens!

When in doubt, shoot something.

[MineralMan]

4. I think they'd just trample the tulip plants in the process.

Then I wouldn't have the bulbs to move in the fall.

[Booster]

5. Awww. You made a little bunny happy - I bet it was worth it.

[DFLforever]

6. Plant daffodils this fall instead of tulips.

The same thing happened to my tulip beds ...most were eaten by rabbits.

But my daffodils were gorgeous. Rabbits don't eat them and squirrels won't move them around like they sometimes do with tulips.

[csziggy]

10. I've read that if you plant daffodils or any kind of narcissus

Around more edible bulbs, the squirrels and rabbits will leave them all alone. I should try them in the front flower beds where the deer eat my pansies!

I know the vintage paper white narcissus that were here on the farm when we bought the place thrive every where we plant them, while many other plants are eaten by bunnies or deer. From the one small clump of paper whites I dug up thirty years ago we now have enough to plant all the way around the house and scatter amongst the azaleas. And that is with absolutely no care at all. Even the bulbs the dog dug up and threw into the top of the sago palm continued to grow!

The other bulbs we have had success with are daffodils (just another kind of narcissus) African Iris and Louisiana Iris. From one pot of the African Iris and two pots (one blue, one purple) of the Louisiana Iris, we now have them running down both sides of the drive and around the house. Same deal, no care at all. No fertilizer, nothing but periodically digging and dividing once they get too thick.

[DFLforever]

13. That's an interesting idea to interplant with daffodils/narcissus.

I may try that with my tulips this fall.

Your iris sound spectacular. I grow just one type of iris, Siberian, and they like yours have spread fast with little care.

[csziggy]

14. Here Siberian Iris and Bearded Iris don't naturalize well

And I am too cheap to buy them year after year. My gardening policy is to stick things in the ground, water them for a few weeks and see if they can survive on their own. If they come back, I might buy more. But I don't keep trying with things that don't survive my neglect.

I've got a few daffodils, the paper whites and the irises. A few other things, like salvias and butterfly bushes. Right now my flower beds are sparse since the deer have been feasting on them.

[johnnie]

7. The deer ate my mom's

And they have pretty small droppings. Maybe the rabbit is getting a bad rap?

[kentuck]

8. It's still early spring.

Do not lose your optimism. :-)

[SheilaT]

9. Get a cat.

When I first moved to Kansas, and had a cat that was mostly an outdoor cat, my neighbors told me that before we moved in they never had flowers blooming, the rabbits always got them first.

[Swede]

11. Varmints!

[deaniac21]

12. Rabbits and squirrels....please think they are cute but they do less

damage when fried or in a stew.