Regular readers of this blog will be aware of my longstanding love/hate relationship with tulips. For once I thought that I had cracked it - an almost perfect potful of tulips 'La Belle Epoque'. Well one or two were shorter in stature than others but that was fine. I intended to take a photograph to post last Wednesday but my camera was misbehaving big time. By the time I had checked the online manual and Google and finally sorted it out it was too late in the day to take a photo. I left it to the weekend and look what happened in the meantime - avert your eyes to the top left of the pot - an entire flower head has vamooshed without a trace! I'm not sure who or what the culprit was. The neighbouring pot also containing tulips has flowers with their heads bitten off but in this case considerately left on the surface. Pigeons maybe? They have been seen lurking in the vicinity. Oh well my search for the holy grail or in this case the picture perfect pot of tulips remains to be continued.
Well ... you are not in Australia so its not our possums but .... this is not "nice" but - do you think it could be Rats???
ReplyDeleteSadly we have them in the suburbs and they will eat all my husbands seedlings.
You poison them and they die but they seem to pop up again!!! Rrrrrr
No possums here LadyJicky but unfortunately we sometimes see rats in the garden. There are about a couple of acres or so of uncultivated land with a stream running through it directly behind the house. We have been advised by the local council pest control officer that rats are inevitable. I hadn't considered rats as the culprit in this instance but it could be them or perhaps grey squirrels which are regular visitors. Tulip flowers have never been snapped off like that before 😢
ReplyDeleteI’ve really got ‘into’ tulips this year.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it Sue 😄
DeleteThe same has happened to my tulips occasionally and I suspect either mice or birds. But usually it is lying on the ground nearby and hasn‘t been eaten or removed.... If I ever catch the culprit I will let you know! ;-)
ReplyDeleteStill, your tulips are lovely and the shorter stems should protect them from wind.
Just odd that it has never happened to my tulips before Cathy - to hellebore flowers yes but never tulips. I wouldn't mind as much but I grow so few. Do let me know if you catch the culprit(s) in action in future.
DeleteOh what a shame Anna �� When the broken head is there I usually assume it is a cat that has jumped down onto it or carelessly brushed past it �� but that is only a guess...and the end result is the same anyway ��
ReplyDeleteI had never considered cats Cathy but it is definitely food for thought. If only I had seen it happen 😄
ReplyDeleteI have seen birds pecking off the heads of alliums. Beautiful markings on the tulip.
ReplyDelete