Happy Birthday from the Deer

I guess the deer heard that I wasn't wild about bearded irises, because for my birthday they took a bite out of each and every one. Look, you can see the individual tooth marks.



Irises are poisonous to humans, which means they are also unlikely to be any good for deer. These deer are desperate.



Deer also generally don't like anything in the onion family. Here is an ornamental allium that has been nibbled. That's a hoof print in the dirt next to it.




Argh! They browsed my bearberries! Deer supposedly don't like to eat from plants that are woody or that are so low to the ground. Swaths of crocuses also continue to be eaten.



I should have realized sooner, given the perpetually stripped state of this shrub, that there is a deer problem here.



I have revised my tree strategy. All of my tree seedlings will live in pots inside of Chris' bunny fence for the first year. These scrawny seedlings are my "free gift" trees from the Arbor Day Foundation. They look like prisoners in there, don't they?