Knockout roses got knocked out

OK, I was a dummy! I believed the nusery when they told me my 3 brand new beautiful pink double knockout roses were deer resistant. Don't laugh! I planted them Sunday with extra care and amending the soil perfectly. Darn if I didn't get up the next morning and "poof!" they had been eaten halfway down by deer. I couldn't believe it! Didn't even have 24 hours to enjoy them. Obviously, the human scent didn't deter them.

Now my question...........I re-e-eally want something evergreen with some flowers that have similar characteristics of the knockouts, but won't be bothered by deer. I would love it if someone can dream up something for Zone 8b.

Barbara

My particular deer have never shown any interest in nibbling my knockouts, EXCEPT after I first planted some 'Homerun' variety. Apparently, it hurt me more than the plants! I added them to my monthly "list of deer spraying" with "Deer Stopper", and those puppies are now 5' tall and wide...in 2 years! And no problem with deer (if I remember to spray them!). Think it may be that the "Knock Out" varieties continue to send out new growth long after more classical roses(and all other food sources) have gone to their winter sleep; so their new growth attracts deer (more nutrients). Just a guess.

camellias?

Stono,
That could be. Hmmm? I've been trying to do this yard so that I don't have to spray the deer repellant.......partly cost of doing so and partly I have to remember to do it. LOL! Guess I'll wait it out and see.

Trent,
Camellias would be beautiful, but this spot is fully sun year round so the camellias won't work.

Sasanquas like sun and there are some awesome varieties out there.

Gardenias maybe? They are evergreen with beautiful (and fragrant!) flowers. Some varieties grow tall, others are shorter/more compact, some bloom early in the year while others bloom intermittently thoughout the Summer and into Fall.

I've not had deer eat any of mine (so far!)

Shoe

Camillias- they look like roses, bloom around jan-march for a few weeks, evergreen, no fragence that I can tell. No deer issues.

Gardenias- shiny evergreen leaves, wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!! scented white blooms. No deer have eaten mine.

rebecca30

Deer haven't bothered my Gardenias in the past 18 years. Ever. They also never bothered my Camelias until last year, when I planted 7 dwarf Sasanqua (shi shi) camelias in a bed pretty far from the house/dogs. I never thought twice about planting them out there because I'd never had deer damage on any camellias before. Got paid back in spades for being so cavalier! In one night, the little Bambi's ate ALL the growing tips with flower buds on all 7 of them. But I learned my lesson. Tomorrow is "spray day"! Noticed they'd gotten to my daylillies (close to the house in dog country) this afternoon, and the little darlings always start with my daylillies. So begins spraying season... I think again, "native" nutrition is dieing out for them, so they go to their "next best" source of nutrition. It won't be my Camelias this year!

I have kock outs, gardenias and deer but the deer do not bother either of the flowers and i do not spray them. Not sure why they leave them alone usless there is plenty other to eat. I cannot grow hibiscus because of the deer. I have about given up on them.

And I grow a lot of Hibiscus, Lee (coccineus, moscheutos---not the tropicals you can grow!) and deer have never bothered them. Talking with a Wildlife guy the other day, he told me that different deer herds seem to prefer different plants to eat. So while "my" herd may attack daylillies and Sasanquas, the herd 2 miles down the road may never bother them. A lot of people here have trouble with deer eating their azaleas. I've got a lot of azaleas here that have NEVER been touched, in 18 years. If you figure this deer thing out, Lee, PLEASE let me know!!!

A year or so ago a neighbor lost a whole hedge of Ilex rotundafolia - the really spikey, evil holly to deer. I couldn't believe anything would eat that stuff.

Thanks for the reminder about spraying Stono; I'll get some Deer Off out late this afternoon. I haven't seen any deer damage lately but it is when I am complacent that they usually show up an surprise me.

Ilex rotundifolia??? That's a surprise!! Didn't think anything would fool with them. But as that Wildlife guy observed, different herds have different tastes. But man, that has to be a weird herd to go after that stuff! Would love to see what their little noses look like after a night of grazing on that plant!

Maybe Rudolph's nose was all bloody from eating rotundifolia and that is why it looked red. Just a thought.

lol

As far as Camellias they bloom from now till march depending on which ones you get. If you get the right mix you can have one at least blooming all through the winter. I don't think deer will go after camellias since they are tea plants and I think the taste wouldn't be very good. The only thing the deer seems to like in my yard is MG's. For some reason they eat my my MG's and the neighbors roses but don't touch my roses.

CoreHHI,

You said Camellias are tea plants? You mean like take the leaves and make tea?? Just wondering because I do have a camellia but curious to learn more about what you mentioned. :O)

rebecca30

Yes that's where tea comes from. Dried camellia leaves. It's not all camellias BTW. http://coffeetea.about.com/od/preparation/a/growingtea.htm

i checked out the link. I have the Camellia japonica variety. I'm wondering if I can do this with japonica types??

rebecca30

Tea is Camellia sinensis. Camellia Forest nursery (somewhere near Durham I think) has the plants and the directions for making tea in their catalog. I just gave the catalog away or I could give you the specific instructions. I am pretty sire they have a website also.

If you're ever down near Charleston rebecca30, you might want to visit Irvin-House out on Wadmalaw Island. They are the only tea farm in America, and you can see the whole process---from cuttings to harvest to finished product (sold as "American Classic Tea"). It's really quite good tea!
But don't try it with Camellia japonica. It seems many hundreds of years ago when China first opened up to the west, the English fell in love with tea, and wanted to start growing their own. So they imported a bunch of Camelia plants from China. The wily Chinese however, didn't want to lose the tea trade so they sent the Brits thousands of Camellia japonica plants instead of Camellia sinensis. The stuff tasted awful, so China maintained a huge tea trade for many years until the Brits figured out they'd been duped. Irvin-House also produces some very credible muscadine wines. Their website is www.charlestonwine.com...

Wonderful piece of history, Stono! Thanks!

I went to the site but didn't see any mention of tea (their winery sure looks interesting though!).

By the way, your link above isn't working. Here is an active link:
http://www.charlestonwine.com/

Thanks for posting!

Shoe

Here is the Charleston Tea Plantation site. Bigelow owns it now.

http://www.bigelowtea.com/act/

Thanks, ardesia! I forgot Bigelow runs this show now (brain expulsion of noxious gasses!). I went to the "First Flush" tour this year, and it was well worth it. Really interesting. Didn't know about the new teas, though. Earth Fare carries American Classic Tea" here in Charleston, so I'll go get some.

Stono - thanks I will have to keep that in mind. I used to travel to Charlestone, SC last year for my job down in the historic district near the hospitals. i will keep it in mind if I am ever that way again. :))

rebecca30

The Charleston Tea Plantation was on the discover channel I think. If you search the discovery channel site you might be able to find the show. They went through the whole story about them on how the made tea from camellias.

This message was edited Nov 10, 2007 8:24 PM

is anyone having a problem with bud drop? two of my camellias that loaded with buds have started to drop them. am i doing something wrong ? the plants appear to be very healthy.

robert

Yes, I have, but I was thinking that it was due to the fact they were only planted in the early fall and hadn't had time to establish before the cold weather. Also, I may have them in too much shade.

Lingering effects of the drought possibly?

ardesia, you may be correct, dry summers certainly add to bud drop, especially if the Fall was also dry. The buds begin their swelling during the Summer and continue into Fall, with the drought many of us have experienced this year it certainly could be a major factor.

Also, when temperatures really plummet that will cause bud drop, especially if the early morning sun hits the buds when there is still dew on them.

Container plants are pretty well known to succumb to bud drop so, BDunn, if your plants were just planted in the late Fall then perhaps your plants only have "container sized" roots? If the root system is small there will be an inability to pull up moisture.

Shoe, (who wanders by his one Camelia, admiring the buds daily, and hoping for flowers soon! After all, it is February! :>)