Disappearing Pansies Question

Last Fall I planted some pansies in an area where I have planted them before and gotten good results. This year the pansy flowers disappeared and they remained little green flowerless nubs all winter. . . not even the little green stalks grew. My neighbor said it was the deer eating the pansies. We do have dear in our neighborhood. So I accepted that and was happy that at least I had an answer. This past month (March) the little green flowerless stubs started growing on their own (without any help from me) and the flowers blossomed. Would the deer just suddenly stop eating my pansies? Has anyone else ever had an experience like this? Can anyone give me any insights as to what they think is going on here? I live in the Atlanta area if that helps. Thanks.

Mine did the same thing. I think it was the lack of rain. Aren't you in the drought area. too?

Yes we are in the drought area. Atlanta is not that far away from Piedmont, SC. I know we have had a very wet February and March 2009 and are now officially out of the drought condition. I can't remember last November, December and January . . . was it still pretty drought-like back then? If so then I like your explanation better than the deer theory. I can't see why deer would suddenly stop eating at a source they have been enjoying for months. And I do know that the blossoming of the pansies did coincide with the increased rain. When you say your pansies did the same thing . . Have you had a very wet February and March also? And did your pansy re-birth also coincide with the recent rain?

Deer can be a bit unpredictable--there are some things they love and would pretty much always eat, but it could be they found something in your neighborhood that tastes better than the pansies so now they're eating it instead. Or it could be earlier in the pansies were the only tender green thing around but now they've got a lot more choices so the pansies aren't on the menu as much as they were before. Not saying it had to be the deer, but it's definitely possible.

We went on the worst water restrections I have ever been on. We were told to cut our water usage by 1/4th or our bill would be doubled. Our restriction started last October. We have had more rain this year than we had all last year it seems like. I was able to keep some plants alive by watering them with my dish water. I rinsed in the same sink so I could catch all the water. I still lost 4 rose of sharon bushes that I couldn't water.Yes, my pansies started looking better right after the rain started. The rain in Feb and March has been wonderful. I keep hoping for a stray shower today. We are supposed to have rain Friday and Friday night. I hope we keep getting rain the way we have been.