I was doing a little gardening today, and I took a bag of baby carrots outside with me to munch on, along with my iced tea. And I thought, “Gee, there’s a rabbit over there! I wonder what it will do if I toss it a carrot?”

But I need not toss any carrots to the rabbits that hang out in my yard, because the rabbits spend all their time eating everything in my yard. Grass — okay, I have plenty, go for it,. But my hostas! My lilies! They devoured all my black eyed Susans two years ago. Oh, and I nearly forgot — all the coreopsis.  I told myself, no more perennials. It’s way too expensive and I am not so ambitious to fence off all the numerous plants. I have tried the sprays and other remedies to repel the rabbits but these pests are hardy and they give no sh!ts.

So since we have put our home up for sale so we can move to Minnesota, I knew I wanted to spruce up the garden area around the patio, but I don’t want to spend any more big bucks on plants. Besides, the last perennials I put in this particular problem space (it’s a problem for other reasons besides rabbits) did not make it and thank God I had the receipt because they were new Invincibelle Ruby Hydrangea plants and they were pricey.

I have planted annuals in this space instead, and let me just say, even though they cost less, it’s still like setting money on fire when the rabbits keep eating them. The first time I planted some annuals in that space, I went to Walmart and picked up some very low-priced but good condition plants, like petunias, dusty miller, alyssum, snap dragons and coleus. I also found three red ranunculus plants that were relatively inexpensive. I put them in the ground and stood, admiring my work. Sure they were puny (except for the ranunculus), but they would grow and fill in and look oh, so lovely alongside the patio. Potential buyers of my home would see this outdoor space as I do — a nice backyard getaway with pretty things to look at.

The rabbits, though, had other plans. This area is now known as the Best Neighborhood Salad Bar for the little creeps. It didn’t take long, despite my trying to spray the deer and rabbit repellent all the time. The petunias went first, then the snapdragons. I was really surprised they ate the dusty miller, because I was under the impression that rabbits don’t like leaves with the little “hairs” on them. They do. They really, really do. All I had left were tiny stubs of plants. The alyssum went untouched.

For the second planting of the Salad Bar, I went to Lowe’s and Googled rabbit-resistant annuals. I already knew marigolds would be a good choice. I used to live around Amish country in northern Indiana, and the Amish gardens were surrounded by a few rows of bright orange and yellow marigolds. Smart! Those rabbits should not venture in to get the cabbage and carrots and such.

So at Lowe’s, I purchased marigolds, albeit small ones (trying not to spend a lot!) and small vinca. My good friend said the rabbits shouldn’t bother the vinca.

Again with the spray. Spray, spray, spray. I have a 2 or 3 gallon container of this stuff.

And what do you think happened next?

If you guessed the rabbits dined well, you would be correct. Ding ding ding! Turns out, rabbits in suburbia like marigolds. They like them so much, they eat them to the ground. And in some cases, they pulled the little root ball right out of the ground. As I sit here writing this post, I am aware that my blood pressure is rising up a little as I recall finding what was left of planting number 2, I have the most annoyed look on my face, and I want a cocktail. But it’s 1:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, so I will stick with iced tea. I should mention, the vinca have been relatively unscathed. I noticed a few bites from some of the leaves, but for the most part, the rabbits leave them alone.

So guess what I did.

I went back to Lowe’s and got vinca. I also wanted white geraniums to go along with, but they didn’t have what I was looking for. They had 12 packs of vinca on sale and I purchased two. I decided this is it. I am not planting anymore plants for these little beasts to devour. THIS IS IT YOU GUYS.

These particular vinca are larger than the last ones, so hopefully it will fill in the area nicely.

Unfortunately, I did not save photos on my phone of the first two plantings. But here is what I accomplished today. 

These vinca are kind of droopy in this pic, but an hour later, they have really perked up after a little water and some time to adjust. The smaller vinca in the darker pink were from the second planting.

I also did a neat little project today because I had a ceramic planter with a dead outdoor bonsai plant and figured a little fairy garden would be cute and I can take it with me to MN. I simply bought a little $10 kit with miniature things from the store, and one little fake succulent plant. I figured I might have some tiny plants leftover from the First Planting of the Salad Bar, and I could pop those in there. I also had some bonsai materials from Eastern Leaf, like gravel, that I used.

Pretty cute, huh? I love the tiny little mushroom picks. So as you can see, I have two live plants in there, and one fake succulent. My friend also gave me some leftover wheatgrass seeds from her daughters’ fairy gardens. I planted some in there and I hope they come up! I kind of want to make a miniature lawn mower to trim the wheatgrass. OR, I could set the container in the yard and let the rabbits trim it.

Thanks for stopping by!