Ok, so now I remember why I gave up on delphinium... Despite planting my one delphinium plant in a clay pot with copper tape around its rim and no foliage from other plants touching it, the %#&*^# snails built a BRIDGE and started chomping away! They sauntered up a nearby plant, waited for their fat little bellies to weigh down the branch (i.e. the drawbridge) and entered the doors to the Delphinium Buffet.
AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I take it you're NOT impressed with their ingenuity. LOL
ReplyDeleteI'm an artist and I buy potted plants from time to time to draw. I had arranged some empty snail shells with a new plant for a still life. A few days later I discovered huge holes all over my leaves. They looked like snail bites, but that was impossible. Then I found a crushed baby snail under the table. It turned out my four year old had found a snail from outside and brought it in to join the other snail shells. After letting it have it's way with my plant overnight, she moved the snail elsewhere and forgot about it until I found it's remains.
It was so bizarre that piecing the mystery together became an obsession for me that day. LOL
~Douglas
~=~
http://thesplinteredmind.blogspot.com
That's too funny...
ReplyDeleteOh, and I AM impressed with their ingenuity. A little scared by it actually. Wrapping the pot rim with snail-repelling copper tape made me feel very clever... I'm not feeling so clever any more.
Btw, I checked out your blog. Interesting stuff... all of it. Cool desktop widget too. I immediately downloaded every desktop widget I could find (for the PC) that will help me stay on task: a clock, calendar, To Do list. Got a couple fun widgets too (iPod skin, quote of the day).
Gotta go. I've got a To Do list now! ;-)
Is that eucalyptus that they engineered into a bridge?
ReplyDeleteThe only plant that I have slug trouble with is one particular hosta. But it is a hosta that I don't care for anyway, so I just don't care.
I'm not sure what to do about snails that are that desperate to get at your delphinium. Maybe there is a biological predator that you could use?
The plant they used as a bridge is Derwentia perfoliata (syn. Parahebe perfoliata)... aka "Digger's Speedwell". It's super cool and has pretty lavender-blue flowers. I bought it on the coast, so we'll see how it does in the Valley. I couldn't resist it, though.
ReplyDeleteAs for plants snails and slugs prefer, I'd say delphinium and hostas are in the top 10. Stock too. I don't even bother with hostas because they'd just end up looking gunshot in my yard since I don't use snail bait on a regular basis.
My friend says her chickens take care of her slugs and snails. They also gobble up prized plants, so their usefulness as plant protectors is debatable. I like the idea of chickens and eggs, but am not ready to take the chicken plunge until I can set up a proper coop and fenced romper room.