Summer is in Full Bloom and Healthy are the Deer

We have been having a perfect summer for plants.  There has been a good combination of sunny and rainy days after a very dry Spring.  Despite some amount of angst over our deer friends from the woods, most of my gardens are unscathed.  Oddly enough the garden with the biggest fence has had a mysterious deer visitor, prompting us to rework the gates and add electric wire around the top.  What vegetables I was growing took quite a hit.  Fortunately for me we have may fabulous organic farms around and I will support their efforts with my purchased vegetables.  

All that being said, it is interesting to see what the deer go after in addition to the vegetables.  As they/it browsed and grazed, the tops of the clover and evening primrose were among the favorite weeds eaten.  My Comfrey patch is large so while pruned severely, it was not significantly damaged.  My gorgeous Meadowsweet plants were chewed at every flower stem.  That hurt!  The deer did not eat any of the aromatic herbs, including parsley.  Of course the flowering plants were topped including Phlox, Purple Cone Flower, Yellow Coneflower and Bachelor Button.  Deer don't appear to eat Rhubarb or Artemesia, but did I mention the Hosta I happened to have put in this fenced area for protection.....They nibbled on my blueberries and red currant bushes and a little of the rose.  We just added an extra strand of electric fence wire so we shall see.  In the mean time, I have been using a deer spray on the unprotected gardens with fair results.  

With all the lush vegetation around you would think there would be plenty to eat.  All it takes is one with a gourmet appetite to inspire more fencing creativity.  I am over it, I think....????