Hi! I have patches of hardy Chinese ground orchids (Bletilla) growing in my perennial beds and something (I'm guessing an animal) is causing weed-wacker-like damage to them. The stalks, leaves and all, are being chopped down at the base (ragged cuts) and even strewn a few feet from the actual patches. Strangely, surrounding plants such as peonies, poppies and columbines are not being attacked. No slime, so not slugs or snails. No leaf damage besides the fact that entire plants are being chopped down. I've seen the occasional mouse and raccoon in my yard in past years, but this is the first year that anything like this has happened to my orchids (which I've been growing for 10 years now). By the way, this only started happening about 2 weeks ago. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Attacks on my flowers My groundcover plants, violets and flowering cherry were attacked in the same way. We thought it was a rabbit. Alexandra
Reg. something attacking my ground orchids It was indeed the mouse who was the culprit! I had a big cluster of bulbs spreading out in my pots only to find them destroyed a week ago. Spotted 2 bandicoots that night. Mice and bandicoots like to feast on ground orchid bulbs. So put the under- gound remains of the nipped plant in a pot and keep it above ground level. New shoots will appear in a few days. Regards, Loreena loreena_pariselvan@yahoo.co.in
