I have just a few semps. Nothing fancy. Been in this house a little over a year. They did ok this summer. But now I have discovered the deer afe eating them! I've never had this problem previously. The are eating the centers and leaving the outside. Is this common and I've just been lucky before?

Yes, deer have been known to do that. Sometimes they chomp the entire plant off, just leaving the roots in the ground. At any rate, don't pull them out. There's a very good chance they'll recover, although it might take some time.

I don't think sempervivum are normally a favorite choice for deer to eat, but this time of year when other food is scarce, they will eat them. My recommendation is to get some Plantskydd and spray it on your plants. I have deer problems when the tulips and lilies come up, and Plantskydd works great to repel them. It also works on little critters like chipmunks and rabbits too.

http://www.plantskydd.com/fore...

I hope they didn't eat them all.

Great advice Chris. We have so much rain here in winter and spring, does the Plantskydd work in those conditons?

We have deer here, but don't seem to be bothered at all. We don't get the snow you all get. There is there native plants year round for them.
I do have problems with a squirrel and birds. They don't seem to eat them, just like to pull the plants apart. When I have problems I cover the bed in bird netting, with stakes holding it up off the plants.

Thank you for the replies. I certainly won't pull them out. Hopefully they will recover. There are neighbors that feed the deer, so they shouldn't be so hungry to eat my semps! They are also eating my Sedum Angelina. Never thought they would like that either. But it takes over and I'm always getting rid of parts of it, so they can munch away all they want on that!

I have had plenty of trouble with the squirrels tossing around my semp chicks. But I just pick them up and put them back. No biggie.

Would love to see photos of your semps Jennifer. Even the damaged ones. We like to compare notes on what is going on in each of are areas.

Ok, pictures once the snow melts again

I'm new to this forum, just checked out SMG. Uh-oh, I'm in trouble!

I'm assuming NOID semp means "no identification" ?

Yes it does.
Don't forget to check out North Hills Nursery also. Another great family owned semp nursery. That is what they specialize in, as does SMG. Then there is Young's Garden Center, I just love all these family owned and operated nurseries.
Oh, don't foret Wild Ginger Farm and Perennial Obsession.
Perennial Obsession is in the process of making a new and improved website, the old one is functioning but only has a small sampling of her approximately 450 varieties of sempervivum.

I have bought from all of the above nurseries for a number of years now, all are reputable and easy to do business with.

By the way, Jennifer. Glad you found us and we're happy to have you here! It's nice to see another Midwest person join us.

Lynn, with the liquid Plantskydd spray, after 24 hours drying time it should be fine. They say during growing season one application lasts for 3-4 months, but I probably reapply it every month just because I don't want to take any chances.

Now that is good to know, that I wouldn't have to re-apply it after every rain. Just apply it when there will be no rain for at least 24 hours. Chris, did you say it works on birds also?

No, I think birds is one of the few things it doesn't work on.

Bummer. Back to my bird netting. It works, but is such a pain when i want to work in the beds.

I'm sure it is...

Jennifer, I live in Seattle now but originally from Detroit! I found Allthingsplants in November, due to interest in Sempervivums, and boy has that escalated since - fair warning! What part of Mi are you? I still have family in Southfield area
I too have something lifting only some of my semps, I think its birds looking for worms, because we do have lots of Robins here, and it is totally random which ones get bothered...doesn't seem to matter regarding, little ones, or with/without roots etc. I just keep picking off any dead leaves and replanting them!
Cheers

Hi Greg,

Just thought I would mention I was raised in Warren and still have family in the Northville area now.

Aren't we glad to be from there. Much prefer the less bitter winters and the much less muggy summers.

Jennifer, to our group and forums. Watch out...!...you may enjoy!

Yes, Bev I will enjoy. Just what I need, another plant passion!

Marilyn, I am just about fed up with Michigan winter. It really hasn't been bad compared to many years. But I got so spoiled last year when we had really no winter to speak of. Best timing for me as we had just moved and I barely was able to get my plants from the old place in at the new place in time for settling in. Then we had the mild winter so I actually only lost two small plants! But this winter has been cold and I just can't take the cold any more! But I did just do my first winter sowing. If that works out I just might feel better about winter!

Greg, I am just a bit east of Detroit. Originally from just west of Ann Arbor but a cute guy stole my heart and dragged me to the east side!

I guess that can happen Jennifer! I lived on the east side, near Alter Rd and Jefferson (getting bad then, and really not a nice place currently! sadly! there are still so many good people living there, and really having to struggle!)
Anyway then I lived in Ann Arbor for 4 years. Cousins are from Jackson/Chelsea area.
Marilyn, didn't put it together that if Lynn's husband was from Detroit area that might mean you are too
Jennifer - what other plants are you interested in? I like succulents both cold and tender, and bulbs (and all of them!!)

Greg,
I'm not into tender succulents. I'm weird in that I have great success with plants outdoors but I fail miserably with indoor plants.

I've always been drawn to semps because my mom always had them. For years I had a couple of old boots as planters. People who showed an interest in them I just gave them to them. When we were looking at houses a while back one house had almost a whole back yard of semps! Probably planted them when they moved in in the 60's and just let them go! It was kind of neat, except they were all the same kind.

Several years ago I was VERY into summer flower container gardening. I collected all kinds of neat planters and filled them to the hilt. The local nursery LOVED me as I bought all my stuff back then. Oh and I even won a contest Garden Gate magazine had one year. That was really cool. The past few years I haven't done a lot of conatiners. I have plenty to manage with the yard beds and watering the containers every day got to be way too much of a chore.

I love coleus. But I just buy them annually. Kills my mom that I don't save cuttings every year. I may eventually, just too much other stuff to do for now.

I'm also a compulsive geranium saver. I hang them upside down in my crawl space over the winter. I can't believe people throw them out every year, especially for what they charge for them! I get at least 3 years out of them. Again, I don't do cuttings. Maybe in the future.

I LOVE agastaches. Collecting as many as I can. I like most perennials. Things I don't like, I really don't like Not much middle ground for me.

I for the longest time did not care for hostas. And then last year I got to be good friends with my neighbor across the street and she has mostly shade. She has quite the collection of hostas. And now I'm falling in love with hostas too. Problem is that I have very little shade, maybe good so it will keep me in check!

I am growing way too much winter sowing method this year. Seemed like a good growing option for me. So far over 100 jugs sown! At least 50 more things I want to spring sow in jugs! We'll see how that method works!

Oh my gosh Jennifer, 100 WS jugs. Wow. I think the most I had at one time was around 20. You go girl.

I never cared for hellebore, until I got one because my mom thought I should have one. I humored her.
When that plant matured and put on an absolutely amazing show that lasted for a very long time, I fell head over heals in love with them. Same with epimedium. But I also am kept in check with limited areas that make them happy.

I am into my third year with a geranium that I have overwintered on my covered deck. It started out as a tiny 3" pot and is now into a large ceramic pot. This year I will have to move it into an even larger container.
It's the green leafed one. The darker one didn't make it. This photo was taken in 2011. The geranium is huge now. I will cut it back some when I re-pot it, and try to root some of the pieces. Won't do it until the weather is warm again. Also lost the silene. I think it died because it didn't get enough water during the winter.

I hope that wasn't the silene in with the geraniums in that beautiful blue (?) of yours? If not, what is it?
I love plants with interesting foliage. So much more interesting than flowers for me. It's what I look for when I hunt for plants for my Spring planting of the 2 big pots I have.