"Delosperma (hardy ice plant) is considered exceptionally deer resistant. Deer typically pass on these vibrant mat-forming succulents. The unique sap and texture of the plant act as a natural deterrent to foraging animals."
I put one of the Delospermas out to get some sun and perhaps get it to finally flower, and this happened within 24 hours:
This wasn't just a tasting. They ate more than half of the plant. Fortunately they did not break the pot and the rooting is still intact, so it should recover eventually.
In other news, I have given up on the Sempervivum Chick Charms 'Strawberry Kiwi' in the big grow bag. It has developed a three offsets, but it is obviously a heuffelii and the offsets are tight against the stem. It is just too small for that big bag. 'Berry Blues' and 'Appletini' both have room to spread out in that bag and each had six offsets on long stolons. I harvested two offsets from each. A pair went into 4" terra cotta pots, and the other pair went into Jiffy pots for eventually planting in our back yard. Also in the big grow bag is the second Delosperma. The bag is safe from the deer inside the greenhouse.
Echeveria 'Lola' also got special treatment with planting in a very large ceramic pot and being placed under a grow light. 'Lola' is now a large, tight rosette, but I have seen no offsets, nor a flower stalk since the one failed several months ago. I have turned off the grow light and I'm thinking about putting it back in a 6" terra cotta. But I'm not sure what to put in the big ceramic. I would put a Coleus in there but, in addition to the Delosperma, the deer also ate some of my deer-resistant Coleus last night. And the pot is full of succulent soil, which may be too fast-draining for Coleus.
Just to finish up this thought, the Aeonium 'Floresens' is the other plant that got a big ceramic pot. I have been waiting for it to go into summer dormancy, but I don't believe it has. Supposedly the leaves will curl inward or even close up tight to prevent water loss in hot weather, but that has not happened. It's not like it hasn't been warm. It usually hits the 90s inside the greenhouse during the day, and has gone over 100 several times. But, here it is with its two offsets. It was under a grow light for more than a month, but I turned that off a few days ago. The color contrast is much more vivid than it was a couple months ago, both the dark green in the middle of the leaves and the reddish rims.
