Popular native perennials like purple coneflower (echinacea) and black eyed susan (rudbeckia) look beautiful in the garden and also are beneficial for your local ecosystem.
In one way, however, they can be a bit too beneficial for gardeners’ liking: the fact that they are a favorite food of rabbits and other small mammals.
Many gardeners fret when rabbits eats purple coneflowers (or other perennials), and wonder whether the plants will ultimately survive and be okay.
I personally experienced this in my first year gardening with natives and was worried I had lost all the seedlings I’d just tracked down and bought (at no small cost).
But I did some research and found out some points that put my mind at ease, and also important considerations to understand.
Rabbit Damage in New vs. Established Native Plants
First, you might assume that how much of the plant has been eaten is the key here. And that does matter, but actually, whether the plants are newly-planted or established is an even bigger consideration.
Mature echinacea or other native perennials are extremely tough and hardy, and can quickly send out new growth from the roots. This is how prairie plants evolved since they can survive the fires that kill off all above ground vegetation and quickly bounce back.
How established they need to be is hard to nail down concretely. In general, a perennial can be considered “established” in its second year, after its roots have enough time develop sufficiently.
If you grew the plants from seed and they were eaten in their first spring or early in summer, they are likely indeed gone for good.
But if you planted a seedling or bare root in the fall and it gets eaten the following spring or summer, it has a good chance of bouncing back even if significantly or completely eaten.
Or you planted a seedling that spring but it was larger (quart, gallon pot), and it has been in the ground and watered for a couple of weeks, it should have a good chance at bouncing back as well.
Here’s one image of a first-year echinacea plant in my garden that was eaten in the spring except for two leaves. You can see there is already new growth and this plant bounced back so thoroughly it still flowered that same year like nothing had happened.
It’s important to remember that rabbits and other small mammals co-evolved with these plants so they have been eating them for an incredibly long time and the plants have figured out how to survive.
It is important to consider, however, that in a suburban environment full of lawns and a few exotic ornamentals, a rare native plant garden may get extra attention.
The earlier talk of seasons also brings up a related question: when exactly it is that rabbits and other small mammals are likely to come to your garden for a feast.
Do Rabbits Eat Plants at Specific Times of the Year?
There is no single season that rabbits are likely to be active in your garden, as they grow quickly and a rabbit will usually have 3-4 litters per year, often choosing to stick in the same nesting spot if they like the conditions. The particular garden impact can vary however.
In spring in summer, rabbits eat flowers, vegetables, and even grass, but in fall and winter they may eat native trees and shrubs including twigs, stems, bark, needles, and buds. (My red osier dogwood got all of its new stems chewed back down, for example.)
Rabbits are herbivores and their diet is plant-based. They eat to stay safe from predators, so they usually choose food that’s easy to access. Rabbits are most active at dawn and dusk and tend to feed at night.
Also remember that there are other animals that may be eating your echinacea or other perennial wildflowers, from chipmunks and squirrels on the smaller side to deer on the larger (and more destructive) side. Depending on your situation, there may be specific remedies you can try, from pungent scents that are unattractive to these animals to physical caging of young plants until they become established.
Please Leave suggestions for caging flowers.