Farewell, My American Plum

I planted five little sticks of American Plum just last week, and they were starting to bud already.  So exciting!

There were four on the right side:

And one tucked in the gap between the apricot trees where one of them had been eaten by deer:

All was looking well, but when I went out to take photos, I found this:

This was CRUSHING because I just put them in and was so excited.

I don’t know what damaged it. I doubt it was deer or rabbits because they eat everything they can reach. They wouldn’t leave the stick right there.

So, farewell, my American Plum. I had hoped to see you grow.

Have any of your plants fallen victim to unfortunate happenstance yet this year?  Inquiring minds want to know!