Plant More Bulbs! Please!
with bulbs if you are of the serious-minded designer bent. This page has a nice succinct listing showing spring bulb bloom sequence.
Those PESKY Critters
Now, as promised, some tips on the omnipresent critter and pest problems. I am not too distressed if the squirrels rearrange a few bulbs. I will admit I do get mad when they eat them ALL just as fast as I can plant them. Turn your back on a job well done, come back with the watering can and find nothing but holes, EMPTY HOLES. *Expletive deleted* for sure and pelt them with stones for good measure. Don't worry, I can't hit the side of a barn with a tennis ball let alone a high stepping squirrel with a sharp little pebble.
I also find it frustrating in the spring time when the chipmunks uproot the crocus in full bloom and eat the flowers off and then drop the corm on the path right before my eyes. You will understand now why I was so happy when my neighbors adopted two stray cats!
Deer are also on my bad bad bad list -- there is no good solution to them except a fence. But you can try repellents and home remedies and so on if you like. Anyway, here is a common sense approach to avoiding and solving some of the most common bulb problems, including those caused by critters.
One anti-rodent method that has worked for me is the chicken wire method although I used a bit of old mesh fencing instead of actual chicken wire. They tried to tunnel in from the sides, but most of the crocus actually came up this spring. I love crocus!
Still MORE Bulb Information for the Insatiable
More general information about bulbs and planting them and buying them is available through the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center.
PLANT MORE BULBS. PLEASE!
You'll be glad you did. And so will the rest of us.
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