This must be what going mad feels like.

Simon ,'Jaynestown'


Natter 68: Bork Bork Bork  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


Juliebird - Mar 24, 2011 4:04:11 pm PDT #167 of 30001
I am the fly who dreams of the spider

yeah, I think Calli has it right with the Puschkinia.

This heavy wet snow smooshed all my Galanthus and the bunnies ate my Kaufman tulips, grrr.


Amy - Mar 24, 2011 4:06:54 pm PDT #168 of 30001
Because books.

Totally rookie gardening question: if I plant daffodils or tulips, they'll come up again next year?

She's just devastating, all raw scraped nerves and misery

Oh yes. I love her in Giant, too. Which is a fantastic epic full of excellent performances, and James Dean's last role.


flea - Mar 24, 2011 4:07:45 pm PDT #169 of 30001
information libertarian

Daffodils, yes. Tulips, maybe - they are much fussier. Daffodils and crocus are the most dependable, IME.


Anne W. - Mar 24, 2011 4:07:56 pm PDT #170 of 30001
The lost sheep grow teeth, forsake their lambs, and lie with the lions.

Totally rookie gardening question: if I plant daffodils or tulips, they'll come up again next year?

Yes. Sometimes in exciting new places if the squirrels relocate them for you.


Amy - Mar 24, 2011 4:09:25 pm PDT #171 of 30001
Because books.

I don't want to mess with fussy the first time out. Daffodils it is!


Juliebird - Mar 24, 2011 4:16:59 pm PDT #172 of 30001
I am the fly who dreams of the spider

I went crazy and planted Butterfly Daffodils last fall, I'm so excited to see them come up.

For tulips, you run into critter problems as they're tasty, and they don't naturalize like Daffs can, instead tending to diminish year after year. But the Giant Darwin Hybrids and the species Tulips are more reliable. I pretty much treat Tulips as annuals and chuck them into the woods when they're done blooming. Gives me a chance to play with a new combination the next year.


sarameg - Mar 24, 2011 4:18:33 pm PDT #173 of 30001

My neighbor advocates planting bulbs, then planting bricks/rocks/flagstones over them until spring to prevent squirrel theft. She went through a LOT of new bulbs. I think once they've been there a while, they are safer from the squirrels. Stuff that's coming up now was not my doing, came with the house.


Juliebird - Mar 24, 2011 4:21:29 pm PDT #174 of 30001
I am the fly who dreams of the spider

My mother planted chionodoxa and scilla in the lawn, and the squirrels dug them up and hid them elsewhere. Then forgot about them. So they came up in other random parts of the lawn. Squirrel gardeners!

I had a coworker who laid chicken wire over the bulbs. The chipmunks just dug down outside the chicken wire and tunneled over and got them anyway.


Calli - Mar 24, 2011 4:38:26 pm PDT #175 of 30001
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs

When I planted bulbs in '09, I planted them with a bit of used, strained cat litter. The major contaminants weren't there, but there was enough cat pee residue to keep the squirrels away. And the litter itself (World's Best Cat Litter), is made of corn, so it's essentially mulch.

I put clean soil on top of everything, so my neighbors didn't have to deal with eau d'cat pee when they walked by. The squirrels didn't touch any of the bulbs the first winter and only dug up a few last winter. I may need to retreat them this fall. Luckily I have an unending supply of predator-scented bulb planting mulch.


flea - Mar 24, 2011 4:42:33 pm PDT #176 of 30001
information libertarian

I live in a former pecan orchard and have squirrels living in my attic, and find they don't mess with crocus tommasinianus, grape hyacinth, ipheion, or most daffodils. Maybe they're just too busy taking a single bite out of each unripe tomato I grow.