That's funny. I used to repel voles with Volblok aka Permatil, espandable slate down in the soil, but I found that voles and rabbits stay away from daffodils, so I have miniature daffs in triangle around vulnerable plants. The little guys can smell them and stay away, and they are permanent.I wish I had figured this out before I lost 50 lilies in a single year to voles and 60 double tulips to rabbits.
But I disagree with the guy. It took several years for voles to discover my yard. And they must have been delighted with all the good eating. People who had been there for five or more years seemed to have them - I was free for about that long. But once they find you they come back every year, I found, and they stay longer. I was cutting grasses down one April and there they were.
It was nice to be able to take care of the problem without killing them. Except for once when I was in a really bad mood and there were three of them dancing at my feet in my grasses when I happened to have a shovel.
This message was edited May 15, 2016 2:22 PM
Rock gardening in non-alpine climates
Well, one of the suggestions he had was to "stake out" the hole with a shovel or other large instrument of destruction! Sadly, I don't find daffodils to be very perennial here. They have big tulip and daffodil farms up in the Skagit Valley near here, but mine all seem to die. I read somewhere that there is a winged pest here, maybe that is the problem.
Interesting info about voles and moles and Daffodils...perhaps I will rethink the war thing. My little Duetzia is trying to bloom now so I'll have to wait to relocate it. I'm not happy now but I will be when I learn to live with the situation. I guess since that's my biggest obstacle looming, I'm doing pretty good.
Good on you Pistil for not giving up on the Crocus situation. You've been blessed with some nice finds. Your Crocus are beautiful! You could apply the same determination with the daff's too and come up with a work-around. I know it all depends on how badly you want something to fight it out like that.
Raulston Arboretum sure likes you Donna, wow, what fun that would be. I'm sure you deserve the gifts, I'm sure you dish out a lot of cash on plant material. Chardonnay Pearls is a beautiful cultivar. Abelias are wonderful too, with fragrance to boot. They are borderline hardy here but I'm always looking at them, wanting them...but not willing to dig 'em up and bring 'em in every winter. Argh.
Pistil, I love that picture with the tommies! They look great with the hellebores and pine needles.
Yep, I keep the abelia in a pot on my southfacing living room. Yes, I know this is nuts, but I also have a musa and five peace lilies and I overwinter geraniums and abulitons so they just join the club.
I don't know that daffs work on moles, but they do work on volesand rabbits. I can handle chipmunks (milorganite), squirrels (freshly ground black pepper).
Deer I have never had. I think I would struggle along just like everyone else!
I have Deutzia 'Nikko' at the feet of Viburnum plicatum tometosum 'Shasta" and Shoshoni along with Allium stipitatum 'Mt Everest' and Allium stipitatum White Giant and hosta with white edges. They (except hosta) bloomed at the same time. It was nice. I like Deutzia. It's a cute little shrub.
I found the Deutzia blooming at a Garden Center: $40.00. I went to Menard's and found them for $20.00. Same shrub. Both in nice condition. It was easier to buy two.
Wow, it's amazing how many plants we have in common. We both have a deutzia, we both have double files, and I have allium 'Purple Sensation', mostly with my peonies and lilies, ramosum (a white fall bloomer) . And christophii is multiplying. Have you tried allium karataviense? It's phenomenal. I put them in last year around peonies. The foliage hangs in there forever. The are coming up now - this pic is from last year. I accidently ordered them from two companies so I had to handle 20, but they go so beautifully with my color scheme.
I was actually given three 'Purple Sensation' by the Master Gardener's group. I thought I didn't like the big purple ones, but I fell in love. I was on the river trails near my house and saw some. Since they didn't belong there, I helped myself to a couple of them (naughty). Then I bought some more. Thank heavens, they are really quite cheap!
Yes, Menard's rocks. It's my end of season choice. So many great plants.
And I am loving the leaves on my Viburnum plicatum tomentosum 'Pink Beauty'. Even if they aren't pink! (Which Gary Ladman said they might not be!) I got a new deutzia. I was trying to figure out where to put it. Thank you for the idea!
Your sea of white sounds absolutely beautiful Birder...