Bulbs: What bulbs are you planning to plant this fall?, 1 by DonnaMack

DonnaMack wrote:
In Lake County, where I used to live, the voles were terrible, not to mention the rabbits. One year I put in 12 of three colors of double tulips plus White Trumphinator - 60 bulbs, and had some very fat rabbits in the spring but very few tulips.

And if it wasn't the rabbits, it was the blasted voles. They particularly liked 'Hearts Delight', a species tulip I tried to grow for years.

Then I figured it out, like you did. (I love the term "daff babysitters!)

Daffodils are poisonous. Rabbits and voles leave them alone. And even if they are dormant, they can smell them. So they stay away. I put a couple of miniature daffodils around my tulips, and after years of nothing, got this! (See the pic) Like you, I was tired of rabbits "beheading" my tulips. (You know, it would be nice if they would leave each other notes - I tried this, and I don't like it. Why does each rabbit have to try a different flower?!)

I use WP Milner, a Division 1 tiny trumpet, widely available, very cheap (most official miniatures are very pricey), and with teeny tiny foliage that melts away nicely. I put a couple near every rose and near my tulips, and the voles and rabbits leave them alone! For squirrels that don't eat but dig up, I use a a cheap pepper grinder from a thrift store to put freshly ground pepper over any overturned earth. They dig stuff up because they think some other creature left it there. I do it for a few days in a row.

I like to grow doubles, lily flowering and multiflowering, with a few species. The species come back well on their own but I must confess that I am one of those cheapsters who dig up tulips, dry them out and store them (they are in my garage now) and reinstall them (and it's about that time).