hi,
i will be planting some lily bulbs in my mom's gardens this spring, where she has had a history of voles eating her lily bulbs.
i was considering making cages with chicken wire to protect them, burying them beneath the soil level...
any suggestions if this could work?
if not, maybe someone else has had the same issue and found something easier or better?
thank you in advance!
Lyle
ways to prevent voles from eating lily bulbs- suggestions???
I use mothballs scattered and buried around the bulbs...
Seems to help....and doesn't seem to hurt the flowers...
Ok, I was at a hosta lecture by Mark Zilis and someone asked him this question about hostas and he answered it and then his wife gently reminded him that the process he just described was for lilies and other bulbs, not hostas. ;) Anyway, he suggested that you plant them in a wire mesh waste paper basket. You paint is green or brown or what ever you think will disguise it the best and dig a hole deep enough for it and put it in the ground with about an inch or so of the rim sticking above the dirt. Then fill it with some dirt and then plant your bulbs. The voles can't tunnel in through the mesh of the wire but your bulbs can grow quite nicely in the mesh fortress, have good drainage and be happy. I'd think it would be useful for when you wanted to dig and divide the bulbs again. Just dig around the basket and pull it out...
Greetings.
I had a terrible problem with voles a few years back (2005-2006) but I found the solution. A product called Voleblok aka Permatil (I got it from Yardiac.com: http://www2.yardiac.com/long.asp?tgs=28859009:33415040&cart_id=&item_id=1468)
It's expandable slate, and actually improves your drainage. In the previous year voles decimated about 50 of my tulips (which was OK) and about 25 of my lilies, completely wiping out my prized Longdragons, amongst others (which was not OK!). I used Voleblok as directed but frankly I applied perhaps half the recommended amount. I put a fairly thin layer on the bottom (perhaps half an inch, not two inches), top and sides and spread it our a bit. The trick seems to be to get a fairly continuous layer, but not a solid one. I still have 60% of the bag left. Whenever I have new bulbs, I put someunder them and in a circle around them.
The results every year since are fabulous. The First year voles did a fair amount of damage (3-4 times the usual) to the grass surrounding the beds while circling round and round the lily and tulip beds. It was quite clear that they could sniff out the bulbs and were lookingfor an "open door". In places they were within six inches of the bulbs - but I lost none! In successive years my grass was less and less damaged, even as I added more lilies to the bed. It's as though they figures out that all that tunneling was to no purpose, and anyway grass is easy to repair. The best part is that I now feel confident about ordering all the lilies I want. And for bulbs I don't dig up, like lilies, I don't have to reapply it. As long as the slate is in the ground, it works, because it doesn't deteriorate. So the lilies in my beds have actually multiplied to the point where I give extras away.
Nothing else I tried worked (thiram, Milorganite, coyote urine, blood meal). And, by the way, Permatil is sometimes available in feed stores, I'm told. It's even cheaper.
Donna
Voleblock sounds like a good idea, but if you choose wire use aviary wire or something with small mesh, mice and voles can get through small holes.
We have problems with mice getting into the lilies through the mole tunnels, no voles in the lily fields since there is no grass, but we have plenty of trees to keep the voles happy.
That Voleblock does look interesting. That would work well for hostas too!
I haven't lost a bulb I protected in the three years I've been using it. And we have voles. I see them, and they tunnel though the grass every year. FREEDOM!
Donna
Donna,
Interesting. Voles do more damage than anything else here. I will have to look for this product. Sounds like a dream come true.
Thx for the advice! I don't want to lose my lilies either!
Karen
It's one less headache - and disappointment. I hope it works as well for you as it has for me. And yes, voles are the worst. Rabbits and chipmunks are nothing by comparison to the damege the voles did before I got this stuff.
Donna
A couple of resident feral cats is all I have needed ;) Too bad they don't help the deer population.
Ha, I keep trying to get my cats to take down deer that run through the yard. Have you ever seen a cat laugh hysterically at you? :) I have..
Oh yes...the same ferals laugh at me when I tell them to stand up to those raccoons and not to let those raccoons boss the feral cats around. The ferals look at me like I am nuts and to the food bowl first the raccoons win again.
Having grown up with five cats I know that they understand that THEY are boss and you just have to learn that.
One interesting development this year was that an owl was VERY close to the house for a couple of nights. He was big and he was loud. Then I opened my garage door a couple of times to disturb a hawk that had been sitting on my roof. The result is that instead of having a band of bunnies, I had one (and yes, we know each other well!) I have one sheltered and unprotected bed of old tulip bulbs and I let him have that one. I've held a grundge against voles since they took out the longidragons I got from B&D Lilies, and Bob and Diana sold that crop to someone else. Can't find them anymore.
I want a pet hawk!! Or a pet owl?
Donna
You know what they say, "Most animals have owners, Cats have staff." :)
longidragons Donna? Please do elaborate on that ;) Are they lilies? They don't sound familiar to me.
We have several hawks around here. When my neighbor's cat was a kitten, one swooped down and tried to get her little kitty. After that day, she found it wise to have her kitty grow up before letting her outside. Poor thing!
I LIKE that!
D
They are EXQUISITE lilies. It is an easter lily (longiflorum) Black Dragon clone cross. Strong stems, multiple flowers in the first year, outrageous scent.
http://bdlilies.com/l5060.html
To compare it to regale, there are even more flowers, the reverse4 is darker, and it is shorter. NOTHING else like it. Happily, I notice from the site that it is "in propagation". YES!!!
Donna
I just didn't remember that one. I'll have to watch for it...so it's a longipet ;) right? It's great when they keep the goodies in production.
Yes, I guess you could call it that. I was advised by a kind member of the North American Lily Society to grow it. I was looking at lilies I liked that I thought were similar: Green Magic, Black Dragon, Regale, Longidragon. I was told - grow them all! I grew Regale and Longidragon, and also grew Emerald Angel, instead of Green Magic.
http://snowcreek.stores.yahoo.net/l6243.html
Another one with strong stems, great perfume. The only reason I stakes the one in the picture is that they were so prolific I had to move the one attached to a bamboo stake less than two weeks before it bloomed. I also got it from B&D.
Donna
I will say that I seriously miss B & D Lilies trumpet offering this spring. There just aren't that many people growing and selling and hybridizing new trumpets. I adore trumpets. The colony in your picture looks fantastic. I have some that I am hoping make it to flower from seed this year.....crossing my fingers here.
Mg,
I'm with you. I have a couple of orienpets I love, but I personally think trumpets are absolutely fantastic. Such great performers. I am fond of orientals but they can be quite temperamental. Steve sent me some peonies and I asked what I could send, listed Amethyst Temple (one of my absolute favorites) and Steve mentioned that last year was bad for trumpets. I got Silver Sunburst from Old House Gardens a few years back and they are unbelievable. Amethyst Temple, Emerald Angel, Silver Sunburst, Regale and White Henryi bloom and multiply. Orientals, in my yard, hold their own, at best, but don't multiply much, and tend to disappear after a year or two..
Honestly, I don't find the orienpets as exciting as some people do, with the exception of Anastasia, which I got from The Lily Garden. The stems need some staking, but it is beautiful, with a strong scent, and it multiplies like a trumpet.
I look forward to B&D's lilies. They are wonderful, and I love supporting them.
Edited to add that this is Anastasia.
Donna
This message was edited Mar 16, 2009 6:28 PM
I had to go look that one up- dragons- sounds so mysterious and cool.
Are they as resilient and strong stemmed as OT?
Karen
Hi Karen,
Temple lilies were combined with orientals to give them strength. Orientals can be fragile but Temple lilies are generally very strong. It's just that they have a limited color palette.
Here is Black Dragon from Old House Gardens:
http://www.oldhousegardens.com/bigFlwr.asp?Cat=blackD
Donna
Ok, now I'm gonna have to look about getting the lilies Donna just mentioned. :) I think I have Black Dragon... Probably not a true Black Dragon, but I think that's what the tag said. I think I bought it from Gurneys back when I first started gardening. This is before I knew that Gurneys was not the Gurneys of old..
Anyway, this is it... So, who do you think it is? It's got a fragrance that will knock your socks off! It's nice..
I think it's a dreadful lily and that you should remove it from your garden ~ and give it to me!
Eh, yeah. :)----
:p It really is a lovely thing.
Yeah, so, what is it? :)
Sorry to intrude...
I love the Trumpets too and I bought some that we're suppose to be
Amethyst Temple and i'm not sure anymore if that's what they are..
Can you's help??
One topped out at 6'6" last year..
I added African Queen and Pink Perfection in the fall
and i've bought a few OT's this year to try them..
Thanks...
Amethyst Temple is a seed grown "strain" so the blooms vary in intensity of color from bulb to bulb. I bought 3 once and no two were alike. Sellers like to show a photo of one with a darker color. It is quite a lovely lily, isn't it!
African Queen and Pink Perfection are also seed grown strains so expect some variation. Most trumpet lilies are sold as strains. Reputable sellers will note that the variety is a strain. If they don't note it in their advertisement, assume that it is and it may not look just like the photo.
I really like Amethyst Temple and I wanted to try to get the real deal so I ordered them from White Flower Farm (they have superb bulbs, even if their other products can be problematical). Pink Perfection was more purple than I wanted. I took a couple of bad pics because I was trying to document placement, but here they are.
I notice that the color changes as they mature. Some of these are shorter because I didn't realize they needed to be haevily mulched in the winter in my climate. The ones to the left of the picture are Silk Road.
Donna
All this lily talk is making me wish it were lily blooming season right now. The pictures are so inviting, aren't they?
I just love them. There is absolutely nothing like them. For me they are the kings/queens of the bulbs.
Donna
I have 50 new lily bulbs coming...4 kinds of OT's... hoping i'm as happy with them...
Does anyone know if there's any that might do okay in part shade/shade
Was watching a show the other night and the guy said in Texas you need to plant them in part shade or under tree's
But I know that's because the sun there is too strong....Here in zone 5 is not the case....LOL
Asiatics will do just fine in light shade. Martagons do best in shade. If it's light shade or partial shade I'd try it and if it gets really tall and looks like it's trying to stretch for the sun, move it. :) You are going to love your OT's! :)
Thanks Ticker..I'm gonna try and see how it works...
Yeah it seems they have more color choices..
and it's a cross between my Favorite 2 kinds of lily's Orientals and Trumpets...
Favorite Oriental is Stargazer...adding white and golden this year and planted
Starfighter last fall suppose to be a bigger flower than Stargazer I guess...??
It's true that martagons and many of the species lilies are found in full shade in the wild, but as long as you're not in a hot climate most of these (including martagons) will do better in part shade, rather than full shade. Martagons are, however, among the most shade tolerant of all lilies.
Just how shady is your shade? The yarden at my old house was high shade from 60 year old oak trees so there was little direct sun other than early morning and late evening. A lot of light, though.
You may see a little less color development but they ought to be fine. Try to position them where they will recieve the most light possible.
Parts of my front lawn are shady..woods all around me....
Where i'm thinking is under 2 weeping willow trees that decided to grow up instead of out so their taller then normal ones...... it's where my dogs are buried....It's a flowerbed...
The trees aren't as Shady as they use to be..thanks to an Ice storm and a tornado...(we think)
kinds lost some their tops...LOL Dh won't cut them down cause he got them from his grandmother 40 years ago...
But the spot gets afternoon filtered sun for a little while...Iris's grow alright there...and so do weeds...LOL
And the grass grows good there too...So i'll give it a try and see....I want Lilies everywhere...LOL