Hallson Gardens

Hi everyone, I've been away for a while, life got in the way, but getting a little time now. lol

I wanted your thoughts on the most likely reason my bulbs disappeared. I had 21 varieties all in the same bed and blooming nicely, most added in 2008.
There may have been a few missing last year, I didn't really pay attention. This year they are completely gone. I dug up one area and did not find mushy bulbs - nothing!

I have seen moles and field mice, but have never seen a vole, and have no idea if they are around. The bed did have mole damage, but moles don't eat bulbs. There were a couple nickel sized holes, but no digging like a squirrel or chipmunk ( we have both).

We have had the most wet and damp spring I can ever remember and this bed stay a little more on the moist side, rather than dry. Weather has been so cold & wet had to replant most garden seeds (beans, lettuce, all cole crops, etc)

Would you tend to think it was the weather or critters? If critters, then mice?

Thanks,
Pandora

If you didn't find any bulbs at all then I would think it was critters. Even in the worst, wettest conditions you should still find something remaining.

Voles are just a type of field mouse, so yes, I'd be thinking it was the mice that were doing it. But if your soil doesn't drain well then some of the bulbs might have rotted too. Still, I think you would see a bit here and there if it was weather.

I'd be dropping rodent bait into the small holes you see to try and knock down the population before they eat other things.

Sorry for your plant loss

Chris

So sorry for your loss, we had to cover ours with netting due to the tree rats were digging them up to eat this
past fall when we move many of ours.

Sorry to hear, but with the holes... I am sure Chris is correct

This is my last attempt to have lilies. I have replaced some of my losses from previous years.
I built 1/4" wire cages and put the bulbs in the cages, filled cages with dirt and buried as a whole. I have been stomping the
ground this summer hoping to collapse any possible tunnels and spreading ole/vole repellent. I am
afraid to use any kind of poison because we have every critter (hawks, owls, raccoons, opossums, etc) here
that would eat a dead body.

If I am lucky enough to have them multiply, I might have to have some boy scouts help me dig them all
back up to separate! lol

Fingers crossed.
Pandora

Well with the closed wire cages buried in the soil less than 30% made it through the 1/4 " mesh. When I dug them up again (May) I saw that many of the lilies form a clump of leaves at the top of the stem very early in the development stage. If the single stem got thru before leaf development they came up, otherwise started to wind around the cage. I cut tops off cages and just let them grow through summer. I imagine they will be gone over winter.

This summer used mole/vole repellent from Gardens Alive. Not sure it made a difference.

So I was done, finished, no more lilies. THEN a friend came over for lunch. She was changing her garden around, dug up 2 humungus clumps of lilies, her neighbor didn't want them then thought of me. 2 bags of lilies grade A large bulbs.

I built a new cage this time. One for each variety. 20"L x 15W x 12H Dug the hole 10" deep, replaced a couple inches soil amended, put in cage, spread a little soil bottom. For roots. Added bulbs and covered with 8 inches of soil. The cages stick about 4 inches above soil. Wired the top shut. Hopefully, next Spring when I see growth I'll unfasten the lid and tent netting over the plants as they grow until I see no signs of chipmunks.

Good Luck to you!!

Thank you Lucy. I need it.
I really meant to give up on lilies, but she was so excited to give them to me.

Next Fall I might buy lots of allium, daffodils, and grape hyacinths to intersperse in this bed. And keep the chipmunks out. Wonder if a paintball gun would scare them?

The newest revision of my lily cage protected all lily bulbs from whatever critter.
I'm more suspecting chipmunks because this year we are overrun with them in this
garden. We are thinning the herd. Some humanely and some from a neighbor's new
cat.

The lilies have been blooming for a couple weeks. I did lose a few buds when I saw a chippie
scurry up the stem and stuff 2 almost ready to open, into his fat cheeks. I'll be earlier with netting
next year.

So if you want to go to the trouble of building cages to protect beautiful lily bulbs from underground pests, it definitely works!