can you see them?
No, neither can I,
Oh wait, there they are!
Who would guess that 1,000 crocus tommasinianus would look so mingy.
That is if there is 1,000 left after the local squirrel mafia got finished with their snack bar. crocus tommasinianus is supposed to be squirrel resistant, that is certainly not squirrel proof. The good news, they are self seeders, so hopefully in a few years, I might see more than 20! You can read about my adventures in planting them, here and here.
The stakes are to help you (and me) see them!
I am a floral designer living in a tiny condo in downtown Toronto, Canada's largest city. But on the weekend, I am a gardener/frustrated architect trying to keep up with a 3/4 acre garden in Owen Sound, Ontario, a warm (to Canadians, Zone 5b, and a cold (to Americans, Zone 4b) garden.
Green Theatre 
Garden Walk Garden Talk said,
April 21, 2011 @ 8:04 AM
Darn squirrels. I have like three left! Now I can wait and see how many tulips show. I plant them so deep that I hope the squirrels got lazy, but the squirrels transplanted some crocus in my neighbor’s yard. I guess to wait and see.
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:00 PM
Squirrels wait until the tulips are about to bloom, then take the whole head off for me, I am not planting them until I get a big dog. Hope yours flower!
Barbara H. said,
April 21, 2011 @ 8:32 AM
Oh, what a dirty trick! I have the opposite problem. When I brought my plants back outside after their winter sojourn on the enclosed but still very cold back porch, some needed repotting. Pecan! The clever little devils had buried some of their treasure in the flower pots. I hope eating the crocus bulbs is the worst damage – that that is certainly a high crime to one who planted 1,000 bulbs.
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:01 PM
If they dug up someone elses crocuses and brought them to me,I would be happy.
Gail said,
April 21, 2011 @ 8:47 AM
How disappointing for you! Squirrels and chipmunks are often not friendly to our gardens!
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:02 PM
I am glad that yours bloomed better than mine, maybe one year they will leave them alone.
Marguerite said,
April 21, 2011 @ 10:51 AM
When I read last fall you were planting thousands of bulbs I thought for sure your yard would be a riot of colour. Those squirrels must be fat and round by now if they’ve eaten all those bulbs. Maybe they’ve moved them to another part of the yard and you’ll have splashes of colour show up in other spots?
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:03 PM
There was a riot all right, just not a riot of colour! They haven’tshown up any place else in my garden,but I should check the neighbours.
thevioletfern said,
April 21, 2011 @ 10:59 AM
I feed them peanuts. Peanuts have to taste better than bulbs. Typically the critters don’t go after my bulbs with peanuts around. Skunks will, but I stopped using bulb fertilizer. The skunks seemed to like the smell of that more than the bulbs. I’d often find a bulb dug up but not eaten. I keep plenty of clover around for the rabbits, too. Most everything is safe if there’s clover on the menu. I think your crocus are beautiful even if not in the numbers you expected! I am sure they will spread in no time.
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:04 PM
Now I know the trick, I shall have to apply this next year.
kate/high altitude gardening said,
April 21, 2011 @ 12:08 PM
What a cute post! That happens to me, too. I plant a ton of fall bulbs and when they come up in the spring I think… wait a minute! That’s it?? I imagine I’m donating a whole bunch of them to the critters, as well.
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:04 PM
They are certainly well fed and probably very fat.
Donna said,
April 21, 2011 @ 12:36 PM
mine are eaten by voles…at least you had a few to gaze upon…rotten varmits
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:05 PM
There are varmits everywhere!
Sandra Jonas said,
April 21, 2011 @ 1:21 PM
What a Welcome Home!
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:06 PM
And the snow made sure I remembered I am a canadian.
ricki said,
April 21, 2011 @ 3:47 PM
That’s why I stick to narcissi (poisonous) and alliums (redolent). Enough of those, and you can sneak in a few of the tastier bulbs and hope that the critters won’t notice.
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:07 PM
OK< this year, I am doubling the order of narcissis and alliums!!! Then in 10 years or so,I can add some crocus.
teza said,
April 21, 2011 @ 7:50 PM
D:
Perhaps they [the bulbs] are nestled down and will make an appearance next year! Or, better yet, they’re teaching you the age old adage of patience makes the heart grow fonder. I don’t have many, and species I have no idea, but some have finished blooming, while others are only now peeking through the soil as grass like foliage! If it was the squirrels….. you know what I’m thinking!
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:08 PM
Perhaps, but the huge, gaping holes in my lawn tell me otherwise.
Carolyn @ Carolyns Shade Gardens said,
April 21, 2011 @ 8:03 PM
Mine have self-seeded prolifically and squirrels do not in fact bother them.
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:08 PM
WHAT!!!! How come my squirrels eat them like potato chips?
Rebecca @ In The Garden said,
April 21, 2011 @ 10:27 PM
That’s unfortunate Deborah, I really dislike when a ton of gardening hard work doesn’t pay off. 😦 Hope they spread and fill in over time.
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:09 PM
I dislike it as well,it was a lot of work planting them, not to mention the cost.
Robert Webber said,
April 22, 2011 @ 1:20 AM
The trials and tribulations of being a gardener!
Self seed?
They are a nuisance and I’d not place them in grass near any border which I wasn’t prepared to be overrun by them.
BUT they are a pleasing shade of violet and so much nicer than the golds, purples and stripes of the bred forms.
So guess like gardening its swings and roundabouts!
Best
R
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:10 PM
They are not near any borders,so I do not have to worry about that,I do hope they self seed, it seems the only way I will get any.
Pauline Mulligan said,
April 22, 2011 @ 1:44 AM
What a shame after all that work planting them, they will seed around so in a few years they should look lovely.Gardening certainly teaches us patience !
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:11 PM
It does, I am (slowly) learning patience.I was just hoping for this big splashy welcome home.
Jean said,
April 22, 2011 @ 8:48 AM
Deborah, I had a similar experience a number of years ago when I planted siberian squill in my front yard. I was imagining a sea of intense blue and instead got about 5 flowers dotted here and there. Sigh. Some day I’ll try it again. I hope yours do self-sow and spread.
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:12 PM
Do try on the scilla again.I noticed a lot of grassy looking foliage beside mine this year, I imagine in a couple of years, they will all be blooming.
Wendy said,
April 25, 2011 @ 12:36 AM
oh that will be beautiful to have a spring lawn full!
kilbournegrove said,
May 2, 2011 @ 3:13 PM
Hopefully, one day I will see it!
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