Dear Jane,

Your story and Uli's about the lost Oxalis reminds me of the sad tale of a
bulb enthusiast in South Africa. She was potting up bulbs and got
distracted and didn't finish and left out the bulbs over night. The mice
found them and then decided to investigate some of the other pots which
they had not done previously. She lost some of her most favorite bulbs,
some very rare that she couldn't replace. I keep worrying that one of these
days our resident squirrel is going to realize what gourmet treats await
him/her. So far pine cones seem to be the food of choice. And the dog does
do squirrel patrol when she is out but I don't know if this is much of a
deterrent.

Here's hoping your lost bulbs surprise you in the rock garden in the spring
and bloom.