Joey wrote: > I've experienced some rodent (pocket gopher or vole?) climb up over the top and into the container! Rats will do that too. You might want to try laying chicken wire or hardware cloth on the surface of the soil (or bury it just beneath the surface so the weeds don't lift it). Half-inch chicken wire seems to be narrow enough to keep out the rodents but has holes large enough to let most bulbs grow through. Based on advice from Bob Werra, I switched from metal to plastic chicken netting on the surface, because I can much more easily cut the plastic to fit. Although the rodents ought to be able to chew through the stuff in theory, they don't seem to realize it. Mike San Jose, CA (zone 9, min temp 20F) Where spring is already more than half over and the hills are starting to dry out