Regarding vole control, I have found that since I got cats, my snake population has gone down and my vole population has gone up. Also, it would help to get rid of perennial grasses. On Thu, Apr 9, 2020 at 10:47 AM Laura Grant <lauragrant1947@gmail.com> wrote: > I garden on the north facing slope of Niagara Escarpment, on the south side > of Lake Ontario. Our winters are cold and without reliable snow cover. > I love to grow many tender bulbs and created sandy bed, close to the house, > facing south. After number of years experimenting with winter protection > materials I came up with what works for me and would like to share with the > group. > I take contractor grade, plastic garbage bags, fill them with > "Styrofoam peanuts" that are used in packaging. I seal the top of the bags > with duck tape. When the "pillow" is done, it should be minimum of 4" thick > all around. These are placed on top of my tender bulbs in the winter and > than covered with the "frost blanket" from Lee Valley Tools so the wind > does not blow the "pillows" away. On any warm day during the winter, I lift > the "pillows" off to check on pests and give the dormant bulbs some fresh > air. > I had problems with voles making a cozy winter home and feasting on my > expensive bulbs. It remains to be a challenge so I keep feeding them with > peanut butter blended with Vitamin D in hope to reduce their numbers. Since > we have number of predators around I hesitate to use poisons. I would use > poisons if I could be sure they will die underground out of reach of cats, > owls etc. A few barn cats would help me out. > Any suggestions in vole exterminations would be most welcome. > Laura > from Niagara on the Lake, Ontario > > > > On Thu, Apr 9, 2020 at 9:20 AM James Waddick <jwaddick@kc.rr.com> wrote: > > > Hi Jonathan, > > > > I tried this for a few years getting bulbs from various sources > > and trying various protection. Although it grew from the bulbs OK, I > never > > had any survie even the mildest winter here. I never tried it in my > frostm > > free greenhouse, but that wasn’t the point. > > > > Sigh Jim > > > > > > > > On Apr 9, 2020, at 7:21 AM, Jonathan Knisely <jpsknisely@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > > > > > > 3. Pasithea caerulea (Rimmer deVries) > > > > > > > I like this--I'm a sucker for blue flowers. Presumably with its wide > > natural distribution within Chile, there are some selections with greater > > hardiness. Does anyone have experience with this in parts of the United > > States with summer rains and winter temperatures down below freezing > ((like > > Connecticut)? > > > > > > > Jonathan Knisely > > New Haven, CT > > USDA 6a > > _______________________________________________ > > pbs mailing list > > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > > > > Dr. James Waddick > > 8871 NW Brostrom Rd > > Kansas City, MO 64152-2711 > > USA > > Phone 816-746-1949 > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pbs mailing list > > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…