Hi, I'm new to gardening and wondering the same question. I am in a wooded area with assorted wildlife including voles, moles, squirrels, chipmunks, red foxes, bats, raccoons, turkey, and deer (and probably more I just don't know of yet). I am going to be planting an assortment of spring bulbs - crocus, hyacinth, daffs, tulips. I want to protect from underground burrowing as well as burrowing from the surface downward, primarily focused on protecting from voles but also squirrels and chipmunks. After much research I came up with mixed sentiment between 1/2", 1/4", 1" and bottom basket only vs full cage, with people vouching for each method. Owner of local pest control company told me that voles can definitely fit through 1/2" but I am concerned that leaves can't grow through 1/4" so I decided to go with a blended approach with the bottom of the cage made out of 1/4" hardware cloth and top out of 1/2" hardware cloth. Imagine one of those free gift boxes you get when you buy a sweater with the bottom part ~8" deep and the lid part ~1" deep. Going to sink the whole thing in the ground and throw in some Vole Scram (granular castor oil based repellent) plus some red pepper flakes for good measure (have a huge warehouse club tub of it anyway). Anyone with more experience have any input or advice? Much appreciated!!

Wow! That's a gorgeous shot! You work so well with the camera, Maria! Your photo albums are wonderful! I've bookmarked your page, and will go back to see more when I have a few hours of free time! LOL! It definitely has been a busy summer! And it's not over yet! I still have lots to do outdoors, not to mention taking care of all my indoor bulbs. Since I was way too afraid to allow my bulbs outdoors this spring and summer, I doubt many will bloom next spring... although, I could be surprised. I do plan on purchasing a few new ones this fall, though, so I will have winter blooms! We were going to go to the Netherlands this August to attend the wedding of a dear friend, but with gas and airline prices the way they are, we had to cancel. Airline tickets alone would have cost several thousand dollars, which we can't spare right now. I'm very disappointed, but I am going to attend the Chicagoland Orchid Festival, and even though it won't be quite the same, it will be fun. I should come away with a new orchid or two, and I have Cindee to thank for pointing me toward collecting these wonderful plants, as well as bulbs! Xuan, I doubt the Clematis pods will be anywhere near ready to ship this month, but I am watching them. I will harvest when they're ripe and hang on to them for your next family member to visit the States. In the meantime, I may be able to harvest a few other seeds for you. I will email. I'm behind on shipping out care packages, too... very shortly, I will have several types of seeds harvested and ready to ship... most are perennials from my gardens, but I know a few friends wanted to try some! As I finish getting things ready, I will let you all know what I have. Well... here's hoping the rest of the summer is fabulous for everyone! I just charged the camera batteries, and will head outside shortly to capture a few more summer blooms, so look for those sometime soon! Happy Gardening!

I don't know about the tiles. But when I paint lightbulbs I wash them with rubbing alcohol and then let them dry-a matter of seconds! I also just use acrylic paints, I start off by using a cosmetic sponge and dab the paint on, rather than glob it all on at once I do thin coats, when I am done I coat them with Future Floor Wax. I got the floor wax idea from someone off THS and it has worked out good for me. Hope that helps. I also posted a link to the Indian Lightbulbs I painted. ~Jennifer Here is a link that might be useful: Indians

I am seeing this now. I thought Star of Bethelem was a rhizome not unlike Lily of the valley while these are bulbs. Ok, so Ornithogallum umbellatum it is. One thing though, after 40 years, It certainly is not invasive here in my garden. They do wander a bit and for me, it is not unwelcome,