Have been trying to get a patch going at woods' edge in zone 6 for a while,
without success.

First try: ordered plants in spring, got plants with leaves, planted a
couple of months before they went dormant. The leaves fell off, and nothing
ever happened except that around September the squirrels dug up the corms
and chewed on them.

Second try: ordered corms in August, but they didn't arrive till
mid-October. Looked like they were ready to get going, but was it too late?
Planted them, nothing happened in the fall. This morning I noticed one of
them sitting on top of the soil with some gnawing marks - evidently dug up
and tasted, then abandoned.

Any clues on getting these things to grow, before they get dug up and
destroyed? Conditions were pretty normal: not too much water, but not too
dry, either.

"Rachel" wrote in message
...
Have been trying to get a patch going at woods' edge in zone 6 for a
while, without success.

First try: ordered plants in spring, got plants with leaves, planted a
couple of months before they went dormant. The leaves fell off, and
nothing ever happened except that around September the squirrels dug up
the corms and chewed on them.

Second try: ordered corms in August, but they didn't arrive till
mid-October. Looked like they were ready to get going, but was it too
late? Planted them, nothing happened in the fall. This morning I noticed
one of them sitting on top of the soil with some gnawing marks - evidently
dug up and tasted, then abandoned.

Any clues on getting these things to grow, before they get dug up and
destroyed? Conditions were pretty normal: not too much water, but not too
dry, either.

An exact Latin name would help, although I can't tell you the names of the
ones I've had success with. In zone 5, mine flowered in September, made
leaves in spring, and those leaves vanished by June. Lay chicken wire under
a layer of mulch to dissuade the squirrels.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"Rachel" wrote in message
...
Have been trying to get a patch going at woods' edge in zone 6 for a
while, without success.

Any clues on getting these things to grow, before they get dug up and
destroyed? Conditions were pretty normal: not too much water, but not too
dry, either.

An exact Latin name would help,

C. hederifolium. Sorry.

In zone 5, mine flowered in September, made leaves in spring, and those
leaves vanished by June. Lay chicken wire under a layer of mulch to
dissuade the squirrels.

Oh, I just remembered that I was going to do that last fall, but petered out
when I couldn't find chicken wire (!) ... The places I looked cater to
full-scale farmers and didn't want to sell me less than a huge roll of it,
or else a sheet of some stuff with so tight a grid, that nothing would have
grown through it.

"Rachel" wrote in message
...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"Rachel" wrote in message
...
Have been trying to get a patch going at woods' edge in zone 6 for a
while, without success.

Any clues on getting these things to grow, before they get dug up and
destroyed? Conditions were pretty normal: not too much water, but not
too dry, either.

An exact Latin name would help,

C. hederifolium. Sorry.

In zone 5, mine flowered in September, made leaves in spring, and those
leaves vanished by June. Lay chicken wire under a layer of mulch to
dissuade the squirrels.

Oh, I just remembered that I was going to do that last fall, but petered
out when I couldn't find chicken wire (!) ... The places I looked cater to
full-scale farmers and didn't want to sell me less than a huge roll of it,
or else a sheet of some stuff with so tight a grid, that nothing would
have grown through it.



No Lowe's or Home Depot around? They sell smaller rolls.

No Lowe's or Home Depot around? They sell smaller rolls.
Yep, there are - 25 miles away. I stay away from them usually and frequent
Southern States and small nurseries that are closer by, but thanks for the
tip.