Pansies

Last fall I planted purple pansies along the deck, then interspersed bulbs in between. What beautiful planters we would have come spring.

Then the squirrels dug them up. One by one, over a couple of days, they unearthed the hidden gems. Normally I add a layer of organic mulch, but in my never-ending quest to discourage snacking squirrels, I covered at least half of the pots with rough pea-gravel. I used what I had on hand, left over from a summer project.

It was a good, though unintended experiment.Those rascally squirrels dug up all the bulbs in the soft mulch pots, but left the ones under gravel untouched.

I bought more bulbs, a lot more gravel, and replanted with help from the eager day-care kiddos next door.  It worked!

Emerging bulbs

At least half a dozen bulbs broke ground this week.  I see tiny shoots pushing up between the pansies. Muchas gracias, gravel mulch

Gardening Nirvana and gravel mulch, 1.  Squirrels, 7,364.  It’s amazing what you can get away with when you’re so darn cute.