I had many beautiful lilies, and seem to have been invaded by some digging rodents. I found holes and burrows near all my liles, and most did not emerge this year. I'm heartbroken to have lost them, particularly a beautiful, tall Silk Road that used to bloom beside my front door. I've planted daffodils all around the bulbs, but this didn't deter the little burrowers. Ideas?

You know, there are traps, bait, cages to plant your lilies in underground. But one thing that we have found that works better than all of that, is a couple of friendlier feral cats. They keep the rodent population at bay. We just provide them with food daily and shelter from the harsh winter outdoors.

We had three feral cats living in our shed, a mama and two of her offspring, but our town decided there were getting to be too many, and trapped and killed them. A neighbor had even trapped and taken many to the vet to get vaccinated and fixed, and then re-released them with ear notches to indicate they'd been "taken care of," but now they're all gone. Now we've got a booming population of rabbits, mice, and burrowing rodents again. My beagle tries to dig them out of their burrows whenever she can, but she's never actually caught one, and she does make a royal mess digging in my flower beds.

I lost a clump of lilies last winter to rodents.. My outdoor cat is getting up there in age and doesn't seem interested in being outside and catching things anymore.. I plan on using bulb cages like these... http://www.instructables.com/i...

I like a good cage too. I don't trust the lightweight chicken wire bulb cages found at garden centers—I don't think they'd hold off a determined Western Pocket Gopher too long. I've had those things follow Dyckia roots out of the ground and chew their way up into plastic nursery pots.

I prefer cold-dipped galvanized 1/2" hardware cloth as protection from all sorts of critters, whether it's birds and squirrels tearing into flats of seedlings or gophers eating bulbs in the ground. Cold-dipped galvanizing is the type with the dull, rough finish, and is much thicker than hot-dip galvanizing, which is thin and shiny. You might have to go to an old-timey hardware store or a farm supply to find it.

The cages I make for lilies are approximately 12" to 14" in diameter and 12" deep, so they can go for a few years without dividing or replanting. Fabrication is simple, cut the wire to size, wrap it into a tube shape, wire it closed, cut a bottom piece and wire that in place. Sometimes I use the free ends of the cut hardware cloth to weave the pieces together.

The disadvantage to all this is that a large hole has to be dug, but it's worth it, because to a gopher, Lilium is probably the tastiest thing you can plant.