To say I'm jealous of you guys that can order so many bulbs is an understatement! Our yard is mostly shade, and they just don't do well beyond the first or second year.
However... for those of you that have critter issues, here's something to try. Nylon Netting or Tulle. We have a rather arrogant squirrel population in our neighborhood. Last fall, I decided to try something different when I planted some new tulip and hyacinth. I had a couple of pieces of the nylon tulle laying around, so I stretched it out over the bulbs and put some rocks on to keep it down. The squirrel didn't touch a thing!
I like to start my corn inside a few weeks before the weather starts to warm. I would hold the plants in pots in a makeshift greenhouse until they were 6-8 inches tall. I figured they were big enough to plant out. Wrong. Those freakin' tree rats dug up every one of them to get at what remained of the kernel. When I started my corn this year, I put the netting over it. Not a single plant was touched. And the pots were sitting in the open on the patio. (It was too cold and wet to put them in the ground for quite a while.)
This past spring, we had a fabric store going out of business. I bought up all of the dark green, brown and black that they had left in stock.
I even pull it over my hosta to keep the deer away. They think they're going to chow down and all they get is a mouth full of nylon. After two or three attempts, they leave and don't come back.
