For 2 years squirrels have decimated the well over 1400 crocus I planted in varous beds arond the yard. I like most of them but have 1 or 2 that do bad things. Anyway, to combat the damage last year and this year, I used old coffee grounds, hot pepper flakes, powdered garlic, and ground hot peppers. I also bribed them with all the sunflower, corn, and peanuts they could eat. They still go for Crocus like cats on catnip. So, moving forward, I just can't justify continuing to plant Crocus. There are several natives I hope to use instead if I can find them. I will still look for nonnatives but only those that really draw early pollinators...and don't seem all that attractive to squirrels!!!

Some battles are not worth it. I would focus on natives, makes better sense to me.

Sorry to hear that UrbanWild. Over the years I have had to give up on growing many plants and bulbs because of problems with animals, pests and diseases, so I know how disappointing it can be. Lost many crocus too for various reasons, but never all of them.

Don't believe our native red squirrels dig bulbs so haven't tried it myself, but I think I read that someone on this forum had good success with using crushed oyster shells to protect bulbs from being dug, maybe its worth a try(on a very small scale). However, I do agree with Deb's comment, better to grow what thrives for you.

I think it is very valuable to have a good mix of species to spreads the risks around a bit. Better to add a few bulbs every year (even better to divide your own bulbs!!!) to see what really works. I still remember the disappointment I felt when buying Daffodils in larger quantities only to discover that I had a problem with the narcissus bulb fly and almost all the bulbs were killed. Now I only have very few and the bulb fly needs to be hunted and the bulbs dug up or grown in pots and inspected for larvae every year. Needless to say I have very few daffodils now...

I had deer kill all of my tulips, but now have a good spray so grow them again... but will always remember that it might not work for ever.

Last spring I was very disappointed with my bulb plantings from the fall before. I was pleased that I had outwitted the squirrels by using cayenne and covering the plantings with plastic web trays. A family of voles moved in, and they attacked the plantings from below ! I have heard that castor oil might deter them, but it needs to be the unrefined Castor oil which has an oder to it.

I did not plant many bulbs last fall, and won't this fall either.
The fall of 2019 , I will do a really good planting of bulbs so I can enjoy them in my 80 th spring ! But only if I can get the castor oil for the voles. Bulbs are expensive too !

I hate voles . I have however not seen much - if any - damage to bulbs from voles since I managed to trap all moles in my garden. The voles I have here love to travel in the mole runs and attack bulbs from below. Now they cannot do that anymore.

I have found if I incorporate pea gravel with my plants the voles do not seem to bother them.

Have you tried any Crocus tommasinianus varieties? I'm finding rodents don't bother them very often.

I planted 600 Crocus tommasinianus 'Ruby Giant' in December. They have started to pop but don't yet have an idea of survivorship. Oddly enough, the squirrels don't seem to be bothering any of the yellow crocus planted during the the last two winters.

My squirrels dug them up, took one bite out of each bulb (just enough to kill them) and then left the remains right by the walkway for me to see. I have moved on to hyacinths.

For the first time ever, I watched out the dining room window & saw squirrels dig mine up. I was so angry because they have never done that. My husband bought Critter Ridder which we have used in the past but this time even with sprinkling it heavily, it didn't seem to work. Next fall, I think I will put some screen over the bulbs or maybe I will just not plant them at all. It isn't worth doing a lot when I usually just plant the really cheap ones in the back. I do have Tommies that we planted in wire cages but the voles will get those if they can.

I came to the same conclusion when I lived in OH. Expensive lesson & meal for the wildlife. Tulips don't grow where I live now, but I never had any trouble with tulips in OH, fritillaria, Lycoris, or grape hyacinths.

Now in AL, I haven't had any issues with squirrels bothering Lycoris, Narcissus, Crinums, Gladiolus, Amaryllis, Oxalis, various lilies, Alliums, Hymenocallis. Our yard here always has squirrels in it too, so I think they must just not like those kinds of bulbs. I think most that I named would be hardy in 6b, but check first because I know some aren't.

I have no trouble with squirrels and lilies here. The reason I don't plant more is that they rarely have pollinators on them. As real estate gets tighter, the hurdle is justifying based on food or pollinators. The winter killed all of my crinum. I planted a fair amount of allium, but they didn't get the pollinator attention I had hoped for. I'm also trying to place particular emphasis on early spring and late fall bloomers. I may have the later solved with Mexican sunflower though!