Crocus September 2007

[mark smyth]

mine are slow also this year but I'm not panicking for the time being

[Armin]

Mark, you may would if you could see the high number of mice here!

[mark smyth]

do you see hole dug in your pots? Why dont you poison the mice?

[tonyg]

Poisoned mice might equal poisoned cats .... and seven angry neighbours.  Oh and of course if you don't get them all (including those from surrounding area) without the cats it will be a win for the mice!

[Armin]

Mark,

all my crocuses are grown in the lawn or under scrubs no holes in pots.

You made a good point but:

1) I don't want to poison our own or any of our neighbours cats by mistake
2) I believe in the nature's ability to stabilize unbalanced populations by itself - either a hard winter, less food, deceases and a grown population of natural mice enemies will reduce them by next year

Of course, I'm worrying a bit about my corms and bulbs being unprotected!

[Armin]

Tony, exactly.

[David Shaw]

Poor Armin, there must indeed be a plague of mice in your locality. I am surprised that the cats cannot keep on top of them; ours seem to keep the mice to a tolerable level. Poison is not something that I would want to resort to. Its effect may pass up the food chain to cats and other scavengers including any raptors in the area. For the same reason we don't use the 'nasty' blue slug pellets because of what might eat the dead slugs.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

I got C. speciosus Oxonion from Bondarenko - I had ordered 5 but he also ran short and sent me 3 - not visible yet though (in the garden)
Judging by the pix of David, something to look out for.
By the way David : have fun in the sun !

[Boyed]

I've heard that growing garlic in the garden frightens the mice. This year I want to try it to make sure if it works.

My crocuses start blooming already. I have a nice garden form of crocus salzmanii and crocus speciosus 'Goris' in bloom. Crocus spesiosus Goris was collected by me in bloom last year from the far south of Armenia near the surroundings of the town of Goris. It proved to be the earliest of all my speciosus forms flowering from the 2-nd decade of September. Interersting though, in Goris, where the climate is warmer, it flowered in mid October.

[ChrisB]

Lovely crocus, such a rich blue colouring.  Thanks...

[Thomas Huber]

Armin, why don't you use mousetraps?
I have caught 5 mice in two weeks in my garden!

Zhirair - are this the speciosus that had white anthers last year?

[johanneshoeller]

Crocus (the last one from Thomas Huber) and Colchicum.

[udo]

after a sunny weekend:
Cr.hadriaticus, small form
Cr.serotinus ssp.salzmanii ( form flowering without leaves)
Cr.gilanicus
Cr.medius, native form ( thanks Thomas)
Cr.veneris

[Anthony Darby]

I'm overrun with mice and cats. Finished one tub of rat poison this year already. The cats can take their chances. I haven't notice a decrease in them? They shouldn't be outside anyway.

[Martin Baxendale]

Armin, why don't you use mousetraps?
I have caught 5 mice in two weeks in my garden!

I've used mousetraps too. Only trouble is, they keep going missing - once there's a dead meece in one, inevitably a cat or fox will grab the meece and whisk it away, with the trap still attached. Gets a bit expensive! It is effective though. Nut spread and chocolate spread are the best baits (I know, Maggi! Terrible waste of good chocolate!  )