In the Yard

Right on schedule, the squirrels have struck.

Is there anything worse than squirrels with revenge in their hearts?

This is what I think I know about tulips:

• Squirrels are mad for ours, but not as a food source.  As far as I can tell, they just like to pop off the heads -- for fun and clearly out of spite.
• Many gardeners consider tulips an annual in Chicago because the winters are so abominable. Our bulbs, however, have managed to soldier on, depleted in number, but holding on these past 10 years. 
• Oddly, this variety closes at night. Have I overlooked this characteristic in Tulips 101? It's like having 2 different flowers -- coral/salmony at night, flaming red in the morning.
• Tulips show up in strange and unremembered places.

(Is there anything better than a rogue tulip? I have no memory of planting this bulb.)

And then there's the field of Bluebells, which we inherited. It spreads so vigorously I am sure that one of these days, I will be drinking coffee and look down to see plants growing through the kitchen floor. "Hi!" they will say. "We're spreading. Pick up your feet."

Tell me how your garden grows and who/what you are battling this time of year.

FYI: Naperville Now is going to take a break from posting. I am contemplating a move to a different host, possibly under a different name. I need to gather my rosebuds while I may (and fight the squirrel population of Will County) to determine the next best thing. Thanks for reading.

Each week Naperville Now participates in Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday. See what others are writing about the letter Y here.