One of the things that make voles so nasty is that they do a lot of their damage in winter, when gardeners aren’t paying much attention. They prefer to do their eating with plenty of cover, so that a fox or other predator can’t detect them and sneak up on them. Their shallow tunnels give them some cover, but the snow in winter provides much better cover. Thus buried under soil and a layer of snow, voles can eat plants’ roots in peace, to their hearts’ content. Even when the pests aren’t chewing on plants, they can damage them in the process of tunneling near them. The result of all of this wintertime activity is that gardeners, greatly anticipating the first flowers of spring, find, instead, dead plants. Grape hyacinths are a good choice for low-maintenance landscaping. Not only do voles not eat them, but they also last longer than do many other bulbs. With their tendency to naturalize, they’ll also spread to fill in an area if left alone, or you can divide them and transplant them to other areas of the yard. There are many different types, including:
Ice Follies: White, with classic trumpet; 20 inches highReplete: Double flower: creamy outer petals and a ruffly, peach-colored center instead of a classic trumpet; 12 to 18 inches highTickled Pinkeen: Creamy-yellow outer petals with a classic trumpet in a salmon-orange color; 16 inches highProfessor Einstein: White outer petals with an orange cup in the center; 16 inches high
Victoria Blue (S. farinacea Victoria Blue), hardy only in zone 7 and warmer May Night (S. nemorosa May Night), zones 5 through 9 Caradonna (S. nemorosa Caradonna), zones 4 through 8 Blue Hill (S. nemorosa Blue Hill), zones 4 through 8
There are irises with small, delicate flowers such as the reticulated (Iris reticulata), but also irises with big, bold blooms such as Iris germanica Batik (24 inches tall, USDA zones 4 through 9, full sun). Its fragrant, purple flowers are streaked with irregular blotches of white.
