My Losing Tulip Battle

I read recently that tulips are good air purifiers - removing formaldehyde, xylene and ammonia from the atmosphere.

They're also very pretty spring flowers.

The book on growing fresh air recommends having potted tulips in the house as air purifiers.

I might try that - and when their season ends, I'll transplant them all in the garden...

But I'm not sure how successful I'll be.

One year, I planted a lot of tulip bulbs - but I didn't plant them deep enough. The squirrels dug most of them up and ate them.

A few survived. Here in my front garden bed, three red tulips were about to bloom a few days ago... Then a squirrel ate one flower... Then another.

I'm not sure what part of the tulip they eat - but the red petals end up lying on the ground.

I have a few yellow tulips in the back yard. I wonder how long before they get eaten, too.

Some years I carefully sprinkle pepper on the tulips. I'm not sure it helps a lot, and it does have to be reapplied regularly.

Some years - like this year - I simply give up!