What's eating my dwarf crocus?

Dwarf Crocus (Crocus minimus), a tiny Sardinian species, is at greatest risk from mice and voles which easily locate and eat the very small corms. Birds peck open the delicate flowers. Because of its miniature size it is best grown in a raised bed, trough, or alpine house where rodent and slug damage can be more easily controlled.

Tiny corms dug out and eaten almost immediately after planting; plants simply do not emerge. Grow in raised troughs or an alpine house; line outdoor beds with wire mesh; set mouse traps nearby in severe cases.

Small flowers pecked open; petals removed at ground level. Stretch fine thread above the planting; growing in a trough close to a wall gives partial shelter.

Flowers and emerging shoots nibbled; the tiny plant can be destroyed by a single slug. Surround with a grit or sharp-sand barrier; use iron phosphate bait sparingly; grow in raised containers with copper-tape rims.