I'm so glad you brought this issue up, because I have been negligent in
posting about a GREAT thing I found at IKEA recently!  They sell little,
tiny greenhouses that you can put SMALL plants in!  They are so neat!
 
They have both vertical and horizontal models.  These greenhouses are about
the size that you would put on your windowsill.  I bought the horizontal
one, and it fits a standard size windowbox just PERFECTLY!  It's about 18"
or so long, and about five inches high on one side, and seven inches high
on the other.  (It has a sloped "lid").
 
The whole thing was quite inexpensive (around $15, I think), and it's
fairly sturdy.  I believe it is made of either balsa or pine wood, and the
"glass" is some sort of clear plastic ... kind of like the glass in Weezel
Watcher "gates".  There's a gap under the lid of mine to allow air
circulation, and the bottom consists of a wire grid, to allow more air in
to the plant.  The horizontal version does not have a latch on its lid ..
but since the lid is at an angle and is FAIRLY heavy (and has nothing that
a ferret can really grasp to push on), they haven't managed to open it yet.
 
The vertical one would be slightly better than the horizontal one for
plants a few inches in height ..  it has one or two shelves set a few
inches above each other.  There is also a latch on the door of that one,
so you can latch the ferrets out, and your plants in. :->  (You could
install a latch on the lid of the horizontal one very easily, too).
 
Since the wood is unfinished, you could also easily paint it or stain
it to match pretty much any decor.  I was so happy when I found these
things! :->  I believe IKEA ships if you don't have a store near you, and
they might even be on sale, since IKEA has a HUGE sale about this time
every summer.  I found them in the plant/nursery section of the store, I
believe.
 
Oh, and the other thing I've done that worked (although it looked ugly) was
to buy deer netting and wrap it over and around my plants.  I put a few
stakes in the pot first to hold the deer netting away from the plant, and
then just wrapped the plant several times, and fastened the netting with a
binder clip.  The holes in the netting are large enough to allow plenty of
air circulation, but small enough to keep ferrets OUT.  Like I said, it's
not the most attractive "look" in the whole world, though .. the mini
greenhouses from IKEA look MUCH better!
 
Hope that helps.
 
- Ela
[Posted in FML issue 3429]