My bulb project, Before picture #1

This is the first time I have made a big project of planting Spring bulbs. Here are Before pictures and hopefully in a few months, there will be something pretty to share again. In this area of Mexican plum trees, I planted Gravetye Giant summer slowflake, white Spanish bluebells, pale blue Persian bluebells, Rolf Fiedler and Wisley Blue ipheion (sp?), and "Spring Beauty" Scilla. The bulbs won't be competing with any plants except the trees. There are lots of deciduous trees around. I read that these bulbs do okay without full, bright sun.. We'll see how it all turns out!
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What a beautiful planting area! Looking forward to spring pics!

Thanks so much!

I'm so excited to see what happens. Some of the first grape hyacinths I planted among all those iris have begun to come up. They're a couple of inches tall now and it's just ridiculous how pumped up I get, seeing that!

Oh well. Gardening keeps me off the streets, I guess.

What a great project. I think the secret of good gardening is good planning so you should be rewarded in a few months. Let us see how it turns out :)

Galanthophile, thanks for the encouragement! I will definitely post a picture or two as things develop. It's really not too long to wait, where I live in Texas, with winters that are usually pretty mild.
Nancy

Yes the spring flowers will be here in no time! :)

Lovely spot for a bed of spring bulbs. Can't wait to see it in bloom!

I agree with the above assessment. So too, awaiting the spring sensation.

Thanks to all of you! I'll post a picture as they begin to come up.

Any sprouts? I'm wondering along with everyone else how your (very ambitious) project is going!

Hi, Tabasco! Thanks for asking. I had been thinking it was about time for a progress report, and it makes me feel great to know someone is curious. :) We have had big weather swings. First there was a spell of temperatures much lower than usual for us---13 degrees for a few nights. ( Major Anxiety) Then it went up to 65 to 70 for about a week. (Major Pleasure!) The plants have been getting Stop N' Go messages.

I'm getting the first flowers of the Great Bulb Project. I have some Avalanche narcissus and a yellow Crocus or two. The Ice Follies and Bridal Crown daffodils have lots of buds, as well as the grape hyacinths. Naturally all these are the ones growing in the sunnier spots. In the picture I posted first, it's shady and sprouts are barely showing. I'll have to see how it goes... I read that the Spanish Bluebells may take "a few years" to get established in dry shade. Bah humbug on Deferred Gratification.

Thank you again for your message.
NLaw

Avalanche daffodils--

Ice Follies daffodils:

Grape hyacinths:

Under the Mexican plum trees that are pictured at the beginning of this thread, it looks about the same way now as when that photo was taken! It's shady. Here are the first sprouts:

NLaw, I have similar projects as yours. I had a big disappointment last year when, after planting 600+ supposedly blooming grade daffs from Van Engelen, less than 10% bloomed. Were they immature, was my soil improperly prepared? This year I shall find out. I have a lot of greens returning so I'm hopeful.

As to other bulb projects, my other minor disappointment has been that even though I took great care in selecting varities suited for the south and furthermore, varieties that bloomed at the same time, (one area was all early, another mid, etc.) blooming times have not been consistent so there will be an area w/ pretty blooms and right next to it a big bare patch. I wanted it to look like in the pictures of those great, wonderful bulb gardens where ALL is blooming at the same time! lol

maybe with time.... I'm certainly hopeful for you and for me.

Here is a 50 bulb patch of tazetta daff Inbal presently in bloom (mostly)

OK, so who else is jealous that they get daffs in January in TX? LOL

Fun photos -- what a great spot for spring bulbs!

Vossner-- I love your tazetta group. That is a cheerful sight. I know what you mean about trying to get the timing down, to reproduce in the garden the ambitious picture we have in mind. I tell myself that lots of these bulbs naturalize, so the show will be better (with luck) for the next few years. No question about it though, I would be so bummed if only 10% of what I planted came up! Actually, on one or two of my selections, I got 0% -- but it was my own dumb fault. The new small refrigerator I got was set too cold and some bulbs froze.

For bloom times, I have pored over the bulb trial "historical data" put online by the Dallas Arboretum. Have you ever looked at that? They do so much research for their "Dallas Blooms" extravaganza. You can see about everything there is to know for 100's of varieties of bulbs, with data from several years in a row. It's the most wonderful resource.

I want to go see their bulb exhibit. It begins in mid-March.

There is enough weather diff between Dallas/Houston so data from your arboretum might not apply well for my area. But I will look at it and also see if our arboretum has a similar database. Thanks for the tip. I would love to see the bulb exhibit. Maybe I'll be able to. if yes, I'll let you know and we can meet. We have a great bulb grower from Ft Worth, Steve_FtWorth. Do you know Steve? Great guy, very knowledgeable and my "go to" guy when I want to talk bulbs and lilies for TX. He'll be here to comment, I'm sure.

I also try to keep w/ north FL data re: daffs but I haven't found much there either.

Yes -- Steve is amazing. He is so helpful and his garden is divine, as you know!

He urged me to plant more lilies-- and he has the recommendations for good ones for our area.

I can't take on one more thing though.... ( We all say that.... )

Vossner, PS-- It would be a lot of fun to meet at the Arboretum in Dallas. It's unbelievable. I do have to wait until after March 13th though, because my daughter's wedding is in our yard. (one big reason for all these bulbs!)

NLaw & Vossner, Thank You, Thank You so much for showing your lovely spring bulbs. They are such a welcome sight! It is very frustrating when you try so hard to pick bulbs that will bloom at certain times and they end up disappointing. I have found that almost none of my first year plantings bloom according to the expected schedules. They normalize their blooming routine a lot more in their second year.

Vossner, did you contact Van Engelen about those daffs? Is it possible that they weren't chilled long enough?

Nlaw, How exciting to have a wedding in your home. It will be glorious!

Stormy, I wrestled w/ VE til I was blue in the face. They have on their side years & years & years of experience selling bulbs. I have limited exp. growing bulbs so my position was weak based on those facts alone. Daffs that I got from other vendors bloomed as scheduled, but VE knew they were dealing w/ an inexperienced customer, so not too inclined to give me the time of day. But a year has gone by and if they bloom, I'll be happy. Blooming bulbs is what I wanted more than anything, proving them wrong was secondary. Needless to say, they were not among the vendors I chose in fall 2009, lol.

Oh well, sorry you had to go through that. They usually are a pretty reputable company. Hopefully you will have more than 650 blooming beauties there this year, now that they've had a good rest!

NLaw, thanks for satiating my curiousity about your garden. Looks like your Ice Follies are coming in strong!

Voss, I have been thinking about you and your bulb project, and not to beat a dead horse, did you see that B & B sells some "pre-cooled' bulbs? Not very many different kinds, but, oh, well... I bought several dozen to force in pots this winter and I'm now enjoying a blast of spring color in the window against the snow covering.

Hiya T, long time no see. I appreciate it if you give my ramblings some thought. Like stormy suggested, it may have very well been insufficient cooling. I had the VE bulbs delivered on Oct 31, their last shipping date. However, that is still short and flip flop weather in my area. It may have been too warm. Bulbs from other companies were delivered in Dec and they all did well. So a good outcome of this episode was that I will not take delivery b4 Dec. Just too warm for me. I didn't have to get precooled from B&B and they bloomed last year. I think that the Inbals that I posted above came from them, late Dec 2009 delivery.

I don't know if VE sells precooled and I don't have the facility to cool them myself. I'll just have to get from places that can ship in Dec of buy locally at that time.

Voss there are plenty out there that do not need such cool weather to bloom. There is a guy in california that sells daff and such. If I can ever find his site I will post the link. I had quite a few return this year and they have been blooming since late October early Nov.

No, Van Engelen doesn't sell pre-cooled. Just this week I e-mailed their customer service to ask and 'Edie' replied that they don't do it. I wanted them for 'forcing' next year. I did read on various websites and blogs that southern garden centers 'precool' their own bulbs for sale, though. Why don't you e-mail Van Engelen and ask them anyway (if you're still speaking to them)? Then maybe they will get the hint that we want more 'pre-cooled' on the market. I don't have room to precool many myself, either.

marieortiz, that California guy is probably 'Easy to Grow Bulbs' and I have used them before (and I think Voss has too, right?) I like their customer service.

Nery, I have a feeling those Daffs will bloom this spring, I'm anxious to see how they do for you. Do you recall the size of the bulbs when you planted them?

hiya Neal. When I think back and when I compare w/ the bulbs I got from Old House Gardens, the bulbs from fall 2008 were smallish. Cross your fingers, will ya, that they'll bloom this year. You know I will be posting on every thread in town if they do bloom, lol. I have a lot of green coming up, just like last year.

No, not speaking to VE but I get over things like that, so who knows about the future.

Easy to grow bulbs, Old House Garden, B&B is from whom I got bulbs in 2009, plus sale bulbs at HD. I think the buy that Marie is talking about is in CA, and I was too late to get from him. He has an outstanding collection/inventory. Is it the Bulb Man? somethng like that. I will post a link to his website later.

this pic was taken from DH's office window. My ambitious plan is to have a lawn full of daffs. Long way to go, huh? I don't want a cultivated garden in this area, just lawn w/ spring blooming bulbs, then lawn again. I was inspired by a pic somebody posted here about the very old lady that had like 50,000+ daffs planted in her garden. The pic has circulated around on the net, I bet many of know which one I'm talking about.

a slightly closer look of my patch of 50 Inbals, looking prettier today. I remember the first time I read that a DGer had bought 300 daffs for her garden. Holy Smokes!, I was aghast. couldn't fathom why you'd need so many or how big her garden had to be. But when you see what 50 bulbs look like, planting hundreds or even thousands, doesn't seem so outrageous. I'm trying to get the most vigorous I can find, so that I don't have to buy, buy, buy and let Mother Nature help me a lil bit.

I have some more Inbals planted elsewhere but all I have is greens so far.

BTW, my bulbs were planted 6" apart, per instructions.

I have not gotten daffs from him (I was too late) but have gotten some others (can't remember right this minute).
http://www.billthebulbbaron.com/

Yep That is who I was thinking of. I have not had a chance to order from him. Hopefully this year I will be able to. I thought the same thing too when I heard someone ahd purchased 300 bulbs but now that I have ben buying and planting them 300 is not very many at all.

Vossner, I think you've got a great start on your field of Daffs there. Just keep adding 3 or 4 varieties every year and before you know it, your dream will come true. Daffs are such cooperative little plants. They just love to reward us with babies.

Ah, yes, 'Bill the Bulb Man' near Carmel. How can you resist buying daff bulbs from him when his tag line on the web site is "as easy to grow as weeds!"?

Voss, you 'Inbals' are very pretty. I'm not familiar with that variety but will look it up.

Vossner, the picture showing the area outside your DH's office window looks like a great place for your bulb project. What a picture-perfect setting for naturalized bulbs! Thanks for posting that.

As Stormyla said, it will be fun to add more bulbs gradually. This year I chose some from the early, mid, and late bloomers recommended for my area, to keep the show going as long as possible. I made a crude sort of map/diagram of what is planted where, so I can add more of the best-looking ones. However, I never met a daffodil I didn't like...

Hi Nancy, it is great to see the progress on your new garden!! I have some crocus blooming now as well (some white ones) and lots of sprouts as you do, but no daffodil blooms yet but lots of buds, Love the "Avalanche" blooms. I had some Grand Soleil d'Or (I think) - bloomed fine last year and this year one of the first to send up sprouts/buds, but our deep freeze did them in and they're withered and brown - fortunately my St Kevernes are up and appear unaffected and should bloom by the time I get back home (I am in Atlanta now on a business trip). I love your setting and will be excited to see how all of it looks upon blooming.

Nery, thanks for the kind words - though you're becoming quite the southern bulb connoisseur/expert yourself! I love your patch of blooming daffodils. I wish you luck on everything returning and you finally getting blooms on that batch of VE bulbs you planted. Who knows what happened with them (sigh)? There are so many daffs that do so well in the south; the only Naarcissi I have struggled with regarding good return have been some of the whites like Stainless and maybe the Poeticus daffs, which didn't come back well (not really my favorites, anyway), but even the trumpets (most rated to zone 7) seem to do well. I really like Gigantic Star (possibly the biggest, brightest yellow I have seen) and St Keverne, a medium-sized but very showy yellow - both known to do well though 8b/9a.

Those are both Large Cup Narcissi I believe - the Large Cups tend to be better in the south than the Trumpets - does either of you have Jonquilla (div.7) daffs (like Quail, Hillstar, Suzy, Kedron, etc)? They are great performers and bloom a little later.

This message was edited Feb 1, 2010 6:16 AM

howdy Stevie. I have hillstar from VE. I see lots of greens so hopeful. thanks for your comments.

Hi, Steve. I'm glad to hear from you! Gigantic Star and St. Keverne will be on my list to add next.

I'd like to run something past you. ---I bought a bunch of Bridal Crown double daffodils, and they are coming up "bud first". The big, fat buds are emerging right out of the soil. What do you think about that? It doesn't look normal to me. Some of the buds have grown on up about four or five inches, and they still look ready to burst just as they did at soil level. Surely one will open any day now. I'll get a picture of them posted tomorrow.