What fall planted bulbs will you order this year?

Love that one. Here are mine if they are what they are suppose to be. I got them from a less reliable source than normal but they have done nicely. Patti

Between the bright red blooms and the white-edged leaves, those little guys are just too darn cute. I figured I'd need to plant at least 25 to make a nice showing... I think I will put them in the same little triangular patch as the 'Ocean' muscari... not sure if they'll bloom together, but maybe.

I think T. praetens is supposed to perennialize. Have yours multiplied at all?

I would say they have not gained in number, but have held their own so far ,or diminished only slightly.. I have them planted in a rather dry spot with the hope that they will march on. Yesterday we planted 1449 bulbs and now off to do the rest of the stash. I wished I had ordered a few more things, but I will be glad to get it done. Patti

Good grief! I do well to plant one or two hundred "big bulbs" like daffs and maybe a few bags of little bulbs beside. You use a bulb auger on a drill, right? I'd hoped to try that this year, but it'll have to wait until next season, still healing. :-)

You're going to be delighted with all those additional blooms next year. Wowza!

Y'all are killing me with the bulb orders and number of bulbs planted. I just finished planting the last of the irises today, and did more garden clean up, and haven't even started on the bulbs yet. Now I'm freaking out because we have snow in the forecast this week. What happened to global warming, I worked in the garden with no coat today, this week we'll be freezing our tushies off:-(

The muscari and Dutch iris are up and out. I'm going to thin the muscari as I'm putting in the other bulbs, they've formed nice clumps, but I want them more spread out. I want to take advantage of the bulb sale, but until I get the ones I have planted, I can only look at the different websites and drool. Thanks for the info about B&B critterologist.

We do use an auger and because we live on a sandy Island, rocks are not an issue. My DH does most of the drilling while I drop the bulbs into the holes. We then rake and do a little dance to pack them into their new homes.

The big thing when planting so many bulbs is to have the plan all figured out in advance and to have all the bulbs organized as to where they are being planted. I mark each bag as they arrive by reading about them from my journal. I take notes on all things that I order and determine when ordering them as to where they are going to be planted. When the bulbs arrive, I mark them and then I put each bag in a labeled shopping bag or box which is marked with the planting location, so all bulbs to be planted in a certain bed are now together in a bag or box.

On planting day(s) I tip toe through the garden with my loot and distribute them to their new homes and then we begin to plant. I think we spend as much time on the research, entry work and sorting and distributing as we do on the planting. Plus doing a through pre-planting bed cleaning is key.

But it will produce a spring delight. I did the totals tonight and after the final bunch go in the ground tomorrow we will have planted 4637 for 2011. We have had 2 amazing days of weather and I hope it holds for tomorrow as I want to be done in the record time of 3 days. I have to go to Boston for the next 4 days so it really must be done. Bulbs away! Patti

Wow, that's over 4 1/2 kilobulbs! I hear you on the organization & planning, definitely necessary even when doing much smaller numbers. I don't try for anything like the Keukenhoff's patterned beds, though... I'm more of a "clumps of bloom and sweeps of color" planter.

Ha, I am a clumper and sweeper too. Patti

I finally started planting some tulips today, got 100 Bloomsday, 20 Fiery Affair bouquet and 12 Ice Cream tulips planted. I also got daff. Ice King and some hyacinth L' Innocence planted. Just a couple more hundred to go. It was wet and rainy, and getting colder this week, so hopefully I can get the rest done. Our ground is still pretty warm here.

Glad I'm not the only one still planting!

I've still got maybe 75 daffs and several hundred "little bulbs" to go... depending on the weather, I may end up punting with the daffs and just stuff them into the vegetable garden! I can dig them up in spring after they've bloomed... Joyanna and I went outside to fill the bird feeders yesterday, and she asked, "Mommy, can we plant bulbs? please?" That's my girl! LOL So we planted hyacinths, and she helped me dig a really big hole for 5 lily bulbs (orienpet).

Today was rainy & chilly here, too. We stayed inside. Wimps! ;-)

Now that is sweet!! I still have more to plant but we had a hard freeze the last 2 nights and I am a wimp and hate that kind of cold. Maybe this weekend I will get the rest planted!!

LOL... we've been doing so much planting this summer & this fall; she probably thinks that's all there is to do in the back yard!

Rainy here again. Might be a day to pot amaryllises... gotta get my daily dirt fix!

I finally got a bunch of bulbs planted this weekend. 100 Parrot tulips mix, 100 Blushing Lady tulips, 100 Gudoschnick tulips, 50 daffodil pink mix, 60 Hyacinth City of Haarlem, most of Dutch iris Apollo, some of the daffs Irene Copeland, some of the Allium Purple Sensation, and the rest of the pansies and poppy plants.

Yesterday I spent several hours digging and dividing hundreds of muscari that had gotten too clumpy. Now they're in a nice neat line in front of daff. Tahiti, and tulips Sancere, La Courtine, and Gudoschnick which are now all mixed in the same bed. It was rather chilly but worth all the hard work. Spring should be interesting.

This message was edited Dec 11, 2011 10:46 PM

It's such fun envisioning what all that will look like... the parrot tulips look like such a carnival; I always "mean" to plant some and then end up with something else.

"Digging and dividing" -- I think I have a lot of that to do around here. If I don't get to it this year, I'll have to make it a priority next summer/fall.

I got a lot more bulbs planted today, but still 660 more to go. It was rainy, but still warm here. My Narcissus Hawera has already sprouted, and my lily Regale is out and about 3 in tall. This time last year it had been very cold for weeks. We're supposed to reach 70* tomorrow. These bulbs are really confused.

'Hawera' is such a pretty little thing... a friend of mine has a bunch of them, says they multiply really well for her, and I think it's one that's supposed to deal with warmer zones better also... bet they will really put on a show for you, with more sunny blooms every year!

I managed to keep mine relatively cool in the basement but still had some sprouting... I planted oriental lily bulbs last spring that were sprouted up 3-4" and they did OK, probably had smaller/fewer blooms than they might have had if they'd had a chance to grow better roots before the flower stem started popping up, but who knows.

I planted 2 final bags of bulbs recently at my DMIL's, 50 'Pinocchio' tulips & 100 cobalt Muscari armeniacum in a tiny front bed that holds 3 new 'Double Knockout' roses. I do have a few misc. leftovers that will get tucked into pots next week.

I still have amaryllises to pot up, though. Do those count as "fall bulbs?" LOL I'll do anything for an excuse to get my hands in the dirt (or potting mix), it seems.

I agree, dirty hands or bust!!!! LOL

Happy Holidays everyone.

With all the talk about 'sales' and late-season planting, I'd like to share my story. I place a large order for bulbs with VanBourgondien each August. I order enough that I get their wholesale prices and feel good that I get exactly what I want at a price that's fair. That said, I'm not about 'adding' to my bulb purchases by taking advantage of late-season sales.

The week before Christmas I was spending the afternoon doing last-minute cleanup in the garden, taking advantage of our unseasonably mild weather, and realized I have the perfect area for some bulbs in the mulched areas around three topiary hydrangeas (one of the few areas I haven't filled with bulbs - lol). I called two local nurseries to see what bulbs they have left and check prices. One very large nursery had plenty of bulbs but they were only 25% off (not too smart in late December, if you ask me). The other had marked their bulbs down to 50%, but only had a few tulips, no daffodils. My third call was to a feed/seed/spice store in the local Farmer's Market where I have shopped for the last 35 years. They had lots of "Improved King Alfred" daffodils - AND they were 75% off! I was able to get 8 dozen double and triple-nose bulbs for $15! I ran to the store, hand-picked the largest bulbs and had them planted before it got dark.

Here we are in January, the temp today is supposed to reach 60 degrees and I'm going out searching for another spot that could take some bulbs. When I bought the daffodils they still had lots of tulips... hmmmm.

Well LG, it certainly makes me feel better that you're still planting bulbs in zone 5, and I'm in zone 7!

After I ordered the bulbs on line earlier this week, I looked at the flower beds and realized there was no way I could fit 70+ bulbs in that little spot! I have no idea what I'm going to do with the rest of the bulbs. The other beds are being sheet mulched right now and the clay is still too "clay-ey" for the bulbs. I guess I could pot them up, but I don't have a lot of pots, either... Well, this is certainly a fun problem to have!

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one with bulbs left to plant. I didn't take advantage of the end of season sale because I hadn't planted the bulbs I had already ordered. It's going into the 60's here this weekend so I hope that I can get the last few hundred planted. The bulbs will just have to adjust their bloom time next year. I guess this is what happens when I spent too much time out of town.

I went to one of our local nurseries today to buy seeds for winter sowing, and as I was checking out I smelled the most wonderful scent. I had been walking all over the store and had passed through the orchid section that had a nice chocolatey sent, it was orchid Sharry Baby. HOWEVER, at the check-out the other scent drew me to start looking for it. I asked the cashier, and low and behold about 10ft away they had blooming hyacinths on sale for $1.50. It was worth every penny, I bought 2. Here's the first, that's now perfuming my room.

Here's the other that's now perfuming the kitchen. It is amazing how one little bulb can give off so much scent. Annette

The scent of springtime! Good deal. (Did you get 'Sharry Baby' also?)

No, I believe I already have her in my poor tortured orchid collection.

LOL... I have a collection like that, but it's been shrinking

Yep, mine too.

Happy Birthday LeawoodGardener. I hope that you have an amazing day, and may you have many more Blessed, healthy gardening years. Annette

Thanks for the Birthday wishes, Annette!

My day was filled with warm greetings from friends and family - just what you'd want on a cold day in the Midwest! I worked in the basement, watered plants that are spending the winter by the windows, and looked through a couple catalogs to see what I can't resist ordering for spring.

I've decided to tear out the grass and build a new garden in the middle of my yard next spring (between the two large urns in this pic). I will finally have a 'sun' garden where I can grow more of the things I have wanted to add, but lacked the space and light. Stay tuned; I'll start a new thread when I begin the construction.

Wow Leawood what a beautiful garden you have.

Wow my Tulips are already blooming. About a month early here in AZ.

LG, I'm glad you've had a good day so far, and I agree with Valsflowers, what an amazing garden. New beds that give us more room to plant are always exciting. I did 2 big ones last spring by layering composted manure, soil conditioner, topsoil and pine straw on top of biodegradable landscape fabric without removing the grass. It was done for some new peonies that I got this fall. It was wonderful to work in it this fall. Of course more bulbs were added here as well, along with irises, daylilies, and lilies. I'm already again out of room LOL.

Valsflowers, unbelievable to see tulip blooms in January. Congrats on posting the first bulb bloom of 2012. My Narcissus Cassata has buds, and will bloom in the next few weeks. It made it through the temps in the 20's last week without problems.

I decided to try my hand at growing Colocasia Elephant Ears, they grow real tall. and Banana tree. I might have to move some roses to plant the Banana trees though. Unless you think they would be ok together?

That would be an interesting experiment! My bananas never seemed to send roots very deeply or to cast much shade (bright/partial shade at best), so they may well do just fine with your roses. If you're not sure, how about trying them in big pots placed behind/between your roses... that way, you could move them if they got out of hand... ?

That is a good idea. I do that with my cannas and elephant ears now
Thanks

Marie, since your elephant ears plant is in a container, do you bring it in for the winter?

I dig out the bulbs and let them dry and store them for the winter. In the spring I replant them in new dirt in the same large pots. When it was just one EE and small I did bring it in, but now I have too many and they are too big. Last year I mistakenly plant Canna and EE together. I hope I dont make that mistake again this year...lol

I ordered 75 tulips and 200 daffs that I planted fall of 2011 and I am already thinking that I should have ordered more. Of course the year before I planted hundreds of each. There are still lots of spots that could use more bulbs, especially the daffs and tulips that I will be planting this fall again also. Thats what I do, keep planting each fall and just keep adding more bulbs.

Hey Rita, I keep ordering bulbs every late summer/fall, and I'm finally starting to run out of room. Except for replacing tulips, I don't think I'll be ordering the number of daffs that I have in the past, unless I take out more grass. I already made 2 beds last spring for peonies, and added lots of bulbs to them already. I'm just waiting for my daffs to multiply so that I can spread them around. My DH should appreciate that I'm trying to demonstrate some self control. Let's see how long that lasts LOL.

I am adding the bulbs to beds I have already made here. No more room for any new gardenbeds and no more grass to dig up. But I have room to add bulbs and that's what I keep doing. Absolutely worth it when they bloom in the spring.

I have a large bed that I plant with new tulips each year so I have something 'fresh' in the most visible part of my garden for all the neighborhood walkers to see. After they are done blooming and the foliage has died back in June, I lift the bulbs for the summer and replant somewhere else in the garden in the fall.

In November I planted 1,000 "Olympic Flame" Darwin tulips and 100 "Purple Sensation" allium in the bed (http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1241176/). They are just starting to sprout. Here's how they looked on Sunday (Feb 26).