New to bulbs and tulips...HELP!?

Hi all....new gardener here, having never planted a bulb in my life yet!! Started my first garden (small) this summer with a few perennials and would love to see a few clumps of tulips next spring...but don't quite know where to start other than to say I know I would like something tall, white, creamy white or soft yellow combination. I'm in zone 5b and the spot for them would be part shade. Will that work? Any suggestions as to what might fill that bill would be greatly appreciated. I'm guessing there's a huge variety out there -- which is why I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with where to start! And...I guess I also need to think about chicken wire for the daily squirrel visits?

Thanks! Sharron T.

Your part shade, is it deciduous trees? Most dec. trees are not leafed out by the time the spring bulbs are blooming so you can get away with planting sun loving tulips, daffs, alliums, etc under or near them.

hey kooger.... boy do I feel dumb! I hadn't even thought about the tree, so thanks for that. However, the place I plan to plant them isn't near the tree, rather a north-facing front walkway that sees only afternoon sunshine. Since posting this morning, I made the mistake of running into Reno Depot here to pick up an item and walked right into a huge bin of tulip bulbs at what I thought were very good prices (at least that's what all the shoppers were saying). I'm afraid I may have gone a little overboard! I now have ooooodles of bulbs to plant! Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to cram the 'early', 'mid-season' and 'late' purchases I couldn't resist. Hmmmmmm, I'm having visions of a tulip festival on my front walkway! :-)

Do you have a Menard's? They have a bulb sale on too. Cheaper than HD. I checked both. Tulips are $2.50 with a $2.50 rebate. Limit 3 per rebate. 14 in a bag. Other bulbs, like Fritillaria and Alliums and Irises and Hems are all $2.99.

Wish I hadn't dropped out of French class - never did make it to Quebec City yet. One of my dreams! I grew up 70 miles NE of Toronto.

Here's a website that provides a lot of information about bulbs and a wonderful planting guide. Different bulbs are planted at different depths and this site has a chart which shows the depth of (probably) all of the bulbs you'll likely have purchased.

http://houseandhome.msn.com/garden/bulbplantingandcareguide0.aspx

Good luck! Bulbs are awesome "perennials".

kooger...don't have a Menard's that I know of, but then I've only been in 'la belle province' since 2001 having migrated from Halifax, Nova Scotia where I spent the last 30 odd years (sure do miss the sea) So, just where exactly is '70 miles NE of Toronto'?. I spent a lot of my early years 'on the road', so I've probably been there! In any event, it sounds like the sale at Menard's is better than what I got. But then again, being new to the whole gardening thing, I thought 5 bulbs for $1.85 was pretty darned good...so (naturally), I managed to drop about $60. Sheesh! I think somebody should just chain me to the house! This gardening stuff can sure add up... :-)

smiln -that's a great link. I printed it to file away.

stimmins - was born in Picton, moved at 7 mos. to 1 mile south of Cannington (straight up from Oshawa). Parents sold the farm and moved to Lindsay in the mid 80s. Dad is still there. ... You did fine with that price - wait til spring, it'll be beautiful! And it does add up, that's why DG is so great. You can trade for what you want or sent postage. It's much harder from Canada tho. You can probably only trade seeds. It's a real pain what that dumb imaginary line called a border can do to ya. :)

smilin....thanks so much for the link! Like kooger, I have also printed the info and it looks like it could be very helpful indeed!.

Kooger....haven't done the trading thing yet, being fairly new to DG, but from the bit of reading I've done on the site, you're right -- it's probably easier state side. Anywho...I certainly have enough bulbs to keep my busy planting for awhile. Now the challenge will be to see if I can re-create the images in my mind, to my front walkway ! :-)

stimmins:

Am new to planting bulbs, also, but tried some thing that worked pretty well last yr.
I am in 7b but think this would work for you. Because of squirrels and chipmunks, I planted some tulip bulbs in two big pots. Over the bulbs, I planted hardy pansies. They 'hunkered' down when it got really cold, but didn't die. They looked great all winter-adding real color. Then, in spring, up popped the tulips in the middle of the pansies. Just make sure the colors work w each other if you decide to try this. Hope you can have hardy pansies in your zone.

Jay (smooth)