OK, time to confess! what bulbs did you order this fall?!

Whatever these primula I grow are, they must be among the toughest of the genus. They don't really seem to care much where they grow. When the temps get hot, they just become demure little tufts of foliage, and don't seem to mind being covered with other plants. But these other varieties look and sound wonderful! Got to start collecting some of those and perhaps try my hand at seeding them. Neal.

We planted a "few" bulbs. I placed a couple orders with dutchbulbs.com prior to finding DG (please let me know if you ordered from this company and the quality of their bulbs!). A couple Fragrant Jonquil mixes (50 bulbs), a couple bags of Ixiolirion pallasii (80 bulbs), Eranthis hyemalis (10 bulbs). Plus, we just bought this house in July (our first :-) ) and in the middle of August a Magic Lily popped up in the middle of the backyard to our surprise LOL! This fall, we went to dig it up and found at least 50 individuals!!! We felt like we hit the Lotto (My husband and I are new gardeners)! We gave alot away to friends and family and planted many all around the yard. I'm very glad I found DG!!! It's a treasure trove for a new gardener! Please let me know of your experiences with dutchbulbs.com...Thanks, Denise

zanesville--Welcome to DG and thanks for listing all your bulbs! You have ordered some interesting bulbs and must have quite an ambitious project to look forward to, so I hope we will get to see some pics come spring of your bulb garden and new house.

I personally have not ordered from dutchbulbs--but isn't that the internet site for Van Bourgondien's?--and although they don't have a good record on Garden Watchdog, I am sure you will do just fine.

I will say that Debbi Van Bourgondien writes some interesting articles about how to use bulbs on her site, and as a new bulb gardener, I refer to them often. http://www.dutchbulbs.com/nbulblady.html

Good luck. t.

Well, I have to amend my previous entry ;~) I purchased some more bulbs (I hope I get them in the ground in time). I ordered from Brent & Becky. I got 10 Hycacinth 'Top Hit,' 10 Fressia - Double Mix, and 50 spring crocus - tommasinianus 'Ruby Giant!' I'm thinking of planting these as a surprise for my husband. Except, I'm one of those people who finds it hard to wait to surprise someone! That's why I do a lot of last minute Christmas shopping LOL! I bought my husband one of those weather stations that gives all kinds of info and predicts the weather...I'm really trying to hold out until Christmas to give it to him! Anyway...does anyone have experience growing fressia indoors? This will be my first time and any info would be appreciated! Denise

Hi Denise,

I just love the scent of freesia! So fresh. They tend to get floppy so its nice to have
something to hold 'em up. I have a plastic hoop I use for this. I also think they like it a
bit cool (to keep from flopping). I've forced them a few years successfully so be sure
to feed 'em and treat them nice. You might get multiple years too.

Tam

PS: My Sister in Law couldn't wait to get her presents one of the first years they were
married. She found the presents in the back of my brothers closet, opened them all
to see what was in 'em and then rewrapped them. Obviously she shared this with him
and now we love to tease her about it (many years later!) You would be a good
pair up with her - everyone "wins" - you fold & tell, she doesn't have to wait. LOL

I ordered "standard" bulbs this fall -- 1) 80 grape hyacinths, which I planted yesterday in front of my astilbes, 2) 30 "Tete-a-Tete" daffodils to naturalize between my holly trees, and 3) 24 "Apricot Beauty" tulips to plant among my astible, which also bloom apricot. The tulips were definitely an impulse buy I'll regret. We have several deer in the neighborhood that keep my hostas mowed to the ground. I'll have to try deer repellent next spring if I want to see the tulips bloom.

Oh, I forgot my other impulse buy: 7 fall-blooming hardy cyclamen. They're supposed to bloom a salmon color; I have no idea how they will work out, but I planted them last weekend.

This message was edited Oct 30, 2005 10:02 AM

Well - I got 767 bulbs planted yesterday and just 200 more to go.
I realized as I was unpacking the order, I didn't get any daffodils this
year! I may just see what goes on sale :-)
Tam

OH, sdagutis! Another salmon personl!! I prefer salmon and peach to pink myself! What is the name of your astilbe??
Tam are you using bulbs for entire gardens?

I put them all into a garden running along my driveway. This is a rural property
(an old farm) and on a hillside. There is a rock wall and a steep slope that I've
been working on for years to clear of the weeds & brambles. This summer I
planted it with daylilies. So now I'm putting in the bulbs. I thought I'd posted a
picture but I sure can't find it. Here's the area right after I planted the daylilies.
This spring it'll have crocus, tulips, lilies, anemones and oxalis before the daylilies
come into bloom.

Tam

PS: I have lots and lots of bulbs all over this place. Each new bed gets bulbs :-)

Tammy, I like the way you think!! Let no garden space go un-bulbed! That shall be my battle cry as I face the elements to get all those clearance bulbs in the ground! Neal.

I once read it described as "Fruit cake" gardening - where the ground is choke-full
of goodies! (Of course they meant the ground and not the gardener. LOL)
Tam

In my case, guess it applies to both! Must have a screw loose; last night I was visiting with friends and was lost in thought for a moment and someone made the comment "he's thinking about bulbs." After the laughs, I had to admit, indeed I was!

LOL!!

---well, it sounds like everyone will have 'bulbalaceous' bloom in the garden next spring (as my dear son says about my garden project)!

I can't wait to see the pictures in May and hear how everyone's combinations work out.

I am still working on my lily plantings--and have some concerns because I'm finding more new deer tracks right where I sprinkled lots of "deer scram" --which came highly recommended from the nursery! Joke's on me I guess!

Caught a mole in my trap, though. He's not laughing.

Beautiful planting weather here. The paper said today the 31st was our last day to plant perennials. Do you think they meant it? LOL

I picked up Louise Beebe Wilder's "Adventures with Hardy Bulbs: the Classic Work on the Care and Cultivation of over 350 bulbs", so now that I have everything planted I will find out what I did wrong...

But, as she says:

Clean and round,
Heavy and sound,
In every bulb a flower.

Happy gardening. t.

You know, spring is going to be so joyous!!!!!!!!!

There's nothing like the promise of gorgeous bloom to
drag us out to search on a cold winter day.
Tam

I'm running behind on all my garden stuff and had considered not ordering ANY bulbs this year. Right. :-)

I've got 60 daffs (replacements) coming from Brecks, and Aaron (eBay store, Rare Bulbs and Plants) owes me 60 'Little Beauty' species tulips due to mis-ID'd ones sent last year. I just had to order some more bulbs from Aaron, though, since I was so pleased with what he sent last year (in spite of the mislabeled variety). Oh, and Neal is sending me a bunch of little daffs in exchange for my 'Little Princess' bulbs (wrong color for me but right one for him).

So, I'll soon be out there planting:

60 yellow jonquils (back yard daff bed)
little yellow trumpet daffs from Gemini_sage (along walkway to front door)
60 'Little Beauty' species tulips (along side walkway)
100 Tommies 'Ruby Giant' (always room for these somewhere)
150 Muscari Latifolilium (to meander along in the center of my daff bed)
15 'Persian Pearl' species tulips (in 3 clumps along front walk)
99 Saffron Crocus (along front & side walkways)

Last year I planted about 800 bulbs, but most were little ones that went into new beds that had already been dug, so that sounds like more work than it was... still took a while, though!

Hey, Tabasco, about the timing issue you mentioned with your spring bulb combos.... I've noticed that my bulbs never seem to come up "when they're supposed to" in their first year and are often later than others of the same variety in my garden by days or by weeks. So you may see more of a chorused performance from them this spring.

I need to stop watching this thread, because when I read about you guys' bulbs, it makes me want to order more!

I can tell by this thread that most of you are much younger than I. My bulb order list used to look like yours, but now I have to restrain myself. Since having been been diagnosed as having angina, I have to be pretty careful of lifting anything very heavy, can only do a small amount of digging, But I intend to keep gardening as long as possible..

I didn't order any bulbs did buy a sack of 15 very nice large blue-purple tulip bulbs and got those planted. I do have quite a lot of bulbs in the year from previous years. Moved 9 hyacinth bulbs to a better location.

Here is a photo of one in a clump of Conquero fall blooming crocus.

DonnaS Can't locate the photo.

Rutholive (is it Donna?) - you might try potting up a few bulbs for the fridge!
Forcing some bloom for spring is always nice. (Gotta have room though.
I guess you'll have to eat out all winter if you go too crazy LOL)

Tam

critter--thanks for your encouragement on my bulb combination blooms. I am hopeful next spring everything will fall into synchrony. It looks like you still have quite a 'to do' list--but you won't get ice and snow for a bit yet, will you? ! You have time to plant lots more. LOL

rutholive--isn't it great that so many bulbs like to come back year after year. It saves so much work! I'm hoping after this year I will only have one bag of tulips to put in too. Besides, It will take that long to pay off my van engelen and B & B master card bill and nurse my back pain!

zanesville--did I tell you already I was over in Zanesville at the potteries last month? Had a good stop at Fioriware and toured the outlying potteries, too. Bought one big vase in anticipation of harvesting loads of daffodils for bouquets next spring!

We'd better not get ice and snow for a while.... I have a month of planting & gardening chores left! Actually, I have more like 2 or 3 months worth of stuff on my "to do" list, but isn't that always the way of things. :-)

I think the trick to getting lots of these small bulbs into the ground is to plant in clumps... 2 years ago, I was placing crocuses (crocci?) in clumps of 2-3, last year it was clumps of 5, this year I'm thinking clumps of 7 or maybe 15 are looking good, LOL. I'm just going to hoe up a trench for my "river" of hyacinths in the daff bed.

Oh, and I've already ordered one Amaryllis ('Emerald Butterfly') and will probably get more... do those count as "fall bulbs" if I'm not planting them outside?

Yes, amaryllis count for this thread, anyway. I have 40 that I have been nursing along from last year--hauling them in and out of the garage, dormant or not, getting to be a lot of work, and worrysome that they won't bloom up again! So, yes! they count! Much more work than just digging a hole!

And they are so pretty when they bloom--Is 'emerald butterfly' one of the new green ones? Bet so. You must show us a pic.

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/87303

I'm not sure how much green 'Emerald Butterfly' will have on it, but the butterfly amaryllis have really striking stripes on their petals. You bet I will post a picture when it blooms! I also got an Amaryllis cybister 'Chico' that will (probably) be a gift for my MIL.

I doubled the number of 'Persain Pearl' species tulips in my final order bec. Aaron gave me a nice price on them. That's only a few more to plant! That's how I get into trouble, LOL.

boojum posted at the same time I did! That link is for the cultivar 'Emerald', and mine is more like the other butterfly amaryllis in PF, http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/39093/

Hi critter! Couldn't find an emerald butterfly but I knew there was an emerald cause I ordered one this fall. Where did you buy it?

critter, I've got a papilio potted up right now, and it's just starting to send shoots up. I got mine from Brent & Becky's and it's HUGE! I hope I don't do something wrong and kill it somehow.

I ordered mine from Aaron (eBay, Rare Bulbs and Plants). I got my 'Chico' from him too. I don't know how huge the bulbs will be, as they were only $10 each, but I've been pleased with my (non--amaryllis) bulbs from him. I will report when I receive them! :-)

edited to add link to his amaryllis page, http://stores.ebay.com/Rare-Bulbs-and-Plants_Amaryllis_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQftidZ2QQtZkm

There's no 'Emerald Butterfly' there at present, but I don't know if he's out or if he'll be relisting it.

This message was edited Oct 31, 2005 11:04 PM

Oo. Love rosario. I have merengue cybister, papilio, and now emerald.

You're all a terrible influence (got to blame it on someone!)!!

critter, now that you've told me about Aaron's ebay goodies, George (the gardener formerly known as goodwilly05, now as daylilydaddy) and I have ordered 400 snow crocus, 370 species tulips, and 300 alliums and will split them. It's sort of a coop of 2! We also have ordered 100 single late tulips (20 each of 5 colors) from Parks to split. Good grief! Does this mean it's time for a prescription?LOL

OMG!! You must tell him I sent you, LOL! (he knows me as Jill, or ecritter)

I have a prescription for you.... make an appointment now with a good massage therapist... you're going to need it after all that digging! :-)

You & George are just FUN! I've enjoyed "meeting" you both!

Oh, and thanks for letting me know his new DG name... I couldn't figure out why he was no longer in the address exchange, and I needed his address! Now I have it. :-)

This message was edited Oct 31, 2005 11:27 PM

Ooooh, I love that 'Chico,' critter!!

I just emailed Aaron and told him I'd drummed up some business for him. (Maybe he'll send me a bonus? LOL) I also said his amaryllis selections were generating some buzz tonight & told him to be sure to relist 'Emerald Butterfly' if he had more of them....

Did you see Boojum's pic of her amaryllis in her mixed border on another thread? I would like to try that, too. I know amaryllis planted outside is pretty common in the south and west, but up here you don't see it often...probably because you have to haul them in and out of the ground, etc., etc...


BTW Would this summer mixed border combination be too nutty---amaryllis, eremurus, giant allium, knifophia, frittilaria persicaria (sp?), oh, and fritts 'crown imperial'?!! Sounds bizarre to me, but it looks like what I might be creating if I don't stop "just adding one more" from the bargain bin at HD! Maybe I'll add some white daisies to just tie it all together!

And I'll have to start a new thread--instead of "Color Echoes" it will be called "Color Clashes" !

I'd better get a prescription, too, now. You can see I can't sleep thinking about my new June border.

tabasco, just wanted you to know that my amayllis is in a pot that i place in the garden when it's about to bloom. It's outside all summer but not planted. Can't wait to see if your garden works. Should see lots of pics from everyone this spring!!!!!!!

My mom plants hers here in zone 5b.

Tabasco, that combo may sound a little bizarre, but I think it'll create a very lush, colorful display... it may look almost tropical with all those big blooms? I sometimes edge with white alyssum to tie beds together, as it does really well here. Now you've got me trying to think of a potential edging plant that would add to the tropical aspect.... hmmmmm.

Okay, I'm late to the ballgame here, but picked up 75 pastel tulip bulbs & 80 Siberian Squills from Lowe's yesterday to add to my front border.

The pastels (which I've bought from Lowe's before) will put on a nice show for about 3 years before they'll need replacing, & Siberian Squills are by far one of my favorite small spring flowers. I find them much nicer than Grape Hyacinths, & that brilliant blue will look wonderful in front of that pastel tulip bed. And since they reproduce/naturalize so easily, I'll have some to transplant to the semi-shade/shade bed I'm in the midst of developing for next year.

t, what color amaryllis are you using in that combo? The rest is between yellow and red on the color wheel and with white and some of the softer shades in the eremerus and knifofia it sounds awsome! I love purple with hot colors, and the globes of the alliums will give great textural contrast. The fritilaria may bloom before the rest, (not that I've ever seen it bloom!) it's said to bloom in April. But everything else should come in phases in late spring-early summer. Wishing you much success with such a great, adventurous planting! Trying new combos is such fun.

critter, thinking of invoking a tropical look with that combo made me think of something with chartruese foliage. That would be eye-popping!

My bulbs from Aaron came today! He sent me a delightful box, with a generous handful of bonus bulbs.... I think I got a "referal bonus" for passing the word about his store to gemini_sage & daylilydaddy! I will have to "hop to," as the saffron crocus are already sprouting -- all 100+ of them, and they are huge bulbs, too! (well, huge for a crocus) I'm giving a couple dozen of the saffron crocus to a young neighbor whose 9th birthday is this Saturday. Of all the kids on the street, she's my best garden helper... LOL, my DH calls her my "Paduon learner," a la George Lucas. I also have a digging tool and a pair of gloves sized to fit her hands.... Last year I gave her a huge Amaryllis bulb, and she just had the best time watching it grow & bloom!

Speaking of amaryllis, Aaron says he is getting a few more 'Emerald Butterfly' bulbs in and will post them soon at eBay "Rare Bulbs & Plants." My A. cybister 'Chico' bulb from him was only about fist sized, but I think this species may not get as large as some others... ?