"OK, Time to Confess, Bulbs Part III: Spring Cometh"

Great, Moonglow, we will have to plan strategy for next year's contest! I see Vossner may be coersed into entering some nice pics of her beautiful bulb garden in the 2006 contest! But think gemini-sage is avoiding the issue and I know he has a fabulous bulb show in the spring! :-) We will have to work on him! Anybody else?

Voss--I cannot buy one more bulb for my garden (boo-hoo)...I am way over budget and must learn restraint (and begin to embrace the 'Less is More' gardening philosophy which isn't so much fun, is it?!)

I spied lots of little green nibs (not snow drops) coming up through the soil today--I don't know if that's a good or bad thing since the winter is so young and I fear the worst is yet to come...oh, well...

Our Kroger still has tulip bulbs. That seems a little weird to me.

Take care. t.

T, I am not going to be conscientious (sp?) like you and worry about piddly details such as BUDGET. Heck, I have already been to jail, so no incentive for me to walk the straight and narrow...so I will buy, buy, buy to my heart's content (or til DH screams).
http://davesgarden.com/contest/2005/image.php?rid=3767

Anapet, Replete is the replacement daff I got from Bloomingbulb when the ones from the coop went bust (Salome). We will have to compare notes later on.

Hey - I love that hat! Where'd ya get it?

And I love Replete. I don't remember planting any of them at my new place though.
(I've had this place for almost 8yrs so I guess its not "new" any longer. LOL.) Anyway,
I really like that form. Manly & Tahiti are the ones I've planted here.

LOL--voss--that pic is too funny!! hadn't seen that one before!

Well, I'm practically in divorce court over the bulb expenses and can't press it if I want to be around next spring to see some bloom. (just kidding--my DH is so very patient with my obsessions, God bless him.)

It's a new year, though, and that means we're on a new budget, doesn't it?!

We have a wedding in August to pay for (oldest daughter is getting married then), yet I buy more bulbs. *sigh* Thankfully, my DH loves them, too, or I'd be in deep do-do.

Voss, that picture is to much, I love it ! Love the hat !
tabasco, what bulbs are you looking for ? Maybe I can sneak you one or two or three :))
My Lowe's and Costco are not moving very quickly. They don't have any Roses or Spring Bulbs yet. I am going nuts shopping online, lol !!
Neal, don't you worry about Brugs. In pinks.... I have Frosty Pink, Pink Beauty, Equador Pink, Isabella, Everlasting, Pink Petticoats, Pink Velvet, Mars Rose and 5 or 6 others, just in the pink family. In the whites, yellows, peaches, I have about a dozen. AND if you think I have a bunch, talk to Annapet, she has even more. We'll fix you right up come Spring.
KBaumie, Congrats !! A wedding is so much fun to plan. What is the color scheme ? Inside or outdoors ? Ohhhh, we need a new thread of all the details :))
Kenton, what lilies do you think you might like in your new garden strip ? I love lilies and shop for them all over the net. If you want something specific, let me know.
Annapet, I have a box heading your way by the 11th. All kinds of stuff for you to play with :)) Monday, in between packing boxes and going to the Post Office, I am mixing up your special concoction and lightly treating my brug cuttings, mini roses, japonica, camellias, etc etc etc :))
Thanks to 2 of my gardening buddies I have some beautiful daffies to plant Monday. I can't waitr to get my hands dirty again :))
God bless you all, Margo

Cool! Being a brug-virgin, I have 2 rooted cuttings of a couple of white varieties, and now that I have lights installed they look great. So with this infusion of confidence I'm ready to take the plunge.

The lily excitement is too much! I went so hog wild last year, I lost track of what all I planted, so there's bound to be suprises. I've been reading up on the genetic backgrounds of the groups of hybrids and keep finding more along the way to aquire. Are there any specific lilies any of you are searching for? I'm hoping to get L.henryii and White henryii (Lady Alice) this year. And the new Oriental-Asiatic crosses (Fancy Crown and First Crown) are making me drool. And The Lily Garden offers sooooo many covetable varieties you don't see anywhere else I can hardly contain myself! The tall Orienpets and Sunburst Aurelians are calling me. I love the ones with pendulous blooms, especially when they're tall so that you can see them well. 'Leslie Woodruff' looks like a real beauty! Aaahhh, so many lilies, so little time!
Neal.

I thought I was posting on Margo's lily thread; I'm such an air head! Oh well, lilies are bulbs to.

neal, we can talk lilies here, too, of course!

after church, i have do to a nursery run, then a home depot run!

weeeeee!

jlmmkm---you are so gracious to make a 'bulb offering' to me, and thank you very much, but I am 'all full up' at the moment and am having to draw the line. So too bad, too. Gemini's descriptions of the lilies he wants to buy almost had me grabbing my mastercard and logging on to Lily Garden until I regained my composure!

How exciting to have a wedding to plan for, kbaumle! Congratulations! Keep planting those bulbs--maybe you will have some lovely lilies to make bouquets...here's a picture of a lily arrangement from a party we attended this Christmas. The party was full of beautiful bouquets and just the touch we needed to chase the winter blues away!
t.

oops--a better view

and the centerpieces---(I don't know if these have lilies in them, but I thought I'd add it in for gemini's critique!)

Hey Neal !! You're in trouble now, lol. I had never been to the Lily Garden before. Wow, what terrific Lilies, I wish I could buy all of them. I looked up Fancy Crown and love it ! I couldn't find First Crown....did you find it there or on another site ?
I really like silk road, red velvet, chambetain, eros, sheer bliss and many others that have that graceful recurve. I also fell in love the deep purples, something new for my garden. Yes, I feel a big dent coming to my Visa tonight :))
God bless, Margo

lily garden spells trouble.

AnnaPet, I am such a suckler for Lilies and brugs.....it's a definite cure for the Winter doldrums :)) You know I'll share wif u :)) Love ya, Margo

oh, margo. you've given me so much already! somehow thank you doesn't seem enough...merci, grazie, salamat! please let me return the favor sometime soon =).

those lilies, btw, are TALLER THAN ME.

do you pair them with roses? last year, it just so happened that my "disneyland" tree roses (2 potted) we're blooming amidst my "tom pouce" and noblesse" lilies. what a show!

imagine what contrasting colors would do....

I came back home early because I missed my plants and garden! How sad.
But it felt so good to dig today...
Contrast is good. I'm tired of this Harmonious color scheme fad.

Joyous picture, Vossner.

Margo; I hope that Plasticard dent isn't bigger than the garden!

Keep us "posted" on the wedding plans, Kylee.

Those Lochromas are something else. I’m sure someone is working on an interspecific cross with Brugmasia to get a Blue Brug. Quite elegant, they are. I want to make sure that I can grow a Brug perfectly before I try them out.

Zinnias: Perfect idea. I needed some earlier-blooming annuals like them.
Brugs: I am trying to make some cuttings of desirable plants to trade for some different brugs. I would love to grow those trumpet-in-trumpets. Looks like you and I are taking thise genera-jump together, Neal. I can see that they are a load of trouble, perhaps greater than the Lily Garden...

Lilies: Orienpets rule Lilaceae. I orderd some from Lily Garden last fall. I can't wait to see my newer ones bloom next year. L. pardelinum was in my frozen order, so only spring will tell if I have those. The big suckers that tower over you are most enjoyable, as they joyfully peer down on passersby. I think that they are a cure for the looking-down and aching-neck garden. I truly enjoyed 'Scheherezade' last year... Perhaps one of the best qualities of Lilies is that they cast a shadow on the sun-intolerant perrenials just when needed.

What I would like to try is the "Black" Asians, Orienpet 'Caravan,' and to see what the Asiapets are like. When I first learned of such a hybrid, I hoped (and dreamed) for a big and bright plant. Has anyone grown the Asiapets to know if this is true?

Shoot, when I made my budget, I had not compensated for things that one doesn't plan for: new varieties that weren't in last year's catalogues, -like The Lily Garden I had better get to work!
Kenton

kenton, welcome back.

speaking of work, i actually sent out my resume last week. my husband is wondering why. as if he has not noticed that i'm addicted to plants.

cool photo nery. that really looked like so much fun. what was your offense? garden-related over-spendingf? lol.

t, what elaborate arrangements. i got married during a lunch break and didn't get to do a traditional princess wedding.

kylee, weddings are exciting. yes, please keep us posted.

have a great week ahead everyone!


=)
annapet

(I apologize for my imagination)

"Hey, you wanna get married?"
"Sure, let me check my day-timer."
"Well?"
"I have an appointment at two, but I'm free for my lunch break."
"Great, let's go by Starbucks on the way; there's a church around the corner. Oh, we need a bridal veil for you."
"No problem. We'll swing by Burger King for lunch and get one of those nifty paper crowns."
"I'm sure I can find a paper-clip in this office to bend up into a ring..."

And so lived the happiest couple within eight-hundred twenty and a half miles. The second happiest couple (on their honeymoon) was to be found on a rented boat in a lake in the Sierra Nevadas, having an arguement that was spawned between their well-dressed families earlier that day at the wedding, held at a well-lit art deco convention center rented for one-thousand dollars per hour, not counting the catering...

"My mother would never say that!"
"Pass the champagne, honey. I heard her myself."
"Half a glass, please. I know my mom, she raised me."
"It shows. Is this from Napa Valley?"
"What do you mean by that? It doesn't say on the label where the vinyard is, dear."

Kenton, that's a hoot! I believe the Asiatic/Oriental crosses were new on the market in fall, so I'm trying to decide if I want to be among the first to grow them :) Most of the Asiapets I've seen as cut flowers have been like bigger versions of Asiatics. But the Seabreezes hybrids look really inticing.

Gorgeous arrangements tabasco! Some of my favorite flower combinations. I love it when someone really knows how to throw a party and see to all the details.

Margo, those graceful, recurved petaled Asiatics are so wonderful! The L. lankongence hybrids (the Dr. North hybrids) really pull me in because they are said to have a nice fragrance. I've not seen those sold anywhere else.

LOL, kenton. that was hilarious.

thanks for the info, neal.

Well, looks like someone is going ot have ot test out those Asiapets. Thanks for the info, Neal. (Note to self: add price of bulbs to spring budget...)

Speaking of recurving, does anyone grow Erythronium?

Yup. I sure love 'em too! Here's a shot for you from this spring.
I believe they are the only native to N. America lily. (From my feeble
memory. I think its true but I'm too lazy right now to double check).

Nice picture but wait a minute- there are more than one sp. of Ery. in America, (The best ones, of course) and there are a few actual Liliums native here. Someone back me up with their latin names, please. One sp. is named after a city, what is it...

I'll get my plant species book...

Oooo.. gonna make me think are ya? LOL... I'll be back.

tammy, lol.

i did my version of "i'll be back" when someone asked how tall a particular rose gets.

and you know me and my tape measure. lol.

(btw, i get to see two (2) more of kenton's paintings....)

There are more than one species of Erythronium native to N. America. The one I posted is a hybid of
our native "Erythronium Pagoda".

Now I'm off to check on native lilies...

What are your favorite colors, Annapet?

American Ery. spp:
americanum (duh?)
californicum (Still in the US? Just kidding, Annapet!)
grandiflora (but they have small flowers?)
revolutum (check out those leaves, mmm, baby.)
tuolumnense

And then there's Lilium...

21 species of Lilium native to N. America.
I'm done with the research now. I'll remember never to share
tidbits of info from my fast fading memory again! (Hmmm... maybe
I'll forget that soon too though. OH NO... an unresolvable dilemma
I fear.)

I think 'Pagoda' is cross between americanum and grandiflora. I'll check.

Here's the popular bunch of the 21(still debatable)
good luck with that, Tam! There by the graceof God we all go!

Lilium:
wigginsii
nepalense (just kidding. There are nepalese in the US, though, eh?)
superbum (that I forgot...)
michiganense (not the city one...) tough baby at zone 2!
canadense (obvious, eh?)

Oh, wasn't the city Philadelphia?
philidelphicum The "wood lily."

Kenton

There's also Lilium greyii that I was fortunate enough to see a large stand of right here in Morehead. Lovely, and seed has been collected and will be distributed :)

Erythroniums are so lovely. I've never "grown" them, but they grow here in abundance. While 'Pagoda' is bigger and more showy, the species has lovely mahogony mottling on the leaves. I've tried to move some that are growing in high traffic areas, but those tiny bulbs are really deep. Is'nt that strange? The soil here is quite loose, so that may be part of it. But, it's hard not to break that thread-like stem between the bulb and the leaves. I have been able to get to the ones that are'nt blooming size yet; I guess they keep working themselves deeper into the soil.

I think they do pull deeper with age. Adult bulbs I have found go as low as two feet in zone 2 and 3 areas near here. (E. grandiflorum) I dug up a few from a feild of thousands and planted them here, coiling that origional stem in the plantgin hole. They bloomed the following spring, but when I re-did my East garden, I did not find them. Their fragrance is the most similar to freesia. Next year...
Kenton

my favorite colors, kenton? gosh, what colors don't i like? that's not an easy one =(.

yellows and purples.

any blooms peeking already?

photos, photos, please.

=)

i planted more spring bulbs today....replete, orangerie, flower drift. i must finish the rest this weekend.

I thought this was a good deal for amaryllis, that dbl pink sure looks lovely

http://www.jacksonandperkins.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/productlink.d2w/report?item=26303C_CHC05&page=yard&header_sel=specials

That pink double is extra floofy! I love it. My heirloom amaryllis are doing strange things. I divided my horribly pot bound bulbs last year after they bloomed, and planted several back in the pot, and experimented with the rest. I planted those in the garden, and dug them and stored them with the rest of the tender bulbs. The ones in the pot never starting growing at all until this winter, and still very little. The ones in the ground had nice leaves in summer. So I'm checking the bulbs out the other day (getting yancy for spring!) in the closet, and I have a pale yellow 3"long bud arising from a bulb! I stuck in in the pot with the others and it's green and strong looking now. What on earth is going on with them? Any ideas?
Neal.

I've been told that when they change location they act weird but normalize by the following year. Can't say this for a fact, though.

Then again, the world may just be going totally crazy...

This message was edited Jan 13, 2006 6:59 PM

That's ok, my "world" is always crazy! LOL

I would be devastated to find out that the way things are is not crazy. If someone tells me that Life is not, in fact, a Cabaret, I shall laugh at them. After all, I know someone who was jailed for indecent bulb-mania.

More Galanthus are showing up here, many dangling buds on the brink of opening, A hellebore inflorescence looking promising despite winterburned leaves, and violas with flowers that aren't so nipped. The tips of tulips are showing up in my warmest microclimamte, and (This one's for you) Nark. bulbocodium leaves are about two inches tall. Crocus bundles here and there... the pale tips of Arum italicum mac.


That's all I've got kids, what have ya?
Kenton

Kenton, I am soooo jealous. All of that sounds so promising!!!
I have a few paperwhites blooming and some crinums showing leaves and aside from my pansies I planted in December, that's all. I have to get busy and get some variety in my gardens of asiatics, orientals and oriempets. What do you suggest ? Whats good for interplanting between the lilies to fill in the bare spots ? I recently read lilies like shaded feet from plants over them, is that true ? Whats do you think would be a good medium to low growing plant to fill in ?

Annapet, Neal, Tammy, everyone.... jump in with suggestions, please. I didn't know my lilies liked shaded feet. sighhh~~~
This is such a good thread !!
God bless you all, Margo

Not a thing here. Not even the helleborus, although I'd be surprised if it blooms this year anyway. It's looking pretty scraggly - those subzero temps in December did a number on it, I think. :-(

No sign of any bulb activity. It really is way too early here, despite recent warm temperatures.