I bought way too many bulbs

I managed to plant my very last rhizome and a dozen or so bulbs today. I didn't get much daylight to do it in. I was so tired I slept into the afternoon.

It looks like I will be planting bulbs while the turkey's cooking (which reminds me, I have to get a turkey!).

I like kooger's idea. let's all send badseed our unplanted bulbs LOL

I planted 35 'little' bulbs today ( mini daffs and species tulips). all I have left are 10 lilies, but it's gonna be 40 and rainy again tomorrow. and so it goes..

I have the bulbs I bought at discount from bloomingbulbs to plant now. I got angelique tulips but
they are a bit small. They were ridiculoously cheap so I can't complain but i'm wondering if they'll
have much bloom. Of course I had a buy a few extras for outdoors while I was at it and now I'm
coming down with a cold... I'm gonna have to buck it up and plant tomorrow.

You can always pot up whatever you don't get planted, put the pots in your garage or cold frame
(filled to the top with leaves). Then you can plant 'em just where you want 'em in the spring at
significant savings over those that are for sale at the nurserys. You'll feel very smug at your incredible
ingenuity. You can even tell your gardening friends about your incredible and brilliant planning. LOL

Tam

LOL, Tammy!

I made a little progress today... got my oriental lilies into the ground (35), which were the first ones I wanted to take care of because I thought those bulbs might be most prone to getting soft if they sat. I also got my 100 'Rip van Winkle' daffs into that newly expanded/amended little island bed... still have 100 anemones to put out there because it turns out they have to be soaked overnight before planting, but they're so small I'll just poke 'em in with my finger. That's not a very big portion of my 800+ bulbs, but it's probably a good 1/3 of the work since the other locations are more prepared.

Who knows, perhaps I will catch up before the B&B sale after all....

When I was planting my bulbs, I noticed that some of the tulip bulbs seemed a little soft. One or two look like they're spent, when they get a white film on part of the bulb, that's probably not a good sign. That was only one, though. Some of the others gave a little when I pushed in with my thumb. Kind of like an apple does. Will they be okay? Most of them were quite firm and solid, though.

I planted them all, but I guess it's possible some of them might not come up.

I still have all of my garlic to plant!

Critter -- I think the soak for 24 hours on the anemone must be only for spring planted bulbs.

I bougth some this fall in Oct, soaked them, and they immediately came up. They are a foot tall now. This is bad -- they won't have time to bloom before they freeze.

I think it's possible that the fiull-scale winter takes care of the soaking process.

Suzy

Yeah, I planted my anemone in the spring but I didn't soak them then either. They were very slow coming up maybe that was why. I thought anemone's wouldn't survive the winter here. I'm very confused about all the different things. I just want to plant them all. LOL

Susan
=^..^=

Kittymom, some anemones are borderline, some are hardy....the cold is a problem and so is drainage. Adding sand and compost to a large planting hole will actually keep the bulb warmer...if not warmer, then drier? More comfortable, how's that? LOL! The DeCaen anemones in this case, are borderline, but Critter was talking about Anemone blanda which for sure would be hardy to zone 6 -- I've grown it here for years Z5 even in the 1980s when it got down to -20 every year. (The reason I know she was talking Anemone blanda is because she talked about "blue shades" anemones.)

The fancy florist anemones are Anemone DeCaen or more precisely Anemone coronaria. These are beautiful blue, red, white, purple, and even blue, often with a big black center. They sort of look like poppies while the anemone blanda look like daisies -- colored daisies, but daisies. A. coronaria are taller when they bloom, I believe in May, as opposed to April for the Anemone blanda.

A. coronaria - the ones that are borderline hardy: Put them in a place you know stays warmer over winter. I'm going to describe some places, but keep in mind I have no idea if you are a seasoned gardener or if you are new, so don't think I'm talking down to you, ok?

Some warmer microclimates to try: Near the foundation of your house; If you have a brick house, against anywhere on the brick; any little nook or corner; near backtop or a slate patio or walk; near a giant boulder; any place the snow melts the fastest.

If you don't want to try with bulbs, next year you can try with Salvia 'Victoria'. This "annual" is hardy probably to a nice warm microclimate in Z6. Same with snapdragons such as "The Rocket". There are a million things I grow as annuals which are really tender or semi-tender perennials...the trick is to figure out which ones might winter over and try it. That's why something lke Dave's Garden is so useful to gardeners -- I can see somebody in Louisville posting about growing something I didn't dream would be hardy that far north. If Louisville, why not Indianapolis? -- we're not that far from there!

Edited to add: Anemones don't really *have* to root over winter, but in order for them to root in spring, they have to be soaked. I think it's because they are so dry. One more little thing. They swell in size by about double in the fall and about triple in the spring when you soak them. Don't chintz on the size of the vessel you use to hold them and the water.

Hope this all made sense!
Suzy









This message was edited Nov 19, 2006 12:31 AM

Thanks Suzy, that makes a lot of sense. Until about a year ago, I just planted and didn't pay attention to all that. Since I have been on here, I TRY to get a little more complicated. I have snapdragons that come back every year that I just realized that a couple of years ago. I would always pull them up and plant more. Now I just cut them back and back they come. I am very happy about that.

Thank you for the information, I really appreciate it!
Hugs,
Susan
=^..^=

Suzy, if you're still online tonight... I *am* supposed to soak them, right?? The pamphlet said hardy anemones should be soaked, didn't say only in spring.... They're soaking now... I don't want to kill them!

edited to say, whoops, sorry, should've scrolled up all the way before posting, I was in such a hurry to get your answer I hadn't realized you'd already advised not to soak them!

I ran and tipped the water out of their bucket, then spread them out on a tray to dry. They've been soaking no longer than maybe 20 minutes, so they should be fine. Thanks!

This message was edited Nov 19, 2006 12:59 AM

No, you won't kill them -- I just checked your 10 day forecast & I'd guess your soil temp is down between 40-45 now...so that will slow them down, make them root, but not send up top growth. I was just sad that mine came up and I know it's because I soaked them andplanted when it was still beautiful and soil temps were probably in the 50-55 range. The ones I planted were up within a WEEK of planting.

Suzy

ah, and while I was editing, you were typing!

It sounds like the safest bet is to plant them without soaking, so that's what I'll do. :-)

I've had the DeCaen bloom in Jan/Feb so you may just have a beautiful winter surprise Suzy.
Tam

That's good to think about! Thanks, Tammy. I have some glass cloches I could put over them, if I remember and if it's not too cold for *me*.

Suzy

LOL Mine were from my early days of gardening and I got 'em on sale. Didn't know they
weren't hardy. I soaked 'em and planted 'em. I did not put glass cloches over them either.
Just plain luck I suppose.

Oh, I thought the foliage would freeze off like lettuce. That doesn't happen? Then I guess I'm okay. I was swearing up a storm when I saw them coming up so early because I assumed they'd freeze off that would be that until next year.

Suzy

Don't know... it was maybe 10-12yrs ago. (probably more). I forget the weather
but I remember being very surprised so I suspect it did get below freezing.

Tam

I didn't realize any of Pennsylvania was zone 6. My family homestead (going back a few generations) is still a Centenniel Farm in Somerset Co. on the other side of the mountains. Don't know how cold it gets, but Spring comes late and fall comes early there! I forget how high they are and how far North -- and that Penn is a BIg state.

Freezing, well that maybe doesn't help too much, well get a day or two of -10 if this winter is a normal one...hahaha what's normal? And a week or so of 0 degrees, maybe 2x. Most of the winter is in the 20s, give or take. It's too late for these flowers, anyway. All I can do is watch and learn.

Suzy

I live on a southern exposure of a smallish mountain now. I've actually had zone 8 plants over winter
in some places on this property. I have a zone 7 daphne that's survived 8 years here but has only
bloomed twice (once after a very mild winter and once after one with LOTS of snow). The south eastern
tip of PA is actually zone 7.

Tam

That's incredible about the zone 8 plants there! I was thinking about starting a thread on "plants you grow that aren't hardy in your area", but I never found a good way to phrase it.

I have a friend who rountinely grows calla lilies here in Z5. They are all sorts of colors and when they bloom it is amazing...lots of flowers for very little plant. When they aren't in bloom, the foliage is all mottled and speckled, so they're interesting then, too.

I am going to try to overwinter a Star Jasmine this winter. The Latin name is Trachelospermum jasminoides. I also have Salvia 'Victoria' experiment going on (with foliage left on, and with foliage cut off) and of course the Pansies and Four O'Clocks which I routinely winter over.

I have to get to work now, but maybe I'll get that thread started tonight,

Suzy

Illoquin, that's a great idea for a thread - there's a lot of great zone-stretching characters in Dave's garden. Check out Hikaro_Takayama's palms and bananas in PA. It's a good time of year to talk about it, too.

I swear someone's sneaking bulbs into my stash while I'm not looking! I managed to get about 15 daffodils and probably that many tulips in the ground this weekend, yet it seems like I still have just as many left!

I also planted more garlic, but it looks like the garlic is going to take over one raised bed entirely.

where are you going to start that thread Illoquin?

How ya doing ClayPa? Clearing out the clay for any bulbs?

WH - I actually forced myself to go out to finish planting today. (I still haven't
planted any garlic though.) I felt lousy when I started and felt wonderful when I
finished. Amazing what dirt under the nails will do for what ails ya.

Now I'm ready for B&B's sale. LOL
Tam

Hi Tammy I got more bulbs than garden....I gave my bro a few nice Allium rosenbachianum bulbs, and planted some hyacinths and daffs at my Mom's and I still have a hundred Allium sphaerocephalon and a gallon container of miscellaneous tulips and tiny daffodils left to plant.... I have to make more spaces to plant! Around a thousand bulbs total this year, so far. It's trickier than I thought, too, because I still had a dozen daylilies and twenty hostas in pots that needed to be put in the ground.

The compost pile is twice its allotted space now, I wish it were ready to use. The big plan was to have room for all the wintersown plants next spring, but I could sure use the space NOW! I have to say that when I first saw critterologist's pictures in a design / curb appeal thread (I think), it was suddenly obvious where a lot more garden should go here. Thanks for posting them, critterologist!

If the weather stays like this I'll make another bed. And I want to plant a tree before it gets too cold. The hard part is choosing which tree! And waiting for spring. And not buying more bulbs! We'll see
Mike

all I have left is 10 oriental lilies and it's supposed to a little warmer this weekend. so, come what may, it will be done! grounds not frozen yet ;0)

"ground's not frozen yet"

You go, girl!!

It may not be frozen, but it's still plenty cold. I was planting bulbs last weekend and was scooping dirt back into the hole with my hands. It was like sticking my hands into a refrigerator.

I know exactly what you mean WH! I had gloves on and my hands were still frozen!

Buy those heatpacks to put in your gloves...Their cheap and work great..!!

I managed to lift up small slabs of frozen earth in order to get some tulips planted today. It was so nice out, but I guess that the ground is still remembering how cold it had been for the past few weeks. Very curious how just that one spot was a bit frozen, but other beds were not. Anyway, I kept reminding myself that as long as the ground wasn't frozen, you can still plant bulbs.

I have glove liners that I wear inside of my gardening gloves. (They even have a little pocket for the little heat packs.) My hands are always so cold that there is no other way I could do it. Last week I was pushing aside the snow in order to get bulbs planted. I really bought too many bulbs.

We're not froze at all here, Marie. I found a bulb that i had dropped while planting a few weeks ago and stuck it in the ground today. It's all by itself in a different bed because the tulip/daff bed is layered a bit so I didn't wannt dig in there again. :) Poor thing is gonna be lonely!

Tulip World had a problem at their shipping facility - they say hooligans, I say criminal delinquints - tipped over their bins of sorted bulbs - so they had to re-order from their suppliers. As a result, my tulip babies arrived a month late on Monday - right before I left on vacation. I'm taking a day off next week, though. I told my boss it's to recover from my Thanks Giving trip... but really, it's to plant out my tulip babies. Well, planting tulip bulbs WILL provide rest and relaxation after the trip, right? So it isn't exactly a lie... DH thought I was done planting bulbs. Ha, ha!

It's not frozen here -- but it's been raining (again) for the past two days! I don't want to be both wet and cold while I'm planting...

OK, I'm done complaining about the weather. It's Thanksgiving, after all! :-)

Gee, I wonder if Tulip World is selling their tulips as "mixed" for 5c a piece of anything.....no, wait, I don't need more bulbs! I forgot that for a second. LOL!

Suzy

Suzy, I could not resist.... I just emailed them to ask if they had a pile of mixed-up tulips that they'd like to offer to us at a special price. LOL We will see what they say!! I did express sympathy about what happened. If nothing else, I think they will be amused by my boldness in inquiring. :-)

LOL! Did you happen to mention the 5c? That would have been really bold!

Suzy

I just said there were hopes of a "significant discount" and suggested that the "bulb hounds" here on DG would be likely to place some significant orders.

I have no idea what else they'd do with mixed bulbs.... grow them all out and try to ID them??

No, That wouldn't happen -- tulips, especially, lose so much size once they get to a place (like anywhere in the US) where they can't raise and lower the water table at the perfect time. The Dutch literally have bulb-growing down to a science. Israel is the only place that maybe comes close, and they don't come close except on paperwhites and maybe a few other tender bulbs. The tulips that start out 12-14s would end up being 7-8 after only one season here.

In other words, your pals have to get rid of them unless they turn the whole thing over to insurance and figure it's not worth their effort to pick them up and ship them because it would be cheaper to sweep them out the door and throw them away.

That's my take on it, anyway,
Suzy

right... but from the post above, the problem may have been at their facility in the Netherlands... you may be right about insurance covering their loss, but I hope those bulbs got planted somewhere!

Oh, I assumed it would be their shipping facility like B&B have in Virginia.

If it happend in the NL, they'd get shipped to a place like Michigan Bulb Co or a discount mail order place. Possibly even Blooming Bulb, who would then sell them as mixed. Blooming Bulb would only buy them if they could guarantee a decent mix of colors (like dump a few more bins of different colors into the mix on purpose). Other places might buy them if it were just bins of a few colors and show a picture of 5 or 6 colors (in other words, lie.)

I'm pretty sure they would be sold dirt cheap, and the profit would be so great that they would be snapped up, even selling them at 50% off.

It's also possible they would be planted there in the NL for cut flowers. I can find out if you want.

Suzy