Fall bulb sales when?

Tammy, I think I will buy him an extra extension cord so he can reach everywhere! Good idea. Thanks. Yes, with rocks it doesn't work well. We hit one and the auger broke. I think it already had metal fatigue from planting so many, but it just snapped. Plus it really is jarring when it hits even a sizable root. If you plant in prepared beds it is so easy. Out in the yard it is always harder, but far easier than digging. Patti

I use a shovel out in the grass. I have to try a few times to find a relatively rock
free spot, push it down and lean it over, pop in the bulb and the pull it out. I've planted
hundreds of daffodils (and tulips - but those were eaten by the wildlife) this way
on a grassy hillside. The one with muscari & buttercups.

Whenever I put in a new bed, I put in layers of bulbs. I've read you should do the
perennials first but I'd rather do the bulbs first. I may hit a few bulbs when planting the
perennials later but its so nice to get the bulbs in when there's nothing there. I pull
all the dirt to the side and lay down the bulbs. Then rake over the soil and pull away
the dirt from the next section. The only trick is to mark the edges of the planted spots.

Amazing how we develop techniques for planting isn't it. I helped a friend plant bulbs.
She had no "system" to keep track of where she had planted & where she needed to
add the bulbs. I showed her my "system" ... place out the bulbs first and then plant them.
This way they are distributed the way you want 'em. The only trick here is not to miss
any & leaving 'em unburied.

Tammy, I do the bag placement first, like you. I have found some later that I forgot. In fact when I was planting tulips recently I came across a small bag with 5 unplanted gladious bulbs. I think they were cooked. But don't you feel gitty just dancing about sprinkling untold future beauty when laying them about? Patti

Absolutely Patti! I think I like planting bulbs more than just about any thing
else. I see all the spring glory in my head. And oh how wonderful fun it is in
the spring to walk about searching for the first signs of life, waiting for the
bright colors to light up the dull landscape.

oh i know it tammy. that has to be the most fun in the spring when you see them just beginning to come up.

Just a hint, but if your cordless drill isn't powerful enough, get one that's 18v.

I've always laid the bulbs out too, but this year have been doing more little bulbs and the leaves keep falling and covering them up...hoping I found 'em all, lol. I was talking with a friend last night and we were discussing tasks we enjoy that take us to a trans-like meditative state. I told her while I'm planting bulbs my body is a machine, and my mind is in la la land daydreaming of spring. The very first flowers I ever planted were bulbs (from the grocery when I was a middle schooler), and till this day they still hold the same magic for me. When each new box comes in I rush to open it and inspect the contents; I know it looks like some insane person playing with a bag of onions, but in my mind I've got my hands on a rainbow, lol.

Yes, yes, I agree! And you know, my boxes arriving from VanEngelen and B & B are better than Christmas for me (by far!) But I don't know if my kids would like to find a box of tulips under the tree though...! (-:

And to find those green shoots in March when the snow clears out is so exciting! I don't know why every single home owner doesn't plant even just a few daffodils. (I wish they were as passionate about planting a few daffodils as they are about putting down thousands of bags of bark mulch three times a year in our suburb!)

I think I'm preaching to the choir here, though!

For some reason I just checked out the specials at Touch of Nature. They have some really good prices on some stuff everyone else is sold out of, so anyone out there who thought they'd missed out give a look:

http://www.touchofnature.com/index.htm

click on the "specials" icon at the top

This message was edited Dec 2, 2007 7:56 AM

oh, you made me look... but I'm still sleepy this morning, so my resistance is strong, LOL... 200 Muscari armeniacum for $8 is hard to resist, though! Looks like minimum shipping is $7. Hmm... that might mean you could get 600 of the Muscari for $24 plus $7 shipping... 600 for $31 sounds like a great deal! That's just over 5 cents per bulb. LOL, does anybody else work out the cost per bulb like that to justify bulk purchases?

I do exactly the same thing, down to the penny, lol.

I keep trying not to look much, but the prices on 200 lots are soooo cheap.....

This message was edited Dec 2, 2007 8:13 AM

gem-- thanks for reminding me about Bleek's specials. Looks like he has some really really nice bulbs still available at wonderful prices. I would love to buy a ton of those little irises!

I was out at the garden centers and feed stores yesterday and everyone had sold out of bulbs--haven't seen muscari for sale around here for weeks...but I am trying to get rid of my moles and voles before I plant more. 600 muscari for $31. would be a real boondoggle! Five cents per bulb is pretty hard to beat. And yes, I always do a 'price per bulb' analysis!

Actually, with differences in shipping charges, etc, price per bulb is really the best way to comparison shop...

For anybody who hasn't shopped with Bleek before (he's also eflowergardens), I can tell you he sent me some really lovely daffodil bulbs in the co-op. And, he shipped some Dutch Master daffs to my MIL for me (I planted them over Thanksgiving) that had her shaking her head in amazement... I don't think I've ever seen bulbs that big, either. :-)

Gemini, well once again you have led me down the garden path to more bulbs. I succumbed. Patti

I sprinkled some snake repellent around where my new bulbs are planted. So far it doesn't look like anything is bothering them. I wasn't able to put down chicken wire in the bed where the new ones are planted to keep anything from digging them up.

I used that last year when something was pulling newly planted perennials out of the ground and it worked for that too.

On several occasions I have seen deer prints next to a bunch of newly planted items that were pulled out, but not eaten, just spite out. I guess they didn't like my planting schemes. I now put wire cages around any new perennial plants in the deer prone part of the garden until they get firming rooted or get woody. Do snakes eat bulbs? Patti

This message was edited Dec 2, 2007 11:08 AM

I was thinking the same thing Hart. I have black snakes here and while I'm not so
excited to see them personally, I am happy knowing they are on constant patrol for
those nasty little rodents of all sorts. I would think they'd be a good thing to have
around your bulbs.

i'm waiting to here the answer as well about snakes. lol.

Maybe it's just that snake repellent also repels some other genuine bulb pests... a lot of those critter repellents seem to use similar ingredients.

I can't find the Bleek web site. Any help?

"Bleek" is Bert's DG name. He is also "eflowergarden," and "Touch of Nature."

http://www.touchofnature.com/index.htm

http://www.eflowergarden.com/

www.touchofnature.com
and
eflowergarden.com
He still has some very good specials on the Touch of Nature site.

4paws, I hit him up this morning and he already has them ready to ship out tomorrow. Great prices. No one would be disappointed. Click on specials. Patti

I've also found him very responsive if I Dmail him and say, hey, I'm hoping for a deal on such-and-such... I need at least a hundred, or three hundred, or whatever... he'll get back to me with quantity pricing. :-)

Yep; touch of nature is very quick.I ordered 400 more mixed daffs, 100 Tete a Tete and another 1000 of other little ones on Thursday night and they were shipped on Friday. 14 cents each for the daffs!

This is what happens: I gush to someone about all the bulbs I'm planting and the great deal and they look sad that they don't have them too, so then I end up ordering more for them...and rationalizing why I should get a few more at the same time, to share shipping, or something equally reasonable. Most people I know are not online the way I am to find out about these great opportunities!

Or afflicted with bulb mania, like we are. Patti

well, that, too.
I have a 15% off coupon from bloomingbulb.com that I can share, if anyone is interested. They're pretty cleaned out of fall bulbs, but it's good until December 31 and can be used for spring shipments, too. (sorry, bleek, if you are watching). I ordered bulk seed for a coop using it.

Good until December 31, I was told I can share it with anyone.
57CERT2

Free shipping @ www.tulips.com and 50% off online orders starts 12/8!

laura, if you do use your coupon there is some canna and ranunculus that i like so lmk.

I'm still waiting to find a really good amaryllis sale this year... bummed about B&B.

I printed out some BOGO coupons from Home Depot, but when I looked in the Amaryllis boxes there, I found pitiful little bulbs, and I passed. I think I'll go to WalMart and get some of their loose bulbs... they usually have some cheap ones (may or may not bloom as marked, of course), and even though they're small, they'll grow bigger by next year!

The amaryllis at Papa Genos are 1/2 off:

http://www.papagenos.com/

Thanks! 'Hermitage' looks like a pretty one...

Is it all of them or just a couple on the Papa Genos site?

There were just a couple that came up when I clicked the specials... and they were still something like $8 each plus shipping... I don't think they specified bulb size, but they did mention getting 2 bloom stalks per bulb, so they should be a nice size.

OK. Ordered from B&B last Thursday and started digging trenches. It was really cold. I only dug about half of what I needed. Monday they sent a UPS email. Just now I finished digging the remaining trenches for the bulbs coming this Thursday. Ground was not frozen and was very easy to dig. Put dirt in wheel barrow and large containers. I must be mad. It was 45 degrees and quite warm. (Where is the degree sign on the keyboard? I used to use it - a long time ago?)

I refused a lunch appointment from friends who said I was through gardening for the year so why could I not come? Silence - then I admitted I was digging trenches for more bulbs. I do not think I was believed.

The new tulips are not protected from voles; I am taking a chance here. I am rebuilding my list of daffodils. When I was working long hours I lost most of the garden, including many daylilies and narcissus; I did not know that was possible. I lost about half of my pink daffodils. I am not replacing some things I did not like anyway. Next year I will dig trenches then order past any reasonable planting date. I am getting smarter in my old age. ;)

I ordered muscari azureum, tulips, narcissus, and something blue (I hope) called triteleia. Does anyone know what this is? If so, is it really blue or purplish? I love true blue - I can live with lavender blue if I know it is that color, but do not really want more purple. Carol

Critter, the scoop on the HD coupon in Richmond,TX. Thanks to Hart, I printed the coupon and went gallivanting for bulbs. THREE Home Depots in my area told me they didn't have the bulbs featured in the coupon, that the ad had been placed by corporate and they had no control.

However, they did have a gift box, at a higher price that was available. talking 'bout bait & switch! I moaned about unfairness, blah, blah, blah, and just so that I would leave the store they let me have two $14.99 gift boxes for $6.99. I also sent a polite email to HD about this bogus practice. Not that anybody there will listen...

But, I got two nice Red Lions for a song, so, all's well in vossnerland.

I got a BB coupon and it has the following coupon for online purchases. Enjoy!

57CERT2

Good for you, Vossner... I did see the $15 gift box bulbs, and they looked nice. But the bulbs featured in the ads (which our HD did have in stock) were pretty pathetic.

That's the same code I posted yesterday for Blooming Bulb, vossner.
Mamajack, use it!

I should run over to PapaGeno's. It's about 5-7 miles from my house. But my Brent & Becky's order is on the way, so perhaps it's best I stay away. Oh dear!