Fall bulb sales when?

Lol, gopher removal fee! Maybe the cats have an evil master plan to drive them all into your yard so they can kill them all off at leisure with less effort?

Gemini-Oh good, glad to hear it might actually work. Mole beans, huh? Hmmm.......

It seems I was told that the seeds could be dropped into their holes and tunnels too, but I'd be concerned about big castor beans showing up all over, lol. Hmmm...guess that would be better than moles!

Too funny susybell.
I would rather have a castor bean problem than the gophers too.

Well, until your posts I never connected the Castor Bean plant to Castor Oil! How silly of me! I bet it would be a deterrent if you have the room in the garden for such a big plant!

Funny about the corn stalk in the mole hole, but I totally believe it! Those critters are quite industrious. They make me crazy, too.

Hi Miss T. I'm w/ Neal and others about using castor oil. It is very effective against moles and voles. I went to walgreens and bought a small bottle of castor oil for about $1.50. I will try to dig up my recipe. very simple and effective. The HDepot spray is good too, it has castor oil, about 1% but the markup is a gazillion %!!

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/01/011112a.cfm

I found this site. Scroll down to "unwelcome recipe". In my recipe I used whatever dishwashing detergent instead of Murphy Oil. Then used a hose end sprayer. I did not use the cayenne, but I might do that next time.

Vossner, Cayenne is good, but looks horrible if it gets on the leaves of things like hosta. It looks like a blood bath has taken place in the garden. Patti

OK will get that castor oil and put some down the mole holes. Will use your recipe from the link, of course. And I have lots of cayenne in the cupboards. Lots of good ideas there, btw!

Some of my bulbs are peaking out of the ground today--very fair weather for these parts lately! And this morning I ordered a bunch of paperwhites from Bleek's DG Classified Ad for my sisters whom I neglected to send Xmas cards to so I still haven't shaken my bulb addiction for the year! .

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, today! I have pumpkin muffins in the oven--laced with Woodford Reserve Bourbon--and I'm waiting for everyone to wake up!

Now why would you hide that delicious Woodford in a muffin??? I had some when I toured their facility this Summer and after leaving an arm and a leg I took the smallest bottle home, but I'm not mixing it with muffins.

Happy Holidays.

Mmmmmm....and I bet the house smells wonderful!

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

Ha ha! Well, the muffins were ethereal and everyone wanted the recipe but I'm not telling! I do love the Woodford Reserve and I'm not much of a drinker, much less a drinker of bourbon...My husband would kill me if he knew I put WR in the muffins, though! (-:

We love to take out of towners down to the distillery for a tour and lunch, too. Very scenic and pretty drive! I hope you enjoyed the tour, too, Bleek!

Opened a pot of mixed bulbs received in the mail (from Breck's) from my SIL in Minnesota (who doesn't know me too well). My DH started laughing and said it was like sending coals to Newcastle! So true...oh, well, can always use more, and I didn't force any this year...so...so Bleek, I hope you still have some of your paperwhites left!

Wishing all a happy Christmas! t.

here are some specials perhaps not noticed
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/799313/

I finally finished my planting of my bulbs on Christmas morning before we opened the stockings and had breakfast. The family though I was nuts. It is a good things because the ground was frozen this morning. The finial count was 7002. It should be grand next spring. Fingers crossed. Happy new year to all. Patti

Sign. Wish I could say I was finished!

Congrats Patti! I think you get the crown this year, lol.

OMG, 7002 bulbs -- what a nice way to spend Christmas morning. Please post pictures in the spring.

Gemini_sage. I will now wait impatiently to see what appears and with what. I tried to make sure there are no, "what was I thinking" moments", but who knows. Last year there were a few, "off with their heads moments" when a few things came up together and looked more like a nightmare than a happy pairing, but I just enjoyed them in the house in vases and hope they don't reappear at the same time again. But so many of the bulbs that I planted were the minor little guys, which can never offend or were Narcissus which go with anything, that I think I will be thrilled with anything that makes it. Can't wait.

I give my DH a new camera with a panorama feature so he can "stitch" together a big view. Which I hope will be fun to post. I really want to see what that garden in Bar Harbour with the mass planting has this year for us to drool over. Plus now I am all hopped up over what I will be getting for lilies to plant from the great coops going now. Thanks, Gemini. Patti

WOW! Patti, I am completely speechless. Impressed doesn't begin to cover it!

I'm finally back home... family stuff took me out of town more than I'd anticipated, and we had uncooperative weather before that (first too dry, then too wet -- well, I don't have to tell you!) during a lot of the time when I was in town... so I've got a few bulbs left. But the sun is out, drying things out a bit from yesterday's rain, and the forecast looks good for planting this weekend. Hooray! Most of what remain are "little bulbs," so it'll be fine. :-)

Critterologist, I love to get out my old English dibble and poke away after a rain. You can get so many minor bulbs in so fast and then seeing the results of having hundreds of scilla or muscari pop up is so memorable especially for brightening up our very drab spring here in Nantucket. But I am not volunteering to come down and help you! However, I will cheer you on from here in front of my cozy wood stove. I am truly done, but I think I would have not finished if all the DG friends hadn't cheered and goaded me on to get it done. No Bulb Ball game for me. You have such gorgeous spring in Maryland that I get so envious. I want to come down some spring as my DH lived in DC for a couple of springs and never stops taking about it. Patti

Patti, you'd be a welcome visitor in spring or any time! And the only digging we'd do would be to divide whatever we could find for my garden to share with yours... :-)

I think I'll poke away in the front lawn and put in some drifts of snow crocus. I was planning on lifting flaps of sod and planting them by the handful, but after the rain it may be quicker to just dibble them in as you suggested. I've had a scattering of crocus in the front lawn since our first spring here, but when I hit that late season sale offering 1000 snow crocus for $20, well... :-)

Critterologist, I remember you wanting big numbers. Wow, That is amazing that you got a1000 snow crocus for 20.00 The last bag I planted was for a measly 200 'Miss Vain' - crocus for $5.51 and I thought that was a deal. I want to shop with you next year! I did get some great bulbs from Bleek Touch of Nature and eflower) and the eBay sale that bulbmeister had as well as some from my regular favorites Brent and Becky and Van Engelan. I would love to visit Md, but doubt I will this spring. But I sure hope to see lots of photographs come spring posted by you and all the other bulb maniacs! Patti

LOL... I shared the BloomingBulb sale info, truly I did! :-) But you had to buy 1000 to get the 2 cent per bulb price. Now the question is... Do I plant them between the sidewalk and the street, all along the cul-de-sac? Or do I keep them to myself and create a "crocus lawn" in front? I'm thinking it depends on whether or not I can recruit kid help this weekend... if neighbor kids are willing to help dig and plant, I'm willing to let the box of bulbs go for "neighborhood beautification"... :-)

Critter, I like your idea of 'neighborhood beautification'! Wonder what the neighbors would say if I came over and started dibbling in their yards?:-)) Hummmm, maybe next year I should get in on the whole crocus thing!

lol I got a few hundred bulbs from the bb sale before they sold out, too.

That's what I say I'm doing - the tech at vet's office the other day said she heard I was the "bulb lady" now because I push so many flowers...especially daffs this year. I am also the dog lady and the purple lady! I do have another 500 muscari coming from bleek and another 200 or so daffs to plant. I can't get enthusiastic in the rain and mud

Now I'm making cages for the lilies coming from bleek and gemini's co-ops. Last year all went in pots because of critters, but this year, I'm sinking them in big hardware cloth cages. It'll expand my planting area considerably, as long as I can convince the dogs that fresh dirt is not specifically for them!

Amaryllis is on the way from bleek, too, but I think I'm not a good amaryllis grower. They don't seem all that happy in my house, though they have plenty of light and warmth. Should I be fertilizing them?

They do like fertilizer, like any house plant. You can put time release stuff (osmocote) in their potting mix, or you can add water soluble fertilizer when you water... I do both, actually, but I use Miracle Gro at about 1/4 strength, and I don't add it every time.

Their performance the first year has more to do with how they were treated before they came to you, I think, than with anything you did with them. I got one this year that bloomed just beautifully -- on a 5 inch tall stem! LOL

FWIW, my second amaryllis article (about growing them on after they bloom and getting them to bloom again next year) is on the schedule for Jan 8.

You write good articles, critter.

One of the amaryllis put out three blooms on a tiny stem, too, but they only lasted about 4 days, max.