When Are You Planting Bulbs This Year?

Which evergreens, Harper. Some grow faster - like Norway spruce.

I have an ever-purple!

I have Colorado Blue Spruce, a migo pine, japanese black pine, japanese white pine, arbor vitae, rhododendrons, douglas fir (that one's big already) and taxus which I can't wait to get rid of. I'll look into planting some Norway spruces next spring.

Broke up a light frozen crust and put in around 150 tulips as light snow fell today. Person driving by thought I had collapsed on the lawn and stopped to help (I do like to get down close to plant). As I over estimated the number of bulbs needed for the border he went home with 50 or so of Bleek's double early 'Monte Carlo' tulips. He's a neighbor I had not met so that worked out good.

David_Paul, what a good neighbor. And nice of you to share. I ordered more sale bulbs from Bleek on his site Touch of Nature today and he e-mailed me back with the news that they are going out tomorrow. Can't wait. You would think I would be sick of them, but I am still chomping at the bit to do more. I hope Brent and Becky's get here in a couple of days. Patti

DP:
That is just about the nicest 'gardening story' I have heard yet! How nice of him to stop ~ and how wonderful of you to share with him!

Candyce & bbrook....easy to appear very generous with bulbs when you buy at Bleekers' end of season sale. Now that I think of it, I hope he doesn't check the internet and see the summer price of Monte Carlo tulips. I wanted him to take them (I did overestimate my needs) so I didn't want to mention any price, even Bleek's low prices. Next time I see him, if he brings up the number of bulbs, I'll explain.

After we talked for a while, I told him had he stopped earlier in the fall, I might have been lying insensate on the ground as I had undiagnosed sleep apnea. I was planting bulbs in the snow, I explained, because OSA had pretty much incapacitated me until I got a CPAP machine three weeks ago. Gardening had been no fun and many times I was out there exhausted. Turns out, he was prescribed a CPAP two years ago. So we discussed the miracle of CPAP; how one day you are absolutely miserable, just hanging on and the next morning you wake up feeling something is the matter with you because you feel so good.

That's wonderful David.

I am certainly glad you got diagnosed! My goodness!

David_Paul, I'll bet it is nice to go to sleep and still be able to breath. It must be frightening to just fall asleep at anytime and stop breathing. I have a friend dealing with a CPAP machine. Yes, aren't all our eyes always bigger in the fall and spring when selecting bulbs and plants. I was eyeing those Monte Carlo tulips from bleek, but resisted. I hope some that I planted last year will return. It is a really solid cheery tulip. Glad you are feeling good again. Whoopee, I just got another box of bulbs, but I will have to wait to plant them tomorrow. Patti

Wow - glad to hear that David. Seems I'm hearing about that disorder more and more. Sounds pretty scary to go through.

it is so cold, i am in a panic that i will NEVER get my bulbs planted.
my Maureens haven't even come yet!
(i mean - 2/3 or 3/4 of what i bought is planted - o, except for the 40 mixed Darwins i bought last week for $3.98.)
o heavens - i still have those #%*@ anemones. Why i bought them, when not ONE came up out of the 2 dozen i planted last year, i don't know. O yeah - they were crazy cheap. But i kept forgetting to soak them before any of the times i was out planting, so there they remain, on my back stairs.
Well, at least the ice last night killed everything, so i can pull stuff up to plant the rest of my QONs.

I'll be getting a bit over 200 bulbs this week! Yikes.

amethystsm, I am glad you mentioned soaking the anemone. I would have forgotten for sure. Though I am not sure with all the dampness we have had it would really matter. Patti

victorgardener...yes, becoming more commonly diagnosed. Certain now my dad had it and it was never caught. He had a bad time and passed away in his sleep at 67. Good thing about it is once you know you have it, you are fine. A CPAP machine is like putting on eyeglasses. That's it. You're normal again. Without the appliance you're banging your head into walls.

Felt remiss a few times on this forum because someone made a comment to me and I just couldn't reply. Too much effort. Also marveled at you all enjoy playing in the garden. To me it was work I dreaded. However, reading this forum, planning what to do was fun and productive. I was able to target just what I needed to do. You and others helped a lot with that (The heptacodium for instance. Took me a while after you first told me about it to get one planted, didn't it? That, which I would do in half a day now, I had to plan as if it were D-Day)

i soaked mine last year and got nothing. even in the areas where we put chicken wire on top.
so i am not too late?
i worry.

I'm happy to hear that David and glad I could be of some assistance. Feel free anytime! I'm looking forward to your bulb bonanza.

Victor, maybe if the ground freezes too hard those of us with unplanted bulbs could all gather somewhere and have a good old fashioned no-bulb fight. I think tulips would lob real real. Those double nosed daffs, might be a tad tricky to get to fly straight. Patti

Not a bad idea, Patti! Bulbs at 20 paces. Or a basebulb game?

Victor, I would be so up for basebulb. The bat could be a bamboo garden rake. And we would all have to wear garden gloves and knee pads. The Pitchers mound could be a compost heap, and the bases made from dinner plate dahlias. The umps would wear overalls and call bulbs and snakes. Warnings given for deadheading and ejections given for players caught with pine tar. Plant stealing encouraged, but plant spiking not allowed. I want to play on the Boston Bulb Sox and win a golden glove. Dare say I like BB. Patti

Good for you David! I was diagnosed with a mild case, had my septum straightened and tonsils & uvula removed & was undiagnosed. Lately, I wonder if its returned. Have CPAPS improved? I had a hard time using mine 5 years ago.

upon 1st reading, and extreme tiredness, i thought Dave was responding to Patti and so he had been diagnosed with a mild case of wanting to play basebulb.

think i'll go to bed now.

My anemones never make it, soaked or not. Out of 50 I was lucky to get two to grow so I gave up on them.

I had my order all ready for Brent & Becky but they ran out of the one I wanted most so I didn't finalize it and it's the best thing I never did, seeing this weather and the forecast.

Can't most of those bulbs be planted in pots and held over the winter? I'd surround them with either bags of leaves or put them in the garage by an interior wall.

I have some daffs that a generous DG member sent me. I think I can still get them in if it gets up into the 30's this weekend. I have some nice loose soil where my dahlias came out (if it's not frozen).

Wow - you had some hardware modifications, Dave!

There is always the reliable "Jan Thaw" when I have planted Narcissus and Tulips in Jan even in southern Vt that bloomed. I was going to plant today, but it is very windy out now. If it lays down, I may bundle up and try, but more likely wait.

Pirl, I planted anemones in a couple of places last fall and had them pop up as planned but this year will be the true test to see if they return. Which bulb did you really want that Brent and Becky were out of, perhaps one of use was guilty of bulb double dibbies? Patti

I love the idea of a Bulb Baseball Game! You guys and gals are so creative!

We now have face masks for the umps for our basebulb game if David_Paul and Dave47 want to donate their CPAP Head gear. I wouldn't want to have them officiate as I suspect they both may rival Big Poppy or Papelbulb as All Stars on the bulb field. Patti

Patti, "Big Poppy" and "Jonathan Papelbulb" have me rolling on the floor--as does the whole image of basebulb. Too funny!

bbrookrd...not feeling like an all-star this morning. Maybe by tonight however. If I can just get another 700 bulbs in by sundown I'll be in decent shape. Have yet to get to the blue scilla (got 250 of the white in), the Drooping Star of Bethelem, Thalia daffies, the tarda, linifolia and Red Emperor tulips and a few other things. Highs the next few days are predicted to be around 36, lows 22 to 22....brrrr....

After Bulbball, how about a card game? Northeast Garden Forum Hold' Em. The winner is the one who ends up with the largest stock of bulbs when the ground freezes. Or wait, that should be the loser, right?

This message was edited Dec 4, 2007 9:17 AM

(Think I'll move to CT)

Candyce....be lots of room here for you as everyone in CT is moving to Nantucket so we can plant bulbs for a few more weeks.

David_Paul, Some people actually think this is part of CT. No mas. Please. . I learned that playing winter basebulb in South America. Card game, could be fun....are you going to be bulb roll it? Patti

I found another source, Patti, so I can plant them (prechilled) in spring. Whew!

Patti - whatever we don't destroy we can make into 'bulblehead dolls'.

Pirl give it up, what was so wanted? At least give us a hint.

Victor, sounds perfect. Diamond Bulbs and Bulb Jays Bulbleheads. Take me out to the Bulb park. Cracker Jacks, Peanuts and Bulbcorn. Bulbs up. Enough, I think I will go plant some bulbs, no really.

David_Paul, Actually part of Nantucket was owned by New York until the state of New York in the Colonial Act of 1693, gave the pond rights to the people of Nantucket not to the Commonwealth of Ma, thus there are no state fishing licences issued for fresh water fishing on Nantucket due to the fact that they belong to the town. Only thing free here, except the fresh air. Patti

This message was edited Dec 4, 2007 1:16 PM

I love the bulbball Patti!

Ok...was at KMart yesterday looking for dark ornaments for my one tree, and I wondered into the garden department, lol. They have a whole skid of bulbs, that were marked about 50cents off the normal price. I thought that this was incorrect, so I took a package of Muscari, and scanned them at one of the random in store price scanners...ya ready? 99cents. So, being the good gardener that I am, I needed to save these poor Muscari, Tulips, and Daffs. I'm gonna go back up to KMart, tomorrow, and see if there are still more. Paul was with me, giving me that "What-do-you-think-you-are-buying-those-for" looks, so I only got 4 packages of the Muscari Armeniacum, 48bulbs, 15 Queen of Night tulips, and 3 packages, of 4 bulbs each, Minnow, and Tete a Tete daffs...for a grand price of...lol...$11.43. So, all together, I got 87 bulbs for under $12. Some of the bulbs are sending shoots up. And they are all healthy looking. Woohoo. Go bulbs!

Patti - it was Pink Perfection.

Good job HHH!