Brent and Becky's 50% off has began

And while I have no room, I am ordering yet more bulbs!!

Ditto, plus its unusually cold here in NY, we need some warmer weather so I can get out and plant the bulbs I already got from Van Engelen's sale (presently on the living room floor), and now another big box (or two) will be coming from B&B. I think the colder weather makes me order more, since it makes me dream of spring that much more.
Ernie

ernie...it is cold. Put in the last bulbs this afternoon and the ground was frozen. Only a crust in the lawn but bare spots are frozen an inch down.

artemiss, What are you getting now??? LOL
I filled up my gardens with the VE Bulbs and then had to give some to my sister.
toofew

Toofew- I know, I have a problem..a terrible plant addiction:) I shared some of my daffs from the co-op with my neighbor after the space for I had them was overflowing.

What's worse, I actually had a list of things I wanted, but didn't want to pay full price for..like the Fragrant Rose daffs..a bit too pricey at $16+ for 10, but do-able at $8something for 10.
I also picked up a few other odds and ends, like some mini-daffs (Itzim) and species tulips (humulis) dirt cheap.

Now where they will go...THAT is the question, lol

I think my pepper bed along the side of the house will have tulips and daffs in the spring, hehe

And a beautiful spring Pepper Bed it will be!

I went to the sight ... ahhhh, so pretty!

Placed a small order with Brent and Becky's Friday morning. Wasn't impressed with a notice after the order went through which informed me they would email and let me know how much of what I ordered they have in stock.

They will email me sometime I guess. When they get around to it. Which hasn't been as of tonight.

I ordered some extra Dutch Iris and Crocus from B&B also - like you David not sure when they'll ship. At any rate I have no idea where I will put them - I have already planted tons of bulbs from earlier deliveries. Even snatched up some bulbs at Wal-Mart which looked so sad as some of the few remaining in the bins - and they looked surprisingly good for Wal-Mart bulbs! LOL. Put some in containers today and no idea where the rest will go. I think (like Ernie) that when I think of what will be blooming in the springtime, I think ahead and don't want to miss out on anything.

Stores shelves are, unfortunately, bare of bulbs here Steve.Still no email confirmation from Brent & Becky's. Little annoys me more than to give out my credit card on the internet and then hear nothing from a company.

Even at 50% off they charge about what I pay for crocus (and more than I pay for many other bulbs) from other companies. This was really a test order to see what makes their bulbs so expensive. Whatever it is, it's not worth the bother.

David, you do realize that this was a holiday weekend for most people, right?

I know I didn't work on Friday, and I know that many others didn't either. With this being the off-season, I wouldn't expect to hear anything until Monday for an order placed on Friday, even on a regular business day. (I placed my order on Sat. and didn't get my confirmation til Monday, either)
I actually appreciate that my card isn't charged until they know my order is all in stock, and would much rather have a smaller charge go through a bit later, than have a larger charge go through and then have to wait for a refund. (or for the larger hold to clear at a lower amount, if on my bank card)
I also know when I placed my order earlier this year, I went back and made a second order that same weekend, and they put the two together, saving me $ on shipping, which is a courtesy another company did not provide, so I have to say i personally have been impressed with their customer service.

I know it is frustrating to have wait though.

This message was edited Nov 30, 2008 1:11 PM

artemiss....yes, I realize this is a holiday weekend.

Having been both a retailer and a wholesaler I know what that means.

Work.

Work they could have done before the holiday. Be easy enough to set up a program which tracks what is in stock as orders are taken. Every other company I order from does that.

When they charge my card doesn't matter. Everyone I order from--from Amazon to Van Engelen--only charges the card when an order is shipped. Nothing special about B&B doing that.

This wouldn't matter so much if it weren't the end of the season for bulb sales. Whatever B&B ships or doesn't ship is it. The other companies I was looking at are sold out (they weren't when I ordered from B&B).




This message was edited Nov 30, 2008 2:45 PM

David,

B&B is bad about the "sold out" thing. I ordered bulbs from them VERY early (spring to early summer) in the season a few years ago to be sure I could get what I wanted (and to get the 10% early ordering discount) and they arrived with notification of a credit on the receipt in the box as one variety I had ordered was "sold out". I know they ship by climate zone and makes me wonder if they reserve by climate zone as well - meaning those of us in the south might get screwed if the pull by zone without regard to order time. I was really irritated by that - not so much as a phone call. The previous year Brent did call as one variety I had ordered was out of stock and he asked about substitutions, which I am always fine with. I had not ordered from them until this year after a hiatus of several years because of the sold out item.

They do have a great selection, especially narcissus, and prices are decent (though higher than Van Engelen), but B&B is not my first choice for bulbs. Their end-of-season sale, assuming you can afford to wait climactically to plant, is a good bargain though in many cases for certain bulbs. I agree would be nice to know when to expect shipment.

I live in North Stamford, CT but as I completely over ordered/purchased bulbs again this year and was not able to get them all in the ground in Nov ... was wondering ...is it too late? I have some crocus Joan of Arc, some tulips and daffs/narcissus. The ground was frozen before we left for the holiday but am hoping to get them in at least my raised bed tomorrow. Will the roots have enough time to establish??? Do I bury them deeper than usual? more mulch? help! Here is a photo of one of my fave tulips from last year

Hi Abbyday,
You are not far from where I live, and indeed I am still planting bulbs!
Got most (mainly tulips, frits, named daffs, and various small bulbs) in at home during Fri and Sat, and got some more (mostly crocus, mixed daffodils,and some eremurus) in my school garden today after work. Still have species tulips and narcissus "Avalanche" to go, though maybe I will force some bulbs of the latter in pots then set them out in spring. We should be good for planting till Thurs or Fri, according to the forecasts I've seen. Anytime you can get them in the ground is good, they should be fine.
Found an allium bulb dug up in the school garden, where critters are more of a problem than at home. Evidently the varmit took a bite and decided it wasn't good enough to eat, so I replanted the damaged bulb.
If you can't get them in before the weekend, just hope for a thaw next week, it is still possible in our area this time of year.
Good luck,
Ernie

I've never ordered from B&B's before, but I'll go and take a look at their sale. I'm a bit apprehensive given D_P's experience though. I hope that it works out alright!

Ernie, your username intrigues me ... I don't suppose that you're a brilliant teacher by any chance? =)

I was walking through Meijer's discounted garden supplies, they had a couple bags of bulbs left. I bought a bag of blue scillia, 25 for $1.00. Sure hope they pop up next spring.

I just couldn't bring myself to order any more tulips or daffs from Brent's and Beckys. Got to many of them in an earlier co-op.

Hi Wrightie,
My experience with BB is very good, but I ordered on the first day of their sale. Everything looked good, even the frit meleagris and another 2 kinds of frits, and dogtooth violets--all of which don't like sitting around for a long time out of the ground. I also noted while bulb planting that bulbs that were planted last year are rooted and look great whenever I ran into one accidentally while trying to get the new ones in. Sometimes late planted bulbs sprout a bit late, one good example would be Ipheon. The ones I planted late last year didn't do much before spring, now their foliage is well developed on their normal schedule.
Indeed I am a teacher, but my wife is Chinese, Mandarin speaking, hence my username : ).
Ernie

I've been telling my bulbs, down - go back to sleep with this crazy weather we are having. I ordered 40 bulbs from Breck's and 40 bulbs from Easy to Grow (all daffodils - a variety of kinds). We got this cold weather and like the directions said, I planted them in pots and sat them on my deck. Then we get this cold/hot and cold/hot weather, the daffs are dazed and confused now and I've seen over 28 sprouts coming up. Hope they look that nice this Spring.
joy112854

I was dinking around the B&B site, but not having much luck - most stuff that interested me being Sold Out. Not surprising, but it's always worth a try.

lol - my pinyin is not great (I always forget what the "c" should sound like, therefore wo bu tai congming!), but I see that I guessed correctly. I taught in Taiwan and met my hubbie there - I mostly used bopomofo and the Yale systems while studying Mandarin there. Wish my pinyin was better.

Joy, good luck with your bulbs this year. That's really frustrating when the weather is all over the board like that.

Steve....checked the bank today. Brent & Becky put a hold on my debit card. No idea if what I ordered is in stock or when they will ship. Perhaps I entered an incorrect email address and that is why, after 4 days, I have not received email confirmation. Never entered incorrect information before when ordering on line but I suppose I should give them the benefit of the doubt.

When checking all day to see if B&B emailed, I did find a silver lining.

Another sale. From "Touch of Nature".

Their last one a few weeks ago was too good to resist and so was this. 400 species crocus for $15. 200 Puschkinia for $7.50, great prices on tulips and daffies.

Placed an order and got email confirmation in...oh...three or four seconds.

Not much left so if anyone is interested, check now.

For bulbs I like to use Easy to Grow if they have them, I have had such great luck with everything I've bought from them and their customer service is excellent. Of course, I have about 80 canna lilies now, so, don't need too many more. I'm trying to get a variety.
joy112854

That is a great sale, David. I will have to watch out for them next year. I already way overspent my bulb budget, LOL.

I agree on "Easy to Grow", Joy. Thinking they'd be just another common bulb broker, I tried them for the first time a few years ago and was pleasantly surprised with the really large, nice plants they sent. Have used them each year ever since. Their tuberose bulbs in the "pack of 12" I ordered last year were massive and far larger than any I had ordered elsewhere. In fact I had a $100 rebate debit card and I just spent all of it there last night on some species tulips, Dutch iris, narcissus, oxalis and other bulbs. Ended up with 145 bulbs (many of them large) for $100 even, including shipping - not bad.

Got my bulbs today..now..hopefully the ground won't get totally frozen until I can get them in, lol

Edit: Brent & Becky order placed Friday arrived today. Never did get an email confirmation or a reply to the email I sent two days ago.

Bulbs are very healthy, best condition I've seen. The 50% off brings their prices down to about what I normally pay for these bulbs.



This message was edited Dec 4, 2008 12:06 PM

I have to say, once I pulled them out and got to planting, I was so impressed with the Fragrant Rose daffs...every last one of them was the size of my fist, with at least one, if not two, nearly full-size bulblets growing off of them.

The rest of the shipment was still high quality, but that bag ended up being double what I paid for, since I had to split the bulblets off just to get them into the holes my auger made.

Placed an order with B&B on Monday and received it yesterday, everything that I had ordered, so I'm happy.

I ordered:

Allium flavum and `Mars'
Camassia `Blue Danube'
Chionodoxa sardensis

Now to get them planted!

Yee-ha. They're in the ground! Can't wait 'til spring.

Hi all,
Such an enabling site this place is, saw the note about Touch of Nature's sale, couldn't resist! Now I have 200 each of crocus, dutch iris, and allium mix to plant. The bulbs look great and came quickly. The forecasted weather for the next week isn't ideal for planting bulbs, but school break begins on the 19th so I am praying for a nice weather spell sometime between then and New Years, if not next weekend. Maybe I'll also put a few of them in pots to chase away the winter blues.
Ernie