It is that time of the year we all look forward to-bulb planting time! I enjoy planting bulbs so much I always look for sales on bulbs and tend to go a bit overboard. This was the case last year when Rural King marked all their bulbs down to about .25-1.00 per bag. I think I may have bought them out. It seemed like I was planting for days last year. As such, I will not be planting so many bulbs this year unless Rural King has such a killer sale again:) But I will be planting some bulbs.I am not a very careful gardener when it comes to mapping my plants and bulbs in the garden so I have to be careful where I plant new bulbs. I have this problem that I forget where the bulbs were planted last year and when fall comes and it's time to plant more bulbs guess what happens? I tell you I just hate digging into bulbs and it happens to me all the time. Anyone else have this problem? This year I've decided to only plant in new areas to help avoid digging into bulbs already growing in the garden. Most of my new areas are mainly shaded gardens in a woodland type setting. As such I have planned for shade tolerant bulbs such as snowdrops, winter aconite, corydalis incisa, and muscari. Of course I will still push the limits by planting a few tulips. I can't resist tulips. My color theme with the tulips this year is reds and hot colors. My garden will surely stand out come spring.
The way I plant bulbs here in my garden is to dig a hole, add a pinch of bulb booster and then drop in the bulb. I make sure the bulb is pointing up and I usually plant in groups of 5-7 scattered throughout my garden in a natural way. Generally you can plant bulbs at a depth of 2-3 times their diameter. Come spring their bright faces will help to hurry the winter away....
in the garden....busy planting bulbs.
I'm glad you said to naturalize, pretty soon you won't have yard!
ReplyDeleteI'm very tempted to plant daffodils in the lawn area! My only concern is the grass growing too fast in spring but it's worth a trying. I have a bag of mixed crocuses to plant soon, just need to figure out where!
ReplyDeleteGood morning! Nice and brisk here but sunny at last.
ReplyDeleteDawn, Less lawn is good indeed.
Dave, I think I'd plant the crocuses in the lawn and the daffodils in a garden. The crocuses will be long gone by the time mowing kicks in. I have some daffys in the lawn and it looks pretty bad come April and May while I leave the foliage for it to ripen and do not mow, but it is worth it if you don't mind the weeds too much. I think this year I'm going to try some Preen to keep the weeds down in the daffodil bed.
Tin,a what a great idea planting them all in one place!! I love planting bulbs, it's so exciting when they come up. I don't have the budget this year to buy all those wonderful things on my list from Old House Gardens, but I do have the budget at a good sale!!
ReplyDeleteSo exciting, Tina! I just got the email from Van Engelen that my bulbs will be here friday. Species tulips, crocus and some new stuff in small batches to try out. The species tulips, T. batalini 'Apricot Jewel' only six inches tall are going in the lawn. They are so short the ripening foliage should be covered by the grass, I hope. I plant a viola or pansy or something on top of the planting hole to help mark the bulbs. Digging into them is really a sinking feeling in the stomach! :-)
ReplyDeleteFrances
I want a Rural King!!! What a sweet deal. I am eagerly awaiting a shipment of bulbs...and there is snow forecast...so they may have to wait. Thanks for the tips on planting. I was wondering about the bulb fertilizer... does it matter if the bulbs get touched by this? Are they supposed to? I always worried about burning them.
ReplyDeleteThanks and have fun planting.
Rosey
Tina girl I have "bumped into" a lot of bulbs too .. or it seems that way when you do it ? so frustrating ? or the squirrel mafia have done that for me too ! haha
ReplyDeleteI plant like you do but you have way more room so your scale is a lot larger than mine .. I am still waiting for my daffs to come !! jeez!!
Joy : )
I have a few already and plan to get a few more tulips. I've been reading the secret to having tulips return every year is drainage. This year mine will be planted in the gravel garden. We'll see how they do there.
ReplyDeleteMarnie
At home I'm constantly smashing into bulbs when I dig... But at Blithewold, at least for the tulips we have a system that we borrowed from the geniuses at Great Dixter - we plant tulips in the swathes designated for annuals. And then we dig the bulbs up and store them before planting the annuals again in June. It's more work but it works!
ReplyDeleteLzyjo, Keep an eye at Rural King for end of season sales-can't beat it they were like giving the bulbs away and all came up this past year too.
ReplyDeleteFrances, What a great idea! I might try that with the species tulips too. You'll be busy today.
Rosey, In all the years I've planted bulbs I've never had one get burned. They all come up and look great so the pinch and drop method works for me. Some folks put the fertilizer on top of the dirt just over the bulb but I prefer mine where the roots are. The soil is usually moist so it absorbs and dilutes it quickly but bulbs can handle it regardless-at least here it works.
Joy, Love the bulbs and yes hate bumping into them. Urgh! Happens all the time but fortunately they are tough cookies and might recover if not cut too much.
Marnie, I heard of one technique to dig a big hole, add one inch of gravel, add one inch of good soil, then the bulbs, add more soil, then the fertilizer. Seems like too much work for me but the gravel will surely help with drainage and worth it if it is a good quality bulb. Unfortunately tulips usually don't last long no matter what you do unless you get the older species types. Some varieties are better than others though and gravel will sure help them to stick around a long time. Good luck!
Kris, That's the way to do it! I think that is the way Dutch bulb masters save their bulbs-digging each year. I know Blithwold must be magnificent in the spring with all your care. Thanks for dropping by.
Bargains are the best! We don’t have a Rural King and I wish we did. They are an awesome place with a little bit of everything for everyone! A couple of months ago, I took out all the bulbs in the mailbox planter as they were not giving such a show. I will plant them elsewhere in the gardens. Hum, maybe a garden I will be talking about tomorrow would be a good one! It has lots of sandy soil and some bulb items are growing well in there now. Thanks for the reminder as my bulbs are sitting in the shed out of sight so I could have easily forgotten about them!
ReplyDeleteTina -
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of your "hot lips" garden. LOL
I have dug up my share of unmarked bulbs! Isn't that part of the gardening experience? :-) Which reminds me that I know that I need to divide my Dutch irises and Spanish bluebells -- so, where are those things?
As for mapping -- Richard had suggested golf tees and I wrote about the idea, but never have followed through like I planned!
This is the first fall here that I've NOT ordered bulbs to plant. I really wanted to get more alliums and will probably regret it when spring arrives. When I go to Sam's Club, I'll see what they have.
Enjoy your day!
Freda
PS Charm went to the vet today for a blood draw. We'll get the results tomorrow.
That's a lot of planting to do! I don't have nearly that many to plant. I dig into bulbs all the time and it makes me cringe each time. Most of my tulips need to be replaced, hardly any came up last spring. I'm keeping an eye out for the species tulips you had talked about before.
ReplyDeleteSkeeter, I love Rural King so much. It has all the stuff for the garden and animals at economical prices. They are more midwest than south though but may be spreading. Go get them bulbs planted. Mine are done for now so I've been having fun making leaf castings. I'll post on them at some point.
ReplyDeleteCameron, I remember the talk on mapping where bulbs are but I just can't think of a good way that will last. Yes it must be a requirement of gardening to dig into them. We all do it. Here's good wishes for Charm coming your way. P.S. I bet Sam's will get some alliums in.
Catherine, The species tulips seem to last so much longer and give good bang for the buck. I just ordered some more from Scheepers. They are the most economical that I've found and have a fabulous selection of species tulips. They give the history and everything. Check them out and buy a few and I bet you might never go back to hybrid tulips-except a few for a big bang.
Less lawn is a great idea, I say less gravel too, during spring anyway. I have planted hundreds of botanical tulips in my gravel and it is really pretty in April
ReplyDelete:-)
Tyra
Wow Tina, if what is shown in the box is what you planted this year, I would hate to have done what you did last year as I counted a toatl of over 500 in the box. They sure will be pretty. I had ordered Crocus, Daffys, Narcissus and Tulips from van Bourgondien and they just came Monday but I have not planted them yet. Been trying to get what I can of the veggie garden to bed and then I will move on the out front. All the talk of Tulips not lasting, I really am wondering why. Then I think I know why they last forever up here. They freeze every winter in the ground. I have tulips that still bloom that are 25 years old and have had no care for years.
ReplyDeleteAlso I meant to say that I think less lawn makes for a prettier yard but more work as it takes more work to weed and care for the plants than sit on a mower and mow the lawn. LOL
ReplyDeleteHappy digging, Tina! It is SO hard to resist tulips, but I managed to this year since last year's "perennial" tulips were all eaten by deer. I'm hoping the bulbs might revive themselves. I did splurge on some pink daffodils, tho, and am looking for some more allium. I'm open to snowdrops, too! Do you have a good online source?
ReplyDeleteTyra, I can just imagine how beautiful the tulips are in gravel. I'd love to see it!
ReplyDeleteMom, You will be busy planting your new bulbs and it will all pay off next spring. These are bulbs in the pic are from last year. I've narrowed down things this year and am using restraint. Too much planting. You'd be surprised on maintaining the gardens versus the lawn. I spend way less time maintaining the gardens versus mowing and weeded and fertilizing the lawn. Of course it takes a few years to get the gardens where they are easy to manage but once it is done it is less time consuming except for reworks. Which are fun but take time and muscles. Dad was telling me of tulips lasting forever up there at his old homestead. Some varieties are good with that and I agree the cold probably really helps them to last. It is so nice when they last.
Jen, I usually order my bulbs from two sources. Netherland Bulb Company is great for alliums, daffodils and hybrid tulips with some miscellaneous bulbs. I've really had great luck with them and their bulbs. The other source is John Scheepers. They have tons of varieties and give really good descriptions for prices very reasonable. Both are online. You have the right idea sticking with daffodils and and alliums. I was reading in my bulb book that if snowdrops are not in the ground in September they do not bloom well the first year. I scratched them from my list but had already ordered a few which are planted. Winter aconites are another bulb I'm trying this year that bloom the same time as snow drops. Check them out and have fun planting and may the deer stay away next year!
ReplyDeleteI'm a sucker for a sale.
ReplyDeleteGreat reminder...got a area where the dying foliage won't look bad...that's always a issue with me.
Crocuses in the lawn is a great idea. Somebody ate my crocuses last year.
Yes, yes, I also have the problem of digging up bulbs all the time, poor things. I'm looking forward to an order from Van Engelund to be planted as soon as they arrive. This year I ordered all early bloomers - early crocus, early daffs, chionodoxia (oh, I know I killed the spelling of that one). Spring comes so late here that I don't need any late bulbs that don't bloom until June!
ReplyDeleteYea! I'm planting bulbs this year. Well, hope it's yea - when we first moved here I planted about 200 pink and purple tulips and about 4 came up. Critters I think! Hopefully they're gone now after 19 years - uh huh right! Well then I just cross my fingers they will come up.
ReplyDeleteLove bulbs!!!! Planted about 40 something ranunculas bulbs......don't know what they will do. I have three tulip bulbs in the freezer now..
ReplyDeleteI love red tulips! I wish we could plant them but the squirrels eat the petals. My neighbor shoots them with a BB gun. No bulbs for me, but I'll enjoy yours via blog. Happy planting!
ReplyDeleteGreat on the bulbs Tina. Only a few make it down here. Tulips are completely out. I have daffies, snowdrops {the ones with a green dot on each petal}, those TALL lilies, spider lilies. Can't think of any more at the moment.
ReplyDeleteJust got some day lilies & other plants that need to go into the ground now.
Wow, look at all those bulbs! Reminds me that I have a few species tulip that need planting.
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you how many times I've slided into a bulb while planting more bulbs! I wonder when all my ordered bulbs will arrive! The ground ought to be really soft from all this rain! gail
ReplyDeleteThis is a timely post for me, as I just got a box of bulbs from Terra Ceia Farms yesterday. I have tried to make where I already have daffs, but those pesky markers do have a way of flying out when I weed.
ReplyDeleteTina, one secret to not digging into bulbs is to take lots of pictures when they are blooming. And not just closeups, but get landmarks in there and take them in sequence so you can put them edge to edge and see a whole area at once.
ReplyDeleteI had planned on not adding anymore bulbs this year as I went overboard last year, but now you have me wondering if our Rural King will have a season's end sale...can't resist a good sale. :)
Oh, and happy planting!
i have never planted bulbs...can you believe it. i want to so bad and needed this for inspiration. i know nothing of how to so thanks for sharin. i think i will be looking for some on sale too.
ReplyDeletehappy autumn.
I'm always digging into bulbs, so much, I've given up planting new ones. Later in the season, I think, oh, there's a bare spot, I could shoehorn a plant in there, and out go the bulbs. I'm not very good at this.
ReplyDeleteHi Tina! I am planting bulbs here too in much the same manner as you. (in the newer section of the garden beds). I don't map out my bulbs either so it seemed the safest method. I can also tell which sections I need to rework the soil in ~ it's much tougher there to dig!
ReplyDeleteI don't mark my bulbs either, even though I always plan to. I had some come to the surface this summer when I was digging near them to put annuals in. I had hoped to plant some in my new curb area, but don't know if I'll be able to. I did replant my grape hyacinths that were already coming up near the curb, so there will be some color in the spring.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your get better wishes on my blog.