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Bulbs ain’t so basic

Posted on September 12th, 2008 – 8:15 AM
By Connie Nelson

If I added up all the bulbs I’ve planted over the years, I’d have one heckuva spring flower show in my front yard. As it is, all I get is a few species tulips coming up under the pine tree.

 I’ve planted dozens of daffodils, hyacinths and all sorts of hybrid tulips. The squirrles ate the daffodils — before they even had a chance to bloom. In fact, those rats with furry tails sat and watched me while I planted, then dug up bulbs and ran off with them while I went to get the watering can.

I did a little better with tulips. At least I got them in ground. But after a couple years, they petered out. Now I get one or two pathetic-looking tulips. Not exactly a spring show.

The only bulbs I had a luck with, I had too much luck with. A couple of years ago, I “naturalized” scilla by planting it in the grass. It decided it liked my perennial beds better, and migrated there. Now, every spring I have to go mano a mano with thousands of those sweet little flowers before they crowd out the flowers that are supposed to be in the perennial bed.

That’s why I’ve given up on spring bulbs. Except for species tulips.  Though they’re not as big as the hybrid tulips, I think they’re every bit as beautiful. And, THEY KEEP COMING BACK.  Year after year after year. So it’s species tulips for me and the heck with rest.

Have I thrown in the trowel too easily? This is your chance, bulb planters of the world: Go ahead and tell me what I’m missing. Go ahead and tell me what you’re planting now. Go ahead and describe your spring gardens in delicious detail. Go ahead and ruin my fall.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 12th, 2008 at 8:15 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

18 Responses to "Bulbs ain’t so basic"

Mememom says:

September 12th, 2008 at 9:43 am

I’m with you regarding bulbs and the urban rats. I swear they watch, draw a map and steal each and every bulb! I keep trying though–I just can’t give up that vision of a great swath of tulips that’s in my mind’s eye–even though I only get a handful each year! And, every June, I swear that I’ll never do it again as I try to hide the dying, yellowing leaves in my garden. The best combo I’ve found is tulips in my daylily beds–the lilies hide the dying tulips while they recharge.
I’m curious about the species tulips–I may have to give those a try.

judybusy says:

September 12th, 2008 at 9:47 am

Connie, well, about regular tulips, they do get smaller every year–that’s their nature, no fault of yours. I, too, am a fan of species tulips–mine have actually increased over the years!

My faves for spring bulbs include Muscari ‘Valerie Finnis’ and Fritillary meleagris. A little unusual and really dependable!

I have been having problems with crocus. If they do come up, they haven’t been blooming. Do they need lots of sun? Really good soil? Anyone have any tips on how to get these usually easy-growing plants to do their thing?

Jaime Chismar says:

September 12th, 2008 at 10:41 am

Species tulips are quite beautiful. My credit card thanks you for ANOTHER impulse purchase, Connie!

debw says:

September 12th, 2008 at 10:41 am

Judy, my crocus crap out too! I plant them, maybe they bloom the next spring, then within two years, nada. I quit planting them a few years back and went to pushinka and siberian squill for the early spring flush and then the checkered fritillary and landscape daffodils planted with a patch of hardware cloth underground two inches to keep the tree rats from pigging out.
It is somewhat monocromatic but I do get a show.

Jaime Chismar says:

September 12th, 2008 at 10:43 am

Oh! I forgot to add this link to heirloom daffodils.

http://www.oldhousegardens.com/bulb.asp?Cat=DA

They claim to “Daffodils are permanent, increase eagerly, and are wonderfully deer-and-rodent-proof.” I am skeptical… we *do* have a special kind of mental mapping squirrel here in the northland. They ate my bulbs, too!

bsimon says:

September 12th, 2008 at 11:26 am

To address the squirrel problem:

night gardening?

My bulbs seem to have survived, I merely put them in a bad place. All were planted late in the season (post halloween), in the dark. We have lots of squirrels too.

Connie Nelson says:

September 12th, 2008 at 11:59 am

Ha! Gardening at night. What a great idea to foil those darn squirrels. I have tried laying down a mesh fabric over the ground where I’ve planted bulbs. It worked. But, boy, did it look silly.

Connie Nelson says:

September 12th, 2008 at 12:07 pm

Has anyone had problems with squill? I love it, but I can’t get it to grow where I want it to grow. And it really did a number on the pussytoes (a great native groundcover). I’m afraid I’m going to have to yank out all that darn scilla. . .

auntie k says:

September 12th, 2008 at 1:44 pm

I use chicken wire (instead of the mesh cloth) to keep the squirrels from digging up the bulbs. It does look a little dorky, but the bulbs do come up in the spring. I leave the chicken wire on until the bulbs start coming up. (Then, I move to protection from the rabbits who want to decapitate the tulips.) I dig up the bulbs every 3 years or so and then put them back in.

Connie Nelson says:

September 12th, 2008 at 3:06 pm

Do you plant new bulbs, Auntie K, or just replant the ones you dug up?

auntie k says:

September 12th, 2008 at 3:29 pm

I plant some of each. (Like Jaime, I’m a sucker for new stuff, but can’t seem to let go of old favorites, either.)

Holly says:

September 12th, 2008 at 8:01 pm

After three seasons of planting daffodil bulbs, I’m ready to call it quits.

I had one spring where I had a few lovely ones, but mostly they just disappear, by the hundreds. Is it the soil? The squirrels? I thought daffodils were supposed to taste terrible.

And yet, it’s September, and hope springs eternal, and I want to believe that THIS spring, my garden will be a mass of yellow cheer.

ranty says:

September 12th, 2008 at 8:43 pm

Like Holly mentioned, I was heartened by tales of squirrels HATING daffodil bulbs. So one year I bought 200 of them, visions of a FIELD of daffodils sweetened my dreams all winter.

And then in the spring: ZERO. Not one bulb came up. I was ready to have an aneurysm!

And I’ve had plenty of tulips come up over the years, but typically the squirrels wait until they’re just ready to bloom and then bite their heads off.

So depressing.

Peter Hoh says:

September 13th, 2008 at 11:24 am

I’ve had success with daffodils. I put hardware cloth over the tulip bulbs when I first plant them, but I’ve never done that with daffodils.

I always put bulbs about an inch deeper than the package recommends, and I add a little bloodmeal when planting.

I was happy with the grape hyacinths this year. The regular ones, not so much.

sabrina says:

September 13th, 2008 at 12:07 pm

I love tulips, I plant them every year. Most make it to the next year. But I am the one that absent-mindedly uproots them alot of the time! Blueberry Ripple is one of my current favorites, Gavote (spell?) is nice too (esecially if you happen to be a MN Gophers fan) I like the bi-colored varieties. I planted some species types last year but don’t know which they are. I ordered at least $50 online a while back & am patiently awaiting there arrival. It will be like chrismas because I don’t remember what I ordered! My big plan this year is to plant an allium with every patch of bulbs. Then I will use my monster bottle of dollar store red pepper flakes to sprinkle on top of the site. In the spring I also sprinkle on a couple of doses of pepper flakes & it seems to work quite well. Occasionally I even get a pepper plant.

Holly says:

September 13th, 2008 at 2:48 pm

Tulips must be especially tasty right before they bloom. I think they rabbits like to nibble the buds off, too.

I have ONE tulip that grows in my yard. It was either planted by the previous owner or by a squirrel.

I lived there several years before I even knew what color it was because it would always get eaten.

Last year, I picked it before it bloomed and stuck it in a vase.

It’s orange. It’s all alone. But at least last year it bloomed instead of being digested by a critter.

Holly says:

September 13th, 2008 at 2:51 pm

I’ve been told that heavy soil is hard on daffodil bulbs.

Any experience with this?

I planted glory of the snow one year, and they do naturalize beautifully. And they offer a bit of color when the snow is just disappearing. Put them someplace where you don’t mind them spreading, though. And plant a lot. Cause they are so tiny.

I have them under peonies, so the growing bushes cover up the dying plants.

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