I AM TOTALLY NARCISTIC

I spent a rare day looking at bulbs for my Spring garden blooms. I must admit to being narcissistic because I'm partial to their longevity and cheerful color.

I bought 40 of the various ones shown below which bloom from early to mid-Spring :





I have a reputation to uphold and must be the earliest in the neighborhood so I bought a dozen ' Rijuveld ' Early Glory ' daffodil and for naturalizing ; Narcissus 'Jetfire ' also an early bloomer.

I bought three kinds of tulips , bunch flowering ( 5 flowers to one stem ) : 'Florette' a naples yellow, Praestans Fuselier, red with variegated leaves and Shakespeare, which is orange and yellow and a Kaufmanniana, a species known to live for 30 years or more :

Shakespeare Kaufmanniana Tulipa

Bunch Flowering Praestans Fuselier

Couldn't resist a Fritillaria 'Rubra maxima ' which is pricey, but worth it :




While these tulips and daffodils may not seem exciting to a lot of people I select the ones that I know to be good reliable performers in Zone 5 . Yes, tulips are perennial if you know which ones to pick -Darwin, Species Tulips and Kaufmannianas are tried and true.

And last of all, after seeing a lawn of Scilla this Spring I vowed to plant mine as well :


After the selection process I went home and planted all 268 bulbs. My weapon of choice , a serrated bulb planter that made short work of digging holes.

And they say the cobbler's son has no shoes. I am READY for Spring.