October 25, 2007

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.

12 comments:

  1. Carolyn Gail, do you mind if I ask where you buy your bulbs. The bulbs I bought this year are terrible. I can't wait to see your spring flowers.

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  2. Oh, you are SOOOOO my garden hero of the week, Carolyn! Not only do I love your choices--I think that any bulb is an exciting choice!--but you're amazing to have them all planted already. Tomorrow--whoops, make that later today--I do plan to do some of my planting--and I haven't dared count just how many bulbs I have...it might scare me.

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  3. You ARE ready for spring. It's going to look great!

    Carol at May Dreams Gardens

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  4. Hi Robin,

    I buy my bulbs at the garden center where I work part time. It's one of the largest and in my opinion the best in Chicago. You must stop by and visit it if you're ever in the city.

    Thanks for stopping by, Carol. I can't wait to see the Spring blooms. Got all your stuff brought in from outdoors yet ? Gonna get down in the '30's tonight in Chicago.

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  5. Thanks, Jodi. I'm a "git 'er done " kind, plus, didn't have much choice -time's running out and the snow may fly any day.

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  6. Doesn't it make you feel rich to have so many bulbs!

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  7. The shoemaker is going to have a glorious spring, Carolyn - what a lot of bulbs!

    Your mention of your future patch of scilla reminds me how beautiful those blue scilla lawns looked in established gardens in the Western suburbs. I'd planted lots of Scilla siberica and puschkinia in the front of my old IL house - maybei it now looks like that in spring.

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  8. Yay you! I finally got mine ordered and I hope they get here this week. 'Jetfire' is one I ordered!

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  9. Hey Kylee,

    'Jetfire' was one the bulb expert at the garden center swore by as a hardy early bloomer so of course I had to have it.

    We'll probably be the first to have Spring blooms next year.

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  10. carolyn, I can't wait for next spring to see your bulbs blooming!

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