This site is an archive of ChiotsRun.com. For the latest information about Susy and her adventrures, visit the Cultivate Simple site.
Thank you for all your support over the years!

Cheerful and Hopeful

October 29th, 2011

Surely the most cheerful and hopeful of the fall catalogues are those of the spring-bulb growers.

Katherine S. White from Onward & Upward in the Garden

Two weeks ago I placed a rather large order for spring flowering bulbs, around 2500 total (YIKES, I know). Most of my money was spent on bulbs that will naturalize, like narcissus, crocus, muscari and bluebells; making my workload a little lighter in years to come. I love tulips, and even though many get eaten by deer, I ordered a few hundred of those to plant as well. We’ll see if I can keep the deer away from them.



Needless to say, I will be spending every waking moment of nice weather and sun we get over the next couple weeks planting these bulbs. I even made a video about planting bulbs for the Your Day blog, check it out. Next week I’ll post about which varieties I ordered and where I’ll be planting them. It looks like this coming spring will be quite beautiful here at Chiot’s Run.

Will you be planting any spring flowering bulbs this year?

12 Comments to “Cheerful and Hopeful”
  1. Eliza J on October 29, 2011 at 5:35 am

    No flower bulbs this year. My only Fall plantings are some blueberry and raspberry plants that will arrive next week ~ unfortunately we are expecting an early 10″ of snow this evening. It’s a good thing I don’t have bulbs coming!

    Reply to Eliza J's comment

  2. daisy on October 29, 2011 at 7:42 am

    Wow! What a treasure trove! Can’t wait to see them blooming next spring!

    Reply to daisy's comment

  3. Victoria on October 29, 2011 at 8:38 am

    That looks like fun! The only bulbs on my to-plant list are garlic bulbs, (in containers.) I’ve had terrible luck growing most bulbs in my claggy clay-filled soil. Cannot wait to see the pictures of your blooms this spring!

    Reply to Victoria's comment

    • Susy on October 29, 2011 at 8:41 am

      That is one benefit to having dry sandy lean soil, bulbs LOVE it! Unlike many people in the North, I can get tulips to come back year after year.

      I do have some planted in clay that do fairly well, although it’s pretty dry in the summer.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  4. goatpod2 on October 29, 2011 at 11:51 am

    I don’t think we’ll be planting any flowering bulbs this year just veggies and herbs.

    Amy

    Reply to goatpod2's comment

  5. Mary W on October 29, 2011 at 12:15 pm

    We grow species tulips, alliums, snowdrops–any bulbs the squirrels don’t like. The first year we lived here my mother-in-law gave us around 200 spring crocus bulbs and all but two were dug up and eaten by the squirrels. She also gave us some fall-blooming crocuses that the squirrels don’t like and they have migrated all over the yard.

    I really like the early bloomers that signal that spring is on its way. Snowdrops are pretty humble flowers, but I love the way the pop up just when I think winter will never end.

    Reply to Mary W's comment

  6. Waytogohomesteader on October 29, 2011 at 2:40 pm

    I’ll be planting a few bulbs this year — crocus mostly because they are so cheery when they climb out of the snowy muck in the spring. Garlic in the raised bed, as soon as I find a good place to buy (organic) straw. We just had our first frost (5a too). I can’t believe that New England is expecting snow! The weather report for us no longer says anything about snow.

    Reply to Waytogohomesteader's comment

  7. Wendy on October 29, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    I love a good reminder of cheer and hope! And you’re absolutely right ~ fall bulbs are both. Just when everything around us in nature is starting to lose its color and grow dim and fade, we bury our bulbs in the ground and wait for the promise of spring. Love it.

    Thank you for a great reminder today of hope.

    Blessings ~ Wendy

    Reply to Wendy's comment

  8. Brenda on October 29, 2011 at 7:56 pm

    Wow! What an amazing number of bulbs, I can’t wait to see them all in flower

    Reply to Brenda's comment

  9. Debbie on October 29, 2011 at 9:49 pm

    I’m putting in a few more tulips. Our whole front yard (which is small) is covered in tulips, reds and yellows and a mix of both, come spring but I wanted to add something different into the mix.I got a bunch of Angelique tulips which are so lovely. They have a rose like bloom and a very fragrant aroma. So delicate looking. I also will put in more muscari. I love them so much when grouped in big clusters. Can hardly wait until spring to see how they all look.:)

    Reply to Debbie's comment

  10. Mich on October 30, 2011 at 11:30 am

    I’ve put in a lot of alliums, and far too many tulips into my cutting garden.
    Can never make my mind up when choosing varieties so end up getting far too many…but i do enjoy them in the spring in the garden and in the house.
    I planted alot of crocus bulbs this year, to mark where we buried our dear old dog; just hoping the damn squirrles dont dig them up!

    Reply to Mich's comment

  11. KimH on November 1, 2011 at 4:45 pm

    I’ve got a large basket of spring bulbs still to be planted. Last fall I planted quite a few & I loved each & every one of them that popped up during the long cold spring.
    This time I bought a lot of tulip bulbs and a few other bulbs as well. We’ll see if they’ll survive my soil & squirrels.
    Where did you order yours from? I’ve been ordering mine from American Meadows when they have their 50% sale starting mid summer. Their bulbs have all been of excellent quality.

    Reply to KimH's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

Admin
Read previous post:
Overwintering the Garden Pond

If you remember, we have a small garden pond that we put in last spring. It used to reside in...

Close