Last fall, I planted about 400-500 bulbs, in a sort of freeform swath, all across the front yard. It took over two weeks, because the soil in my front yard is basically composed of rocks, bricks, broken glass, pieces of plastic, roots of trees that no longer exist, and clay, covered by grass. So it’s a real chore to dig any kind of hole, let alone a foot-deep trench completely across the yard.
I had to cart away all the crap I dug up, then replaced it with topsoil and other good stuff. I then planted white crocuses, white narcussus, and assorted tulips in shades of pale orange and pink.
Now, after an interminable Cleveland winter, they’re all coming up! Yaaaaaay!!!
That’s nothing - my tulips and daffodils were coming up in early February. In Calgary. I dumped a bunch of dirt over them in the hopes of convincing them that it ain’t spring yet, my poor, confused little bulbs. I think the day after I did that it went down to about -20C. I’ll take the extra dirt off of them when it actually is spring here, in about a month.
Good for you for making your part of the world a brighter place with all those plants. Have you got anything else planted for when your spring frenzy is over? And by the way, just to brag a little bit, we dug a car pad in our back yard last summer, and I have about two solid feet of rich, black topsoil in my yard. Woo-eee. (Was my Saskatchewan showing there, getting so excited about good soil? )
A year ago I had the pleasure to go and dig up about 100 bulbs from a friend’s father’s old home place. He had run a hot house, nursery and potted plant business.
The old home place had fallen in disrepair, but the bulbs came up every year there.
Today there is a strip mall where the old garden business was.
I like to think that I’ve given these 50-yr old flowers a new lease on life. Some of these bulbs were imported from Holland … not a big deal today but 'twas a big thing back then in the 50’s.
Anyway, it makes me happy to see them blooming on my place instead of being smothered by all that pavement.
The snow is melting here, and I’ve been out all day with the pickaxe, smashing ice to encourage it to melt quicker. There are little edges of soil poking through now but nary a sign of a bulb. But the ground is still frozen hard, so I suppose its a bit early… I CAN’T WAIT.
And I planted about 500 tulip bulbs last autumn along the bottom of the wall that runs along our road. But the soil there is cruddy, clay-y builder’s rubbly junk, and in november I found a few rotten bulbs that had worked their way to the surface. So I am rather worried that they have all rotted.
One purple crocus is blooming - it came up under a pile of leaves in the side yard. The ones I planted out front have poked some greenery up, but no blooms yet. I do have a few daffodils blooming in the sunniest part of the yard out front, and tons of daffodil, hyacinth, and tulip tips poking up as much as 6-7" in some places. I also was delighted to see my naked ladies have returned - this’ll be the year to divide them and spread them around some more.
This year’s garden goal is to move all of the iris that are waaaaaaaay in the back yard out to areas where I can see and enjoy them without hiking to the back acre of the yard. I still can’t imagine why the previous owners planted 3 huge beds of iris where they can’t be seen from the house or the yard.
We’re also getting rid or the dead/dying/ugly evergreen crap that’s covering the hill that rounds the corner. It’ll all be replaced with ground cover - ivy, pachysandra, phlox, maybe some vinca - with iris interspersed, and maybe a crape myrtle or 5.
I’m overly ambitious, but I’d love to make my yard super nice this year. However, 3 acres is a bit much to control when I work full time and I’m married to someone who abhors yard work. I need a gardening crew. And enough spare cash to pay a gardening crew. Is that too much to ask?
I currently have 59 hyacinths in bloom in my yard. This does not count ones that have been picked or ones that were forced and have now been transplanted outside.
panache – kudos on your project! It’s gonna be gorgeous when it’s in full bloom, and with different things in bloom at different times, that’s gonna be for a nice long time.
I’ve got snowdrops and crocuses in bloom (plus vinca), and hyacinths up and showing flower heads, plus daffodils starting to come up. It’s been super warm here the last few days – I spent a couple of hours doing cleanup yesterday, my first time in the garden in months. Yay spring!
We’ve got crocuses blooming in our yard, and other bulbs coming up, but we have no idea what they are since this is a rental house and by the time we moved in last summer all the spring flowers were gone. I’m hoping for lots of pretty daffodils! I missed daffodils all my years living in the south, where they don’t grow. Daffodils and lilac. I really need to find a nice blooming lilac around the neighborhood that I can sneak by and take clippings off every couple of days!
We’ve just about given up on any bulb blooms here, except for the iris and the grape hyacinth. I planted all sorts of bulbs 15 or 20 years ago, daffodils, regular hyacinths, and so forth. However, it just doesn’t get cold enough in Fort Worth to convince most of those bulbs that winter has actually arrived, and they should bloom. I’d have to dig up each bulb and stick it in the freezer if I wanted flowers from them. No thanks.
The snowdrops have bloomed, and the daffodils are up but not blooming yet. But you have to admit it, panache45 it has been a particualrly mild winter here on the northcoast. We barely had to shovel, and I’m going to have to run the snowblower standing still some fine day to burn off the gas we filled it with… only used it one time, and only shoveled about four times.
I’m thrilling to the green noses of tulips poking through in my yard! Hurray! My mother planted them for me last fall. I’m jealous of all the daffodils and narcissis coming up all over town. I want some for my yard. Nothing says spring like bulbs coming up!