I’m so excited!! My bulb order from Van Engelen has finally arrived and this means I’ll be spending the entire weekend planting bulbs. Actually I should say we, because the HH will be my designated digger for this project. 🙂
This is our last big garden project of the year and once we get this done, I’ll be able to pack all my garden tools away for the winter, settle in and focus on all the indoor projects I want us to complete this winter.
I love New England and it’s four unique seasons, but I think winter, and the quiet and calm that it brings, is probably my favorite.
Just look at those gorgeous tulip bulbs!!! So plump and beautiful.
Here’s the list of everything we’ll be planting:
- 1,000 each of Blue magic, Montecito, and Alaska iris bulbs {for alongside the road}.
- 400 Tete a Tete daffodils {to line the brick walkway}.
- 300 Tulips in assorted pinks and purples to plant next to the hydrangeas in the front garden. I’ll be planting them behind the picket fence so hopefully the deer stay away from them.
- 250 King Alfred daffodils for in front of the barn, if I have extra I’ll plant them along the back of the house.
- 6 Peonies, the gardenia variety for just behind the picket fence, we already have a few planted, these will finish the row.
- 3 Amaryllis blushing bride bulbs {1 for me, 1 for The Girl and 1 to give as a gift}
That’s 3,959 bulbs! Holy cow man.
I think I’m most excited about the Tete a Tete daffodils though. Little mini bursts of happiness lining the brick walkway next spring, Lucy is going to love them.
I was shocked though at the size of the Tete a Tete daffodil bulbs. I guess I thought they’d be a little smaller.
Pictured above are the King Alfred Daffodils {that get up to 18″-22″ tall} on the left, Tete a Tete {that only reach about 6″ – 8″ tall} on the right. Interesting!
3,000 iris bulbs!!! What was I thinking? Oh my word, it’s going to take forever.
The peony tubers are very healthy. All the bulbs actually are in extremely good shape. I didn’t see a single dud in my entire shipment. I love ordering from the Van Engelen company.
And lastly, the amaryllis bulbs. I love planting these indoors. It’s such a welcome sight to have something in bloom during the long winter months.
It’s like a gentle reminder that spring is right around the corner as you’re all bundled up indoors drinking hot chocolate by the woodstove and admiring the snow on the ground outside.
Gardening, it’s pretty rad. No matter what season you’re in. 🙂
~Mavis
P.S. Do you have any spring bulbs in your garden? Do you have any favorites?
Susan H. says
I have fall crocus that blooms in Sept to early Oct. (Just 1 though.) As the rest of my summer flowers are fading to see it put up several blooms is a bright spot!
Cindy says
I love fall crocus! I don’t have any yet, but they’re definitely on my wishlist.
Mavis Butterfield says
Mine too. I was thinking about getting some, but decided to wait until next year.
Tamara says
We are much older than you and your HH and arthritis dictates all our physical activity. Last year we were two thirds through planting 150 (a paltry sum for you!) bulbs when my HH purchased a bulb planter, around 35.00. What a back saver! That encouraged us to order 250 bulbs for this fall. We began last weekend and have divided the bulbs up by sections of the property so hopefully we can be finished in a week or two, working around our schedule.
Mavis Butterfield says
Good for you Tamara, it’s so nice to see them popping up in the spring!
Tina Hintz says
Now I can’t wait for spring to see your pictures of the flowers.
Ashley Bananas says
This brings back memories of planting tulip and daffodil bulbs with my mother at my childhood home in New England. Unfortunately the large patch we planted was along the road side and diminished in size year after year. After thinking about this at some length I believe the sand and sale from plow machines probably negatively affected the bulbs continuously over time. Just a thought for a roadside patch. Maybe don’t plant too close to the road!
suzanne says
O.M.G. That’s a lot of bulbs. Can’t wait to see them blooming.
Not related but My HH and I saw Jaws last night. He’d never seen it before. Lots of east coast accents made me think of you.
Rebecca in MD says
I admire your ambition in planting so many bulbs in one year! I can’t wait to see the pictures when they start blooming.
Some of the favorite daffodils I have planted (in previous homes) include Actaea (the pheasants eye daffodil), Sir Winston Churchill, Cheerfulness, Carlton, Mount Hood, and King Alfred. The house we currently live in is surrounded by woods, so I have less space for bulbs. This year the only bulbs I am planting are a 4 x 8 foot bed of garlic.
Kay L Bonikowsky says
I just put in 200 daffodil bulbs that I hope will naturalize. Oh the blisters on my hand from the dang bulb planter! ouch.
Lana says
Love, love bulbs but so do the voles who think we planted treats for them. Grrrr….
debbie in alaska says
I love how much joy and beauty you find (and create) in your little slice of heaven — it’s inspiring.
Julie says
I planted Tulip bulbs in my front garden bed and within 30 minutes a squirrel dug them up and left them on my driveway. GGGrrrrr!!!
Mavis Butterfield says
That would be frustrating!! 🙁
Marie says
Try a “standing bulb planter” – one dig, fertilizer, stir and drop in the bulb to carry on to the next.
We have all of the hungry, spring creatures here, so I experimented in our bulb planting area with hardware cloth, chicken wire and/or window screening material to wrap the bulb area. We will see what works!
Mary says
We just put about 500 various kinds of tulip, daffodil and about 50 alliums and hyacinths. I thought I would die. My husband dug, I put bulb fertilizer in and bulbs and covered. It was a ton of work. I do not envy you, but it will be stunningly beautiful and the daffs will multiply and come back forever.
Linda Practical Parsimony says
That will make a stunning display next year. I plant “king alfred type” daffodils and Purple Prince tulips, mixing them in the bed. They are so pretty together.
Tracy says
Consider buying a bulb auger. I planted 5,100 bulbs one year and the auger made it shockingly easy. If you have two people, you can fly through the job. Oh,and those Tete a Tete are terrific for forcing. I plant them packed into small tabletop sized pots and leave them in my unheated garage until I see green noses poking out of the soil, usually in February. Then, during the worst months of the year for gardeners (March and April), my house is filled with pots of mini daffs, plus the scent of hyacinths and Muscari. Love ’em!
Mavis Butterfield says
I think I’m going to try and force some of the Tete a Tete bulbs too. And thanks for the auger idea. The HH is going to look for one.
Dianne says
Can’t wait to see your effort next Spring!
Lace Faerie says
One year I planted Paper Whites all along the front of the house. Not realizing that refrigerated bulbs from Holland would think our 30-40 degree NW WA weather would feel like spring to them. We had the most beautiful display of fragrant white flowers just in time for Thanksgiving. Everyone in the neighborhood was wowed. But they never came back. Learned my lesson. I never plant spring bulbs until December/early January!
Lisa Millar says
My iris patch is blooming right now and its making me so happy! (Although its currently being drowned in torrential rain…)
I nearly snorted my coffee when I read 3000 iris rhizomes
Go hard or go home I suppose haha – thats going to be epic!!
So…. spring flower show at your place next year?
Have fun xx
Mavis Butterfield says
I was checking out your site the other day and HOLY COW LISA! You and your soap. You’ve gone off the deep end. 🙂 It’s lovely. 🙂 Especially like the ones with the sprinkles and I thought the black raspberry turned out really pretty.
Sue says
I order from Van Engelen too and just got my notice from UPS that my order should be here early next week.
I add some daffodils every year. I’ve been experimenting with planting them in clumps and in lines, without any space between them. A few years in and so far they still bloom beautifully each spring!
And I used to plant tulips but the deer eat them, so I skipped tulips for the past few years. BUT this year I heard that deer don’t especially like “species tulips” so I took a chance and ordered 50 of those, will see if they survive in my yard and, if so, I’ll be adding some of those each year as well.
Love spring tulips and daffodils!
Emily says
I can’t wait to see your gardens in the spring! I love tulips, but the deer let me know to stick with daffodils and crocuses. I went all in on those last fall, and I love the swaths of sunny color come spring. I always set aside a few bulbs to force indoors too. It’s always a treat to get those early blooms while there is still snow outside.
Patty p says
I love all kinds of daffodils. I have them planted all around. Of course I have a variety of tulips and iris as well. I found a beautiful purple and buckskin colored iris a few years ago at a Mennonite flower shop and have it in the beds near my door. I love the crocus in the spring and have tiny little iris that come up early in the spring too. I love all the spring color and it helps me get through mud season.
Amy W. says
I’m so sad. I ordered bulbs for the first time, and I even ordered super early. Alas, the tulips I wanted were not in stock (or not available due to shipping challenges). I was so looking forward to my Exotic Emperor tulips! 🙁