Any other kilobulb planters out there?

My DH is an engineer, and several years ago he coined the term "kilobulbs" to describe the quantities I planted each fall. I usually got in 1000+ bulbs or one kilobulb. I think my "personal best" was a couple years ago when I put in 3 1/2 kilobulbs, but many of those were in my parents' and in-laws' yards. Usually less than half of what I plant are bigger bulbs like daffs or tulips, and planting the little bulbs goes much faster, so it's not quite as daunting as it seems.

Oh, and last fall, 3 kilobulbs of crocus went into the front yard when we had a DG "crocus shower" for our baby girl!

This fall, I'll still be in the midst of some medical treatments, so I won't be able to dig. *sniff* (I'm sure I'll make up for it next year.)

So, I need to garden vicariously! Who else plants in quantity, and what are you planning to put in this year?

(I think 500 or so early & late blooming daffs have gone into this bed over the years, and they've multiplied since this photo was taken!)

About 1,000 last year. Getting close to 500 this year. It gives me something to do. If I'm running out of stuff to do I just stock up at Lowes or Home Depot so I can keep busy for awhile. Then there's mail order, another 150 ordered there. Lot's of room all over including a 400 yard long driveway that I haven't touched yet.

Wow. 3 KB? I may try to match that.

Go for it!

Even when you're planting 100 daffs at a time, you have to remind yourself not to spread them out too far, or at least plant then in clumps. Otherwise they get "lost." I love the clumps in your photo!

Love the term. I am a regular kilobulb gal and do it with a helpful husband and a trusty auger and a couple of dibbles. We cut back to 3500 last year and will do the same for this year due to my ongoing medical issues after doing a couple of years of 7000. Love Me Bulbs!

I remember the days of being proud at planting 300. The change came when in 2002 when we enclosed a large section of our property with a deer fence and retired. The garden can now be worked without the agony of watching it all be eaten. I will be planting in very late Nov and early Dec this year and I am especially excited about some of the new Narcissus that I have ordered. Then there will be the Turkey day sales, more yummy than the dinner. Bulbs Away! Patti

Oh yes, I knew you were a kilobulb planter extraordinaire!

Which new narcissus tempted you?

Ok, what are Turkey day sales ... the day of TGing or the day after and are they online or are they at your stores .... fill me it PLEASE!
I'm lucky to plant 10 new bulbs a year. :o(

How are you feeling critter?

I don't think I'll be digging much this fall, but I'm doing fine. Who knows, maybe I'll be ordering from Brent & Becky's after Thanksgiving also! (Seems to me sometimes their sale has started the Sunday after T-day, sometimes a week after that, hopefully somebody has the date for this year. Van Englen's sale starts sooner and is also very good.)

Glad to hear you are doing well. and thanks for the information. off to work ....

When we did our final planting in early December, I did a final count to see what we had planted for 2010 and it came to 4510 bulbs. Spring should be good. Patti

WOW! Four and a half kilobulbs... that sounds like a new record for a home garden!

I planted 3082 Spring blooming bulbs this fall!!!

WOWZA!

OK, you have to tell more... what kinds? New beds, or worked between existing plantings? Do you plan your bulb plantings or just start digging and keep going until you run out of bulbs?

Welcome to the club....we are all insane. Patti

For daffodils I planted 250 Ice King, 50 Extravaganza, 30 Cum Laude, 12 Popeye, 12 Taurus, 12 My Story, 24 Double Fashion, 12 Art Nouveau, 50 Gay Tabor, 25 Apricot Whirl, 25 Petit Four, 25 Delnashaugh, 25,Eudora, 25 Soverign, 100 Tripartite, 25 Golden Ducat, , 40 Thalia, 100 Tete aTete, 16 Pink Impression, 750 Tulips which included Pink Impression, Sancere, Clusiana var Chrysantha, Akenono, Dordogne, Ice Cream, Bloomsday, Lilac Wonder, and La Courtine, Red Crown Imperials, Allium , 50 Hyacinth Jan Bos, 100 Oriental irises, 100 Iris reticulata Gordon, 100 Hyacinthoides Excelsior, 100 Giant Muscari, 100 Ocean Magic Muscari, 100 Blue Spike Muscari, 50 Pink Sunrise Muscari, 100 Galanthus, 300 crocus ( Yellow mammoth, Lilac Beauty), 18 Asiatic lilies, 18 Eremurus Cleopatra, and this doesn't include the bulbs done in pots. Yep, I'm definitely insane. They were planted in existing beds in the front and backyard. Can't wait till Spring. I planted over 1000 bulls last fall also. Annette

Make that over 1000 bulbs, fall of 2009. I plant till I'm done or can't feel body parts anymore LOL:-) All by hand, can't seem to get the power drill and auger to get through the Georgia clay and roots. Annette

You are a trooper to plant all those in Clay. You have planted some of my favorites and a few that I need to look into. Patti

Ditto what Patti said... must look up 'Popeye' daffs and a few others from your list! You'll like 'Gordon' if you haven't planted it before... great color, definitely more blue than violet, with a dark splotch to set off the color.

LOL@ planting until body parts (hands, feet, nose, it varies) are numb.. I can relate! Clay here, too, so those bulb augers only work in a well-turned bed. Basically if the soil is loose enough to use the bulb auger, I'd generally rather just scoop out a quick hole by hand.

You put in a great selection! Nice variety, and enough of each kind to make a statement. Now I'm getting excited about spring!!

Any of you multi kilobulbers out there know where to get a great deal on a few hundred daffs without breaking the bank. My new years resolution is to beautify my community :)

Catzgalore, the Netherland Bulb Company ( NBC) had good prices for large orders of bulbs and so did Van Englen. I was pleased with the selections from both. Check the NBC website, more offered there than in their catalogue. Hi Critterologist, is Gordon a daff or a tulip?

Catzgalore, Watch for eflowergarden (DG member, Bleek) sale for Narcissus, tulips and lots of other bulbs at great prices listed in the DG classifieds when he is ready in the spring to run it. He is a proper Dutchman and orders direct for his sales. He use to do the coops for DG but those days are mostly gone.

However, I would watch the the coop forum too to see if any coops for bulbs get "approved" this year. There use to be terrific ones each spring. I hope someone is brave enough to try to run one. We got good prices from a coop over yonder from Sunshine Flower. I think one was also run from them on DG at the same time.

I use Van Engelen a great deal too as well as their sister retail company John Scheeper for small quantities as the prices for large quanities on Van Engelen are terrific. They are a wholesale company that will sell to private people if you meet their minimum, which is nominal. Great prices for bulk.

Because you are in a warm zone, lucky you can order bulbs at the big Thanksgiving Time Sales from Brent and Becky, Eflowergarden, Van Engelen etc and save 25% to 50% off bulbs and plant them in Dec for great spring blooms. Just get "Southern" ones that will do well for you. This is a good article on Narcissus in the south. Join the madness and plant a bunch. Patti

http://www.hortmag.com/archive/daffodils_for_southern_garden...

I've also Dmailed or emailed Bleek if there's something I'm looking for.. he can find you a good deal, all the more so if you're not looking for a specific variety. A lot of the crocus bulbs for Joyanna's crocus lawn (planted fall of 2009) came from him, and I think the rest came from van Engelen. VE starts their fall sales sooner than Brent & Becky's, and they have good discounts on larger bags of bulbs. (VE and John Scheepers are the same supplier... go to Scheepers if you want smaller quantities of a variety.)

Cem, the 'Gordon' that you mentioned above is an Iris reticulata. I've got a bunch of different ones -- some I've marked or remembered the varieties, but a lot are anybody's guess by now LOL.

I love reticulated iris. Here are some of mine. I am still trying to sort a few of them out. Confusing but lovely things. Patti

http://picasaweb.google.com/pmc.ack/ALBUMIRISRETICULATA?authkey=Gv1sRgCJGKkoSH6eiKBA&feat=directlink

Bbrookrd, your reticulated iris are beautiful, I'm adding to my collection every year. I planted iris Cantab last year and should have gotten more for this year. I loved the beautiful cobalt blue color.

Critterologist, I try to keep the picture from the catalogue for bulb and plant varieties that I've ordered, and I even lable them as I plant, however, tags wear off and the pictures get misplaced, so I just have to enjoy them name remembered or not:-)

This message was edited Nov 7, 2012 10:46 PM

Well I just got a couple more boxes of Narcissus to plant as soon as we have a thaw. Touch of Nature/eflowergarden was selling some nice ones off super cheap, so I couldn't resist.

So now I have another 575 to plant. I have a nice spot to naturalize, so they should go in the ground easily with the auger when it isn't frozen solid. They won't do much this year , but will be fine for next if I get them into the ground the next month. I will. So I ended up with 5085 bulbs for the 2010 year. Patti

Hope you get a thaw soon, this weather has been crazy both in the north and for us in Georgia. Happy planting. Annette:-)

We are in for some more very cold weather the first part of the week and then who knows what. But all I need is a good day of rain followed by a day above freezing. Not a lot to hope for.....well maybe in Jan and Feb in New England it is! Thanks for the well wishes. Patti

Wow, you go, girl! I haven't had a lot of luck with the bulb auger in my clay, but somebody suggested once that I need to try a corded drill for better torque.

Even in our sandy soil, we need a corded drill as the a cordless does not have enough gitty up and go to do anything. Patti

OK... I'll get a decent corded drill and try again... should at least work in the soil that's been amended some (clay here), and it should work wonderfully in my MIL's sandy loam!

I think you will find an amazing help. Patti

Thanks, Patti! I'll definitely try it. I think my MIL's garden is due for another "round" of tulips in front, and I like to put in at least 2 or 3 hundred there.

We planted the last 2 boxes (575) that I got on sale in Jan from Bleek yesterday before the ground froze up solid again last night. a They were great big fat ones that we used the auger to drill into the ground after a 3 day warm spell. Total for the year ended up at 5085. I think they will bloom this year, but if not they will be great next year. We planted them in areas never planted before except for150 Rip Van Winkle that we put in a bed that we had planted a few in before. Now there will be an army of them. Love me daffodils. Patti

*5* kilobulbs!! *swoon*

Thanks, I would take a bow but I am a tad seized up from doing so much yesterday.

I have been a couch potato since finishing up the fall chores and planting in Dec. so I am so stiff today. Plus I think I got some P.I. as my right arm is all itchy. No matter, jhitting the big 5000 again feels good. May be the last time, but I have said that before. Bulbs Away! Yours should be coming soon. Lucky you. Patti

Yep, we're seeing sprouts out there, especially after the recent warm spell.

Boys! Sounds like you all going to have one heaven of a bulbs spring blooms. I can't wait! I'll reserve a spot here to watch all your hard work come to fruition. Congrats everyone.

OK bulbaholics!!

I just clicked in to DG and my favorite forum here after months of being otherwise engaged, and I'm dying to see some of these kilos of bulbs in bloom!

Any pics?? Please?!

I have a few daffs in bloom but nothing too special this year...wasn't as obsessed about planting bulbs as in past years and now this spring don't you know I surely regret it!

tab

tabasco, nice to see you . No Narcissus yet, crocus and reticulated Iris. Patti

This message was edited Mar 19, 2011 10:44 PM

Some other kids out playing, long last. Patti

Nice collection there Patti.