What bulbs are you planning to plant this fall?

Fall is coming and it is getting time to plant spring bulbs.

What are you planning to plant this year?

Ok, so you asked....LOL

Allium tall 'Purple Sensation' 25
Narcissi bunch flowering 'Martinette' 50
Allium miniature 'Azureum' 50
Narcissi large cupped 'Decoy' 25
Crocus species 'Tricolor' 25
Narcissi miniature 'Rapture' 50
Narcissi small-cupped 'Altruist' 40
Narcissi small-cupped 'Misty Glen' 40
Narcissi trumpet 'Tropical Sunset' 50
Narcissus 'Golden Echo' 25
Narcissus 'Quail' 50
Narcissus 'Suzy' 25
Dutch Iris Eye of the Tiger 40
Amaryllis, Red Pearl 1
Asiatic Lily Orange Electric 5
Heirloom Species Lily leichtlinii 5
Triteleia 'Rudy' 25
Calochortus Mixed 20
Sparaxis Celebration Mix 10
Asiatic Lily Royal Sunset 3
Oriental Lily Tessala 1
Asiatic Lily Eremo 1

Lots to plant this year that's for sure!

I went crazy last year with several varieties of alliums, chionodoxa, tulips and lilies so this year I am being comparatively restrained. Arriving are:

3 Lilium Red Alert (B&D)
3 Lilium Silk Road (B&D)
3 Lilium White Henryi (Old House Gardens)
3 Lilium candidum (Old House Gardens)
3 Lilium auratum platyphyllum (Old House Gardens)

The Old House Gardens lilies I actually purchased last year to get 10% off.

I am also putting in 3 replacement peonies.

I installed 6 camassia semiplena few days ago. It's sterile, so it produces incredible double, long lasting flowers. They were smashing at my former home under a bailei linden, so I put them under a paperbark maple at my new home.

Those really are pretty Donna!

We crossposted. I love your list!

I put in some 'Purple Sensation' last year and they were fabulous - bloomed for weeks.

And I finally realized that 'Azureum' has to be put in as bunches. But if you do, they really shine!

Thank you! And thanks for the tip, I'll keep that in mind when planting :)

This year was definitely the year of excess and I've been going crazy every weekend planting stuff.

Last spring my husband kept going on and on about how much he liked the alliums that I planted last fall. So this fall, I'm planting more. Mostly Globemaster. Hey, he told me to! Right?

Well, obviously you had a real obligation there!

Totally right! And the combination of both alliums is surely going to look awesome. This is what they did here and it looks fantastics :
https://www.jardins-sans-secret.com/detail/4335/An-Outstanding-Spring-Border-Idea-with-2-Magnificent-Alliums.html

And if you underplant them with some oriental poppies, it is even more eye-catching:
https://www.jardins-sans-secret.com/detail/4393/An-Eye-Catching-Border-Idea-with-Allium-Oriental-Poppies-and-Salvia.html

Donna, which peonies are you thinking of getting?

They are actually replacements: Tourangelle, Moonstone and Paul M. Wild. I surrounded many of my peonies with chionodoxa sardensis and allium karataviense. The chionodoxa provided an early season deep blue color and the allium k lasted for many weeks.

Last year (I moved three years ago and was trying to redo some peonies) I put in multiple Festiva Maximas and Cornelia Shaylors - two of my favorites, Mrs. FDR, and Philippe Rivoire. I brought Burma Joy, Lady Alexandra Duff and Kansas from home. Yes, all red, shades of pink and white! I'm a cool color gal.

I loved growing salvia tesquicola and allium christophii with my peonies. These are at my former home. The first picture is a very young Lady Alexandra Duff. The second is Cornelia Shaylor. A HUGE peony with tons of secondary buds (get out the super supports - but worth it!).

Wow Isamenton, those alliums look gorgeous with the poppies. What a combo!

Lilac: you were pretty much obligated to plant more! You're exactly right :)

Sequoiadendron, I noticed that you had no tulips on your fall shopping list. Any specific reason?

I cannot envision a spring garden without tulips. They are so colorful with so pretty shapes. I love the Lily-flowered tulips or the small waterlily ones. So elegant!

You're correct, there are no tulips even though tulips are beautiful and great. I am prejudice against them because, in our yard, they can't hold up on their own. They need daff babysitters, if you will, to keep the animals away from them. Not to mention that the bulbs seem to decline after a few years because of summer wet. You can't get the color variety with daffs but they certainly have their own independence since they are toxic to animals. I have a lot of rabbit activity in my yard and it's just so disappointing seeing a bloom lay on the ground because some little varmint decided it would be fun to chew it off. Last season was the last time I decided I would try tulips again and they all held up well this past spring but they were surrounded by daffs. Now, I'd like to wait until next year to see how well they return before deciding to purchase more.

In Lake County, where I used to live, the voles were terrible, not to mention the rabbits. One year I put in 12 of three colors of double tulips plus White Trumphinator - 60 bulbs, and had some very fat rabbits in the spring but very few tulips.

And if it wasn't the rabbits, it was the blasted voles. They particularly liked 'Hearts Delight', a species tulip I tried to grow for years.

Then I figured it out, like you did. (I love the term "daff babysitters!)

Daffodils are poisonous. Rabbits and voles leave them alone. And even if they are dormant, they can smell them. So they stay away. I put a couple of miniature daffodils around my tulips, and after years of nothing, got this! (See the pic) Like you, I was tired of rabbits "beheading" my tulips. (You know, it would be nice if they would leave each other notes - I tried this, and I don't like it. Why does each rabbit have to try a different flower?!)

I use WP Milner, a Division 1 tiny trumpet, widely available, very cheap (most official miniatures are very pricey), and with teeny tiny foliage that melts away nicely. I put a couple near every rose and near my tulips, and the voles and rabbits leave them alone! For squirrels that don't eat but dig up, I use a a cheap pepper grinder from a thrift store to put freshly ground pepper over any overturned earth. They dig stuff up because they think some other creature left it there. I do it for a few days in a row.

I like to grow doubles, lily flowering and multiflowering, with a few species. The species come back well on their own but I must confess that I am one of those cheapsters who dig up tulips, dry them out and store them (they are in my garage now) and reinstall them (and it's about that time).

Donna, I didn't figure all this out on my own, you taught me :) I wouldn't know any of this if it weren't for you. I had some of those same tulips in the beginning of this season! I surrounded them with Jetfire daffs. This also lead to the creation of what I call a 'live bouquet'. It's probably nothing new but I think it's the coolest thing!

When I plant bulbs, I got a big container of black pepper too but I also add red pepper flakes. In the spring, to avoid the nibbling of foliage nubs, I use Milorganite, the idea of which may also have come from you.

Oh wow! How cool! I love your live bouquet.

Milorganite works on chipmunks too!

Thanks :)

I have a bunch of them scattered about. It was just something I tried this year and will likely do again in the future. I do have a question though, do you think I'm going to have to dig up all the bulbs in the 'live bouquet' a couple years from now and then replant them? I figured that might be a possibility due to bulb growth and multiplying.

I have never had to do that, and mine have been in for years. I think it involves the vigor of the daffs. I got some Mt. Hoods from Old House Garden that were so ridiculously vigorous they actually rose to the surface after a few years. But the daff I use is far more demure. I have never had to dig up WP Milner because it is not one of OHG's huge double nosed bulbs (those things are scary - they look like they might fight back when you try to put them in the ground).

So, it depends...

Lol...that's how the Salome and Geranium Daffs were. Two of them were almost the size of my fist.

Learned something from your posts, everyone! Wow, I never thought of putting dafs around tulips. I read an article recently about how short lived Tulips are just because of the way they divide into baby bulbs and then stop blooming. I thought it was me. So that's enough for me to think twice about tulips. I never did many allium, but you all are making me reconsider that. I did go whole hog on irises (Donna, glad to hear Purple Sensation made a nice display, as I had ordered some of these!) and lilies as well as liatris (not a spring bulb, I know!) and anemones.
Cant wait for spring!

Haha....and I thought I was the only one excited for spring at this time of year. I'm already counting down! It's 23 weeks until we go on our cruise to Cozumel and then after that, spring begins!

I planted 300 allium bulbs but it doesn't seem like much. Guess my gardening scale has changed!

50 Allium Pulchellum (I love it with Agastache Golden Jubilee) picture below
150 Allium Sphaerocephalon
50 Allium Flavum
50 Allium Cernuum

I love Allium - obviously.

Vala, I was just rereading this thread (it's so much fun) and I noticed your comment about tulips. Some Types do divide into smaller bulbs, but the other issue is that tulips originated in Turkey, in soil that is very dry and sandy. Scott at Old House Gardens notes that if you put tulips in areas where you do not water, they return much better. I had a species tulip in such an area (turkestanica) and it would actually multiply. I got six as a freebie from McClure and Zimmerman and ended up with over 30 bulbs in three years. I've had the bulbs for a good ten years. But it's tough not to water at all.

Some of those alliums are pretty sweet. I really like that yellow one.

Donna,
Thanks so much for the info on tulip planting!
I learn so much from you experts!!!
Do you order your bulbs from somewhere in particular?

I order my bulbs from several places. There are a number of very good ones.

For lilies I rely on B&D Lilies. Great lilies, truly first rate, and many varieties, and good prices!I We have lost some great vendors like Faraway Flowers and Buggy Crazy, but B&D is great for old and new cultivars and I can afford to buy three, which I prefer.

For a fantastic value and lilies that are equal to the best, check out Hallson Gardens (Watchdog 30). The selection is much smaller than B&D, but if they have what you want, the values are ridiculous, and the bulbs are outstanding. The price per bulb goes down if you order more than one. Crystal Blancas, for example, were something like $2.50 each, and $2.00 if you bought three. Each bulb produced three flowers. If they have what you are seeking, no one has better prices. Below, please see my first year Crystal Blancas, which I bought last year. 3 bulbs, 3 flowers each, $6.00 total.

The second picture is 3 first year Dimension. Again, $2.00 or so dollars each, 3 bulbs, 9 flowers, $2.50 each bulb. If they have what you are seeking, the quality is equal with the most expensive lilies I have ever purchased.

The Lily Garden is wonderful but it is pricey. Ditto Old House Gardens.

Old House Gardens has a minimum $30 order per season. If you order from the catalog, which covers spring and fall, you have to place a $30 order from each. But unbeatable sized, especially for daffodils and tulips. Five daffs will cost you more than at other places, but they are double nosed and reproduce so rapidly that you will have more than you need in a few years. A small selection of superb lilies.

For tulips, alliums, daffodils and a billion minor bulbs, John Scheepers and its wholesale arm Van Engelen are great and the values are terrific. 32 different kinds of alliums, for heaven's sake. Stuff that is hard to find anywhere else. 9 kinds of camassia. Tons and tons of tulips. I get my tulips from cheepers - multiflowering, species, late doubles, single lates. Scheepers has a $30 minimum and Van Engelen $50, but there are hundreds and hundreds of bulb varieties - unless I am mistaken, more than anyone else. A particular bulb will come in every color available, something equally worthy smaller entities just can't provide.

Slightly more expensive, but wonderful, are Brent and Becky's Bulbs. I order from all three and I can't tell the bulbs apart.

I have heard good things about other companies bu these are the ones I order from personally, and I ordered from all of them except the Lily Garden in the past two years.

Does this help?

I ordered from B&D Lilies for the first time this summer. My bulbs should be coming sometime soon I'd think. On order are:

3 - Royal Sunset Asiatic
1 - Tessala Oriental
1 - Eremo Asiatic
1 - Arbatax Asiatic

A friend on DG told me that lilies do decent in a bright shade/dappled shade environment so I might try a few in that situation as an experiment.

I am getting these lilies from VanEngelen:

5 - Orange Electric Asiatic
5 - Heirloom Species Lily leichtlinii

I think the B&D ones might go in our front perennial bed and then some of the VanEngelen ones will be the experiment because they were cheaper.

Donna,
HUGE help...thanks for sharing all the info on where you buy and yr experiences. Your photos are gorgeous. I gave up on lilies when the red beetles destroyed all mine years ago. Decided to give it another go now, years later. Been concentrating on building perennial gardens this yr concentrating on summer bloom. Next year will give even more consideration to spring bulbs.

You are very welcome. If you are thinking about spring bulbs and want to do something a little different, look in Scheepers or Brent and Becky for chionodoxa! Cheap! Great! Multiplying (but not excessively).

Pink Giant - blooming at the end of March

Alba in early April, and I love them under trees

And tiny, bright sardensis, which I put in peony beds at my old house

Leucojum aestivum 'Gravetye Giant', blooming in May

Different! Fun! Cheap! Multiplying!

And no garden will look like yours!

Do enjoy.

Donna

Lovely assortment! I beleive I had Pink Giant (tho they were blue!) chionodoxa for years that made a wonderful show, and I only had a few bulbs at my old house.

I should have known that you would know about them. I think the large blue ones are luciliae.

Aren't they fun?

This fall, my new bulb plantings:

in my spring bulb garden:
a center of assorted trumpet daffodils (110)
edged by Allium Ambassodor (5) in back and Muscari armenicum (60) on the other 3 sides

in the lily section in my front flower bed:
Stargazer lily (10)
Dizzy lily (9)
Muscadet lily (10)
Anastasia lily (10)
with Stardust Carpet Border lily (10) in front

in my layered bulb section of my side flower bed:
Foxtrot Double Pink Tulip (25)
Parrot Pink Vision Tulip (25)
Improved King Alfred Daffodil (50)
Hyacinth Trio: white, pink fondant, raspberry (50)
25 each Giant Crocus (Vanguard, Grand Maitre, Pickwick)
25 each species Crocus (Tricolor, Spring Beauty, Ruby Giant)

Needless to say, my goal this winter is to buy a camera and take pictures of my pretties!! LOL

Please take pictures!

You have my favorite lily of all time: Anastasia. I actually paid $42 for three when they were first introduced by The Lily Garden in 2000. It's in my records. At the time I didn't like orienpets but what a beauty! They multiplied so quickly that I had the joy of sharing them with my friends. I brought them to my new house. These pics were taken in 2007 at my former home. I took some from the grass bed and put them behind a retaining wall with platycodons.

14 years later and two moves, and they are still growing strong.

oh, they are so gorgeous en masse!
The ones I have chosen are all roughly the same height, trumpet orientals and similar colors (albeit different hues, combinations and/ or patterns) but there are FOUR different varieties that I mixed up, tossed out and planted where they came to rest - for an unplanned "look". But seeing how nice a cluster of all the same variety looks, gives me ideas for NEXT year!

This is three and three - you have ten!

What I am working on now is to unite them with the right plants.

I am really looking forward to seeing what your "cluster" looks like. I had originally bought them and spread them around, but now I grow almost all of them in 3's. Amazingly, lilies are MUCH cheaper than they were ten years ago. When I walk out and see a "bouquet" of lilies, it takes my breath away.

Here are some more threesies. I put all of these in last year at my new house.

Crystal Blanca, Acapulco, in the 3rd pic, Prince Promise in the rear and Sorbonne in front (the power of punches of pink), Regale from my previous home, and Silk Road from my previous home.

Regale was my very first lily. It propagates so ridiculously that this is the balance - I gave away 8. To tell you how long ago it was, I got 5 of them from Brent and Becky for $5.00!

WOW!! I just HAVE to get some of those Crystal Blanca ones!! They are marvelous!! Tell me about them, please (I'm a novice so would appreciate some guidance).

This is the second year I've bought and planted lilies;my local nursery referred me to Brent & Becky's for the daffodils I wanted and I saw some pretty flowers i just HAD to get (lilies). . this year, I wanted more than what I found at B&B, so ordered some from Breck's - BEFORE I found DG. I don't need to say more about Breck's.

Y'all have varieties I've never heard of, but you've posted advice and vendors in this thread that I've made into a word document. . for reference for next year's plantings!

(And as for me having 10. . . that's ten of FORTY lily bulbs! Since they/re all mixed together before being planted in the same plot, the chance of any 3 alike being together are slim!)

Crystal Blanca is one of my very favorites. If you are familiar with Casa Blanca, which is one of the greats, you will get all of its benefits, with shorter stems that do not require staking, a slightly milder fragrance (Casa can be a bit intense, although lovely), and better resistance (my Casas would typically get a little browning in the stems. Casa is 4-6 feet, while Crystal is 4-5. I have grown them both and have both now, since I was given Casa as a gift, and added to my Crystal collection. I have the same two Crystals that I planted in 2007.

There are two sources that I know of, and I currently have them from both. B&D Lilies and Hallson Gardens. Both are sold out for the moment, but both have them every year.

B&D has a great description, so I will just paste it here:

Flower Description: Similar to the famous 'Casablanca', but with a slightly lighter fragrance and much more powerful stems to hold up the heavy blossoms. No staking has been required in our garden on these strong stemmed beauties. A good choice for areas of dappled sun or part shade, where a minimal-maintenance, graceful, outfacing lily is needed. 4 to 5 Feet. Late July / Early August Flowering. Fragrant.

It is out of stock for the season, but you can see it here:http://www.bdlilies.com/or.html

It is listed right below Casa Blanca, so you can compare pictures of the two.

The other source, Hallson Lilies, may be taking orders. I have used their "email me when available tab". They were the source of the ones in the picture above, and those are first season blooms. Note that they are $3.00 each, and $2.50 if you order 3. They have absolutely first rate quality at third tier prices - you are not dealing with Breck here. If they have what you want, in my personal experience, you will get the same quality that you can from what I consider to be A rated companies, B&D being one of them. They do not have the same breadth of selection, but if they have what you want, it's like winning the lily lottery.

Gee, thanks DonnaMack! I'lll add your post to the word document I started !

Over the winter, I plot, plan and scheme for the next year's new additions to my expanding flower gardens. I keep a file of plants I'm interested in. In spring, I order wildflower seed. From about May to July is perrenials and then I focus on fall-planted bulbs after mid-July. B but I must confess, this is a loose time-table, as I usaully buy extra whenever a particularly attractive specimen strikes my fancy! LOL

Next year is gonna be a WONDERFUL shopping spree, since my apartment complex cut down the big oak that shaded both of my front gardens. (I liked that tree and had a really nice shade garden, but I'm making lemonade! And I still have a nice shade garden: I just had my plants moved around the corner to my filtered sun / part shade garden!!) I HAD ordered the lilies for my smaller back full sun garden, but now they're in the center of my front garden. . .which leaves me with two-thirds of an EMPTY full sun flower bed!!!!!

Oh, the FUN!!

I really like the way you plan. It's both smart and fun.

We have something in common. I had a big old splitting Bradford Pear removed. I didn't know they could get that big - it was huge. In its place I put a paperbark maple, and got tons of sun, so I expanded my lilies, roses, peonies and perennials. Those lilies you are seeing in my pics are in the area shaded by the pear.

I am partying in my new sun. I still have a nice shade garden too. It's such a blast, isn't it, since you get the best of both worlds. Please keep us posted, and I am so happy that I was able to be helpful.

Speaking of helpful - on the way between two cities on a business trip in North Carolina, I was worried about being lost, and stopped not one, but two people in Hendersonville, and I have to tell you that I was met with such kindness and courtesy that it made getting lost almost a pleasure.