Confessions of a Lily Connoisseur

They are amazing bulbs and I'm working very hard on not to be ordering more. If I do it could cost me my marrage. I sure would miss that guy... LOL

Diann

lol It's the tough choices we make, dear. ;)

Ticker, there's always next year. The tough thing about Buggy is you have to wait a whole year before you can order more, since she no longer has Spring delivery. With every other place you can say, ah I can wait until spring.......
Ticker , I , for one, applaud your willpower. Send some of that over my way.....

Yes I did purchase the rare pink camass from her strain last year. It bloomed a very light pink and I collected seed from it which I will winter sow. If you want to be assured of a good pink you pay more for her "best form". Camass are native here but more and more they are being plowed under by urban sprawl. A few years back a medical center was plopped down right on a field of camass here in town. And camass takes me back to my childhood-- they grew profusely in vacant lots and on May Day I would pick and put them in little holders that we made in school and leave on people's doorknobs. Does that tradition still exist? I have not seen it practiced since. Those camass fields are gone now of course. I ordered the lavender and the blue camass this time.

My PNWLS order arrived yesterday; I didn't make it to the meeting, I had too much work to do here. The Madame Butterfly bulbs are HUGE, just like Lisa's. They tossed in an extra bulb of "Megan" to make up for a 95 cent overpayment for shipping. I sure prefer that to getting a check, which would probably cost 95 cents in gas to go cash!

The May Day tradition is one I remember and have passed on to my children. I have them make baskets and fill with flowers from the yard, like violets and daffodils and homemade brownies to give to the neighbor friends, all very quietly, and running away before they are seen. It's such a sweet tradition.
Oh, the PNWLS bulbs have begun to arrive. I hope that means mine have been packed and sent! I am so thrilled that you shared your secret with us here, Pard. Rats! I knew I should have ordered Madame Butterfly! That's one of those names my mother used to call us as little girls in my family. "What would you like for your birthday dinner, Madame Butterfly?".
An extra bulb is a much better surprise too, pard.

Well it is nice to hear that the tradition continues. Yes, sneaking away was part of the intrigue.

May Day flowers still happen around here. My little great niece and nephews still do it with friends and they received flowers and candy on their doorstep in return. I think it was more prevalent in smaller towns and schools, us farm kids really didn't have close neighbors to do it to, unless mom hauled us to town (which she was known to do). ;)

I'm out scrounging up old labels and making new ones to put out. I have about 68 labels so far and I'm still making them. (not all are lily labels tho). I'm out there squinting to see if I can see the shadow of the marking pen I used years ago.... Good grief, if there is one thing I've learned it is to mark the back side of the marker with the name, too. *sigh* Of course, I learned that to late in most cases...

Diann

Well I just had to get a picture of these before I plant them. Madame Butterfly from the PNWLS bulb sale.

You lily tease! :) very nice. :)

Diann

Wow, those are some great bulbs. I am so excited to see my box arrive! How I love planting...... i hope it's soon though. The suspense is driving me crazy.
Hey, when is the Spring PNWLS sale? And has anybody ever attended the Seattle Washington Flower show in February? B&D lilies attend and bring some 30,000 bulbs. Some bulbs are pretty huge they say, too expensive to ship out. That might be fun. My 90 year old grandmother would love it. i'm thinking of going....

Spring bulb sale is in March. The flyer should go out late February/early March. Yes, I have been to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. My garden club chartered a bus several years ago. But because I am short, or at least shorter than tall people who like to stand between short people and the exhibits, I can't say I saw much:-( I guess I am not pushy enough. No bulb is too expensive to ship out! They just don't have the customer pay the price because they have this fixed scale that works with average sized bulbs. Lisa provides this type of customer service, adjusting the shipping and providing the large bulbs. I doubt if B&Ds large bulbs are any bigger than Lisa's.

If you go, your grandmother better have a lot of energy! It is a huge show! I just go to the Portland shows anymore. Plenty of parking right at the show. B&D, The Lily Pad, and one other lily vendor (I forget the name) are usually there.

It sounds pretty wild there at the garden show. My grandma has energy, but I'm not sure if she has the fighting energy it sounds like it takes to actually see things. I'd actually rather prefer going to the fields while they are in bloom in the summer, but then it would take me away from my blooming time here. It's such an internal struggle. It's too bad other places don't adjust the shipping, like Lisa. Oh yes, have I said, Lisa rocks?? Lisa rocks! :0)

There are always those mini seminars going on where you can get a rest and still learn something. The trick is to go on a weekday, not quite so crowded I have heard. We went on a Saturday. We did the trip in one day-- about 240 miles each way. Our tickets were prepurchased and the bus dropped us right at the door and likewise picked us up. Everyone snoozed on the trip back. I took a backpack and filled it with lily bulbs. It actually got quite heavy! Lisa does have her niche, doesn't she!

All those PNWLS lilies are in the ground now. Just waiting for my order from Mainiac which will arrive later this week and an order from Scheepers which is mostly tulips and 5 Citronella lilies. Then I am done. Shovel gets put away. Time to clean all those lily seeds I've been collecting the past few weeks.

Look at that sack of seeds. Wow! You do good work , Pard. That looks like a whole lot of seeds there.
I've had good luck with Scheepers bulbs. I just found them last year. With so much ordered from Buggy, I couldn't order from them this year, but I am still very happy with all I did get. Makes me think I need to make more beds. I've just expanded the ones I had made previously.
Mainiac's bulbs are great too.

We're renting the sod stripper tomorrow and I'm putting in the last of my bulbs from Maniac and BuggyCrazy, and some peony, tulips and daylily..... Then my shovel gets to be put away for the winter, I think. ;)

Diann

Go Ticker! It's supposed to be in the 60s here today with sun. Haven't seen weather like that for a long time . Enjoy the digging and I hope you have the weather we are expected to have today. Actually I hope we have that weather too :0)

Hi, everyone - just had to get back to you - got my first box of bulbs from Buggy Crazy yesterday (told you it was a HUGE order) - and ----- OH MY GOODNESS!! - First, it only took a few days for them to get here - I'll bet I get more today and they are the biggest, most beautiful bulbs I have ever seen! And I haven't even gotten the ones that are SUPERSIZED yet - WOW!! Thanks so much for showing me BuggyCrazy - although in a few years I may be cursing you since these bulbs are completely irresistable - going out right now to get them in the ground, and I am already looking forward to seeing them next year - are they as gorgeous as the bulbs would indicate? Dax

Ah, DAX, welcome to the addiction. ;)

Diann

Congrats on your Buggy order, Dax. Those bulbs are so impressive. Please don't curse us for showing you such a wonderful business :0). It's just us sharing here sharing with fellow lily connoisseurs. Happy planting! They can be a challenge to get in there deep enough. Explosives might do it though.....

Curse away! Wouldn't be the first time and probably not the last... ~>:)

Buggycrazy, Lily Society Sale, trades all over the place...
My poor yard thought it was swiss cheese for awhile....

Oh no - I'm having a heart attack - I got a Leslie Woodriff (just could't resist) and it came yesterday - must weigh three pounds, and I have to hold it with two hands!! I've NEVER had a bulb like this and I'm just drooling. Will get it in the ground today, in the garden place of honor - if I can stop admiring it - going right over to Garden Watch and thanks to Lisa! Dax

I think we have become addicted to these large, supersized, gigantic things that we/they call Lily Bulbs! Dax, I can feel your excitement in your response. It's very cute.
I open these boxes (and yes, I do mean BOXES, in the plural form) and I can't imagine how these lilies grow in any place this large. I have never had such fun opening bulb boxes as I have this year. It's been like an early Christmas! Thank you lily forum for putting Lisa/Buggy Crazy on the radar. How would we have ever found out about her??

But where are the pics of these monster bulbs??

You'd have to use a tunnel camera to get pictures of my BuggyCrazy bulbs, cause they be in the ground. :) naner naner naner! ;)

Diann