Here’s one area where on line shopping is a great idea. The online catalogues give you good information and images, and since you're buying the seed and not the plant, you don't have to worry so much about whether it was grown in your soil or your climate. It wasn't.
One way that online retailers of bulbs differ is in the size of bulbs they offer. You should get tulip bulbs that are 12-14 cm. and daffodils that are 14-16 cm depending on which kind you buy (some of the smaller growing plants have smaller bulbs). I'd be apprehensive of a site that didn't tell you what size bulbs they're selling.
While you can buy bulbs in pre-packaged combinations, you can also have fun putting together your own selection of bulbs if you know just a bit about what to shop for. Last year I wrote about some of my favorite daffodils and tulips, and you can still access those blogs on Eons, so I won't repeat them. But I will explain again about the categories of those two plants.
Both daffodils and tulips have been broken into subcategories or types by botanists, and if you know a little about them, you'll have a much longer-blooming and more varied garden.
Botanists call daffodils 'Narcissus', so if you're shopping on line, that's the term to look for. Most are hardy in zones 4-7 These plants fall into fourteen divisions. The most familiar of these are the Trumpet, Large Cup, and Small Cup, and within these three you can find lots of gorgeous variety. But as you investigate further, you discover a lot more kinds of daffs. The Doubles you may be familiar with, but how about Triandrus? These have two or more flowers to the stem and the petals of the flowers arch back (this is called being reflexed). The next category is Cyclamineus, with only one flower per stem but more reflexed petals and a short stature.
Jonquilla bulbs have four or five flowers to a stem and are fragrant. Their foliage is different too: narrow and almost reedy. These are good forced in containers and thrive in southern gardens. Tazetta, the next division, features up to twenty flowers per stem, also very fragrant, with broader leaves. Like Jonquilla bulbs, these are hardy in zones 4-9.
Poeticus, the next division, are hardy further north, but not as hardy in the south (zones 3-7) They have pure white perianths (the petals surrounding the corona at thecenter) and a spicy fragrance. Bulbicodium is the next division; many of these are odd looking because they have a huge trumpet and underdeveloped petals or perianths. They're also hard to find.
Split corona narcissus have the central trumpet split into what look like petals, so the flower appears to be double but lacking the trumpet. These are hardy from zones 4-8. They're unusual enough looking that you want to plant them where people will be sure to notice – not down at the end of the garden but up by the house. The same is true of the other specialty daffodils: let the Mt. Hoods call to you from a distance and plant Tazettas by the patio.
Not all websites that sell bulbs list them by divisions. If you'd like to know the sites I think are best, email me and I'll give you a list.
Next time I'll cover the divisions of tulips, but today I want to talk about some of the other bulbs to be planting this fall.
I love the early-blooming tiny bulbs, the ones that encourage me in March that spring will really come again this year. Last year I had Galanthus nivalis, aka snowdrops, planted near the garage, so every time I went out I saw their cheery faces. They are small with white flowers tipped with green. In zone 5 they bloom in March, but I believe in warmer areas they bloom all winter (you lucky people). Plant lots of them close together for a great display. Another very early bloomer is Eranthis hyemalis, aka Winter Aconite. It has little yellow flowers growing up to a foot tall on rich green leaves. They're only hardy in zones 4-7, though. These bloom at the same time as Chionodoxa forbesii, or Glory of the Snow, a lovely purplish flower with white center. All these will naturalize, and the three together will make you very happy in early spring.
Later in the spring you'll be glad if you planted Alliums, or ornamental onions. You're probably familiar with the tall globe purple varieties such as Purple Sensation and Globemaster, but there are lots of other worthy onions. They come in golf ball, tennis ball, and volleyball sizes (I am not making this up). One of my favorites has a latin name your grandkids will love: Allium aflatunense. And it has a gorgeous tennis ball sized purple flower in late May that adds height to the garden and combines well with late blooming daffs and tulips as well as perennials coming into bloom then. It's hardy in zones 3-8.
Another beauty is Allium spherocephalon, a smaller, dark purple flower shaped like a cone that blooms in early summer and is terrific with daylilies. Sadly, it's only hardy in zones 5-8.
Finally, another late bloomer is Camassia, aka Quamash. It likes wet soil, one of the few bulbs that does, and it blooms in late spring or early summer. It's a native of western meadows, a lovely tall flower with spiky leaves.
Enough for now. This'll get your shopping started. Next time, I'll write about tulips, fritilaria, scilla, trout lilies, and crocus.
I have some new pictures on my web site; hope you'll visit at view link Also, please feel free to email me personally for more info on bulbs or sources. I'll be away from about the 25th of September – mid October, the first part for a week of vacation in Berlin and the rest to help my daughter close her research project for the fall. She works in the Francis Beidler Swamp in Harleyville, SC, just north of Charleston, and it's one of my favorite places in the world. Maybe I'll write about wetlands when I get back. Hope you have a lovely end of summer.
