Loads of places to buy bulbs and one of the best is Costco, but they run out fast. You may not have the choice of colors but a bag of 50 daffs for under $15 is cheap.

Sorry, my post was confusing because I mentioned daffs, but I'm really looking for tulips at this time. Unfortunately, no Costco close by. Maybe I'll try Walmart??

My guess is that when folks plant 100's of bulbs, say tulips, that they are buying them at discounted prices...like sold at Costo, WM, or some other big box store. I have found that those tulips do not reliably return the following season, other than just some foliage, and maybe a few blooms. I was recently made aware that there are better varieties to be had, that will return and bloom for many years, even multiplying in time.

You might check out some of the sites that sell Perennial Tulips, the ones that explain the difference in their tulips being Perennial ones.

Perennial Tulips at White Flower Farm

Why Perennial Tulips are Better

Sue

I want the show of the tulips every year. Many companies will send you specials such as "$25 free if you buy $50 of bulbs. I have bought bulbs from Walmart and Lowe's on occasion, but I have found it worthwhile to pay to buy from a supplier that specializes in bulbs.

You might get return blooms in zone 5. I'm in 7b or 8, and they are annuals for me. This time, I ordered from John Schepper's. They are not horribly high for 100 bulbs.
Kay

It's true that gardening is not a cheap hobby. HOWEVER, there are ways to make it less expensive, as you are beginning to try to figure out. Tulips are pretty much a luxury, no doubt about it. They are annuals, but unlike bedding plants, they bloom for a very short time before dying off. Still, they are available in virtually any color under the sun, and there is their attraction. If you want tulips without spending a fortune, buy a bagful and then scatter them thinly throughout a bed of spring bloomers like pansies, for instance. You'll buy fewer bulbs, but a great show anyway. (Stick with all of one, or at the most two, colors.)

Now, daffodils are a good investment because they not only return year after year, but if you buy the right kinds, they will multiply generously for you. Did you know that there are many daffodils that would qualify for the red-orange color in your scheme? (I cannot tell you which varieites, simply because you live so far north of me, but I am sure that others can.) If you want to get the most bang for your buck, invest in daffodils, crocus, muscari, snowdrops, spanish hyacinths, and other reliable spring bulbs that keep on giving from year to year.

The folks that buy bulbs by the hundreds are most likely people who are far enough along in life that they have their homes paid for and their kids raised and through college, thus they are enjoying a pretty significant amount of discretionary income. It's the compensation for getting older, I guess :)

Just a couple of notes to the wise. Old House is a good company and they sell a good product. They are also just about the most expensive bulb company out there that I am aware of. I only buy things from them that I really really want, and cannot find for less anywhere else. White Flower Farm is pretty high-priced too.

I do, however, agree with the above poster who said it's worth it to buy from a bulb specialist. You'll have a better selection, will get larger, fresher bulbs, and for the most part, every bulb will bloom the very first year. The bagged ones that you get from the Big Box stores may or may not perform like this. Still, on a tight budget, sometimes it's better to spend less and wait a year or two for the big show you dream of.

Also, you will spend your time VERY well if you do some research on the varieties of bulbs that do well in your area of the country. This varies greatly from region to region, but the Big Box stores seem to sell the exact same varieties everywhere, resulting in great disappointment in alot of areas.

I don't know where to find info regarding what grows well in my area - unless someone else on this forum is in my region and can chime in.

I took everyone's advice and decided to cancel my order through Old House Gardens due to high pricing. I did place an order through John Scheepers, MUCH more reasonable - how well I did with my choices however has yet to be seen.

I ordered Bastogne and Red Impression tulips. I also ordered Narcissus Sailboat simply because I had no idea WHAT variety to get as I know nothing about daffodils - really absolutely nothing - and I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions at planting time. I also ordered Muscari to plant with the Daffs (Aucheri Blue Magic).

If anyone has suggestions regarding other varieties of daffs and/or tulips that grow well in our region, I'm open for advice.

Thanks again to everyone on this forum who provides such valuable feedback. Where would I be without you? :)

Have you thought about checking out your public library? Books on gardening that are specific to your region and gardening magazines should be available to you there. Also, have you just googled "gardening in Wisconsin"? You never know what you might learn that way.

There are said to be tulip varieties that have a better chance of blooming for more than just the first spring after planting bulbs.

The link is to article showing varieties that are considered best chance for return blooms and the list is consistent among vendor catalogues and articles I've read.

It also has tips on how to help bulbs perform at their best such as planting deeper than recommended (may bloom later than normal) and making sure to keep area dry outside of growing/bloom time.

I'm sticking with Giant Darwin Hybrids (old "Darwin Hybrids" seem to have gone away?) and Triumph Tulips this year. Last year was my first and other fancier varieties didn't perform well if at all.

I also plant equal number in containers for lack of space to make amended gardens in clay soil with too much root competition.

Learned the hard way (rotted bulbs) that I have to plant them in mix of pea gravel and potting soil and definitely NOT anything with "moisture retention" as feature for potting soil.

Last year (my first) I had visions of color & bloom time coordination of different bulb varieties. Found out mother nature varies growing conditions and bulb hardiness each year both where most are grown/harvested (Holland) and in our own gardens.

I think most people are so tired of winter blues, cold and snow in temperate climates they're just glad to see anything bloom with some color.

Many people remember seeing things in their childhood they'd like to bring back and then expand upon.

My father always grew about 20 red and yellow tulips for my late mother and he always took us to the store to pick out potted hyacinths which we gave her for Easter and/or Mother's Day.

Even if I didn't have that memory of hyacinths I'm hooked on their fragrance so I've gotten 30 more to make a little quasi rock garden for them since the amended clay still doesn't drain very well on its own.

Last year I went a little crazy and ended up buying more bulbs from Home Depot & Lowes (box stores) after having ordered quite a few from mail order sources.

Some of both mail order and box store bulbs bloomed and some didn't but it was so long ago in "garden time" I've lost track. Think it really had as much to do with how and where I planted them than just quality of bulbs.

Follow recommended planting/site facts and you'll have your best chance of blooming bulbs in spring and even some tulips returning in future years.

Bulbs other than tulips can and do perennialize by multiplying in the best cultural site. Stick to more of those to start with and make a smaller number of tulips your centerpiece of the planting arrangement. Start where you can afford it and, if you like it, add a few things each year as finances allow.

Also, be prepared that the photos you see in catalogues or online are much fuller with blooms than if you plant according to recommended spacing. That allows for things like daffodils & muscari you ordered to multiply and fill in as years pass. That was surprise to me in first year when they looked awfully sparse for number of bulbs I'd planted with things like muscari, crocus and other small bulbs.

You've gotten great advice from experienced people on this forum. With that and tips for best chance to have tulips bloom for a few years you just have to prepare a good planting spot, dig, plant and wait for the color next spring.

If you have deer or rabbits you might want to get a critter repellant spray because once the foliage starts to pop up these critters will start eating it. You might even think there was something wrong with the bulbs they're so good at it...LOL. You can find any number of deer/rabbit repellant sprays at Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes or any place like that near you.

Good luck with your bulbs and think of the pleasure you'll have come spring while your digging and planting.

Here is a link that might be useful: Getting Tulips to Last

I'm in zone 4 - and simply as a personal preference, absolutely no other reason - do not do mail order. Tulips are deer candy here so I don't waste the space. However, I am awash in Siberian Scilla, Puschkinia, Muscari Armeniacum & M. Botryoides, and daffodils. Daffs were new last fall and put on a good show this year after the cold, wet spring eased up. And the boxes of daffs were a naturalizing mix of 25 bulbs from Menard's for maybe $7.99 a box.

True, the local big box stores don't have the wide selection of the glossy catalogues, but I've been generally pleased with inexpensive packages of bulbs from Menard's, Wal-mart, and Home Depot.

More expensive is not always the key to success with bulbs. A little research into the types that are likely to do the best for you in your zone and conditions is. Lots of info on the web by Googling tulip varieties for zone 5, etc.

I have planted tulips many times over my gardening years, and I live in central Alabama. I know when I order them that I can't expect re-bloom here. They are annuals in Alabama. That being said, One time (20 years ago) when I had to watch my spending very carefully, I ordered a dozen bulbs from Spring Hill (yes, I know, I don't order bulbs from them now either). Those bulbs were a beautiful shade of purple, and they re-bloomed and were just as beautiful each year as the first year, for the five years I lived in that house. It has never happened again, but those bulbs showed me it can happen, you can have re-bloom in tulips, even in Alabama. I would love to know what kind of bulbs they were, but I don't. So I plant tulips as annuals, and enjoy the show.

And the earlier poster was right about me anyway. The house is paid for, the kids are grown, and I have discretionary income I never dreamed of having in those younger years. I'm not sure it does compensate for growing older, but you take what you can have.

I hope your tulips and daffodils do well for you this year.

Kay

I appreciate the wonderful advice.

Newbie - you are right about remembering things from your childhood - I just planted marigolds this year and the scent always reminds me of my grade school days.

My neighbor has memories of his mother and aunt sitting in the back yard drinking tea as he was playing amongst lily of the valley (the length of his house is now filled with them).

And, my husband laughed at me when I planted a concord grape vine in our yard - I LOVED those grapes in our yard when I was younger. We also had a pear tree, apple tree, weeping willow...too bad I'm on less than 1/4 acre lot!

I will post pics of my daffs, tulips and muscari in the spring. I'm expanding my horizons with annuals, bulbs, perennials and gardening in general, and it's practically addicting. I think my late mother would be proud of what I've done so far (or how far I've come) - she was the green thumb.

We visited a rock quarry today to pick up lannonstone for our walkway, and they had the most beautiful landscaping up front - a combination of Veronica (I think Sunny border blue), and in front of that was a red annual - looked like petunias but wasn't - and in front of that was the annual ageratum (the only reason I know this is because I asked!). Ah, it was so stunning I came home to try to find an area in my yard where I could mock the same plantings.

I have more questions about bulbs and overplantings...I think I'll start another thread.

Check this site out. They have a lot to choose from, and sell them by 100 or 200.
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Those go for $48 for 200 bulbs! =)

Here is a link that might be useful: Color Blends

Old House Gardens always supplies the very best bulbs. They are my first choice for anything they do sell, and yes, I've paid $25 for ONE tulip bulb (I thought it was worth every penny once it bloomed--'Amiral de Constantinople', a beautiful historic parrot tulip). I also have a weakness for antique daffodil varieties like 'Mrs. Langtry' and 'Seagull'. When they have the hyacinths 'Oranjeboven' and 'Menelik', they, too, are worth every penny for their grace and color. There isn't anything like the rarer bulbs Old House Gardens sells.

Okay, there is another expensive supplier I love: Odyssey Bulbs. That's one for the latent botanist in me. When I want Alliums native to the wilds of Tadjikistan, unusual bulb selections from Janis Ruksans of Latvia, the incomparable Fritillaria eduardii and the latest finds from mountains in Turkey, I turn to Odyssey. And again, I pay no small sum for those bulbs (none wild-harvested, all cultivated, but rare all the same).

However, if I merely wanted "red tulips", Red Impression tulips, or "yellow tulips", I'd be inclined to use Van Engelen or Colorblends. Both are excellent companies with a wide selection of varieties at decent prices. If I were more interested in overall garden effect than in botanizing, these would be my favorite suppliers. I try to keep things harmonious and visually appealing, but the plant collector in me invariably blows that resolution right out of the water.