jani

I think you and I must be from the same tribe. More than Christmas, the excitement of the November bulb sale is overwhelming....and I live where we need to chill the little buggers!

At least you have clients...I have to turn some of mine into holiday gifts. The beer is still in the garage fridge door....but it's on its way to the other fridge. I'm suddenly motivated to clean out the old. The gatorade the DH needs in the garage has been sent to the little meat-keeper drawer. I do have to keep refilling....but ya do what ya've got to do at this time of year.

7-800...is that all? I've got 1350 tulips in the fridge and somehow I managed to order at least 400 more today. Then there was the 400 daffs. Quick as a flash, the urge struck and before I could think it over the order was shipped. Talk about efficient.

I have vowed to ignore all messages regarding the B&B sale. I avoided the Netherlands sale because the website didn't work quickly and well, somehow sanity came through all those tried and true rationalizations.

Fortunately DH loves the big bulb show in spring. Unfortunately he can count really fast so he knows that there are many cardboard boxes in the fridge already...and that the meat drawer is at grave risk.

cynthia

Oh, Cynthia, you have no idea how much you have helped me! I thought maybe it was just a flaw in my character or something.

The only other person like us that I know is the one who slips around and tells me about various sales, and she has a serious tulip affliction. She won't admit it, but she is seriously in the tank for tulips. LOL Well, for daffs, and lilies too.

Truely, she is my mentor, and goodness knows what a mess I would have made of my plans and purchases if I had not had her guidance. She knows which Daffs will grow here, what is best for forcing,as well as being a gold mine of info on the minor bulbs and the lilies! She just knows everything!

But ain't it fun?!!!

I have never done bulbs on such a scale, and I can see the change bank being hacked into next year. (DH built it from metal, welded the top on and all, and did not grind the edges of the slot that the money goes into. It is impossible to rob, without taking a hacksaw to it. LOL)

Janie

I plead guilty to the same charges! I "only" ordered/bought about 500 bulbs this year, including the Van Engelen sale bulbs I ordered today. Okay, so I do also have a whole pot full of Lilium formosa seedlings for next spring, and a whole pot full of Allium flavum tauricum seedlings as well.

I restrained myself because I also had all of last year's container-grown tulips, hyacinths and crocus to plant in the ground this year. Last year I bought about 1400 bulbs.

Amazingly, everything except the tulips to go into planters in front after we have a hard freeze (they PROMISE one Tuesday night, but I've heard that before...) and the daffodils to go in planters on the side for a "cutting garden" and the not-yet-received Van Engelen sale order has been planted--it gets cold enough here to not need prechilling.

And naturally, after one day of rest (I planted the last of those bulbs destined to go in the ground this weekend), I am already thinking about seeds...

Y'all help me feel normal too!

BTW I posted some pics from last March in the gallery here.

i confess to planting some of the daffs that may not return well...but are so big that DH loves them.

The daffs you see in the big bed are all 2nd year.

ljrmiller
I read your posts and know you are part of this tribe So, how big are these planters? I confess to digging deep to plant daffs, then dig down to plant tulips and then add anemones on the border.

I heard that Lowe's has their bulbs at 50% off today....but I didn't even go look. (I already looked over the weekend and nothing was calling me back)

My DH can count really well. I think he knows what's in those bushel baskets in the garage, but has decided that silence is the better part of valor. I think he planted around 500 for me last year, and I can't ask him again without him seriously questioning my sanity. He is out of town and I am hustling to get them planted before he returns. Then I can "surprise" him in the spring.

I thought I'd be in good shape today. A day with no morning rain, a nice planting chart and I was rarin' to go. But then I sat down to check my e-mail. An hour later I awoke from a stupor to discover I'd just ordered what must be 500 bulbs from the Van Engelen sale.

I'm lucky I don't have to chill them...it would be my WINE I would have to move from the frig, and I will need it every evening after planting. Maybe even start it in the afternoon...

I don't get to drink adult beverages, or that would be my first choice.

LOL

Janie

My DH helped me plant 40 daffodiles this weekend and mulch the entire yard. My shoulders ache from all the digging but I can't wait to see the little sprounts pushing throught the ground!

Cynthia, the planters where the daffs will go are about 16" deep, 36" long and 14" wide. BIG planters. The tulip planters are all at least 20" in diameter and 24" deep. Also BIG planters.

I have lots of daffs and tulips in the ground, too.

Ah, just get him a cooler for his beer...point out that he can put it right by his chair, and not have to walk to the fridge, lol!
I can be pretty evasive about bulbs with DH, too. In years when I've placed BIG orders, he freaks out, asks how much did THAT cost. I just wiggle my eyebrows and say, "Not as much as you would think, I'm a good shopper." Then, in the spring when they're all gorgeous, he never thinks to ask again. I like to keep his stress levels down whenever I can, lol!
Have fun with all your bulbs!

so, while I am waiting for my bulbs to arrive....seems they will be a day late and hopefully are just stuck on a truck in Fort Worth....

i happened to pull up the VE site. You know, old habit patterns die slowly. THere are more and different things on the list now than before. I wonder if they'll mark them down further this week?????

just thought I would mention it.....

cynthia

CYNTHIA!!! YOU ARE BADDDDD!

DON'T tell me about VE! I can't go there anymore! Someone said 25% off at B&B, so I went and looked for only a brief moment. Good sense prevailed, and I escaped before I lost my head entirely!

Calmer now.

Janie

I SHOULD be done by now. But I'm not. Granted, all the daffodils and other bulbs except for tulips designated for containers in the front are planted. Granted, all the cannas, alocasias, colocasias, and dahlias are pulled up, and I've done a lot of the tuberous begonias. Granted, all the perennials that were popped into my summer containers are now tucked in the ground (Hostas, Miscanthus). Granted, nearly all the summer containers have been dumped.

BUT...those tulips still have to go in, the rest of the Begonias have to be pulled, a refrigerator has to be bought to house all the summer bulbs, the poppy seeds need to be broadcast, the next set of winter-sowing pots need to be set up, the rest of the summer containers need to be dealt with and as if that wasn't enough, I ordered bulbs from both Brent and Becky's and John Scheepers/Van Engelen in their end-of-season sales.

In other words, it's a normal Thanksgiving weekend for me...

Hmmm, interesting how many DHs are mentioned here, but so far no DWs. My wife certainly thinks I'm a little nuts. I used the fridge last year. This year, I built a 2'x2'x8' insulated bulb forcing box in the basement with a $60 cube fridge attached to one side. With shelves, there's 32 square feet of storage space inside, with two "zones" at 40F and 46F. Muffin fans circulate the air and keep the cooling coils defrosted. Cost to run is 1.3KWh/day (about 15 cents here in NJ).

If any of you want to give your DH a project that'll get him more beer space and you cooling space, send me an email and I'll send you some pix. Total cost was around $120.

I put a little 'dorm' icebox in the laundry room so my DH and DD can keep their Cokes out of the way of my bulbs. A full size icebox in the barn is on my "Dear Santa" list!

I actually have to hide the bulb sales from my DH! He has this, "You need it" attitude and heaven knows what will end up on the counter, waiting to be planted. He's such a sweetie!