I was looking at the snowbanks today and wondering the same thing, Sierra. You'll have to get out there and do a Melting Dance!

Ohhhhh I don't think anyone wants me to do any dancing. The last time I danced it snowed for 3 days straight and we could barely get out the door here. :O

Maybe we should all chant..."Come on Spring"? Might work better.

Sierra

I'm game!

Come on Spring! Come on Spring! Come on Spring!

I like the little happy face!!!

Brenda

Me too!

Me three. But I don't hear you chanting Brenda and Marcia. I think we have to all do this together. ;))Marcia is that you dancing? I think there is snow in the forcast now. :(

COME ON SPRING...COME ON SPRING!!!!

Confessions of a flower addict....I bought a bag of ball dahlias...but shhhhh don't tell ummm you know. :D

Sierra

COME ON SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!! COME ON SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was eyeing up the bags of bulbs and perennials at Costco when we were there this weekend as well. The $3 coupon does start on Monday the 3rd, so I plan to go there after work, so I can take all the time I want to look - rather than with the rest of the family rushing me along! I planted lots of liles last year, so I will wait to see what comes up this year rather than plant more lilies. I will however get some dahlias and glads for sure.

I have already been checking out the plants in my flower beds, as my spring fever has kicked in with our nice weather. Of course nothing actually looks any different in my flower beds than it did at Christmas time, but that still doesn't stop me from looking!

Janet

Whoa Marcia, That was loud this morning. LOL I think I see blue sky this morning, so maybe it did chase that snow away! Lets hope. Bring on the GREEN!!!!!

Yes Janet, the coupon is from the 3rd to the 9th. I will also be going back to get more things then. Last year I was looking for ball dahlias and never found any, any of the times I checked there. There was only 3 bags that I saw, so I bought it when I saw it, just in case there isn't anymore during the week of the coupon. Each new rack that they bring out can possibley contain different things. So you can risk it or not. They also had cafe au lai dinner plate dahlia.....I want that one too.....but will chance that that one will be there when the coupon is on. So many choices so little room in the garden. LOL! Can't see my garden, its under 5 or 6 feet of snow, depending on where you look. My rhodo is tucked under there, so I hope it is being protected nicely by that big blanket of snow.

Sierra

Sierra, you must have gotten our snow and yours too. We had very little snow this winter - about 2 weeks with snow cover, which promptly blew into the ditches. We're sure praying for moisture - our last real stuff was last June. On the bright side, nothing's covering up those sheltered places where green things first appear - usually the ones with the the bright yellow flowers! COME ON SPRING!!!
Connie

Hi Connie,

Yes, I think we got everyone's snow this year. This area has snow piled up to the roofs of some of the houses. I hope some of the houses don't end up flooded. I'm on a huge hill, so I don't have to worry about that. Lower down in the valley, doesn't have this much snow. I just keep thinking that this snow is good protection for all the perennials. I hope I am right. And keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't break down the branches and buds on the rhodo. I guess I will find out evenually. Or even if it comes through the winter...it is iffy in this zone.

Come on Spring!!!!

Sierra

Oh, pardon me that was me dancing, I thought that was what we were doing this year. Got a few cms of snow last night for my troubles.

(singing) It's Costco bulbs and flowers time... It's Costco bulbs and flowers time...

hee hee I love how this forum is completely unmoderated since IVillage bought it, this whole thread would have been yanked back in the day!

Hey Gil,
So you are the one that sent us that skiff of snow last night huh. Spring Spring Spring.....

That dancing banana is soooooo cute!

Ummm not sure I understand why you think this thread would have been yanked? I don't think there is anything here to offend anyone. And I am not selling anything....just excited that spring is on the way.....and in the process of being able to buy some new plants. Savona and I are also taking a trip to the local nursery tomorrow. Whoooo Hooooo!! LOL!!! Hope I didn't miss something here?.

Come on spring, come on spring. :)

Sierra

Oh no not offensive but at one time you had to stay really on topic... in fact at one time you couldn't even mention store names. I like that we have been turned loose to waffle and dance in banana suits (that's me in a banana suit in case you can't tell). :0)

Oh LOL, and here I though I had missed something.

You made us have a blizzard last night. Thankfully it was mild and didn't stick.

Sierra :)))

Gil, will you quit with the snow dancing already? Enough, enough!

Yes, i like how this is now too - but it would be nice to have an edit feature. :)

Well I bought some bulbs at Costco today, well I guess they weren't really bulbs that I bought, but corms and tubers! I bought one package of glads - a pink mix that has the large flowering "advantage" and a butterfly type called "Serafin". Now I must admit that I know nothing about glads, but they looked nice on the package.

I also bought 2 bags of dahlias, one had Cafe au Lait and Akita, the other had Duet, Babylon Red and Fleurel.

Sierra - it was good that you bought the ball dahlias when you did - my store did not have any of them, but I also didn't see any of those when they first arrived either.

Does anyone start their glads or dahlias indoors for earlier bloom times? If so, how do you go about it?

Janet

Hi Janet,

Yes that is why I bought the ball dahlias as soon as I saw them. I hope to get to Costco today to pick up some Astilbe, glads and more Dahlias. The first time I was there they had lots of begonia tubers too. The last time I was there I didn't see any begonias....so don't know if there will be any more today or not. Each new rack they bring out changes....so you just never know.

Yes I start my glads sometime the middle to end of April. I use the single cell packs and plant 2 corms in each one. I just push them into the soil, don't cover them. By plant out time they are tall and falling over, but then I plant them 6 inches or so deep and it all works out well. I think I saw this on a Ken Beadie show years ago. I have had nice flowers every year since I started doing this.

My new dahlias, sometimes I will pot them up if they will fit into 1 gallon pots.....if not I wait and just plant outdoors.

I think Gil is doing a fine SNOW dance.....so much so, we got snowed in yesterday and no one was moving here for most of the day. We got over 3 feet of snow. :O Gil that is enough already!!! LOL!!!

Sierra

Sorry sorry! I can't stop! It keeps snowing here too, it's like the Sorcerer's Apprentice! Why couldn't we have got this snow in December when my roses wanted it?

To elaborate on Sierra's glad planting instructions, glads can be started in very little soil per corm. I started a bunch of them in a foil pie pan once and they grew great (although I don't recommend it just because the roots got tangled up).

I've started glads in peat pots and then just plant then when it's time.

Gil, it's snowing here now. I'm quite perturbed.

Thanks for the advice about starting glads early. I might try the peat pots - just because it seems easier to pop the whole peat pot into the ground.

I think I will try to pot up a few of each kind of dahlia, mostly because the Akita ones have some shoots starting already. I think I will put them in my spare fridge until April though.

Thanks again!
Janet

I start my glads in water in a large plant saucer sitting on the floor in the basement. My basement is quite bight as it has large windows but I don't use any other light.I start them in two or three lots a week apart so they don't all bloom at once.

Boy I must have been asleep when I wrote that yesterday morning. I believe the correct spelling is Ken Beattie. LOL!

I think we finally dug ourselves out of that snow.....I'm hoping we don't see another storm like that for a long time. Now I just hope we don't all flood when it all melts.

The peat pots will probably work well for glads as Marcia said. I tried peat pots years ago for other plants.....and found that the roots did not go through them, when planted in the garden. Instead the roots became pot bound....so I haven't used them since.

I have heard of the water method too but for me, I would be afraid that the corms would just rot. I think you have to find the method that works best for you...and go with that.

Sierra, who had a good Costco plant run yesterday. ;-))

Sierra, i forgot to mention that i cut the bottom out of the peat pot before planting. Since glads have to be planted deeper, i use the big peat pots and plant the corms near the bottom. The bottoms of the pots are easy to peel off, and usually the roots haven't gotten through by then anyway.

I'm going to Walmart tomorrow, but i don't know if they have their bulbs in yet. One thing they haven't had is seed-starting mix - lots of potting soil but no seed-starting mix. >:(

Good idea Marcia. Now that I think of it, I think I tried peeling the pots off one year too.

I was at Walmart last night here and they didn't have anything new out yet. Home Depot had some bulbs and roots in last weekend.

Sierra

If Walmart doesn't have anything yet, that will save me some money, won't it? :>

I also start my glads in water because they take up less room than planting in individual containers, and space is an issue for me. My mom's been doing it for years too, we just take a plastic or aluminum tray, put the totally cleaned glads in close together and put maybe a half inch of water in the tray, no more than that. Keep the water at that level and roots will form and leaves will grow quickly, so we don't start them until the beginning of May. We don't put them in direct sun, mine just go on the floor in a corner in the dining room. By the end of May when we plant them out, the leaves are close to 12" tall and it's quite handy having them as a "handle" to plant out with. The only ones that tend to rot are the ones that already had brown spots on them. Those ones I put in a separate container, some do grow just fine, others start to mold, but I think they would have done that even if they had been planted in soil anyway.

I wish we had a Costco here, but Home Depot's flyer said they've got some spring bulbs on sale, so will have to check them out.

All this talk convinced me I should at least LOOK at what our local Costco has (Sherwood Park)...and wouldn't you know? I came home with some of the 70 "Sunset assorted" glads, and a pack of 10 rhizomes called Zantedeschia--the photo looks to me like callas. Both packs were nice and heavy--always a good sign.

I'm interested in starting some of the glads indoors in advance, and may try both the water and peat pot methods described here.

Do the glads need to be under light (I gather not, in the case of the water) in peat pots...or could they just be in ordinary indoor light? In the peat pots, how early do you start them?

I'm already thinking that space under my gro-lights is going to be at a premium, so am trying to allocate space as best I can.

And, assuming the others are callas, do you start them early as well indoors?

The only callas I have are all white, so I'm not sure if they grow quicker than coloured callas, but I usually don't get my callas going until the end of April. I started them in March one year and they were done blooming before I had the chance to even get them outside by the end of May. I was just amazed at how quickly they grow and how quick they get to blooming stage, so it depends on when you want them to be blooming I guess.

Laurie

Laurie, I'm going to try your method for an early start on some Glads. Not Costco, but I did get 2x10 bags of Wine & Roses for $3.99 today at our local No Frills.
I also picked up
Dahlia Caribbean Fantasy (2)
Lilium Asiatic Gran Paradiso (3)

and with my gas-rebate coupon I saved a whole bunch ;)

Sharon