Costco's bulbs are a great buy and so are their J&P roses! You will enjoy your oriental lillies for years to come, and they will have little babies! I originally bought my Casablanca oriental lillies at Costco back in 2001, and every year since I have been enjoying them and they have multiplied. The clematis are also a great buy! From my experience, the first year I bought mine, (forgot the variety, I've got to check records) but the plants stayed very small, no blooms...but oh boy....the following years 1 and 2, they really took off and I am enjoying them up against my backyard fence.

I bought some Clematis about a month ago and got them into ground in a couple of days. However, it has been three weeks and no sign of the branch buds.

Should I give up on them and celebrate the addition of expensive organic matter to the soil?

Don't give up on your clematis. They don't bloom much the first year they're planted, but in subsequent years they should reward you with lots of blooms.

The last time I was in Costco (a week or so ago) they had the boxes marked down to around $5.50. I don't know if the boxes have been sitting around the store since Feb, or if they restock at some point.

This year I purchased 5 boxes of bareroot plants from Costco: 3 boxes of Hostas, 1 box of Daylilies and 1 box of Heuchera. The 'Frances Williams' and 'Carnival' Hostas were a great deal. The 'Knockout' Hostas look healthy but the box only had 3 small roots (it was marked quantity 3). The Daylilies are looking good. There are no signs of life from the Heuchera 'Black Bird'.

- Brent