Cheap bulbs are generally cheap for a reason, but that doesn't mean you can't shop for the best value. Smaller bulbs generally give smaller and fewer flowers. If it seems too good to be true, it may well be!

Arboretum Foundation
Fall Bulb & Plant Sale
Sunday, October 2, 2005, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Graham Visitors Center

Costco
Lowe's
Home Depot
Molbaks, Woodenville will have a nice selection nearer planting time.

Feel like a day trip? Skagit Valley is home to a multi-million dollar bulb industry...

Here is a link that might be useful: Here's just one, Roozengaarde

These folks have a great reputation and some interesting bulbs-

Here is a link that might be useful: Brent and Becky's Bulbs

I have bought great bublbs from Colorblends. they have a great rating on the garden watch dog

I think almost all the good ones have been named already! Check out John Scheeper's sister companies:
Van Engelen (wholesale, $50 min. order), and Beauty From Bulbs (retail, $35 min. order). I wouldn't argue that the quality is the ABSOLUTE BEST; Colorblends and Brent & Becky's probably send fatter bulbs, but it is very good, and pricing is very competitive. Out of 100 tulips last fall, 99 were good, all but one hyacinth came up, and all muscari. They have a wonderful selection, and good rating on GWD too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Van Engelen

Thanks for the info guys. I will check out these places and remember to buy good sized bulbs.
Vaishali

If you haven't looked at the Garden Watchdog, here's their site http://davesgarden.com/

Colorblends is fablous---very high quality and very reasonable prices.

Check out the Garden Watchdog before you mail order.

Happy bulb planting!

I second (or third) the motion to go on Garden Watchdog if you haven't already - what a neat site!

Since a huge percentage of the spring flowering bulbs sold in this country are actually grown nearby (the Skagit Valley actually ships a good many bulbs to Holland which are then reimported as "Dutch" bulbs), there is absolutely no need to do mail order unless you are looking for something very unusual. Mor's suggestion of the Arboretum bulb sale is excellent, but get there early! Otherwise, all area nurseries will have a full selection of spring flowering bulbs available for purchase and planting right around Labor Day. Price will be higher than if purchased at Lowe's or HD but quality will be far superior. One can often get "landscape" quality bulbs in quantity from these nurseries - they will be available in large netting sacks and often include a mix of daffs or tulip cultivars. Good value if you find them.

Hmmm, I hate to burst your bubble, but the vast majority of bulbs sold in this country are produced in Holland. Last year, we (the US) imported almost 1.3 billion bulbs from Holland. Skagit Valley produces less than 1/10th this amount, and accounts for about 75% of the total domestic US production (according to the USDA). Almost all of the bulbs grown in Skagit are sold domestically, but are not shipped to Holland for reimportation. Shipping costs alone would be prohibitive (modern bulb shipments on container vessels are made in special, ventilated containers, which add cost but reduce bulb loss), and silly to incur. Some of the bulb producers in Skagit are dutch controlled, which probably lends to the confusion.

Still, getting bulbs locally from the growers has to be the best way to get high-quality bulbs that haven't been subjected to the stress of shipping at a good price.

Sorry, but your data is incorrect. Yes, the majority of bulbs sold in this country are imported, however the largest tulip bulb production in the world is located in the Skagit Valley and exportation of these bulbs to other countries (including Holland) is a multimillion dollar industry. In 2002, 40 million bulbs were produced for commercial sales, constituting considerably more than the 10% you refer to. And this is not even current data. Of these, nearly 45% are exported, the balance sold domestically. It is not uncommon to purchase a bag of "Dutch" bulbs and find a "grown in the Skagit Valley" label on them. BTW, the farms are not "dutch controlled" - they are owned by families which settled here from Holland, finding the climate and growing conditions ideal for bulb production.

Hmmm. 1.3 *billion* divided by 10 is 130 million. You moved your decimal point over too far. I guess I overestimated the Skagit Valley production numbers. So it's more like 3 percent of the amount imported from Holland. Holland produced 7 billion bulbs last year, of which more than half were exported to the EU and US, with the US being the largest single importer of Dutch-grown bulbs; of course, the amount of land they devote to bulb production is a couple orders of magnitude larger than anywhere else in the world.

You may be looking at quotes of production density, or bulbs per acre. I have no idea whether Skagit valley outproduces other parts of the world in this respect; I assume they are highly automated, as are the Dutch.

As for opening a bag of Dutch bulbs and seeing a "grown in the Skagit Valley" label, that's never happened to me, over the course of ten years or so and a few thousand bulbs. All I've ever seen is "Product of the Netherlands" on the bags.

Okay, the 7+ billion was the total number of bulbs *exported* from Holland; they produced 10 billion (according to the Dutch embassy's web site, over 75% were exported). This accounts for about 65% of total world production.

According to the U.S. Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center (bulb.com), about 70% of the bulbs exported are for dry sales and the remaining 30% commercial cut flowers. The US is the #1 importer of bulbs from Holland, approximately 20% of the total. That's around 1.4 billion bulbs total, about 1 billion for dry sales.

I have no doubt that exports account for a large percentage of the bulb production in the Pacific Northwest; however, I suspect that the major export markets for dry sales are the far east, and that any bulbs going to the EU are used in cut flower production. Again, shipping the bulbs twice doesn't make economic sense.