Hi Ponce...

Not sure I am understanding your question? Are you having trouble knowing how many bulbs to order? If you have some idea of where you are putting them and measure the area and give the dimensions to the Bulb company you are ordering from, they usually will help you figure out how many you need.

I don't usually worry about how many to order. My budget will usually determine how many I order. [g] I find ordering bulbs a lot of fun and just choose what I like and if they come in 6/$9 for daffs and 25/$10 for crocus, that is usually what I order. Then I choose a number of varieties I like and I am done. Easy.

If you have a specific plan that they have to fit into though, the Bulb Companies are used to figuring that out.

Hope that helps... :-)

well, it wasn't really a question. it was more a statement, prarie.

its like i start looking at all the catalogs. i know i want crocus bulbs, for example. so i flip to the crocus page. 30 minutes later i'm still staring at the page trying to figure out which crocus bulbs i want to order.

then i notice the bulb "collections" (variety of crocus, daffodils, tulips, etc). so i start thinking, "hmm, maybe i should go that route."

there's just so many options that i wind up confusing myself entirely.

ya know?

Just remember that tulips don't really perennialize, if that's the word - they tend to peter out after a couple of years no matter what. (I know, I know, everyone on the forum ha a patch that has bloomed well for years and years ...) And that daffs multiply like thugs, and you may want to keep them away from your perennials, other than late-blooming ones, since the spent daffy foliage can ruin an otherwise lovely corner of your garden. They need to be dug and replanted when the clumps become too thick, which can be a problem if they're sited amid "do not disturb" plants like peony or poppy.

The minor bulbs, like Chionodoxa, Muscari and Scilla are great planted in drifts, and spread nicely, so you can start with a sparse planting and in a few years you'll have a river of blue in your garden.

I always include a few new varieties of allium in any bulb order, because that extends the season. Some of them, like drumstick allium (A. sphaerocephalon) essentially take up NO space and give an incredible bonus to the perennials with which they are paired. They spread (benefit from deadheading) and their color lasts a long time. Just a few will set off something like russian sage, and my new fave use is to interplant them with hellebores, which are just plain green in summer.

Dont forget to include a handful of "checkered lily" - Fritillaria meleagris, in a spot where you can see them up close. These get more comments than practically any other plant in my garden. The reds don't ever seem to be offered, just the mixed red and white or all white. Pity, because the red is the one you want. Paghat has a nice page about them, linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: F. meleagris at Paghat's Garden

I was just pondering what to order and how much too, Ponce. Shamefully last Fall I left a few dozen bulbs to rot in the shed because I never got around to planting them. This year I'm trying not to overcommit myself.

DTD, Thank you for your advice. I've been trying to decide whether I should dig up the stand of tulips I planted last Fall and replace them or not. They made such an Impression (pun intended) on the neighborhood, that I wouldn't want them to look like a sad version of the same next year. They're under a large maple so didn't get a lot of sunlight though I did let them dwindle past the ugly stringy stage. Perhaps I should yank them and call them annuals?

And about the alliums, do you find they keep critters away?

I'll tell ya what's the BIGGEST pain w/ bulbs. And this error in judgement was made our first planting season in our home (which is our 1st home).

Hubbie insisted on landscaping fabric. Because as much as I LURVE gardening (read: addicted) from time to time, I get too immersed in other aspects of life (family, work, etc) and can't get around to weeding for a couple weeks. So, like I said, he insisted on landscape fabricing ALL the garden beds.

Which is great in theory. A gi-normous PITA (pain in the *BLEEP*) in practice....particularly when it comes to bulbs.

'Cause low and behold, some bulbs seem to multiply. Like, crocus bulbs. And, apparantly, daffodil bulbs.

So this past spring, I happen to notice these mounds of mulch in my beds. What's that?, I say to myself. Move the mulch only to discover tenting of the landscape fabric 'cause, yep, I've got new sprouts from new bulbs desperately trying to find their way out.

**sigh**

So this fall, I've gotta dig up ALL the bulbs I can find and transplant them to non-fabric'ed areas.

And I must admit, as much as I love tulips, I haven't been all that jazzed about having them in the gardens. For what I planted in the last couple years I haven't exactly been thrilled with the result.

I also think I made a BIG mistake w/ bulbs in general. I wanted color "here and there" in my very new garden beds (which equates to most of our yard). So I spread them out a bit. I'm finding that's not the way to go. So when I transplant, I'm going to do so in clumps. The lone bulb here and there (be it crocus or whatever) just doesn't paint a good picture come spring.

Honestly, what I'm really considering is focusing on early/late blooming perennial purchases for the front yard and moving ALL my bulbs to the back yard. Having 'em all over the place doesn't appeal to me for some reason.