Greenman:

I guess you might say I have a "legacy" front yard. It was planted about 1925-1927 and has had considerable changes through the years. I notice small pots of plants at places like Lowes and Home Depot that, in my yard, are probably 25 feet high or more. I thought crepe myrtles were limited to maybe 10 to 15' tall but here on my property they grow through the canopy and are probably 25 to 30 feet or more. Some people here complain about the cedar trees but mine have trunks about 40" thick and reach about 40' to 50' high--certainly not those little Christmas tree items you normally see on the side of the road. My oaks have a diameter of about 48" and the mature pecans have a diameter of about 36" to 42" and one has a trunk at least 56" in diameter.

Likewise I have areas where hyacinths, daffodils, tulips, and crocus were planted in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s that are amazing in the spring time. I have several areas that sport a collection of plants maybe 10 feet in diameter that were clearly a single planting back in the 1930s.

All of these grow where clover will grow, followed by fescue and then followed by bermuda. Each seems to follow the other with no problems. I think you will find no problem....each plant has a specific niche and even the nasty bermuda has a few social skills and will step back for the early spring debutantes and late fall performers....

For me these spring bulbs do best in areas under trees where they get full spring sunshine, long before the first leaves from the trees show themselves. I end up mowing over the tulip leaves in the yard once the fescue and bermuda kick in...then the bermuda dies back in the shade from the trees and the fescue takes over....

Hope that is of some help. Here in the OKC area if you want to take a look....

--Robert

It is my understanding that the foliage of the spring bulbs needs to be allowed to die back naturally (until they begin to turn brown) in order to feed the bulbs for next year's growth. Does it seem to impact the following season's display, Robert, when you mow them down? Just wondering. I have a nice patch of daffodils that I would just love to cut the foliage back on sooner than I normally do, because I'm allowing it to die back before cutting it down.

BTW, in our last downpour of rain, a few of my daffs rose to the top of the soil, and I plucked them out. If anyone would like to have 10 or more free bulbs, let me know. They are 'Ice Follies' that I purchased from John Scheepers many years ago. It is lovely lemony yellow with a white corolla. They tend to like to "nod", and would probably look fantastic in a large pot to show them off to best advantage.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Ice Follies Narcissi

I too have thousands of daffodils, some that were blooming on this property when we bought it 30 years ago and many more that I have planted. The Burmuda won't be a problem as the daffs will come up and bloom in Feb-April depending on variety and then will die back in May. The foliage should die back mostly by itself. I don't mow until the tops are half brown and still get bloom the next year.

I would be concerned about that pre-emergent weedkiller though. I can't say from experience because we don't use it, but before I put them where the stuff would be spread I would do the research. My understanding is that the function of this stuff is to kill everything that isn't grass. You may want to put your bulbs in flower beds.

Thanks, everyone, for all the excellent information. Robert, your yard sounds spectacular. I love old houses and properties, but I also like the idea of "leaving my mark" like the people who planted those bulbs in the '30s did at your place.
I agree, though, that the pre-emergent weedkiller might harm them. I'll probably go ahead and put a few in this fall and see how the pre-emergent affects them and if they do ok then plant more. I'm in no hurry - just always wanting to plant something! Thanks folks!
GM

It really doesn't matter to much, if you mow them off before they die back. The daff's will come back, or at least, they have always done for me.

Daffs are the toughest bulb flower I know of.

I have planted them as late as January 20 something and still had them come up.

Really they do best, if not planted before the ground is colder.

Moni

I was happy to see this thread as I have been looking for some bulbs to put in this one spot. I cannot seem to find any one the net at a decent price!

Does anyone know where to find Hyacinth, tulips and hollyhocks?

Thanks!

Yep, daffodils are pretty tough. I give up on tulips though. In my garden, it seems less than half come up each successive year until I have none left. My luck with hyacinths are somewhere in between. All the big home improvement centers have them in stock.

I have never planted tulips but I received a catalog yesterday from Netherland Bulb Company and the pictures are really lovely. I have not used the company before.

Here is a link that might be useful: The web site

If you shop at big box stores like Sam's or CostCo (not any CostCos yet in OK, I think, but we shop at the ones in Texas), they usually have huge bags of daffodils and sometimes tulips as well as small bags of hyacinths and other bulbs. I've been seeing bulbs for fall/winter planting in all kinds of local stores, including Sam's, CostCo, Lowe's, Wal-Mart and Home Depot for a couple of months now.

Like Moni said, they like cold soil. If you plant them too early while the soil is still warm, they tend to sprout almost right away and can receive winter damage from the first really cold, hard frosts. I tend to plant them in December because our ground here in southern OK doesn't cool down a lot until then most years. I've planted them as late as late January and still had blooms in March.

With tulips, they never came back reliably for more than a year or two down in zone 8 in Texas when we lived there, but come back somewhat better here in zone 7 in southern OK. I have some of the regular-sized tulips that have come back for 12 years now. However, if you want tulips that come back really realiably, plant the smaller-flowered (and shorter) species tulips.

There's lots of other less well-known spring-flowering bulbs that we have planted and enjoy, including alliums and blue grape hyacinths.

Dawn