You are a smart person. 1-3 inches here tonight and I'm still looking at some bulbs sitting in the garage and a box on its way from Van Egelen. Oh well, I've planted in the blowing snow before but was a little envious of others who were putting up Christmas lights and finishing up their yards while the temperatures went up to 70.

I hope you post plenty of pictures this spring, you have some interesting stuff going in. 2017 is going to be a good gardening year :)

I hope it will be as well! We've had such a dry summer - I hope the bulbs have been pleased.

There's always a warm spell on its way - a few of them before January so you will have your chances of planting. Just push extra hard to get through that frozen layer (been there!). If it warms up, I might make my next project the lights. Crazy it's almost that time of year!

Socalgal, I always enjoy your flowers! That's a lot of work and quite the display.

My Dutch Iris are coming back (I think - I've had plants go through an entire winter just to bit the dust in the Spring????). I'm hoping they are a bit less leggy than last year.

Ooohhh. I envy you the EREMURUS and CAMASSIA and CROCUS --- everything we can't grow! Lots and lots of pictures please.

I weeded out a noxious harmless-looking weed yesterday before predicted rain today. Yep, it's here. The 1/2 price hyacinths I picked up at Home Depot didn't get planted.

My Dutch iris are finally up. About 5 inches. They were rescued at least 3 years ago from being pulled up at bloom time. Little devils are still not blooming!

I'm not certain really how anything will go, but if it looks good - yeah, so many pictures. ;)

Some bulbs are fussy about being replanted - are Dutch Iris in that group?

My family is in zone 8 and I envy them their mild winters and longer days. But, then I seriously think how lucky I am to have a chill time for my bulbs! Well, anything to get through the winter, right?

It's certainly easier not having to have a winter wardrobe. But oh for the lilacs and peonies.

Dutch iris are usually no brainers here. But these were pulled up just before they were going to open and left by the trash. I didn't think it would take this long for them to get back on track. The freesias bounced right back.

I think I'm also done now. I resisted the Brent and Becky clearance and got most everything in the ground... Except for a bag of tulips which I'm planting in my bil's yard. I keep eyeing them though, they're such large bulbs I bet they'd be nice in the tomato bed and I could probably dig them before the tomatoes need planting :)

Tulips in the tomato bed - - - what a good idea! I definitely pull out at least the early tulips before the tomatoes go in. I just never thought of putting winter/early spring flowers in the the spring/summer veggie bed.

I agree - that's a great idea to plant in the vege garden! Give me a year or two and that will be the only place left to plant!

Good for you at resisting the sales - I wish I could keep planting in an effort to keep winter away. At least the holiday season is here and I can get distracted. I hate winter so, so very much. I'm eyeing the heleborus and looking for any sign of bloom - it's that bad! I need something growing.

I am through except for the Brent & Becky sale items. Was just listening to the Weather Channel this morning and they say warm December for the east. Really would like some winter weather down south.

Maylingsmom, it's perfect weather for your bulbs to go in. I have planted plenty in December (okay, early Jan!)

Finally, I can also claim to being 'all done'. The truck fail meant getting to the woods was a nightmare but today, I borrowed son's transport and whacked the last 100 or so narcissi (so late!!!) into the still fairly warm and nicely moist soil. True, there is always a chance they might come up blind in spring...but will recover for following years. Feeling virtuous (had been torturing myself with guilt and shame). Chucked a huge quantity of primula and eupatorium seeds around too.

Your woods will be so pretty. I love seeing the English primulas - they look so delicate.

I'm done, 300 tulips out of the fridge and into the ground. Thanks to Katob's idea the last dozen went into the tomato bed.

That is one nice holiday activity! The display will be beautiful.

I have to come clean and admit that the tulips never made it into my bil's yard. They went right into the vegetable garden, exactly where the onions were supposed to go next spring. I think I'll get a lot more out of the tulips...

Now if only I could stop buying. Another 75% off holly and an $8.99 dwarf conifer followed me home because they were clearing out the unsold holiday greenery. If the little holiday evergreens go to 75% off I'm sure I'll need a few of them as well. For some reason I can't say no to arborvitaes.

I had forgotten all about the tulips I put into the tomato bed, until I saw them starting to sprout yesterday! What a nice surprise. Thanks again to Katob for the idea.

Just an update - some are cross posted.

The eremurus bed - persica & hyacinth dominating. Don't see the eremurus yet and I am a bit concerned some animal might have found the underground shoot tasty. We'll see.

Directly behind is the cammasia bed - don't see any cammasia yet, but would I know if I did?

Hopefully the eremus still show, I'm curious to see how they do.

Those might be camassia coming up in the bed with the crocus. The leaves do come up looking like a cross between daffodils and hyacinths... and they're nearly indestructible so I'm sure they'll show.

Looking good!

Thank you Katob! I was throwing random things in various places so I thought they were daffodils. Exciting if it will be camassia!

F. persica coloring up even more.... I think the daffodils that are face planted are Dick Wilden. There are cute ones like cheerfulness, etc that are holding up.

Loving hyacinth festival pink. It's a very cheerful color.

I see shoots under the mulch from the eremurus!!

Here are the first shoots of the eremurus!

Yeah, that tiny thing in the middle dwarfed by the hyacinths.

Nice, I think they'll expand into big plants in no time!

Well, for the person googling these things and the random person stumbling across the thread, here is my experience so far:

Van Engelen:

CAMASSIA LEICHTLINII SEMIPLENA (10) - all have come up and are growing very well. Have not yet bloomed.

EREMURUS RUITER HYBRID MIXTURE (3) - only one has gone out of dormancy but the others still have buds for leaves just below the soil line. Waiting....

FRITILLARIA MELEAGRIS ALBA (50) shaded side yard - about 20 came up and 15 bloomed. Super cute and the white was a good choice for the shade. I would buy more even with about half failing.

FRITILLARIA PERSICA (5) - Wonderful vertical interest and the purple stands out against a backdrop of daffodils. I intend to buy more and include both the purple and white version. Hopefully, they persist in my garden.

HYACINTH FESTIVAL PINK (10) - adorable. love the open texture and lasted a long time. Would repurchase.

THE WILD SPECIES TULIP MIXTURE (100) - I only got about 10 blooms as the squirrels had s feast. However, what came up was very pretty.

COLL "Q"/CROCUS LAWN OF DREAMS (500) - It was a bit of a disappointment as the flowering was over several weeks so it didn't have the same impact as if it flowered all at once. We did have a very strange Spring and new bulbs can flower off their typical timing. I'm hoping for clumping and reseeding for a better show in the future. Time will tell.

LILY HONEYMOON /ORIENPET (5) - all are coming up and are about a foot tall. So far, so good!

NARCISSUS FLOWER SURPRISE (10) - really lovely and good bloom time. Can really see from a distance and stems are reasonably strong to hold the flowers.

NARCISSUS DOUBLE MIXTURE (50) - great selection although the one earliest bloomer is a flopper (I have marked the offending bulbs for removal). The rest is simply delightful and highly fragrant (smell from across the yard fragrant ). Some are still blooming so the mix very much extends over the entire daffodil season.

I'll update for posterity and Google searches when the others bloom.

Picture of F. Meleagris alba blooming below. It's the tiny white flowers on the right.

I probably posted this on another thread, but here is the bed with the eremurus and f. Persica blooming further along (taken 4/5).

2018 update - for those interested in these plants, it's helpful for long term information as the first year can often be different from successive years.

Early Spring 2018 - year two

CAMASSIA LEICHTLINII SEMIPLENA (10) - Foliage is up

EREMURUS RUITER HYBRID MIXTURE (3) - I'm assuming they are dead and thinking of perennials to replace for longer interest in this bed

FRITILLARIA MELEAGRIS ALBA (50) - foliage confirmed for three so far (early days & under significant leaf mulch)

FRITILLARIA PERSICA (5) eremurus bed + front - very excited as almost all have double stalks this year (see picture below)

HYACINTH FESTIVAL PINK (10) eremurus bed + front - foliage is up.

THE WILD SPECIES TULIP MIXTURE (100) front of Darwins/front bushes - the ones that weren't eaten last year are coming back with more foliage.

COLL "Q"/CROCUS LAWN OF DREAMS (500) lawn near road - bunnies are devouring them contrary to the thought that active pedestrians and dogs would discourage. The dark purple is the most visible with all other lighter colors needing large drifts to be visible.

LILY HONEYMOON /ORIENPET (5) eremurus bed - too early.

NARCISSUS FLOWER SURPRISE (10) fence garden extension - foliage is up.

NARCISSUS DOUBLE MIXTURE (50) eremurus bed + front - foliage is up

Above are two bulbs of Fritillaria Persica planted fall 2016. Spring 2017 each bulb sent just 1 stalk. Due to strict drainage requirements, I was concerned about their return. This year, I am getting double stalks (shown above) on 4 of the 5 bulbs planted. All 5 have returned and look very healthy. I'm hoping at least one of the two stalks bloom although I have read that sometimes they rest between blooming years. That's okay as I planted 5 more last Fall even though I wasn't certain these original ones would return.

Great update! That's a nice list. I can't wait to see all these bulbs of yours!

That's too bad if the Eremurus didn't come back. They seem so temperamental.

I'm glad you like the update! I'm going to try and update a bit more later as I think the real test is the years after the first bloom.

I had one bloom on the eremurus; it was petite and not stunning like the pictures. Oh well, I have order several items this year that don't suit my conditions yet again (perennials and seeds this time). Doesn't hurt to try and maybe get a surprise occasionally?

I hope the Eremurus will still surprise you. I ignored mine the first few years because they didn't do much. It took them that long to flower.

I agree that it's the years following that will show how well the bulbs perform. I'll look forward to your updates!

I like this thread. Plant. Observe, ID, take note, etc.

I'm sorta doing this myself this year. Just more observance than anything. Not really doing a bulb sprout count vs. planted. Seeing/observing how some bulbs sprout in beds and how others are much slower. Some leaves are like 10 inches tall and in other beds, just whispers of a leaf sprouting. I'm sorta doing a mental blueprint of this which sorta clues me in on which areas get ~warmer~ in the spring than others.

That's a good way to map your garden. My garden has areas that maybe get 1-2 hours more sun a day. That amount of time makes a huuuuuge difference in sprouting and flowering times.