Bulbs on a Budget
Spend less, grow more and share the spring joy.
The latest catalogs are in your lap. You leaf through page
after page of dazzling photographs. Never mind that fall is more than a breath away
and you can't wait till spring, but wait! Didn't you just plant a bunch last year
and only half came up? It may be time to have a spring garden filled with brilliant,
uplifting colors for less than you've been spending.
Behold Narcissus 'Birma'.
# Look for pest-proof varieties. For better protection
against squirrels, gophers and deer, pick bulbs they don't want to eat. Good choices:
daffodils (they're poisonous), alliums (resistant to rodents only), fritillaries
(Fritillaria) and "tommies," members of the Crocus tommasinianus genus (squirrels don't eat them, and
deer usually don't). Scilla (Scilla siberica), winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis),
snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis), hyacinth (Muscari) and spring snowflake (Leucojum nivalis)
are moderately resistant. If you're planting bulbs that critters crave, set them
inside metal cages sunk into the ground.
# Concentrate on naturalizing varieties. Daffodils, crocus,
grape hyacinths, wood anemone, snowdrops, glory of the snow, quamash (Camassia)
and scilla last for years, multiplying in number.
# Plan for spring bouquets at the same time you're building
your garden. Some good choices: fragrant double narcissi like 'White Lion'
(white with some shorter, soft-yellow petals in the center) or a fragrant,
brightly colored jonquil like 'Golden Echo' (white with very bright yellow,
extra long trumpet).
# Save money by buying in bulk. You can easily pay one-third
less per bulb if you buy in lots of 1,000 instead of 10 or 25. So get together with
friends, neighbors or fellow garden club members to buy in quantity. Any left over can be sold
at your group's fundraising events.
# Start your bulb-shopping early enough to get choice
pickings, but don't plant them
until the weather is consistently cool.