Bulbs Are All Planted

I finally finished planting my bulbs today. I've never planted this late before. I hope that they will have enough time to grow roots before hard frosts set in.


This year, I ordered bulbs from http://www.horticlub.com,/which is the francophone branch of http://www.donimion-seed-house.com/. They were having a 40% off bulbs sale and a friend and I couldn't resist so we placed a combined order. I really wanted to try Foxtail Lilly bulbs (Eremurus 'Shelford Hyb.') pictured in bloom on the right. Another friend told be about seeing these in a neighbour's garden and ever since, I've been looking for them.

The bulbs look rather strange. As you can see on the left, they have large tuberous roots. They prefer a sunny and dry location and do not like to be disturbed. I planted these in the new east border, between a miscanthus and a gaillardia. They should bloom in June.



I also ordered some 'Princess Irene' tulip bulbs. This is one of my favourite tulips. I love the variegated orange colour. In my garden, I treat tulips as annuals. I purchase and plant fresh ones each fall. I find that they never come back as nice and big as they are the first year. However my daffodils are great naturalizers and get better and bigger each year. And I bought Triumph tulips from a local garden centre. I planted both kinds of tulips against the back of the house, near the back door.

And finally, I ordered some 'Starburst' asiatic lilies. I only have one other lily, the beautiful and fragrant 'Stargazer' lily, which I planted late this summer. I hope that I won't have to deal with too many lily beetles next summer!

Finally, I ordered some lillys. I had tiger lilies many years ago and got rid of all of them after getting overwhelmed with a lily beetle infestation. I will try my trowel at them again this year.