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The Impatient Gardener

Garden, Plants

IT’S TIME TO TALK BULBS + SOME FOR YOU TOO

September 20, 2017

Longtime readers will know that I’m not one to rush the seasons (other than winter, which I’m happy to mentally check out of sometime around January 5), but we need to talk about autumn. And maybe a little bit about spring. Because even though my garden is currently enjoying a very summerlike couple of weeks, the autumnal equinox is Friday, which means it’s time to get serious about fall garden jobs.

daffodil study
Some of my favorite daffodils that I grew last year, including three split corona varieties and one multi-flowered variety.

And among all the less-than-pleasant jobs (endless raking, anyone?) is one that I guarantee will bring you more satisfaction than any other: bulb planting. OK, so you’ll have to wait a few months for the real satisfaction but I promise that there is nothing better seeing the first flowers pop up in spring when the rest of the world is gray.

Because I live in an area with a lot of deer and, more recently, a healthy rabbit population as well, I only plant bulbs that are critter resistant. I can protect my garden in summer from animal browsing by using animal repellents, but I’m not going to pull on my parka in late winter or early spring to go out and spray flowers. That means that my go-to fall-planted bulbs are daffodils and alliums, both of which I can all but guarantee won’t be eaten by anything.

naturalizing daffodils
A naturalizing daffodil mix I planted in a wooded area last fall bloomed for months in spring, starting with these yellow trumpet daffodils before they gave way to all sort of other varieties.

When planting almost any bulb, my advice is the same: think drifts, not dots. There is something so spectacular about swaths of flowers in spring. Some bulbs naturalize better than others, so last fall I planted a naturalizing mix in the woodsy area along the driveway. They were fabulous last spring, but I anticipate they will get even better as they multiple in future years.

An exotic and unusual double with orange accents.
Daffodils are tough buggers, as this one that seemed intent on blooming through a nest of mayapples proved. 

There are “fancier” daffodils out there as well, and those I like to save for areas closer to the house where their finer details can be admired. The doubles look like roses, the miniatures are charming and sweet and those with reflex petals are downright intriguing. But last year I discovered a group of daffodils that really stole my heart: the split coronas. I can’t explain why I had never paid much attention to this before, but last spring they were the real standouts for me.

mount everest allium
‘Mount Everest’ allium was a lovely addition to this part of the garden in early summer. 

purple sensation
‘Purple Sensation’ alliums looked great from afar and up close. 

If daffodils are the good-doers of spring, alliums are the statement pieces of early summer. Although they come in myriad forms and a handful of colors from deep purple to blue and snow white to pale pink (with the occasional yellow and maroon thrown in), all alliums do one thing better than any other flower: draw your eye. Be they tall like ‘Globemaster‘ or ‘Gladiator’ or shorter in stature like ‘Ivory Queen’, just the form of alliums is an attention-getter. I let them stand in the garden long after their flowers have faded as even the dried flowers add important texture.

Quick aside: Here’s the how-to on my favorite way to plant bulbs. When you buy them in massive quantities as I tend to do, you have to find an efficient way to get them in the ground and this is fast!

OK, you’re sold (as you should be!). But if you’re expecting me to tell you to get out there and start planting, you’re going to be disappointed. Because in most places in the U.S., it’s still too early. You want your bulbs to have time to settle in, but you don’t want them thinking, “Hey, it’s go time!” I wait until there is a decided nip in the air, usually before a frost. That puts my personal bulb planting time around mid-October, although you can plant them right up until the ground is frozen if you really have to. So why the rush on talking about bulbs now? Because if you don’t buy them now, all the good stuff will be gone by the time you do.

So here’s me, telling you to shop. Seriously … go for it, and I promise you will thank me come spring.

To help get you started, Longfield Gardens has agreed to give a selection of daffodils and alliums to two lucky readers. I’ll be giving away one Naturalizing Daffodil Mix with 100 bulbs, perfect for creating a swath of gorgeous blooms that should multiple over the years, and one Amazing Allium Mix with 63 bulbs of four varieties of alliums, including ‘Christophii’, which is a favorite of mine.

Enter using the widget below. There are a lot of ways to enter to maximize your chances, but if you’re short on time all you have to do is log in and click and you’re in!

Spring blooming bulbs
allium bulbs daffodils giveaway longfield gardens
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
21 Comments

About Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

View all posts by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

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previous post: FRIDAY FINDS
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Comments

  1. latanya t says: September 20, 2017 at 12:29 pm

    I would choose the Allium Amazing Alliums Collection because I like the variety and the pretty colors.

    Reply
  2. Shannon says: September 20, 2017 at 12:45 pm

    Oooh what a fabulous giveaway…. Daffodils have been my favorite ever since I first encountered huge fields of all different kinds growing in rural Tennessee when I went off to college…

    Reply
  3. Judy H says: September 20, 2017 at 12:51 pm

    I have to say I would have to hoard them for a year until we get back to NC. But I would probably share with two good friends here in MT (and help them plant them) so they have something blooming to remember me by. And not the fact I pilfered their peonies and lilacs!

    Reply
  4. Lorna says: September 20, 2017 at 3:02 pm

    Such pretty flowers.

    Reply
  5. Becky Weninger says: September 20, 2017 at 4:41 pm

    OH my! Alliums and Daffodils! Some of each please!

    Reply
  6. Karen says: September 20, 2017 at 6:20 pm

    I would choose the daffodils and would plant them around the pond at our son's ranch.

    Reply
  7. Unknown says: September 20, 2017 at 7:21 pm

    I agree, it is so worth it when they come up in the early gray spring!

    Reply
  8. Joanna at Gingham Gardens says: September 20, 2017 at 7:31 pm

    The daffodils are stunning and you can never go wrong with alliums.

    Reply
  9. Giovannarosa says: September 20, 2017 at 7:44 pm

    I sure would love to win these gorgeous bulbs!

    Reply
  10. KC Garden Girl says: September 20, 2017 at 7:45 pm

    I love to plant alliums so that they shoot up through hostas!

    Reply
  11. Ribbon says: September 20, 2017 at 9:23 pm

    I could always use more daffodils,but I don't have any alliums, so alliums from Longfield gardens.

    Reply
  12. SJ says: September 20, 2017 at 10:35 pm

    Such a tough choice – I love them both. I am looking to expand my allium garden next year though 🙂

    Reply
  13. Edward John says: September 20, 2017 at 11:25 pm

    I love the daffodil collection.

    Reply
  14. Janice Hebert says: September 21, 2017 at 11:56 am

    Love daffodils! Great advice, to plant multiples, not dots.

    Reply
  15. Kristin says: September 21, 2017 at 12:16 pm

    Love my daffs, and definitely need to add some new allium. My white ones have disappeared, and I want to try another variety.

    Reply
  16. Belinda Renno says: September 21, 2017 at 1:41 pm

    Thanks for taking the time to write your blog. I personally like the allium collection.

    Reply
  17. Amy says: September 22, 2017 at 4:28 am

    I'd love daffodils of any variety…they are my husband's favorite flower!

    Reply
  18. girl says: September 23, 2017 at 10:14 am

    Daffodils are on of my favorite spring flowers.

    Reply
  19. Carol Yemola says: September 25, 2017 at 1:54 am

    I would like to win the daffodil collection. I have a lot in my garden, but they are the the solid yellow kind. The collection would give me plenty of color and the combinations are stunning.

    Reply
  20. Double Happiness says: September 25, 2017 at 2:03 am

    Love the flowers and thank you for all you do!

    Reply
  21. Lin Grado says: September 25, 2017 at 2:07 am

    Daffodils are my favorite, so that's what I'd love to win!!!

    Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
These sister dahlias are big, beautiful girls. Pen These sister dahlias are big, beautiful girls. Penhill Watermelon (first picture) and Penhill Dark Monarch are the best two HUGE dahlias that I grow. They share slightly twisty petals (Watermelon more so) and, when you look closely, subtle striations that add a beautiful depth of color. Watermelon grows taller than Dark Monarch (7 feet tall or more sometimes) and they both need serious staking, but it’s worth it because they produce a lot of flowers for a large-flowering dahlia. 

I like them both but if I was forced to choose (and who would make me do that?) I’d give the edge to Dark Monarch because it’s a little easier to manage size-wise, produces more flowers and has a bigger variation in flower color so it’s always interesting. 

Which do you like better?
I don’t love tools that only do one thing. But w I don’t love tools that only do one thing. But when there’s only one tool that does that one thing really well, I’m here for it. This pottery/container knife from Sneeboer makes it possible to actually get plants out of pots without breaking or damaging the pot. It’s also really expensive. 😀
A little snippet of a bouquet from the weekend. Zi A little snippet of a bouquet from the weekend. Zinnias, pycnanthemum muticum and bronze fennel shown here.
My love for Nicotiana is not a secret. I love tryi My love for Nicotiana is not a secret. I love trying out new varieties and I feel like they just work so well in my garden from both a design standpoint and a cultural standpoint (they are happy here). Because I grow so many, the ones that self sow can be surprises. 

All of these self-sown Nicotiana are probably at least partly the children of the F1 hybrid Perfume series, which grow to be about 24” tall or so. Last year I grew purple, pink, white and lime versions and these are likely new variations on those. 

Picture 3 is, in my opinion, a good example of how these self sown second-year hybrids can go wrong. I’ll probably rip that one out. 😀

And the last photo is of my favorite colorway, lime, popping up amongst the Zinnias. I find these self-sown Nicotiana popping up all summer, so there’s always a fresh-blooming supply. 

Are you as enamored with Nicotinana as I am?
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