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Daffodils and tulips, oh my!
Well… the garden sure doesn’t LOOK like it has had work done. As a matter of fact, it looks like we’ve done nothing. But there are 86 tulip bulbs and 300 daffodil bulbs in the ground!
Planting daffodil bulbs on our “meadow” (i.e. a place we don’t mow). I told Eli, Paul, Joshua and Ashley they looked like a road crew: standing around looking at a hole, holding tools, one maybe working….
On Saturday I started in on planting the tulip bulbs near the house. All the bulbs in fact are fragrant. I picked Angelique, Tacoma and another variety that is a pale yellow peony style (12 of each) and in landscape (ie smaller, less expensive) 50 (!!!) Orange Princess, this incredible orange with pink and green stripes. I figure I can get some help deterring the deer from walking Widgeon nearby. Ahem.
That comment galvanized them (Laughing here!)–they were a huge help. With my arthritis in my wrists and hands it would have taken me forever rather than 90 minutes to plant 260 bulbs! THANK YOU family dears!
Then Joshua and Ashley came over and we had a belated b-day celebration for me (we had to wait for the bulbs to arrive) and planted daffodil bulbs. Joshua, Paul and Eli dug about 17 holes; Ashley and I planted. Then, Joshua fixed an awesome mac and cheese with about six kinds of cheese, oven-roasted grape tomatoes, fresh basil, bacon….can you say heavenly? Finally, I had fixed sticky toffee pudding, which is this delectable English cake-like dessert with sauce, served with vanilla ice cream. SLURP. A lovely family day.
Now every spring when I look out on our hill and see the bulbs, I will remember this day. Of course, the bulbs are on about 1/9 of the meadow, so I’m thinking we may need to make this an annual event for several years. I’ve always dreamed of having an entire field of daffs–how happy can a garden get, to be filled with daffodils?
Eli brought Widgeon out, so I decided to get down on the ground and take a photo from pug’s-eye-level of him and the view. Except he immediately galumphed over to me….
and this is the shot I ended up with!
A happy, wild-eyed pug ready to smooch his mama (that would be me)
Then today I planted the last of the daffodil bulbs, 25 for near the deck/entry, and transplanted a peony. We tried to kill a baptisia plant near the peony so that we could SEE the peony and deal with the VW-Beetle-sized baptisia shrub and failed spectacularly, so I’ve decided if you can’t conquer it, move the peony!
Widgeon looking regal and dignified. Well, he thinks so. Then we all crack up because he is so funny! Can you say LOVE THE PUG!
Now to enjoy the winter blizzards and blinding beauty of snow, then endure mud season, and finally wait for spring to spring and see how the bulbs look and smell. Joshua and Ashley will be receiving a fragrant bouquet (provided they bloom!). And I can tell you if those Orange Princess tulips are as glorious as they looked in the photo, there WILL be dyeing of fabric and a quilt of ginormous tulips! I promise I’ll share garden photos in spring!
October 31st, 2014 at 8:20 am
Oh…. a field of Naturalized Daffs will be a pretty sight… There is another variety… that will spread on their own, you might want to toss a few of those out there too…. A little less planting… each year.
Tulips will be nice too!!!
October 31st, 2014 at 8:22 am
Super cool birthday present!! I savor presents like that! The field will be gorgeous in the Spring! Susan D-L
October 31st, 2014 at 10:30 am
Nothing like bulbs blooming every spring! I have mostly iris in many colors and love seeing them bloom. I have daffs and grape hyacinths but something seems to get the tulips …
October 31st, 2014 at 5:30 pm
Happy birthday! My mom’s b’day would be next week and I sent her bulbs oftentimes. Tulips are deer candy I regret to tell you. Daffodils no, but the raccoon love them. Not much is safe in my yard.
There’s an easier way to accomplish what you are/were after. Go to http://www.GardnersSupply.com and look for bulb planting tools. Really, there is an easier way even if you have willing hands. (You do want them to come back next year, don’t you? the willing hands?)