Van Engelen is who I bought my heavily-infected tulips from. I am sure one variety, at least, was infected when I got them. They all got it eventually and died. I never called Van Engelen about it since I can't guarantee that most of them didn't get it from the soil. I use manure for fertilizer, which used to include a solid blanket of it over the winter (not any more, for precisely this reason!). Plants that are susceptible often get botrytis, also known as tulip fire, which is really a rather common disease, from manure, or maybe they are just more susceptible to it in the presence of manure, I don't know. But I'm sure at least one variety had it on arrival - they came up so distorted and ugly right from the start. I would not order from them again, anyhow.

Jeanne

Jeanne, Tulip Fire is specific to members of the Tulipa family. It should not be something they catch from manure unless the previous year's tulips went into the manure! When the leaves are red and distorted as they come out of the ground that tells me that they were infected prior to shipping.

So one of my question for thehorticulturist is...what do you do to prevent the spread of tulip fire?

We are looking for a bulb supplier we can trust. HAs anyone ordered tulips for years from a supplier and never had an outbreak of TUlip Fire? What supplier would you recommend. HOw about Brent and Becky?

I get my tulips from Van Engelen, and many other bulbs, when their sale starts in early Nov. No problem so far, altho one year, a whole box of Dutch Iris had some critter on them, aphids maybe? BUT, I didn't inspect those DI's when they arrived, and didn't get ANY bulbs planted til early Jan. The intervening 6 weeks or so could have created the problem.

I've also ordered several daff varieties from Brent & Becky, and again, no problems, great bulbs.

I also comb through the on-sale offerings at Lowe's Walmart & HD in search of super low prices for their bags of 50 of a variety. Usually, no problem.

This year, I planted WAY too late, and WAY too many of my (probably Lowe's) tulips bloomed short, but I'd say that was MY fault, not the vendor.

I have a few minor quibbles about how both Van E & B & B have set up their on-line shopping/viewing, but nothing major, and both give good service. When I had the questions about Daffs and Ethylene, I called B & B, actually left a message for Brent, and a few days later he actually called me back. Yeah! So, I'm guessing you'd have pretty good service & quality from Brent & Becky's, at least. Maybe also from Van E.

Have you read the thread from Valerie in NC about her good sales at her first farmers market? She gave the name of a supplier that the Arnosky's use, looks like HUGE savings, BUT you have to buy in BIG BULK! Go to "They Came, they Saw, they Bought", and scroll down to one of the last few posts. That's where she has that vendor info.

Good luck--

Susi.

AMG Growers, Inc.
Big, healthy tulip bulbs, good prices. Minimum order is $50, I think. Their glads are also spectacular - by far the best I've ever seen - and they offer quite a few perennial plants, although I haven't ordered any of those, so I can't evaluate them.

I don't think they have a website, just e-mail, sales@amggrowers.com., but they will send a catalog. Phone is easier, 269 925 2535. They are in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

Jeanne

I know AMG Growers. Actually, they are not far from us. We don't, however, buy our gladioli bulbs from them. The size of their bulbs are 12/14. Our supplier, also right here in Michigan, has gladioli bulbs that are second to none. Large #1 size bulbs are less than half the price of AMG. For my own personal reasons, I don't list vendors on the forum. If any growers are interested in this information, you can email me.
Flowerfarmer

LizaLily,

Although I had tulip blight this year, I'm pretty sure it came soil planted with contaminated bulbs bought two years ago. This year, I bought half of my bulbs from Colorblends. These were top-notch bulbs, and didn't succumb to the blight nearly as badly as the Van Bourgondiens (which may have been infected but I'm not sure). I'll be buying from Colorblends again, but the bulbs are pricey, even in bulk.

I did a net search about tulip blight in bulbs recently. There were a number of research abstracts from Holland about controlling blight in bulbs, with a variety of antifungal/toxic treatments. Clearly, blight is a problem for the bulb producer.

I'm going to keep looking, and when I plant this Fall, I'll probably incorporate some sort of anti-blight product into the new tulip beds--the thing is, I prefer organic, so I'm limiting my choices at the outset.

Valerie