As for the grass, what kind do you have? Have you looked at Walter Reeve's calendar?

As for the bulbs, I think it is best to plant now to get some root growth going.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lawn Care Calendars

I am planting Fall flowering bulbs as soon as received. (Fall Crocus, Sternbergia, Lycorus, Colchicum), but am waiting to plant the Spring blooming ones, Spring Crocus, Narcissus, Tulips, Hyacinth, Muscari, Iris retics, until the soil temperature cools down into the 50's. Probably late Nov-early Dec.
I grow only species Tulips and plant them along with the spring flowering bulbs.
Rb

bevinga,
what part of NW ga do you live?
I was unable to contact you via email.

Dora

Thanks for the advice, esh and Razorback...I'm so ready to plant these!

Dora, I live in the Cartersville area.

Blessings,
Beverly

Beverly,
will you email me?
I'm in Rome.

Dora

Hi Dora,
For the life of me, I can't find your email address! Is there a particular place I should look?

Thanks,
Beverly

click on my username (nwgatreasures) at the top of this post.

A new page will appear and to the right side of the page there will be a link that says "email me". click on that.

there ya go :)

PS. I will be out of town until Monday so don't think I'm ignoring you if you don't hear from me immediately.

Dora

Actually, for you Dora, you have to click on "See My Journal" from your member page. From there, there is an email link.

There can be some variation in the way pages are set up, I have seen the email link be more obvious before.

Rb, do you pre-chill your Species Tulip bulbs?

I ordered some online (i think it was from Scheepers) and called to ask about pre-chilling and they said its not necessary for our zone. But I'm wondering if I should ask them to pre-chill anyway -- do you think it helps?

Do your species tulips come back well every year or do you treat them as annuals, as I've read for other tulips here?

Thanks

Thanks esh, for the information on finding email addresses!

Beverly

I put Tulip bulbs down in Dec. 05 and they came up spring of 06, 07, and 08.
I didn't notice any difference in the amount of blooms.
I left them in the ground the whole time, fertilized them as suggested and left them to themselves.

I live in NW Ga (Rome) and they've been fine without messing with them. I have no idea if they were chilled before being sent to me.

Dora

mayland....
I don't prechill any bulbs and it isn't necessary for species Tulips, but it won't harm them if you do. May even force them to bloom a bit earlier.
Species Tulips, unlike the Dutch hybrids, are perennials and return to bloom each year and multiply by offsets.
They are not as showy as the hybrids, nor as tall, but a grouping of them will provide a nice color spot in the garden, rockgarden or even as potted plants.
Rb

Rb, thanks so much for the info. I tried Dutch hybrid tulips a few years ago and the second year they were just dismal (Dora, maybe your fertilizer did the trick? I did not fertlize mine).

I'm looking forward to the species tulips, there are some really fun-looking colors, I struggled to choose. I have Lilac Wonder and Little Beauty (red with blue center) coming, and a couple of spots in mind where a low-growing flash of color will be great. I'm pleased to hear they will multiply!

I got a bit carried away when I ordered my bulbs (in August), and have about 300 coming. They don't bill me until they ship them, and we have recently decided (given the state of things) that the plant budget has to be cut :( Oh well, I'll look on it as my last splurge of the season!

Does anyone here grow Allium, Camassia, Ipheion or Puschkinia? I ordered some of each of these along with Daffodils and Crocus (i did say I got carried away!). I read that the Alliums might not come back very well as our winters are not cold enough, but what about the rest - do they do well here?

My parents are visiting us from England in Dec...maybe I'll chill the 300 bulbs until they come. Nothing like a family gardening day :)

Mayland,
I may be interested in sharing the price of some of those bulbs you have coming, depending on your location and how we can work it out. I'd be interested in any of them.

Where are you?

Dora

Hi Dora,
I didn't mean to sound alarmist in my post above! We are doing fine so far, just thinking that we should be cautious given the economy at the moment. We have renovated our house inside and out over the last 12-18 months, and we've spent a lot on shrubs (and landscaping materials) lately. With all the scary news, we decided to put on hold any non-essential purchases/renov, at least for a while. I'm OK with my bulb treat, I just have to avoid visiting my favorite nurseries :) Thanks for offering though!

No offense taken. Many of my gardening friends and I swap and share orders sometimes. My offer was in case you were having second thoughts about the quantity that is coming and where you are going to put them.

I understand about the remodeling. We are on the 5 year landscape plan because we had to put about $50K into the interior. I inherited about 300 feet of garden beds that had been neglected for over 5 years as our home sat empty before we purchased it and remodeled. What a bitter sweet situation to discover all of the many prized and unique things that are there - some of which have died because of neglect during that time. The late owner of the home was the garden club president for over 15 years.

The first year here - I touched absolutely nothing and took pictures of different sections about every 5 days. I kept a journal to help me remember because there was so much "stuff" in the beds.

The second year, I cleaned out and watched and may have added a few things.

This year - I'm making it my own. I know though, that I am on the 5 year plan due to limited funds as well as limited time. I am not in a hurry because I would rather do with out than have it done wrong or half way or something that I regret. When I know the plant I want there - I'll get it.

For me, it's all about the journey - because there never is a final garden destination except when we die.

Dora

Dora, you must have had some real gems hiding under the 5 years of neglect! How exciting to watch everything come up and see what was there. Would love to see some pics of what you started with and what you have done :)

Our house had also been neglected, but there was very little hiding under the knee-deep ivy. A few overgrown shrubs, mainly eleaganus and privet, unfortunately. Two beautiful camellias that are the biggest I think I've ever seen (they must be over 20ft each).

Once we had cleared all the ivy, we were left with a huge expanse of nothing (our lot is about 3/4 acre), so I've bought and planted a lot of shrubs this year. I'm looking forward to watching things fill out next year and to slowing down and enjoying adding more gradually to what will hopefully be a good base.

I'll see what I can do about the pictures. I have them, but they are on disk and I'll have to go find them and upload them to post here (unless someone has a better idea). Ideally, they would work well in a slideshow type setting.

One thing I can tell you is that we have given away over 500 double bearded iris rizomes since we moved in. At the height of the collection the first year, we documented over 15 different colors and gave away over 250 just that year. Every year, we try to weed out some more and share the love/color/beauty with friends. They keep coming back and spreading more.

My favorite things that we discovered are the peonies. There were 7 of them and the first year, they were so huge, I couldn't get my hands around the blooms. Each passing year they bloomed less and less and I think it's because they weren't getting enough sun. A few weeks ago, I dug up the roots, split some and put them more in the sun...not full sun but more sun from morning to mid day. I hope that will help. If anyone would like to add their experience/opinion on them - please do so.

We just removed this past week a Camellia tree over 19 feet. We know that it was there at least 31 years based on what someone who knew the woman told us.

There is no plant on this entire planet that I hate more than ivy. Absolutely I detest this plant. I do not know why God made it.

Dora