Other bulbs

Unlike the tulips, the rest of the bulbs that I planted seemed to do ok (although I never saw the Allium...). These were taken on May 4th:

Blue Bells

Baby Moon Daffodils

Happy!

2 out of 50

Well, of the 50 tulip bulbs I planted last year only 2 survived and grew.

Sad.

I'm not sure what happened, but I think it might have been an animal that ate them. I noticed what looked like mole tunnels around it not long after I planted them. I haven't checked to see if any of the bulbs are still down there and just didn't come up.

The University of Illinois Extension has this to say about animals eating bulbs:

How can I keep squirrels or moles from eating bulbs?

Bulbs are not usually a preferred food of squirrels, moles, mice or other rodents, but they can take a liking to them. Moles are often unfairly blamed when bulbs disappear. More often, the culprit is field mice that also use mole tunnels. They most often attack tulips, crocus and gladioli and rarely eat daffodils, alliums or colchicums.

The mouse problem is a difficult one. Sprinkling dried blood, tobacco or a similar repellent on the ground is effective only until the next rain washes it away. Owning a cat that enjoys walking through your flower beds is a very effective deterrent to rodents.

Where you are determined to try bulbs, make a small "cage" of 1/2-inch mesh screen. Place several bulbs inside, root plate down and bury the entire cage at the proper depth. Rodents won't be able to chew through, but roots and stems can grow out.

Oh well.

(Note: this is a back-post, posted on 5/22/12)

Crocuses are blooming

The crocuses I planted last December are now blooming. Interestingly, this occurred later than the daffodils in other areas of our yard (except for the new ones I planted in Dec). I could be wrong, but I thought that typically it's the other way around, so I'm not sure why that is. Well, I guess if you compare them to the daffodils I just planted with them, they are blooming before them, so I'm not sure why the ones I just planted are coming up later. Perhaps because I just planted them, or maybe because I planted them late. I sure don't know (as usual, please fill me in if you do!). Here are a few photos:

Crocuses in bloom

Some of the tulips are starting to come up, too:

Tulip sprouting

Yay!

Bulbs galore

My last work of 2011 (early December): planting roughly 100 bulbs in the backyard in pouring 45 degree rain. Not the most fun way to spend a Saturday, but I was convinced by my Mom to go out and do it (after all she gave me half of them!) and that the reward in spring would be worth it, despite the fact that this is way later than these should typically be planted. So, since doing unconventional things comes naturally to me, I did it! This is what I planted (excuse the mud, they were taken after I planted them - many months later, in fact):

Daffodils

Tulips

Blue bells

Crocus

Allium

My Mom gave me all of them except for the Tulips (which I purchased at CostCo) and some of them are in memory of Calum: "Remembrance" Crocus and "Baby Moon" Daffodils (I can't remember if any of the others have a connection). Due to lack of space, I couldn't plant them in the memorial garden (but they are special nonetheless), so instead I planted them nearby in the backyard along the lawn in front of some trees. Not being anywhere near skilled at garden design, I tried to plant them in a logical fashion that might look ok (but most likely probably won't), so we'll see how it works (assuming they even come up)!

(Note: this is a back-post, posted on 3/20/12)