Last bulb purchases—maybe

I was feeling a bit insecure about the lily situation, so I did end up ordering more from The Lily Garden. Just three: Elise (above) Madame Butterfly (below), and Miss Lucy (below that). Elise and Madame Butterfly are relatives of henryi, a reliable species type that I’ve been growing for some time. Miss Lucy looks the same as Double Prize, which I’ve grown before and really does last a long time. I had it in a container and it did not return—I suspect it may have frozen. That does happen once in a while. I know I take a chance by storing these pots of bulbs in the garage, but the fatalities are rare. Tulips and lilies do very well, but I’ve stopped keeping hyacinths out there. They just don’t make it.


Then I picked up a bag of species tulips (bakeri Lilac Wonder) at Home Depot. I had given the ones I had to mentee Ron, not realizing that they bloom at the same time as the batalini Bronze Charm, so I'll need them for the contrast. The other violet ones I have, humulis Persian Pearl, bloom earlier. These species can be tricky with their bloom times. You'd think they'd all be early blooomers, but they're not.