2,083 Spring Bulbs

Yep, you read that right. I planted 2,083 spring bulbs.

I love spring bulbs – tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and many more.  However, they need to be planted in the Fall and my Falls tend to be a bit busy.  It’s getting colder, days are getting shorter, garden cleanup is happening, harvest is ending.  Anyway, this year I thought I would do it.  I bought over 2000 spring bulbs and planted them in batches. 

The first batch went in on October 16, 2018.  I planted 336 bulbs in a combination of Purple Dream Blend Tulips, Fragrant Tulip Blend, and a tulip, daffodil, hyacinth blend all in purples, lavenders and creamy whites.  I have a planting bed I call the Blueberry Bed which borders my lawn and currently is home to a row of mixed chrysanthemums.  The beds will eventually be home to a bunch of blueberry bushes as well. 

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So how I do it:  The bed should first be clear of weeds. Then the I lay the bulbs in the beds how I want them to be.  I place them about 4-6 inches apart and I mix up the various bulbs. I don’t plant them in a straight line. I put them down in a wave form which looks a bit more naturalized.  Once I have them all laid out, I then use an auger bit that attaches to my handy dandy DeWalt cordless screw gun to dig holes for the bulbs.  The auger bit that I use is similar to this.  You can get these at any hardware store which is where I bought mine.  You can also get longer ones such as this if it makes it easier for you to stand up to use.  I drill the holes to the depth that is required by the bulbs.  My bulbs indicated a planting depth of about 6 inches.  Once drilled, I place about 1½ tsp of Espoma Bulb Tone fertilizer in the hole.  Then place the bulb in with the roots down, and cover it with dirt.  Once all the bulbs were planted, I covered the entire bed with mulch.  I dug the holes one at a time and then moved on.  If I were to use the longer auger, I would probably do a bunch of them before planting or using two people so as not to keep bending up and down.

Here is a short video demonstrating how I planting these bulbs.

In the next bed which I call the teepee part of the English Garden I planted 90 Pride Mix Tulips and 30 Fragrant Tulip Blend, staying within the purples and pinks.

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And, in another bed in that same English Garden, 102 bulbs consisting of Double Ruffle Blend daffodils, Purple Dream Blend tulips, and daffodil mix were planted.

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It looks like an interesting combination of colors but I think they’ll look fine when in bloom. This is the bed they are in before and after.

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Off to a different section of the garden I planted a long swath of 210 Lake of Fire Blend tulips.

You can’t really tell much in the before photo, however, you can see the top mulch in the after. The leaves have fallen and kind of made a mess of this bed but those leaves are good for the soil so I leave them be. Things will look better in the Spring. You can see the roses going straight down the middle of that bed. They are a ground cover rose in pinks and reds. Small flowers, low to the ground. But they fill in nicely. I need to get a couple of more to fill in some holes but they look pretty when in bloom.

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Behind and toward the right of the gazebo is a large planting area with a stepping stone path. Here is an overall view of it in July after I mulched the crap out of it.

Toward the left side (creek side) of the path I planted 320 tulips in a combination of Marshmallow Fields Mix and Tulip Pride Mix that run from the top of the photo by the bird house, down to the left and ends about where that bright green plant is to the left in the picture.

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Toward the right side of the path (the pond side) I planted 460 bulbs in a combination of Queens Garden Mix tulips, Purple Dream Blend tulips and Clouds of Cotton tulips. Just can’t stay away from those pinks and purples.

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These run from the top of the picture to the right of the path following the edge of the mulch down the right side ending at the last catmint plant on the lower right side of the picture.

And then the last large area I planted up with bulbs is a corner of the house and garage that you see when you drive up and walk by when coming into the house. I had to reconfigure the bed a bit due to the recent removal of a tree so it was perfect timing to get some spring color planted.

In this bed went about 350 bulbs in a combination of Double Ruffle Blend Daffodils, Golden Ducat Daffodils, Tulip Mix and Oxford’s Elite Tulip in a color combination of oranges and yellows with a touch of pink.

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Then I also loaded 3 half wine barrels up with a hyacinth mix and put some paper whites in pots to scatter around and add color to the picnic table.

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And lastly, I put a package of 60 mixed crocus in the lawn around the tree. They will be the first flowers to come up in the spring and will dot the grass with color. By the time the grass is ready to be cut, the crocus will have died back and they will be ready for a cut as well.

I am so excited and can’t wait to see the blooms this Spring. I do have some tulips in that I have enjoyed over the years by that white trellis you saw in one of the above pictures and some scattered daffodils and tulips in other parts of the yard, but it will be amazing to have so much color this Spring.

All of these bulbs were purchased at Walmart except for the Marshmallow Fields Mix and Queens Garden Mix which were purchased from Jackson & Perkins. Come back for updates on all these Spring bulbs and see how they are doing. I will post some in-between photos as well when I see them sprouting up.