I went shopping yesterday! Here are the bulbs I'll be planting this year:

It may look like a lot, but I thought I was being quite restrained!  ;-)

• 20 "Rainbow Mixture" tulips - C picked these and will choose where to plant them
• 20 "Landscape Orange" tulips - K picked these, she prides herself on not liking pink!
• 12 Daesystemon Tarda - for B to plant, these tulips are hardy and early-flowering, and multiply every year!!  If you want low maintenance, reliable tulips, get these!
• 6 "Orange Emperor" tulips - for early orange colour in the front garden
• 12 "Ballerina" orange lily-flowering tulips - for later orange colour in the front garden
• 20 Striped Squill - I love these, would have got more but that's all they had.
• 5 "Mount Hood" grape hyacinths - I love these too but so do the hares, unfortunately, so I only plant them in less-accessible places.
• 6 Praestans "Shogun" botanical tulips - I haven't tried these before but thought I'd give them a shot and see how hardy they are.
• 20 Allium Azureum - blue flowers, how could I resist?

Comments

[Paula]

Nice tulip choices by the kids! I'll be interested to see the orange ones-I need ideas to go with the green house. Too bad the hares are so fond of your hyacinths; they are one of my favourites, too.

Thinking of spring, do you have any pasque flowers? I used to have purple. They are great for spring because they come up so early. I believe they also come in white and red, then they get fluffy seed heads.

[Calgary Garden Coach]

Thanks Paula! I'll tell them you approve.
;-)
I did have pasque flower at my previous house, but haven't grown it for years. I finally got a red one this spring and planted it in the front, but too late to enjoy its blooms. I hope it will do well next spring!
Janice

[Erin]

So many pretty choices! Your post makes me think maybe I haven't missed the window of opportunity to plant bulbs yet again! But I wonder what you recommend for garden beds that have landscape fabric covered with small rocks. I inherited them with my house and it makes planting anything a big effort / hassle. With bulbs would you just leave an open patch that isn't covered by landscape fabric or rock? I think maybe the rock should go but that's a bigger project than I'm prepared to tackle now.

[Calgary Garden Coach]

No Erin, it's not too late, except perhaps for daffodils. There's not much good I can say about landscape fabric. Yes, you'll have to just cut a hole and leave an open spot where you've planted bulbs!
Good luck!
Cheers,
Janice