I bought these 2 huge cedar barrels at the end of the year here in a garden center
and wander if you could plant bulbs in them and leave them in there
I read somewhere as long as the pot has a 2 foot circumference to insulate the bulb you should be ok...

any thoughts from anyone on this

sorry for the late reply. yep! we have two, half barrels loaded with about a dozen lily bulbs in each one. and we have absolutely no problem with overwintering.

riverman lives in a much warmer zone 8b. It's a different story when you are three or four zones colder. You could try the hardier types, asiatics and martagons, but personally, I don't think they will make it. Cedar barrels must be in contact with the soil through the winter to benefit from ground heat. They cannot be on cement, or a deck or patio.

I don't know how relevant this is but I planted some Asiatics, Tulips and Crocus in an old whiskey barrel once and everything died. I had it placed on an elevated deck about 12 inches above ground level. All the drain holes I made froze shut over winter and they were the last thing to thaw out in the spring. When heavy spring rains came, the whole thing overflowed with water that froze and thawed many times; then one morning I got up to see all the water had gone overnight. It remained a barrel of mud for days.

If I were to do it again, I would make sure my soil is fairly dry, then I'd cover with a tarp to make it rain proof and throw lots of snow from the deck around and on top of the covered barrel.