I started early with fall bulb ordering this year, since I'm organizing a (local only, sorry) group buy. We "hit" the B&B pre-season sale (discount was equivalent to free shipping) for a few additional goodies, but the (big) bulk of our order will be from ADR.

I'm trying to resist the temptation to order "just a few" of everything in addition to the few items I want in quantity... but it's hard! Sometimes it's hard to know where even one clump of bulbs should go in fall, so I'm looking around the garden this week, looking at my photos from spring, too, and trying to decide where most of the bulbs should go BEFORE I order them. As if. I should be taking notes. LOL

Here's what I ordered from B&B:

6 Amaryllis H. 'Ballerina' -- I'll keep one and use the rest for gifts from Joyanna, who is gleefully planning to take ballet again this year.

10 H. hispanica 'Queen of Pinks' -- little patches in the back daff border, where they'll hopefully increase
10 H. hispanica 'City of Haarlem'

20 Iris ret. 'Pauline'


5 N. 'Capree Elizabeth'
10 N. 'Precocious' -- front corner with some other "spring pinks"
10 N. 'Roulette'
5 N. 'Solar Wind'
20 N. 'Sweet Love'

I'm still working up the ADR order. Tomorrow is the last day that they will be able to get EVERYTHING in their catalog. After that, we'll be limited to their (considerable) stock on hand. I've got my eye on some JUMBO bulbs of 'Las Vegas' daffs and 'Red Impression' tulips, especially.

My orders are from bulb dealers which import into Canada.
I have focussed on "perennial" tulips, and large size bulbs ( 12+cm and 14 cm bulbs for tulips.)
I remember ordering "Ice Follies" and "Tete a Tete" daffodils.

Yes, it is more effective to have swaths, or large groups of bulbs of one kind.
I ordered about 20 bulbs of any one kind.

The mail order companies send the bulbs for the end of September here.
I shall try to get "Dutch Master" daffodil bulbs here locally so I can plant them in September.

Our "bulb sorting party" is scheduled for Oct. 12, at my house (so, anybody who can be in Frederick on or after that date -- go over to the Mid-Atlantic forum if you're also on DG or tree-mail me!)

Here's my order list from ADR. On at least half of these, we're ordering a single "display box" of 50 or 75, but there are some 250 and 500 bulb bulk bags in there, too!

Allium christophii
Allium 'Purple Sensation'
Allium schubertii

AMARYLLIS (Hippeaestrum)
Double Dream
Flamenco Queen
Misty

ORIENTAL HYACINTHS
Skyline
Fondante
Miss Saigon
Peter S
Woodstock

IRIS RETICULATUM
Harmony'
J S. Dyt'

LEUCOJUM 'Gravetye Giant'

MUSCARI
M. armeniacum
M. 'Blue Spike'
M. 'Dark Eyes'

TULIPS
Darwin hybrid Gudoshnik
Darwin hybrid Red Impression
T. kaufmanii 'Heart's Delight'

DAFFODILS
N. 'Actaea'
N. 'Barrett Browning'
N. 'Bahama Beach'
N. 'February Gold'
N. 'Geranium

N. 'Hawera'
N. 'Ice Follies'
N 'Jack Snipe'
N 'Jetfire'
N. 'Las Vegas' jumbo 16/18
N. 'Las Vegas' 12/14

N. 'Minnow'
N. 'Martinette'
N. 'Red Devon'
N. 'Suada'
N. 'Stainless'

N. Tahiti
N. 'Tete a Tete'
N. 'Thalia'

For me, the "gem colors" of Hyacinths 'Woodstock' and 'Miss Saigon' will go around a new little river birch. The other hyacinths will be a pretty combination elsewhere, maybe just in containers for the front walk. I like the deeper blue stripe on 'Skyline', and I'm hoping Chris can find us some more 'Fondante' (pink with deeper pink stripe, one of my very favorites) to go with them.. the dark violet-blue of 'Peter S.' will complement 'Skyline' also.

Thoughts on daffodils (at least on the ones I'm getting LOL). Ice Follies and Geranium makes a nice combination of early and late bloooming daffs. I'll put a few 'Martinette' among the 'Geranium' daffs for little pops of orange. The same planting area will probably get some 'Bahama Beach' (early mini) with Muscari (also early) and 'Jetfire' (late mini).

Those jumbo 'Las Vegas' daff bulbs will combine with some 'Suada' as a gift to my in-laws, together with those jumbo Red Impression Tulips. 'Las Vegas' is my favorite for cutting -- tall and very sturdy, big bicolor blooms, lasts 2 or 3 times longer than any other daffodil in the vase. 'Suada' caught my eye as a possible companion (wide ruffled orange cup), so I'm hoping they'll bloom together.

Your garden will be fantastic next spring.
I did order Siberian Squill to go with the Tete a Tete daffodils.
These will be planted in a rock garden setting.

Those will be so cute together! I've got a few that pop into bloom pretty much simultaneously at the corner of my front walk.

I ordered 60 tulips (10 each 6 varieties Single Early & Triumphs) and 60 daffodils (6 varieties also) 20 Paperwhites and 5 hyacinth, all to be forced over this winter. Got 5 Allium schubertii for the garden.

That will give you a cheerful winter and/or spring.

Lovely! That's a lot of forcing pots... Where do you do them? Fridge? Cold Frame? Or... ?

I always "mean to" force a bunch of bulbs, but somehow I never remember this until February... LOL

Refrigerator in basement dedicated to forcing; also, overflow area is outside covered stairwell to basement.

stairwell within tote in stairwell

Thanks! I have a stairwell like that... not covered, but sheltered, and putting them in a storage tote would do the trick.

The trouble with ordering early is that I keep finding more to order.
I found a Washington State company(tulips.com) which will ship to Canada, so---
I ordered two of their boxes of mixed bulbs, and some Ile de France tulips.
These will be planted in backyard beds where I am trying to get rid of quack grass and bindweed.

Planting something lovely is always a nice reward for getting an area cleaned out!

I'm trying like heck to get the back of my perennial area cleaned out (weeeeeeds) and expanded... future home for most of the "pot ghetto," and I plan to stuff daffodil bulbs between the other plants as I put them in. (Less digging, more flowers!)

Less digging, more flowers is good!
I do that too.

My first bulbs of the fall arrived already today. A 250 box of Early Flame Daffs I bought from ADR Bulbs. I just found it on my porch and opened it now. Better get planting!

Seems early for daffs to me.

Here they are-

My ground is too warm to start planting anything yet. However I am still sending in some orders. A little slow this year. I just sent a Narcissus order off to David Burdick and a small order off to Bluestones. I sent my big order last March to ARD and an order also to Livingarden. But I will have a Van Engelen and B&B and Eflower Garden to send in next week. And maybe a couple others, but I am waiting for the T-day sales to do some more damage. I am trying to tame my obsession and plant fewer this year, but that is like trying to stop eating chocolate. Impossible. Patti

Okay everyone guess what I have in my living room right now? 4,450 bulbs. Three orders came today. Here they are on my front porch before I dragged them in.




I opened them and sorted them as best I could which took a really long time. So when you open the packing box from ADR bulbs, this is what you see. A box containing the tulips or daffs with a pretty picture.



There are a bunch of them I just looked at and scratched my head becasue I can not remember where I thought I was gonna plant them. But not to worry, I will figgure it out.

I plant to start planting tomorrow morning. That gives me three weeks till the end of September. They must be planted in September because I have more bulbs ordered which ship beginning of October.