This rapturous essay about bulbs was written in 1917 by Mary Fanton Roberts, founder of The Touchstone magazine and former editor of Gustav Stickley’s influential The Craftsman. Although by modern standards her writing may seem overwrought, we think you’ll find a lot of truth in it:

“When October, trailing her radiant robes of purple and gold, visits the earth, all good gardeners know that the climax of their gardens’ beauty has been reached and that they must begin at once the joyous task of preparing for next year’s procession of flowers. . . .

“This is indeed a happy month for people with creative imagination, for through the mystic October haze, they see faintly, as in a vision, the tender colors of their spring garden. It is natural for gardeners to believe in immortality, for in the midst of flower death they see life patiently brooding. Good gardeners also are always young in spirit, for their minds are fixed on spring when others feel only the bitter sting of winter.

“October is the month when the bulbs – “Children of Spring” – must be put to sleep so that they may awake early and tell the peoples of the earth that spring has arrived. ‘Ere man is aware that the spring is here, the flowers have found it out,’ is an old Chinese saying that holds a truth. We have little faith in a calendar prophesy but we believe the report of the gladsome crocus and the pale, wan snowdrop. The lovely azure glory-of-the-snow bids us look up to the blue skies of spring, and the joyful blaze of tulips warms our hearts torpid from winter’s cold into new faith. It seems to garden lovers that there is magic power in the breath of the first bulbs that drives away icy winter – something like the power in the cross that deprives the Prince of Evil of his strength.

“The butterfly winging its rapturous way from its dull grub state is no more marvelous a transfiguration than a daffodil’s unfurling from its dull bulb prison. The flight of the blue bird across a garden is a wonderful thing; so also is the rush of blue scillas along the garden path. Swallows come not more swiftly than the crocus, and the star of Bethlehem leads the way to new hope. The pure white fritillaria is like a sweet memory of snow, while the beautiful muscari dots the grass, a forerunner of summer skies.”

With their clusters of small, fragrant flowers, the group of daffodils known as tazettas have been popular for hundreds if not thousands of years. In Japan they long ago escaped gardens to make themselves at home in the wild, as described at botanyboy.org:

“Narcissus tazetta . . . can be found in various stages of bloom anytime from late December through February along the roadsides and fields of southern Japan. . . . N. tazetta is a close relative to the most famous member of the [tazetta] group, Narcissus papyraceus, the common paperwhite. . . .

“It is the corona that gives this plant the species epithet, tazetta, from the Italian word tazza, which is a shallow wine cup on a pedestal-like base. . . . Their odor is intense, but not unpleasant, and much more floral scented than the musty smell of N. papyraceus. . . .

“In Japan, N. tazetta can be found in the warmer regions of Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku, but is not native. It is thought that it came from China centuries ago . . . but very likely was brought to that country in the distant past from the Near East along trading routes. In Japan it is found on roadsides, on rice paddy embankments, along rivers, and in vacant lots in both agricultural and urban environments. A number of different flower forms and hybrids are frequent garden plants in Japan and elsewhere [including ‘Early Pearl’, ‘Erlicheer’, ‘Geranium’, ‘Grand Primo’].

In Japanese the tazettas are called “suisen, meaning ‘water wizard.’ . . . This is a derivative of the Mandarin name, shui xian hua, meaning ‘water goddess flower.’”

Most of these “water wizards” are easy to force on pebbles and water, and they’re great in gardens from zones 6-8(10WC). Why not order a few to try for yourself?

“Well, here’s a cool thing,” our good customer Nancy McDonald emailed us one March several years ago. Nancy gardens in zone-5a Grand Marais, Michigan, a mile from Lake Superior, where the annual snowfall averages over 11 feet (yes, 11 feet!). “Three days ago my snowdrops were covered with more than a foot of snow. Two days ago the snow melted. Yesterday they had little green and white spears sticking up. Today the stems are long enough that the buds are starting to hang over. If it’s warm enough tomorrow, I bet some of them will open. That’s zero to sixty in only three days. Incredible!”

Want to see if you can beat that record? Order yours now, plant them in the next two weeks, wait with anticipation, and don’t forget to check on them early next spring!

Great news: we’re expecting to have shipped all current orders by Thursday 10/26 (unless a later date was requested), at which point we’ll take a day to inventory our remaining stock and then resume sales for perhaps another week. But there’s no need to wait till then to save on some of our favorites: to encourage you to order now so that our counting day go is shorter, we’re offering 10-30% off on 15 splendid tulips, 35 animal-resistant daffodils, 8 crocus (including rare ‘Cloth of Gold’), 3 fragrant hyacinths, 5 stately lilies, 2 long-lived peonies, and 22 other diverse treasures which you can see listed at our Bulbs on Sale page.

Since the bulbs are going fast, please let us know if - should we run out of one of your choices - you’d like us to substitute something else, give you a credit, or simply refund to your credit card.

Our Sternbergia and cyclamen have just started blooming this week, reminding us of the varieties that - though planted in the fall - don’t bloom in spring like daffodils or tulips and may arrive in active growth and benefit from being planted as soon as possible. For all of these, we recommend planting in their own section of the garden, and marking their places well, so that they won’t be hidden by other plants or have something else planted on top of them.

purple-headed garlic

Purple-headed garlic (or drumstick allium) blooms in summer - July here - extending the allium season long past its spring/early-summer extravaganza. Their slender stems and leaves work their way through neighboring plants bringing their cheerful bursts of purple. They’ll naturalize over time, and - like other allium – animals tend to leave them alone.

cyclamen

Cyclamen may have leaves when it arrives, or may not put out any its first fall, so marking it is especially important: the first sign of it you may see are the delicate flowers emerging the following fall. Here in Michigan they tend to bloom just as the first leaves are falling, so keep an eye out for them so that they don’t get buried in leaves. Their foliage will emerge after they bloom.

oxblood lilies

Lycoris radiata, red spider lilies, put up leaves in their first fall, but resent transplanting (unless it’s from one neighbor’s yard to another) and may not bloom till their second fall. Since their foliage dies back in early summer, first-time growers are often worried that the bulbs have died, but they’re going through their normal summer dormancy. Please be patient, though they are slow to begin flowering, once established they will multiply. with more bursting through the tired remains of summer each year.

Similarly, surprise lilies (Lycoris squamigera) will send up foliage in the spring and then have a period of dormancy of 6-10 weeks followed by the “surprise” appearance of lavender-pink flowers seemingly out of nowhere, leading to their other names: magic lilies, resurrection lilies, and naked ladies. Like Lycoris radiata, they’ll return well in following years given sunshine and relatively dry summers.

Oxblood lilies (Rhodophiala) will arrive with leaves or send them up soon after planting but then won’t bloom till late summer (or even later). Your patience will be rewarded in future years: as our friend Greg Grant of Texas wrote in Country Living Gardener, oxblood lily is “easy and adaptable [and] thrives in any type of soil, with any pH, and any exposure. Moreover, it never needs dividing, never needs extra water, and has no insect pests. Its only two requirements are a dry summer and not removing its foliage before it goes dormant naturally” in late spring.

sternbergia

And returning once more to sternbergia, plant them upon arrival so they can get their leaves up for the fall and water them moderately. Since their foliage stays green through winter, it’s a good idea to cover them with a light, airy mulch of straw if your winters are harsh. They prefer to be kept fairly dry in the spring and early summer, and, left undisturbed, will multiply over time and bring golden accents to the early days of autumn.

You’ll find these, along with other lesser-known plants that follow a more traditional spring-blooming schedule, amongst our Diverse Fall bulbs. Why not give some a try this fall? You’ll be rewarded in years to come!

It’s so disappointing: you plant your bulbs in full sun, well-drained soil, and at the recommended depth, but don’t see any flowers the next spring! What went wrong? If you dig down into the soil and find nothing, not even a rotted bulb, it’s likely that squirrels or other digging mammals ate them. Don’t give up –there are a number of things you can do as you plant them this fall to increase the odds of great blooms next spring.

First, the easiest: plant types of bulbs that animals don’t like to eat! All parts of daffodils, bulb to blossom, are toxic to squirrels and chipmunks as well as avoided by rabbits and deer. They come in many combinations of yellow, white, orange, peach, and even red highlights and there are varieties suitable for northern, southern, and coastal gardens. Better still, they’ll multiply over time – often one sign of an old homestead are the clumps of daffodils blooming in the spring.

Other bulbs that are rarely eaten include snowflakes (Leucojum), hyacinths, and many of our Fall-Planted Diverse varieties such as alliums, winter aconites, glory-of-the snow, Spanish bluebells, snowdrops, grape hyacinths, silver bells, Dutch iris, and Siberian squill. To see a complete list suitable for your climate, choose your garden zone and the Animal Resistant category in our Heirloom Bulb Search

We strongly recommend that first-time growers of crocus and small diverse bulbs cover their bulbs after planting. Freshly-dug soil can attract the interest of squirrels and chipmunks, and tulips, crocus, and lilies are especially tempting. Digging can disturb any bulbs, even if they’re not eaten, so protect your newly-planted bulb beds by covering them with

If animals burrow to your bulbs from below, you can use wire-mesh bulb cages either home-made or purchased at garden-supply shops or bury planting baskets or plastic pots covered with chicken-wire. In either case, use a mesh that will allow the stems to emerge easily in spring.

You can also deter rodents by lining your planting hole with chicken grit, crushed gravel, or crushed shale, sprinkling some on the top as well. These have sharp edges and discourage voles and squirrels from digging further.

Bitter or pungent sprays (like Liquid Fence and those containing capsaicin) work as well, though you’ll need to re-apply after a rainfall. (In the spring these can also be effective to protect tender shoots as they emerge, as rabbits seem to delight in nipping them down to soil-level.)

Our customers have also reported success by planting allium amongst their lilies and crocus: the scent of the bulbs discourages squirrels and voles in fall while the foliage does the same for rabbits in the spring. Good luck, and if you have other tried-and-true tips, please let us know!

We started shipping late this week and, thanks to our hard-working crew, orders have been flying out the door. Woo-hoo! We expect to ship every fall order we’ve already received in the next three weeks and orders that arrive today or later by Halloween. Don’t worry if your weather’s getting cold or there’s an early frost: bulbs can be planted until the ground freezes (mid-November here in southeast Michigan).

Please remember that we reserve bulbs on a first-come first-served basis (starting with orders placed last January) and ship to customers in colder zones first. If we have your email address, we’ll send you a tracking number when yours is on its way.

While we’ve sold out of some varieties, we had bumper crops on others and now are offering 25 varieties of daffodils, tulips and diverse bulbs at 15-20% off. See them all at our Bulbs on Sale page – and then order (or order more) for your best spring ever!