Bulbs, bulbs, bulbs!

Oh how time flies...

Our last bulb shipment finally came in for the park and what do I see?

Snow - whatelse?

Last year we installed a mere 65000 bulbs in the park over a period of two months. If you take into account that I have one co-gardener that is 16250 bulbs each per month.

This is why I'm in shape.

This year we decided that although the display looked amazing last year, there was no good place to put another 65000 annual and perennial bulbs. We knocked it down significantly.. and somehow still ended up ordering 55000 bulbs.

November is going to be stressful.

At least all of our crocus has been taken care of. We tried everything from hot sauce, to deer off, to dried blood. Surprisingly the dried blood almost worked. Most of the squirrels would sniff around and jump back as soon as they sensed the blood. While others... well I guess nothing bothers some squirrels. The biggest problem with this is that dried blood is water soluble and the weather in the northeast here has been wet (or snowy) to say the least. Reapplying it as often as necessary just isn't practical for the amount of area we have. We do cover plantings with netting as well. Netting has worked well for things like tulips and anything else that is fairly large or deeply planted. But with Crocus, the corms are just too small and the depth too shallow, its too easy for the damned rodents to get their little paws through.

In some regards bulbs are the nail in the coffin at the end of the season. An entire summer of planting, pruning and dragging hoses all over the place is nothing compared to putting in a large bulb display. It may seem like the season is over and you don't have to put as much effort into the garden as everything goes into dormancy, but there is nothing worse than fighting the arrival of winter as you try to get all of those bulbs in the ground. There is something to be said about planting something two seasons before it will sprout. There seems to be some sort of shared anxiety throughout the winter as you wonder if those damned tulips are ever going to bloom. They will, they do every time. But the difference is made in not being able to see the bulbs establish themselves until spring.

Sigh.

I complain, but all the hard work will pay off in the spring.