Thinking Spring

I know, we can barely think of summer being over, with fall hot on it's heels, but this is the time of year we have to think of our spring garden.  I order my bulbs online from http://www.johnscheepers.com/ or http://www.vanengelen.com/ depending upon the quantity.  Scheepers deals in smaller quantities.

A couple of great daffodils that performed above and beyond last year in my garden were Itzim and Rinjveld Early Sensation both early bloomers and long lived.  Remember to think of tulips as annuals but I have had luck with many of the emperor tulips coming back (not quite as large).  If you want a specimen garden, I would order new tulips each year.  I do this with the Monte Carlo tulips because I want to make sure they bloom around my tree in front of the house.

Itzim Daffodil

Rinjveld's Early Sensation

Early Sensation on South Side

Orange Emperor Tulip

Sweetheart and Orange Emperor

Hyacinths many times will not bloom in the tight bud form as when first planted, but will split into several stalks of florets.  So, again if you want specimen plantings, put in new ones.  Muscari comes in many different varieties, one of the best being Blue Spike.  I have several varieties and colors, Valerie Finnis very nice up close, but you want some impact when they are at a distance.

Muscari

City of Harlem and Pink Pearl

City of Harlem Hyacinth and Sagitta Daffodil

Monte Carlo Tulip

I am also going to order some lilies as they were great during this very hot summer.  These companies also sell amaryllis and paperwhites for holiday planting (inside of course).