Some bulbs I don't see at stores

10 years ago

I'm not a newbie to bulbs at all but have become very curious why there's only a small percentage of them ever available for sale - I think. I've rarely if ever seen Crinum, Lycoris, Camassia, Bletilla, Chrysothemis, Agapanthus, Zephyranthes, Anemone, and so many others for sale, even after moving farther south (OH to AL.)

It's the same Tulips, Daffs, Dahlias, Caladiums that gardeners usually obtain early in their 'career' and then have nothing more unusual to go to. The selection seems to be actually more limited here than it was in OH where the more traditional spring-flowering bulbs thrive. It's either too hot or cold for most of them, making the standard selection of packaged and potted bulbs even less unlikely for folks to find permanent garden additions, not just one-time'ers. (Not that there's anything wrong with that, just not what I'm into.)

I'm sure some aren't in bags, dormant, because they wouldn't like that, but isn't that why some are sold in pots anyway? It doesn't seem like these are rare, just not for sale at the average store. I'd love to shop at NOT average stores, but there are only a couple small ones within a reasonable distance.

I don't buy any plants online, where I know any of these could be found. I've obtained many of the bulbs I have from trading, so that's an option folks should be aware of, and has proved to offer much more bang for my buck too. Don't need suggestions of how to get them, just curious why I would have to do something more proactive than seeing what's for sale at a store to obtain some of these. It also seems like the neglectful style of selling at most BBS stores would lend itself well to so many bulbs, making their absence even more puzzling.

Is short bloom time a factor for some? Do they just not know folks would buy them? Am I not visiting stores often enough? Not early enough? Too late? Just not seeing them? Do you find other bulbs? If you think these are easy to find in the south, maybe I just need to do something different. Don't think I've ever gone plant shopping with a particular plant in mind, except veggie starts. I'm always there to see if there's anything I want, which is a very sporadic and impulsive thing for me.

I wonder how much of a factor of why they're missing from stores (if they really are) is that many lack well-known common names?

Any thoughts/opinions/anecdotes/facts welcome, in a general sense or about specific bulbs, even if you're not in the southeast US!

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Comments (9)

jerseygirl07603 z6NJ
10 years ago
I think the general public is not knowledgeable about the many bulbs out there so the stores just stick to the well-known ones. Even so, I am always amazed at how few people plant crocus - they are cheap, easy to plant and a joy to behold in early spring. Walking around town, looking at gardens, I am dumbfounded at how few crocus I see.
I found myself searching several stores to get a package of liatris corms at a reasonable price. The nursery was selling small pots of them, already sprouting, for $6. How silly when you can get 20 corms for same price.
I wonder if one spoke to manager of nursery and requested better variety of bulbs???
Donna
10 years ago
I wholeheartedly agree with this. We actually have a VanZyverden Bulb Warehouse in our town that has fabulous sales twice a year. You would think I could find anything. Nope. Never have I seen crinums other than Ellen Bosanquet. (A lovely one, but it only blooms once a year. Not enough to pay its rent when others bloom repeatedly.) Many of my favorite bulbs I would not have lest I had been given them or traded for them: Snowflakes, Atamasco Lilies, Spider Lilies, zephyranthes (these should be in EVERY southern garden in my opinion! Nothing is easier or gives more show for so little care), Byzantine glads, cammassia, etc.Perhaps it has to do with the difficulty in keeping bulbs fresh. I have read that Snowflakes need to be planted immediately after they are dug. (Exactly how I got mine.) Maybe they are too risky for retailing?

I do have to say that I have had great luck with buying bulbs on the internet, both through "catalog companies" like Brent and Beckys or Old House Gardens, AND through E-bay sellers. I can honestly say I have never been disappointed.
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I was wondering that myself. I bought some death cubes a year and a half ago - maybe longer - and it looks like there are buds and stalks forming now. I don't know how old they typically are when you buy them from Lowes. Jenion Additional photos here Here is a link that might be useful: Blooming Pitcher Plants
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That's so awful. Not just is it horrible to drag a kid around Disney watching you buy stuff that they can't have, it is not fair because you are keeping them from the rides! The worst one I've heard re Disney is my entry in the Worst Mother Ever contest. I had a neighbor a few years ago who had had a rough deal; he had gotten hit by a drunk driver and suffered some brain damage. He could never get back into his old profession (due to the damage), had outrageous medical bills, etc. So his wife decided that that was not what she had signed up for, apparently, and left him and the kids. She seemed to have this incredible and bizarre anger towards him, like it was somehow his fault that her life plans had not worked out, and seemed determined to "make him pay", even at the expense of her children. (According to other neighbors at that time, when he was in the hospital after the accident, they didn't think he'd make it. Some attorney got a hold of her or vice versa and she was telling the neighbors how much money she'd get in the lawsuit for having lost her husband. Well, he did make it - but the accident money all went towards the medical bills. Maybe she was angry that he didn't decently die so she could be a wealthy widow.) For example, their custody agreement said that he was responsible for dropping off the kids for the beginning of their visitation (backwards from most people's.) He didn't have a car and I remember driving back from the grocery one scorching hot summer Sunday and seeing he and the young kids waiting at the bus stop. I stopped because I knew the bus didn't run very frequently on Sundays; in order to drop off the kids he had to take a bus into town, wait almost two hours for a transferring bus back out of town to her place, and then do it all in reverse. In total this trip was going to take almost seven hours, nearly half of it with the kids in 90 plus heat. All this was to get to a woman's house who lived five miles away, (on the other side of a shopping district/highway so unwalkable), and who had a car. Needless to say I drove them there, and on the way back asked him why his X couldn't pick the kids up. She had told him that it was his responsibility per the court order and refused to do it, even though her own kids had to go on this several hour bus trip! Anyway, the guy struggled financially the whole time I knew him due to these circumstances. But every year, without fail, the X would go on a two week trip to Disney with her BF and her BF's niece. (Her own kids, of course, had never been.) And every year, without fail, she'd come over to see her kids upon her return and show them all of her pictures! And these were young kids - I just couldn't believe it! What on earth would be going through someone's mind to think that it would be so nice to show your kids how much fun you had, again, in Disney, with someone else's child?!
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edlincoln
10 years ago
Honestly, I think it is because tulips and daffodils lend themselves to long term storage and shipping. A Mediterranean bulb that likes to be dehydrated and sleep through a dry summer takes well to storage. A lot of the rarer bulbs need to be kept moist.

Also, the standards are easy to grow. I'm a newbie gardner who's tried some of the exotic things, and yet I have a much higher success rate with grap hyacinth.

Funny you mention Liatris...Lowes just had a sale on them, and I bought a bunch just becase they were cheap. The fact you put a lot of effort into buying some makes me feel good about my decision. (Why did you seek them out?)

I get my exotic bulbs online (American Meadows and Bluff View Nurseries) and from local Native Plant societies. Got some great Cammasia quamash from American Meadows.
jerseygirl07603 z6NJ
10 years ago
I'm making a new perennial/butterfly bed and needed a vertical accent. I have Liatris elsewhere in garden and love it. It looks pretty paired with yellow flowers. I'm recently retired, have to be more budget-conscious, so I sought out the corms.
Grape Hyacinth is another good one. Multiplies like rabbits for me.
I've be eyeing Cammasia quamash for a while. Just need to find the right spot for it. When/how long does it bloom for you?
edlincoln
10 years ago
jerseygirl07603: No idea how long it blooms, I just planted it last Fall. All I know is I planted 6 bulbs ineptly at wildly wrong times of year (3 of them in a virtual swamp) and all six are coming up right now. Given my inept gardening, I expect a certain casualty rate...anything that consistently survives me has to be tough.

I planted a bunch of Liatris corms without knowing what they were. I planted them in a border in front of a Yew with Grape Hyacinth, Nodding Onion, and Daffodils. Is that a decent location for them? I didn't realize the height...will they be a threat to the Yew?

(I go back and forth between native bulbs and what I can find on sale, but there don't seem to be many native bulbs...)
jerseygirl07603 z6NJ
10 years ago
How big is the yew? I don't think liatris will be a threat. And if you are not happy with the location , you can always move them.
edlincoln
10 years ago
The Yew is huge. Since I have such bad luck planting things in the first place, I pretty much don't move them. Three or four feet tall and twice that "deep".

If I realized how big they were, I'd have planted them BEHIND the Yew...if they could survive the shade long enough to get tall, it would be neat to have them coming up from behind it.

Does the color scheme sound like it would work?

This post was edited by edlincoln on Fri, May 2, 14 at 22:30
jerseygirl07603 z6NJ
10 years ago
I think color of liatris will look nice against the dark yew. Mine are in half sun and grow about 3 1/2 feet tall. I'm not sure yours will get taller than the yews if planted behind them.
edlincoln
9 years ago
jerseygirl07603: FYI, the Cammasia quamash I planted just started blooming.

Some bulbs I don't see at stores

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jerseygirl07603 z6NJ

Donna

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