pm2, and only a 1/4 has 6hrs or more of sun. You do know that daffs tolerate being planted in the shade of deciduous trees, since they don't have their leaves on (much anyway) during the actual daff season, don't you? A lot of mine are planted in the deciduous front yard woods and have bloomed and thrived for years. I ordered from David Burdock at Daffodils or More in Massachusetts last fall. They were more expensive then I am used to.... I 'think' a lot of the more expensive places that sell by the bulb like that, are maybe just selling bulbs that produce show quality blooms (they have more substance) than the less expensive bulbs that are more garden variety bulbs. I heard good things about Mitsch's catalog and want to order from them this year. Have you been ordering this way before this year? Wondering what are your favorite varieties? Mitsch's bulbs are very nice. I'm thinking that most, if not all were bull-nosed bulbs, ie a big bulb with a smaller bulb or two still attached that will split into 2 or 3 bulbs soon and that may very well send up 2 or 3 bloom stalks from the bulb. Have you been ordering this way before this year? It was in 2009 that I first noticed my buying had really started getting out of control. The IN Daff Soc sells bulbs dug from numerous places, some named, some NO ID (lost name) and some that the name is questionable and that needs verified for accuracy once it blooms. I bought all of the named ones that I could get my hands on at the bulb sales and via the sales members. That accounted for 'about' 100 new cultivars planted last fall. I also bought from 3 other sources and then also traded for even more cultivars. Wondering what are your favorite varieties? That's a real tough question. I like all varieties, and collect them in all different color combinations and from different countries, since I grow to not just enjoy, but to enter in Daff show competitions. A few though that are dear to my heart are Fragrant Rose. They smell just like roses. Misty Glen. All the blooms were 'near' perfect, and lasted a long time in the garden. The pic at the link doesn't really do them justice. Tripartite (below). It is a late bloomer, is very prolific (a good multiplier) and I just love the split cup which is quite unique. Some new ones that bloomed for me this spring, that spring to mind that I particularly liked are Precocious Modern Art and Las Vegas which had huge blooms. I have developed a special fondness too for many of Division 11a...ie split cupped daffodils. They are so 'showy' in the garden. I think we have had above normal rain here this spring, so between being so busy with spring 'chores' and the rain often ruining the one bloom on so many new varieties, I didn't really get to see and individually enjoy all of the new ones. I'm hoping that next spring I will have some mulch down so fewer blooms are ruined due to being spattered with mud. paddlehikeva, An addict? Not me, I can stop anytime I want, or at least cut back, I swear. From what I have deduced, I think you are out of control. There are a couple of vendors listed on the ADS site which you did not mention. hmmm....if I buy all that I would like to buy, I'd have to give something up, like buying groceries and eating. I will try to get my total 'have' list together for you before it is bulb purchasing time with the local merchants. vetivert8 if you still have ground to plant in - there's a smidge of hope for your recovery. But, I have 40 acres! I have entertained thoughts of maybe having a daff farm and growing daff bulbs for selling and forget about leasing the small 22 acre field of cropland. Kato, Sue, remember last fall I was sick of planting bulbs and almost tossed a couple tulips? You talked me out of it and they are looking nice now. Thanks for the intervention! Surely those tulip pics are not of tulips grown from the small bulbs you were going to compost, are they? Love the pic of Chaste. I haven't seen mine bloom yet. It might get dug later, and moved to a different location. Wally, He also was able to sell one of his special bulbs for $50 Do you know about when that was? I wonder what the $50 bulb was. I'd love to know more about this daff farmer. Hi neighbor kterlep, Where are you located? I'm about 30 miles N of Louisville up I 65. I'm thinkin' a hundred or more garden variety daffs would start me off good, know a good place in Indy to get some? :) No place in particular, other than just the mixes sold in the big box stores in the fall, ie Costco, Lowe's, Home Depot, Walmart, etc. I think a lot of folks start out with mixes, and then end up wanting to try and find out the names for all the different bloom in the mix, which is nearly impossible to do. Brent and Becky's Bulbs, and BuggyCrazy (see my original post for links) are 2 vendors I have bought from in the past, that sell named cultivars for the garden, and for showing, at reasonable prices. Possibly other members will post other places that might be good sources for garden variety bulbs. Sue...who now has had too much coffee.

Thank you for the help, Lilium Guy. They're all in the ground now, and we'll see what happens. :) I wasn't sure that I could expect growth next year, since they already used some energy making the sprouts this year. You don't expect the sprouts in the picture to grow foliage, do you? Hmm... that would let them get some cholorophyll going.

Well, I know they got well chilled in that cool dark room over the course of winter. About mid-March I potted them all up using 8 and 10 inch pots. Packed in the tulips well, I think 6-8 per 8 inch pot, 10-12 per 10 inch pot. Only filled the pots halfway with potting soil, then set in the bulbs and barely covered them with soil. My solarium in general is warmer than the outdoors- it's pretty much a large three seasons porch. I put the pots onto the potting bench I have stretching across the south face of the room, and when they started showing serious leaning, I moved the pots under the skylight. By the time the first weekend in May hit, the earliest of the tulips was just getting past peak, and the latest of them was just starting to come into bloom. You can dry out your bulbs in a single layer- like spread out on the kitchen table or something like that. After they are dry, you can store them in a mesh bag in a cool dark place.

I notice nobody has responded. There are certainly many many more people out there with greater experience, but I'll tell you what little I have. I'm new to large gardening, but we had windowboxes for a few years at a former house. My husband made them, as well. They were painted on the outside, can't remember if they were painted on the inside. We didn't use liners. The boxes were too small so liners wouldn't fit and it was always a challenge to keep things watered in the Georgia heat. Now we inherited wooden window boxes (commercially made) in our current house up here and they have the standard liner. I will say that the liners do seem to protect the wood from water damage. Without the liners the wet soil holds the water against the wood and accelerates rotting. How visible the liners are once plants get going depends on the color contrast between planter and liner and how many plants drape over. If your husband has some time, maybe it would be possible for him to add some type of trim around the top that would be the right height to hide the liners. Our current boxes are deep eggplant purple and the forest green liner just fades away and is hardly noticeable. If height isn't problem and the windowboxes are higher than the liners but you can see them up close because you're standing above them, then I have no suggestions there! Maybe try to paint the top rim of the liner the same color as the window box? As for shallowness and dirt, most liners have that water bin underneath to hold water. Between that and the fact that plastic isn't as porous as wood, I wouldn't be surprised if liners actually held moisture better, even thought they leave less room for good potting soil. Last year I put soil retention beads in our windowboxes as two are extremely difficult to water. Hopefully that helped keep them from drying out quickly. They certainly didn't get watered every day! As for ease, it certainly is easier to cart the liner around when it's time to remove dirt and change plants--that's for sure!