I planted just over 400 in the garden this year. Just recovered from surgery and had to take it easy, did 300 over two days last week, then the last 120 (crocuses in the lawn) today. For some I would use Denninmi's approach, digging out an area, laying out each bulb (I'm picky about placing them right side up), then covering with soil. Planted 100 allium ostrowskianums in long, narrrow trenches, and several other varieties of alliums by digging individual holes, same with anemonies. I tried pretty much everything for the lawn crocuses, finally broke down and pulled out an old dandilion weeder - it was amazing for zapping perfect sized holes into the grass. I've yet to find a way to avoide aching knees, strained butt muscles, back pain and sore palms. That's what cold October gardening is all about, and it's all worth it come January-July. Tomorrow I do the easy part - bulbs in my patio containers. Just under 100, but way easier than today's 3 hour crawl on a wet, cold lawn! :)

I freeze mine too. I also made a pepper and garlic paste. There's a thai hot sauce that has peppers and garlic so I thought I would try my own without the preservatives. I used regular vegetable oil and finely chopped peppers and garlic. It keeps for about 3 months in the fridge. The garlic makes it hotter, IMO.

jaymielo- I don't know if I did things 'backwards' by most standards, but it worked for me! I picked out my tile before anything else in the bathrooms. I did a lot of magazine clipping for inspiration. I found my cache of clippings the other day and was surprised to see how closely I ended up following their general themes after all. Although I didn't have specific colors picked out for each bathroom, I did have a general FEEL of what I wanted. For instance, in my boys bath, I knew the design needed to be more masculine, what an adult would feel comfortable with (since they won't be little for long!), and also something that would work if a girl ever entered the family picture and used one of the bedrooms sharing that bath. Honestly, I didn't even think about the countertop at this point, since I knew that it would be easier to pick that out after figuring out the tile. We ended up doing the copper slate bath up there: For our master bath, I had found a pic of one that had a creamy yellow with darker wood in it. Then we went on a trip to Santa Fe and stayed in a B&B that had the most awesome travertine shower in it. DH and I knew immediately that we wanted to find a similar tile for our master bath. We also had known for a few years that we wanted to do a pebble floor in there. Adding all those ideas together, we came up with this: I guess my best suggestions would be to 1)Get your magazine/photo clips out and decide what it is you like about them in particular. 2)Decide of the main function of a particular bath--kids, light or heavy traffic, guests, etc. 3)If you want individuality, do each bath one at a time so that you don't overwhelm yourself. Keep in mind that even though they will all be different, if they fit the general color schemes of your house, there will still be a 'flow' throughout. 4)If you want even more cohesiveness, pick a general tile and mix the accent pieces/countertops to individualize each bath. 5) Remember that you can always change the paint color, but it's MUCH harder and more costly to change tile! I'm sure whatever you do will turn out great. It's just the process that can sometimes be overwhelming!

Duane, obviously I am not that fast but it would have been a good idea. Terri -0 that's EXACTLy what they look like cut open BUT I will be most surprised if dh paid THAT for them. he's a cheapskate. They MUST have been on special. Jessica, I have two of each and the girls were not that impressed by the color.