Crocosmia, I have also had the same problem as you in that bulbs do better in the center of my beds than along the edges. Mine are all interplanted with perennials and even shrubs. I think that this provides them better drainage. I have learned to live with the occasional (well actually fairly frequent) slicing of the bulbs by my shovel. My daffodils are planted in circles or semi-circles, or behind many of my daylilies, especially those that are seen from some distance. The daylilies do a great job of hiding the dying daffodil foliage. I try to leave some room for growth of the daylilies, but in any case the daylilies seem totally unperturbed by the bulbs, even though I am unlikely to give them the foot of space :~) that at botanical garden might - I garden in a small area & everything is crammed. Some orange daylilies I like are Backdraft (orange with red eye), Egyptian Spice (amber orange blend) Orange Velvet, Orange Vols, & Tuscawilla Tiger. There are lots more available! Most of my daffodils, however, are planted around in my red daylily/shrub bed at the back of my yard. In my small orange daylily bed I used a different method that you might find interesting. I use minor bulbs all in shades of blue. Smaller bulbs like Ipheon, Scilla, Chionodoxa, Iris reticulata & such can go much closer to other plantings and only need to be planted 3-4 inches deep. I actually planted all the bulbs when the bed was first made and the daylilies had not been chosen yet, poked them in with my finger. I then partially buried upside down nursery pots in the bed to mark the daylily spots and let the bed rest until the following spring when my daylilies arrived in the mail. It was a sheet of blue in the spring. Many minor bulbs can also go in shade areas around hostas for example which come up very late. If the shade is from deciduous trees, these bulbs can easily finish their cycle, and get enough nourishment to bloom and spread around, before the trees are leafed out. So look around at all those areas too and plant more bulbs! Don't overlook miniature daffodils they can be tucked in here and there and everywhere and the foliage disappears so much faster than full-size daf foliage. Please see my pictures in the thread Tulips return. Over the tulips in the first picture, I usually plant portulaca as someone in this thread mentioned, or some other low water annual. I am always afraid I'll do something stupid and these perennial tulips (still going strong in 4th spring) won't come back for me. Most tulips are strictly annuals in my garden. I also have the tulip area edged in Blue Fescue Grass, and use the small blue Sedum sieboldiana and blue Myrtle spurge (Euphorbia myrsinites) & other dry plants like Geum coccineum borisii (bright orange which you would really like) which do not thrive in my dense wet clay, except in this raised gravel bed. Blue and orange is one of my favorite combinations! And while there aren't many cold zone early spring bulbs in orange, there are plenty of blue, whites & yellows. Tried a pretty in-between size daffodil this year called Bantam that you might like. It's a very neat & compact bright yellow daffodil with a ruffled orange edge on the cup. There are many others with this color, but the size is more unique. Oh, and there are lots of hardy lilies that come in orange, can't forget them. Anyway have fun! Sorry this is so long, I get carried away when I get enthused about things. LOL

hey don.. slummin in the tree forum .... peeps .. don is a hosta freak ... and a list freak .. and i love him for both .... i will guess .. he wants to make a lists of trees ... that are favorable to garden under ... based on the aggressiveness of the root system ... and he has been to my place a few times .... go figure on that ... lol .. who knows about his choice of friends .... so what he MIGHT be looking for.. is a list of trees with tendencies toward fibrous root systems that interfere with the growth of the plants under ... but not limited to fibrous roots .... IN MY EXPERIENCE .... maple.. especially norway .. and JM [anything with acer as its first name] willow mulberry birch liquidamber [sweetgum] apple [including crab, as they sucker every time you sever a root] and now the coffee has clicked in.. and i am totally blanking.. lol ... more later.. maybe ... when i moved here and tried to get the same answers.. i was told.. by a myriad of hosta growers.. that.. IN GENERAL ... all nut trees are favorable to being deep rooted.. and allowed companion plants .. and ergo .. i went with a lot of oak ... red, scarlet,black, shingle [imbricaria??], white [bicolor?] ... and as far as my hosta peeps have said.. jugulone is not an issue under walnut ... for hosta ... absolutely no experience with live oak though ... and i had a hickory at the old house that seemed to create no problems ... all that said.. growing things under trees.. the root issue is not as important.. as watering.. as gal mentioned ... specific growing conditions ... extremely mature trees .. tend to create deserts under them ... and you need to provide the water the hosta needs ... if the plant gets the water.. then they can co-habitate in a friendly way ... but under some trees.. it is NOT going to be a plant and forget situation ... at least until the intruder achieves some level of 'establishment' ... in other words.. slap a babe in there.. and the tree might win .... as compared to inserting a mature large plant.. which can fend for itself ... or compete with the tree ... given a reasonable amount of supplemental water getting the invader ESTABLISHED ... is imperative .. for it to try to compete on a successful basis ... am i on point don???? does this help the rest of you give don extra trees for the lists ... good luck ken

Thanks Ricky, I don't have the patience or the skill. I've never been good with seeds. I think it goes back to that patience thing. Nice plant though.

it would also help to know.. where you are... soil type.. how far from the house you are planting ... and what oaks you are talking about ... my gut tells me.. that throwing money after trying to outwit ma natures... rarely works ... i like to call it... marketing hype .... more info please ... ===>>> answers this time???? ..; your pnl;y reply is you also cant google ... your recollection ... what exactly.. does your professional have experiences in .... taking money from peeps who think a steel plate will stop a hundred year old oak ... pshaw ..... i will repeat.. nothing will outwit ma nature.. over the decades.. nor centuries .... walk away from this dude.. if he is really attached to this nonsense ... he has a boat payment or college payment due ... the bottom line.. with ANYTHING... 3 estimates... to understand.. who is BSing, whom .... ken