Wal Mart bulbs - a little dissapointment

15 years ago

OK Kristi...it's WalMart, not Royal Colors!! (I repeated this over and over....!)

I ventured to the WalMart near me and they had just gotten in their bulb "kits". Very limited selection, Grand Cru, Romance, Flamingo ____ ???, and Pink Diamond. Peeked into the pots and most bulbs were pretty small. A few were already sending up leaves....I felt sorry for them!! I gave in and bought a Grand Cru that has no fewer than 11 bulblets either out or just under the outer layer. Sort of like taking a pregnant dog out from the pound. I really didn't "want" this particular bulb, but thought that I could give it a good home and if it's OK and has all these little ones, then I'll have some to share with others on the list.

Were the WalMart bulbs previously mentioned in bags or "kits"?? $10 wasn't a bargain price, but good enough to entice me. I was hoping to see White Dazzler, etc!

:-)

Kristi

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

jumpin4joy
15 years ago
I got Pink Diamond because I am new to Amarm and really want some. I thought that 10.00 was definatly overpriced. Maybe not. I know I cant afford anymore.
ryan820
15 years ago
Kristi--

I'm sorry you had a not-so-great experience with their bulbs. And you're right...its just Walmart! With that said, I have three bulbs from them-- two minerva and one apple blossom. The apple blossom was intentional and one minerva was intentional-- the other one was suppose to be red lion.

They are very strong bulbs for me-- and from the start, too. Apple blossom gives me blooms that are just under the size of dinner plates-- simply amazing.

Hang in there...your cooler bulbs will arrive soon ;o)
Related Discussions
Roses at WalMart
Q
Comments (40)
I occasionally pick up body bags in late winter when I'm starving for roses. Plus a lot of worthy old varieties are body bagged & not available anywhere else (esp. now, sigh). Some have been mis-marked (especially, in my experience, from Wal-Mart--won't buy pre-bloom from them anymore). Some die. But quite a few have done fine, even very well. Love, Peach Belle, Iceberg, Tropicana from Lowe's--excellent. Blue Girl, Chrysler Imperial, Duchesse de Brabant, Spice, Souvenir del la Malmaison, Rosette Delizy, et. al. from HEB--doing great. I picked up a New Dawn, cl. Pinkie, Sombreuil several others this spring as body bags or chopped-roots peat pots. They're looking swell, too. Have a Pink Peace, First Prize, Paul Neyron & Tiffany in 5-gallon pots from this year. A mis-marked Maria Callas bloomed pale pink--oh well. But an older body bag now in the ground (was suppossed to be Granada) threw beautiful fragrant white flowers with a pink edge this spring. I had just ignored the poor cruddy looking thing for the past couple of years--this year it was gorgeous. Ironically, I think body bagged roses can work fine for folks that understand what they are & are willing to baby them & accept their risks. Unfortunately, the uncertainty of them can disappoint a person newly interested in roses & frustrate them out of planting roses again. Re. Lowe's--my favorite place to pick up cheap perennials. I prowl their death racks on a regular basis. They've provided my yard with tons of 25 cent dianthus, lavenders, society garlic in gallons for a buck, you name it. They've got all the spring blooming lilies on the racks now & in a couple of weeks the orchids will be there. Such a dang waste, but I enjoy rescuing fine plants for pennies & restoring them to health. And cheers to Dr Huey! And Ragged Robin! I enjoyed reading about their history & do appreciate them as good roses in the right place & climate. Ragged Robin is a fine repeater for me. This post was edited by bluegirl on Thu, May 16, 13 at 16:52
...See More
Wal-mart Elephant Ear
Q
Comments (9)
Lee, If you want to see esculenta in zone 5 go to webshots.com and look for 'cheerpeople' photo album titled 'purple and orange garden'. There is a huge one there with my son in the pic. It is in full sun. There are also pics of odora with the months labelled. They do their best in the fall when they'd had 30 days above 86 degrees. Do you realized we have only 30-40 days above 86 here? No wonder this tropical need to be in full sun here!! Don't expect the plants to get as huge as down south when they winter outside. Think of it like a first year perennnial- it just doesn't get that big the first year- and every year in this zone is like a first year! Esculenta was it's biggest its' FIRST summer- in subeiquent years it made more and more babies and was finally was too small to survive winter storage. Due to fussiniess with winter storage, or small leaves-- I have tried and given up on all colocasia. this includes'purple stem', 'illustris', 'black magic', and 'esculenta', I also given up on 'macrorhiza', and an bad version of 'hilo beauty' which never got big leaves here. The only ones I grow now are ALOCASIA 'odora' and 'portodora' (and if I hadn't paid so much for portodora I probably would have gotten rid of it by now) I don't know on the staple- never been a problem I guess. One little tip on propagating- don't seperate the babies to trade or gifts- until they are 30% the size of the parent plant. Two inch tall ones- just don't make it on their own. Emial me directly if you have more ?'s as I won't check back \good luck, Karen
...See More
Wal-Mart bargains
Q
Comments (4)
I raided the Home Depot leftovers on Sunday and they were marked down to $2.99. I bought 3 Piquant bulbs, 2 Red Lion and 1 Apple Blossom. I noticed the same thing - I hydrated mine in wine glass and put them on a windowsill; they are starting to show some color and they did firm up. Will let them drink for 48 hours; I'll plant mine tomorrow. Thanks for the Walmart tip. MikeP
...See More
Wal-mart Venus Fly Trap
Q
Comments (41)
The advice of not letting your VFT flower is always suggested because most people are not experienced or are new in growing CP, so these people barely have their VFT thriving. Flowering takes a lot of energy and if your plant is week, it can die. But if you have your plant growing very vigorously, theres no problem. I always let them flower, never had problems. When I was a beginner, of course I lost my pants until I was told to cut them off. Now I have no worries letting them flower. I had one VFT grow a flower stalk this late of the year but once I started to induce dormancy, the stalk aborted and died. That VFT is now dormant. To induce dormancy, just place it in a cool part of your house and give it less light. Now, most summer leaves will die and stop functioning, also your VFT will start to produce some smaller traps with sluggish movement if you trigger them. Those are winter leaves. Once the plant is dormant, cut down on the amount of water, just keeps its media moist to keep the bulb from drying out. I keep my dormant bulbs in a pot and simply place it in the coolest room next to a window. They will receive some sunlight but its not enough photoperiod to break their winter dormancy. I always let my VFT grow on the same media for 2 years before transplanting them on a fresh media. Or you can dig out your bulbs after it has become dormant, cut the old leaves to avoid rot, wrap it with moist LFS moss to keep the bulbs from drying out, place it in a Ziploc bag, and then put it in the fridge (not the icebox!). Always check now and then to make sure you keep the LFS moss moist but not wet and you can check on the condition of your bulb. The bulb should be white and crispy. Come spring you can plant them on fresh media to begin its new growth season. Good luck!
...See More
jodik_gw
15 years ago
Speaking of bulbs... I got my ordered bulb in the mail today... it's a Mrs. Garfield! It's sort of small, but then, species types tend to be smaller than the Christmas hybrids. I'm pleased! I didn't want to tell what it was earlier, just in case I couldn't get it... but I got it! Now, to plant it!

And... Larry took me to the garden center today... the selection of bulbs was very similar to last year... I bought a Lemon Star and a Papilio.

I am now finished purchasing... unless something pops up that I just have to have! LOL! However, I'm not going to buy any more common varieties. The only common ones I'll get, will be three new ones for my daughter and my daughter-in-laws, for Christmas.

I'm very happy, though... I got the Mrs. Garfield that I really wanted, and I have Evergreen ordered and paid for. Anything else is a bonus!

And, how is everyone else doing on their collecting?
Noni Morrison
15 years ago
I am getting pretty impatient for my orders to arrive. We will be one of the last zones to receive them because winter does not start here until way after the east coast and mid west. LAst year when I got home from Europe (30 Oct) they had been here for several weeks but usually it is the 2nd week in Nov before they come. I have orders from Royal Colors and Van Engelen and replacement bulbs coming from McClure and Zimmerman. I keep reminding myself that there is no space for more new ones but I still want every one I see that I do not have!
mariava7
15 years ago
Every year, I ALWAYS post this reminder:

There is nothing wrong with buying cheap bulbs. Just keep them away from your collection till you are sure that they are clean, pest and most specially virus free. The virus detection is the hardest. Most "pampered" hippies will not even show signs of it. Put them under stress and you will be very surprised and probably scared. Rot is always visible most of the time. Mites can hide deep inside the bulb. Virus is unseen by the naked eye. So a very healthy looking bulb with lots of fresh white roots and bulblets still has a 50-50 chance of being sick.

I also bought some hippies from Walmart last season, clearance priced for $2 something. The Royal Velvets were good. The Appleblossoms were trashed...virused!!!

Veronica Read strongly advices readers to "Only purchase bulbs from a reputable supplier". For me, that should be the #1 rule for bulb purchases if possible. Unfortunately, in our quest to acquire varieties that are not offered by the known bulb companies, we had to get our bulb from other sources. It is a risk that we all have to take. Taking pre-cautionary actions can save you a lot of grief besides the $$$.

On a happier note...I received 2 boxfull of Hippes today. One from Park Seed and one from Wayside. Some bulbs are good, some are bad. I'd hate to say that I expected this because we as paying customers do not deserve bad bulbs. Apparently though, it has become a trend. Are we supposed to get used to receiving bad bulbs? I hope not...

Now it's time to call customer service ...AGAIN! I hate complaining and doing this every year. I'm pretty sure they are expecting our calls too.

Anybody received their Sonatinis from Rarebulbs yet? I am getting weary over my purchases from them. Some of the sonatinis that I have received from other comapnies are starting to put out scapes and need to be planted ASAP. I surely don't want to receive bloomed out bulbs at this time of the season.

We will be seeing Lemon Sorbets and Little Devils soon...

Wal Mart bulbs - a little dissapointment

Comments (5)

jumpin4joy

ryan820

Related Discussions

jodik_gw

Noni Morrison

mariava7

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US