Did you start planting yet? Have fun! You mentioned that this is your first year buying bulbs, are you all set on how to plant? Since it looks like you have a lot I just wanted to suggest planting the smaller ones as quickly as possible. Dig one hole at sorta the right depth, dump in a good sized handful of bulbs and cover. Don't get caught up too much on if they're pointing up, if they are spaced exactly correctly, if the depth is perfect.... They just need to get in the ground and you need to enjoy doing it! The crocus, tulips, and lilies will be most at risk for voles..... Maybe the camassia. You can either cage them in or plant them in pots, your garage sounds good just be careful when bringing them out, in my experience they will die if refrozen once shoots are sprouting. You could try planting in pots and then putting that pot into the ground. Just keep the rim level or above soil level and keep the pot full of soil so it doesn't hold water. Don't mulch, the voles will hide under the mulch and use the cover to go over into the pots. Lmk if what I wrote makes enough sense. Good luck! .... Voles also eat grape hyacinths but not so much regular hyacinth or Spanish bluebells. Congrats on going bulb crazy, I like the way you think

Jodi, this is a lot of fun! It must be so great to have so much going on in your garden. Part of the reason why I got my hipps was to make up for the fact that I no longer have regular access to a camera, computer, or deluxe cable TV. Josh, thank you for that bit of info. Many of the other bulbs have some roots to show off now. These are from one of the reds. Time for an update. Temptation is blooming right now and I LOVE it! Two scapes, same height, 4 flowers each all at the same time. I tried to self all of the flowers except for one, which I put Lemon Sorbet pollen on. Lemon Sorbet is blooming in a more sequential manor and the blooms don't last as long. I selfed two of those flowers, but I may do something else with the last two now that Gervase is not really Gervase. Maybe some green x green action soon. Too early to tell if seedpods are on the way? That's right, I got my first mislabel. The flower is pretty much the same color as Lemon Sorbet and is bigger. I'll get a better picture of its shape when it is fully bloomed. Even though it's a very beautiful flower, I was really looking forward to Gervase and I'm really bummed. Everything else checks out so far though, and my next set of flowers to bloom will be Royal Velvet, Red Lion, and Benfica. They'll offer great contrast sitting next to the green flowers. The Gervase mislabel. Here are Red Lion, Benfica, what should have been a Gervase, and Royal Velvet. I'm glad the reds are blooming all at the same time so I can compare them all together. Still nothing but leaves from Orange Sovereign. Here is Temptation with Lemon Sorbet. A group shot of Lemon Sorbet, mislabeled Gervase, and Temptation with flash against a white piece of cardboard. Without Flash If I were to start this project over I would do many things differently. 1. Only 5-10% of the Hydroton that I have soaked for 2+ weeks still floats, so I'm assuming that the rest is fully saturated with water. That will improve the wicking ability of the LECA when used in semi-hydro and is less disruptive to the roots while watering. 2. I should have kept the bulbs a third of the way buried (like how I originally had them before I removed the rotting roots). Unless you have very high humidity, not much of the moisture wicks its way to the top in tall pots. You can either increase the humidity, or use shorter pots. For now, I just spray the top layer every 2 days or so. 3. I would have left the rotting roots in the pots. They would have made their way out eventually because of the constant flushing when the plants are watered, plus they help anchor the plants for a while. I also messed up many growing roots that time I did remove the rotting ones. Hydroton doesn't hold the plants very securely at this point in time, not a good thing since I have to move the plants to the sink to be watered. 4. Heat mat. I should hade one to put the plants on the day I planted them. They encourage new roots and increase the wicking through the medium. That really helped Joker and Lemon Sorbet. 5. K-L-N. I should have had that at the start too. I'll be soaking the roots of any future bulbs I get in K-L-N instead of water before I plant them. By the time I got my bottle of K-L-N, the bulbs already had rotting roots. They would have absorbed more of the hormone had I given it to them sooner. In short, I should have been more prepared with the materials and researched more. Thankfully, hipps are forgiving. I'm glad I didn't jump into semi-hydro with orchids. I still have yet to move any of those plants over, but at least I have all the supplies to do so now. Jared

You want blue? here ya go.... Perennials Wolfsbane Aconitum Blue Star Amsonia Aster, several Aster *Astilbe, several Astilbe Belleflower Campanula Aquilegia Columbine Sea Holly Eryngium Gentian Gentiana Johnson's Blue Hardy Geranium Brookside Hardy Geranium Mrs. Kendal Clark Hardy Geranium Bearded Iris, several Iris *Kansas Gayfeather Liatris Flax Linum Blue Lobelia Lobelia Lupines Lupinus Forget-Me-Not Myosotis Russian Sage Perovskia Garden Phlox, several Phlox pan. Woodland Phlox Phlox stol. Emerald Blule Creeping Phlox sub. Balloon Flower Platycodon Jacob's Ladder Polemonium Meadow Sage Salvia Pincushion Flower Scabiosa Blue Eyed Grass Sisyrinchium *Veronica, several Veronica *Violet Viola Bulbs Blue Giant Hyacinths Delft Blue Hyacinths King of the Blues Hyacinths *Giant Allium *Purple Sensation Allium Glory of the Snow Chionodoxa Blue Bird Crocus Spring Beauty Scilla Wood Hyacinth *Grape Hyacinths Muscari Species Iris Iris reticulata Blue Parrot Tulip *The Bishop Tulip *Attila Tulip Annuals Ageratum Ageratum Aster, several varieties Aster Bachelor Button Centaurea *Mexican Heather Cuphea *Globe Amaranth Gomphrena Heliotrope Heliotrope Morning Glory Ipomea Lobelia Lobelia Petunia Petunia Blue Salvia Salvia Pansy Viola Herbs Borage Borage Lavender Lavendula Catmint Nepeta Hostas with Blue Foliage Big Daddy Blue Angel Blue Cadet Blue Giant Blue Moon Blue Umbrellas Bressingham Blue Candy Hearts Dorset Blue Frances Williams Krossa Regal Love Pat Pizzazz seiboldiana elegans tokudama In addition to hosta varieties with blue foliage, Bachman's offers over 30 varieties with lavender or purple blooms. Roses *Angel Face - mauve floribunda *Blueberry Hill - mauve floribunda *Shocking Blue - mauve floribunda *Intrigue - mauve floribunda *Blue Girl - mauve hybrid tea *Heirloom - mauve hybrid tea *Lady X - mauve hybrid tea *Moon Shadow - mauve hybrid tea *Stainless Steel - mauve hybrid tea *Sterling Silver - mauve hybrid tea Miscellaneous Lily of the Nile Agapanthus Butterfly Bush Buddleia Some Varieties of Clematis Nikko Blue Hydrangea Hydrangea Some Varieties of Water Lilies Ornamental Grasses Blue Fescue (blue) Festuca glauca Blue Stem Grass (blue gray) Andropogon Black Flowering Sedge (blue-green) Carex nigra Blue Lyme Grass (blue) Elymus Blue Oat Grass (blue-gray) Helictotrichon Heavy Metal Switchgrass (metalic blue) Panicum =)

Well its me again lol. If nothing else I am determined as I decided to call several Interior Design studios in our city. Spoke to two new designers ( experienced ones out of office) who both told me it was an excellent question but did not know and agreed with me about the usage of these items in rooms. Then I decided to call an interior designer that I have worked with with over 30 years experience. She laughed and also said, " What a great question".She also said she could not give me an answer without some thought.They all said tho that they were going to start paying attention to those accessories in magazines now that I had piqued their curiosity. I do know of one other designer that is older than methusala, and caters to the rich, that may have the answer so I may call him when he is back from holidays. I would like to say tho, that I definitely do not think its because these items from the orient are "cheap" and thats why designers use them. Not when I cam getting my sources from Artchitectural Digest, Veranda, Coastal Homes, BHG etc. These are not low end looks and certainly cover a wide variety of price points and tastes in these magazines.From the links posted and other comments here, I think it may be fair to say that they have perfected their designs because they have been at it for so long that none of the other countries can duplicate the look to copy. Their designs usually are scenes like Toile d Jouy, in that they sometimes tell a story or set a scene. One young designer also had a good point. Sometimes there are some symbolic design or writing which may have some specific meaning. So maybe its enough to know that they can fit into any style of decor, because they are the ones most used by desigers ( for whatever thier reasons lol ).So having said that, I guess its fair to say you can put one of these pieces in many of our decors and they will "just work". Sometimes we just have to accept things for what they are.