Commercial bulbs mostly come from dry summer areas in the mediterranean and middle east. We receive too much summer rain for most of them. In addition the typical rain pattern in their home areas is for 20 to 30" of rain total whereas we get about 50".

Most of the bulbs capable of taking this much rain are in the amaryllid family and include daffs, of course, Lycoris, Zephyranthes, Leucojum, some cultivars of Crinum, and some cultivars of Hippeastrum aka Dutch amaryllis. In addition many plants in the Allium (onion) family do well here as do many members of the Gladiolus clan including Crocosmia and Ornithogalum. Rodents and dear also tend to avoid all 3 of these families.

Last but not least the Spanish Bluebells tend to naturalize around here as do the true Lilys. Lilys however are often eaten by wild animals especially deer.

Crocus, Tulips, bulb iris and Anemones are more difficult. People can keep them alive a couple of seasons but eventually they rot. Soil preparation is key as is protection from rodents, deer and excessive moisture. Of these I've had best luck with Crocus, planted near driveways and on the edge of beds and covered with Permatill pebbles to protect them from voles. Of the tulips the Darwin types have worked best but rarely do well more than 1 season so I just pull them out and replace them every year. Deer love tulips. The bulb iris often survive 2 or 3 seasons if planted where they stay dry in winter but Dutch Iris in particular is a one season affair. Same with anemones though I've had A. 'de Caen' come back 2 or 3 times.

If you want to just plant and forget the best is daffs hands down. If you are willing to do some work with raised beds and preparing your soil you can have some success with the types above but consider this: bulbs are relative cheap and a 100 dollar display can be so charming it is worth replanting every year.

GG, I have had great naturalizing luck with jonquils(or narcissus or daffodils...I never remember which name is right) and with crocus. I have had lovely tulips the first year and then lovely tulip foliage every year after. I think it is because we never get cold enough for long enough to set good tulip buds. I do amend the soil like crazy with soil conditioner since you only have one good chance to loosen up this clay.

Hoping the only hurricanes you find in NC are at the RBC center,
Meredith

I have had crocuses naturalized in my yard for about 7 years. They come up and bloom before the grass needs to be mowed and the foliage blends in with the grass foliage. Maybe the grass helps keep the moisture down so they don't rot. I had never heard that crocuses had a problem with that. These are the small common crocuses. I've also had good luck with daffodils (of course) and Spanish bluebells. Usually I just get the nice tulip foliage after the first year but no flowers, but for some reason this year I got beautiful tulips on some bulbs that were planted before I moved in. That was a raised bed so probably had good drainage. Good luck! -Ais.

The yard of the house is on a hill, so I think the drainage will be good.

Any species specific recommendations? I like the medium to small jonquils (not the HUGE daffs) and anything crocus. I may just have to plant tulips annually (like I did in Houston).

In my sandy and shady yard I have had so-so luck with naturalizing great drifts of bulbs. Two surprises have been the tiny 'Wind Flower' anemones with work really well with crocus and species daff's, and Star Flower or Ipheion (not sure on that spelling). So these two can add some blue to the scene.

The tiny little species daff that looks like a yellow bell shaped skirt with tiny petal arms sets a lot of blooms off one bulb and is pretty reliable if planted in gravel-ey soil.

Most of everything else comes back for a few springs but rarely blooms well - and that includes even Muscari which others get to naturalize easily.

You can find bulbs for cheap at the big box stores after the weather has turned cold. They will be picked over so you won't be able to find a perfect blend but they will be very cheap. Just remember that for every bulb you buy somebodies got to dig a hole in the ground.

Am I crazy or are there a couple of species of tulips that are native to our area? No, couldn't be. This is not Holland. It must be just a woodland type that is perennial. I know I read an article about them and saw their pictures, but never could find the bulbs anywhere. They were small, very wildflower-like and charming, not the chunky, heavy-duty dutch variety I plant every year and lose the following.

Jonqs and daffs are a great investment. They naturalize and also don't have a fast blow time. My neighbor has a drift of whites and pale yellow growing on a craggy, clayey area.

I have seen the type you are talking about, Claire. The resevoir in Southern Pines has them as well as another park, also in Southern Pines. They are quite lovely.

It seems to me that I ran across them being sold somewhere but can't remember where.

Adele

Another thing you might want to consider is different varieties of jonq's, daff's or narcissus to lenthen the bloom time. I tried to find a discussion on it that was in Garden web a while back but didn't succeed. Basically they were saying that some varieties bloom right after Christmas, and by choosing carefully, you can have daff's (or the other ones) blooming all the way through spring. Sorry I can't be more specific, but it's something to look into.
K.

How could I forget muscaris! Yes, they do ok in my yard though they multiply very slowly, they do tend to stay for at least 3 years before disappering. Deer often eat the tops but they seem to come back anyway.

As for hyacinths, I've had 2 clumps last 3 years but generally they last 1 or 2 years before petering out. Deer don't bother them.

The Dutch growers grow bulbs in polders with carefully controlled irrigation and soil prep. They also cut the flowers off to fatten them up for market. Normal sized tulips for example are about 1/2 the size of what you get the first year you plant because what has been sold to you is a premium product, artificially pumped up to perform and all the runts have been selected out before export.

BTW, almost no bulbs are "from" Holland in native terms.The Dutch just have the right sandy soil, weather and the ability to control water very precisely in their fields so they can grow them very well.

Tulips in particular originate in central Asia, from places like upper Turkey, Iran and Kyrghistan. As Lily family members they are edible and tasty to animals. They were first domesticated by Turks and Persians. Westerners got them from the Turks many centuries ago and a famous botanist, Clusius, was responsible for popularizing them in Holland. The rest as they say is history. An interesting article on tulips can be found below.

All daffodils are in the genus Narcissus, and are members of the Amaryllid family which means they are toxic to animals. That's why critters leave them alone. Jonquills are just a type (division) of normally scented Narcissus based on a series of species hybrids. The name daffodil is just a common name or moniker for these plants in general. They originate in the Iberian peninsula and northern Africa. If you want to know more about these wonderful plants go to http://daffodilusa.org/

RJ

Here is a link that might be useful: Article

I recommend getting bulbs from Brent and Becky's Bulbs. They're reasonably priced, have a good variety, and the business owners are very knowledgeable.

There are many daffodils that do well here, but here's a few specific ones: Lent lily (Narcissus pseudonarcissus), Avalanche (tazetta hybrid), Trevinthian and Sweetness (jonquil hybrids), Campernelles (jonquil x pseudonarcissus hybrid,Thalia (N. triandrus albus), Beersheba, Carlton (class II daff), and February Gold (cyclamineus).

The species tulips Tulipa sylvestris and clusiana do well here, with some grit and lime mixed in the soil. Crocus tomasinianus ("tommies") will multiply like crazy if happy. Roman hyacinths (H. orientalis) will increase as well.

I love the species tulips. They're tuff little plants too.

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Here is a link that might be useful: A few more tulip pics and others here from last spring

Have any of you ever tried to grow Ranunculus here? Boy do I miss them. Also- my glads love it here without having to dig them up just as a side note.

-Nan

I grew ranunculus one year. They were beautiful the first year, but I left them in the ground and I think one made it another year. Basically I guess you need to lift them because they all disappeared. -Ais.

Thanks Ais- that at least gives me some hope. I rarely see them for sale in any stores, but did find some online. One of the sites mentioned planting them here in early Spring, rather than Fall, due to our colder temps. Maybe I'll give them a whirl this year. They're a cheap thrill.
-Nan

Where are you shopping? In the early spring they are everywhere in the Raleigh area. All the big box stores have pots of them as do most of the garden centers. Now to grow them from roots (they don't look like corms or bulbs to ME) you have to buy them now and soak and plant them and nuture them all winter. The best place to find them is downtown Raleigh at Logans Trading Co. (strange name, but its a garden center). They have some salmon ones that I will be picking up.

Incidently, the commercial flower growing freinds of mine say that the voles eat every one they plant so they have to grow them in pots up off the ground in order to get any blooms. Something to keep in mind. These same friends went to Italy last year and visited greenhouses that specialize in Anemone and Ranunculus. They grew these special hybrids that were HUGE - flowers the size of large grapefruits. Gor-jee-usss!!

John- the only big box store I have within a stone's throw is Lowes- have you seen them there yet? I haven't been inside the store in weeks because I can't stop my little bargain hunting binges in the outside nursery area. LOL My local "boutique" nurseries aren't selling any bulbs at all. :sigh: Maybe we should hunt down this Italian bulb grower online? Devo comprare alcune lampadine del fiore.
-Nan

try species tulips- there's greggiis, which are great for their foliage alone, the little ones that look like crocus- those multiply really well(can't recall the species name), & turkis something has done well for me, too. crocus have always done well for me- there again, i tend to like the smaller species. chiondoxia, pushkinia & squill have done well for me too. de caen anemones come back for me for a few yrs in a row- but man, what bang for the buck! i happily replant some each yr- they make the best cut flowers. soak them before you plant them & they'll do better. ixias do well. the fragrant glads come back each yr, and in fact, regular glads will, too, for the most part. had no problems with daffodils whatsoever. i especially like the little ones. jetfire multiplies really well here. for fall bloom, consider fall blooming crocus and lycoris species. alliums do really well. one thing i've never had much luck with is fritillarias, much to my chagrin. never tried the crown ones, but the meleagris & tall plum ones never did well for me. i've tucked so many bulbs into the beds by my house through the yrs it's a jungle come about jan/feb. i see that bare soil in the fall and forget how many ae already asleep in there!

i have seen ranunculus at lowe's & h/d- but i haven't been by this yr. their bulb selecton gets better each yr. i picked up some really unusual ones there last yr.

if you can't find them locally you could always do mail order with one of the good companies- there's lots out there. with ranunculas being in pots, you could probably get going on them a little later than other things.

fyi, most winter bulbs need to be planted @ thanksgiving around here. you have to wait til the soil cools down. buy them now to get what you want(or wait til they're picked over & cheap) and store them in the fridge w/o fruit. i've planted as late as january with clearance bulbs and had some bloom. lowe's usually sells big bags of like 100 mixed daffs for a low price, which when it's on sale is a great deal. lotsa color for little moolah & a pretty good staggered bloom. they are the big kinds, though.

Rootdigger, thanks for that picture. Those species tulips are charming..especially with your johnny-jump-ups. I'm going to look for them in the mail order houses.

Thanks Puppyscruff, When that one opens during the day it's yellow with just a hint of pink aound the base. They bloomed for a long time.

Sorry about the size of the pic everyone. Not sure how to fix that.

Nancy - Lowe's will have the blooming plants in the spring. They sometimes have the bulbs mid winter in their freaky weird bulb display (Callas, Anemone, Arum etc.). I bought some Eremerus last winter for $1 per 3 pak of roots. These were left overs from the fall bulb rush that had been picked over and heavily discounted. I planted them and they bloomed beautifully for me this spring. They may not come back but at 33 cents per bulb I am not complaining. I will look for them again.

Great advice, everyone! I'm sold on trying some of the species tulips. Suggestions for stores? Has anyone ever tried (gasp) eBay? One seller "rarebulbs" seems to have a lot of species tulips...

Just make sure ebay isn't more than the retailers. ebay is safe enough -- I've bought lots of plastic pots through ebay, no plants though. I don't know about other bulbs, but iris tend to be more expensive on ebay than just buying from a big vendor. I would compare the prices on ebay to Brent and Becky's Bulbs, which have very reasonable prices.

I found mine at New Garden Nursery in G'bro and the Farmer's Market in Asheville. Selections were pretty skimpy but they're getting more popular. You can also order them from Terra Ceia Farms. They're a nursery in NC.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.terraceiafarms.com/

Any bulb that says species after it will naturalize. Happy planting.
For instance here is a farm in the eastern part of NC.
Linda Comedycook :O)

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.terraceiafarms.com/

There are lots of daffodils that are dependable multipliers. My favorite is 'Tete-a-Tete', a cute mini that I have grown since my original order of 6 in 1995 from McClure & Zimmerman. (That company is not the least expensive but they sell some of the species bulbs that you can't find anywhere else.)

You can find lots of dried up mini daffodils for sale in the stores mid-February since they are forced to bloom "in anticipation of Spring" and there are always leftovers since the cycle is so short. They will sleep the next spring but the following may burst with color again - and cheap? I bought some for 25 cents a pot and the pot cost more than that.

Ipheion (Spring Star Flower) are by far the most fun little bulbs (deer eat the flowers though). They multiply like rabbits but because the bulbs are so tiny, I can dig in plants all through them and they still reappear each spring. The most lovely sky-blue surprises! Chionodoxa (Glory of the Snow) keeps coming back and multiplies slowly.

Puschkinia and Crocus croak for me. I've given up. Muscari lives two or three seasons then disappears. Anemone and Ranunculus are ridiculus to waste money on, they don't even last through first bloom. Tulips are for one season, potted and protected, then thrown out (or fed to the deer). Hyacinths survive three seasons as they get smaller and smaller (but still as fragrant) and never multiply.

Grape hyacinths and scilla do well here. Triteleia (Queen Fabiola) are dependable bloomers and multiply slowly, much to my dismay - they are one of my favorites.

I'm trying some Spanish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica) this year since I have a partially shaded area that is boring in the spring. Has anyone grown these here?

Nanedar, Your Spanish bluebells will multipy like crazy! They're one of the very easiest and rewarding bulbs to grow here.

I envy you that your Tete a tete have multiplied. I've had mine almost ten years and they come back, but they haven't spread. I transplanted some to better soon, maybe they will spread now.