I plan on stopping at Costco tonight haha....so I am sure I will end up bringing home more....I will have to look and see if or what kind of echinacea they have.

I have bought several of the plant you listed over the years.....and after trying to keep asiatic lilies in the fridge one year and they sprouted and curled around and were a mess.....I have always potted up the plants in one gallon pots, Usually the day I buy them or within the next couple of days. The lilies usually bloom before its time to plant out.....but if you realize that they will bloom nicely in your garden next year then that shouldn't matter to much. Plant up the lily bulbs ASAP.

You can try keeping the roots (hostas, peonies, echinacea, and heuchera) in the fridge but keep a close eye on them. If they start to get mouldy or start to grow, plant them up right away. The glads dahlias, peruvian daffodils should all be fine...but again keep a close eye on them.

Good Luck and do keep us posted on your speciosa lilies.....that makes 3 of us that are trying them now. Keeping my fingers crossed that they will survive our winters here.

Sierra

Sierra,
The echinacea that I bought was 'vintage wine'. Thanks for the info, and I'll keep you posted on the lilies!

greenbanana ...You are very welcome.

Well I didn't see and 'vintage wine' echinacea...here there was only white. :-(

Here is what I bought

Heuchera 'velvet night'
Elephants ears
Peruvian Daffodil
Canna striped beauty
glads.. mon Amoar and Break of Dawn in same bag
Freesias singles

Then at walmart bought caladiums.

Sierra

That 'Velvet Night' heuchera looks really beautiful, Sierra. Very rich colour. I definitely have to go and see if it is available at my Costco. Also, like the Peruvian daffodil but I don't know if I want anything else that I have to dig and store. Can't decide, but I think I'd better have a firm resolve one way or the other, before I go. Otherwise, I'll be coming home with much more than I planned, as per usual.

Shauna

Wow HD has a giant bag of 70 no-name glad bulbs for $8! And they have a whole bunch of different varieties of elephant ears... no bargain basement taro root here though, they are almost $4 for three.

Should I give glads another try.... shouldn't I... Sierra you're going to make me buy them aren't you!

Shauna, some tough decisions huh!?! They had several kinds of heuchera....making my decision difficult...but I decided on this one because it had the darkest leaves. I thought it was the prettiest.

Gil...of course you should try them again. I start glads inside or they don't have time to flower here. The bag I got had 60..30 of each variety. Where am I going to put 60 glads...hahahaha Oh and these I won't over winter either...I just pull out in the fall and toss in the compost.

Sierra

Gil, if the taro roots are 3/$4, that is a bargain. Costco's were $11.89 for 3.

If anyone spots some good deals on oriental lilies, let me know. Actually, I'll start another thread.

Shauna

Just as you posted that Shauna I realized I was wrong - they are Caladium, not Colocasia. Similar looking in a lot of ways! Still, they are really pretty, they have many different colours. I might pick up a few for my shade garden. Anyone grow caladium? Do they do well in a planter or the ground? I imagine they have to be lifted in the fall...

I am trying Caladium for the first time this year. I saw a video with them in planters ...somewhere on the net...maybe the home and garden page......not sure now. Anyway they looked bright and cheery....so thought I would try some if I could find them. They should go great along my fence with other shade plants. The bag has 12 in it for I think it was 8.98 or something like that at walmart.

I was going to start them this morning along with some of the others, but I am not sure what to plant them in. I seem to be out of 4" pots already. Hmmmmm. Gee guess another trip to the nursery is in order. Giggle

One of the Colocasia was so big..it barely fit into the 1 gallon pot.

Shauna didn't they have any oriental lilies in your costco?

Sierra

Unfortunately, the oriental lilies that I could reach were not the nicest bulbs and I couldn't reach the ones that were at the back. The next time I was there, I didn't see any. I don't really need any more bulbs for this year, as I have ordered some but . . . : ), one never has enough, right?

Shauna

Phewwwwwwwwww ! I was at COSTCO EDMONTON NORTh today and i had a lot of will power.. I did not buy any lilies, Roses, Delpheniums, Begonias, Hostas, est..est... What ever they had...LAst year I bought a bag of every lily they had and they did well..The miniture varieties were pretty nice in Bloom...
I just might see what they have left in a week or so and use the coupon...

Here is a link that might be useful: GNOMES For Spring..

I opened up my bags of bulbs today to pot up the elephant ears and check what condition they all were in. They are all large sized bulbs in great condition but the tiger lilies are sprouting already. I had hoped to keep them cool and plant directly outside but I guess I don't have a choice. I am going to try and wait on planting the speciosa lilies as they aren't showing any signs of life yet.

A couple of you have mentioned coupons. Where did you get these coupons? I will be making a return trip this week to check out the perennials and might just be able to use one :-)

Susan

The coupons for the bulbs are in effect right now, $3.00 off/pack. They usually hand them out at the door, but they expire tomorrow. If you can't get your hands on the coupons they're usually pretty good at discounting them at the till anyway.

DH took me to Costco today, and bought me 2 8-packs of ostrich ferns (YEAH...I was hoping they'd have them, didn't find them last time I was in, and got the last two boxes they had this time...), a Frances Williams 6-pack, and a new book on water garden plants for this area. What a good Hubby!! (Also found out that Costco will be setting up their GREENHOUSE and bringing in plants in a month...guess I'll be going back...)
(Guess I should go make some supper for that DH of mine...not really good to thank him for the new plants and then let hin starve...LOL)

Wish we had a Costco. But since we don't...yet...I have to rely on Home Depot, Walmart and Canadian Tire and maybe Zellers. We just got a Home Depot last summer and Michaels is just being built in the same area.

I was in HD on Friday and they had a few racks of bulbs in also. They had elephant ears, 3 in a pkg for $5.98. I walked across to the Safeway to check out their taro and the taro there were the same size, no growing tip and $2.50 each.

HD had Stargazer lilies, a pkg of 3 for $4.95 I believe. I will probably go back and pick up some on Monday to go along with the La Reve oriental lilies that I ordered from Floral and Hardy. They had about 5 different kinds of caladiums, 2 kinds of peonies (I already have), 2 kinds of hostas (I already have), lots of glads and mixed asiatic lilies, etc, etc. I did look at the cannas. They had 5 different kinds of cannas. I picked up a white one, Princess Di that was in a pkg of 2 for $3.98, and a pink one, City of Portland that was 3 for $3.98. I potted them up yesterday and they looked good.

Here in Brandon, Walmart does not have anything in yet except seeds. Don't know about Canadian Tire.

The caladium...has anyone tried to grow them? I tried years and years ago, and they didn't even sprout. Can you give some advice? In keeping them over for winter...would you put them in the cold storage just like cannas, callas, dahlias, etc.?

Brenda

Actually Brenda, until recently I thought caladiums were just houseplants. I'm going to be picking some up to interplant with my begonias - love the coloured foliage. Anyway, my houseplant book advises that when the foliage dies down in fall, to store dry in a cool dark place (so yeah just like the others) until spring then repot. The houseplant book stresses repeatedly that they hate cold drafts and being cold in general, I imagine if they were properly hardened off it wouldn't bother them as much.

I might go to Costco if there was one near me... there are 2 in the city but it's still 1/2 hour drive and I just can't make myself pay for a membership to a store... ah well.

Gil....Don't you have a friend that will take you to costco with them. BTW the drive is more than 1/2 hour drive for me...and I still shop there. haha walmart, canadian tire, HD and so on are even a further drive......

HD has a few bulbs in here.....I am trying to decide if their price is too expensive for calla lily bulbs or not. Hmmmmmmm

Sierra

I'm looking at 2 1/2 hours drive one way to any of those stores. :( At least hubby and I get memberships to Costco from his employer. :) I doubt they will have much left by the time I get down again, I was going to wait until I could see the dirt in my flowerbeds. I did ask about getting Taro roots from one of the grocery stores in town. They are suppose to phone with numbers and price.

Syreeta

Well I was googling caladiums and I found this link to planting instructions. I have never tried adding a link before so we'll see if it works.

I wonder if its warm enough here to grow these...some of you get hotter summers than here so might have better luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: planting caladium

Well that was supposed to bring you to the planting instruction page.....just look down the right side and click on planting instructions.

Going off to plant up my 12 bulbs now.

Sierra

Thanks for the link Sierra. Wow, those bulbs get big!! I was at HD today and picked up a white caladium called "Aaron" and a red one called "Blaze". The bulbs are pretty small but at $3.98 for 3, I'm willing to experiment. I think I'll put them in my long trough planter, but in pots so I can bring them in if it gets cold at night.

I also picked up the 70 glads for $8. I'll have to give half to mom, I don't have anywhere to put 70 glads! :O

Thanks Sierra,

I will probably go buy some caladium bulbs tomorrow. But, when the fall comes I will not put them down in the "pit" where the potatoes, cannas, callas, etc go 'cause it gets down to 10C there or less. The planting instructions on the web site mention that caladium need to be in an area that is warm (70 ish) and well ventilated for the winter...so they can go in the pantry, I guess. I will just take in the whole planter once the soil is dry and store it on one of the shelves.

Brenda

I hope these caladiums grow well....they are such pretty colors. When potting them up...It was difficult to tell which side was up on some of them.....so I guessed. LOL. But that site said it didn't matter that they will grow anyway......keeping fingers crossed.

Gil, ya the caladiums I got are small too.

.....Uhhhh that means you will have 35 glads....:-))

Sierra

Sierra what colour(s) did you pick? Or are they assorted? I hummed and hawed so long trying to decide that DH disappeared... they were all so pretty! So I picked ones with the same pattern but one red and one white.

Where oh where will I put 35 glads! What have I done!

Ahhhhhh glads are small right? Tiny little corms don't take up much room.....hahahahahaha ya right! Where am I going to put 60? Ohhhhh I just thought of something....some will go in the new front bed with the dahlias...but the other new bed that was mostly planted last year...still has smaller plant divisions so I should be able to put quite a few in there tooooooooo.

I decided on Mon Amour which is a pink/yellow bicolour. And Break of Dawn which is a yellow/white bi-colour...same pattern. The pics look kind of pastel like. 30 of each. I'm kind of drawn to darker colors, so thought I would try something different this year. Ohhhhh your red and whites will look striking together. I didn't see any reds or I wouldn't have been able to resist.

Ya its difficult to choose...last year I got a bag of 15 or so of Jumbo mixed. They were gorgeous.....I grew them in the back with the dahlias but when they bloomed I cut them and brought them in the house. I had a huge bouquet.

I'll be starting them indoors next month sometime.

Sierra

Are we still talking glads here? I had some really red ones last year - the pictures i had made them look dark pink but they were RED! This year, they're going into my 'O Canada' bed, where everything is red and white, of course! :)

I tried 70 glads 2 years ago...DH bought me some. I didn't have any luck though. The bulbs looked alright, but on most of them the leaves and blossoms had some sort of wierd brown marks on them. It wasn't any critter that I could see, and the blossoms opened with it so it wan't that they got beat up (which is what they looked like). Any ideas what could be the culprit?

DH loves glads and wants me to plant them (his grandma used to always grow them back in SK), but I'm not willing to give up the flowering space to something that looks perpetually sick. If I know how to stop it then I'd be willing to give em another shot. (I love the look of them too, when they're healthy...)

While we are on the subject of glads (maybe we should have a separate thread?) I have a question. Last year was my first successful attempt at growing glads. I want to repeat that this year. My corms all look great. They had many, many baby corms when I dug them in the fall. What do I do with those? Do I plant them with the mature corms? They won't produce a flower stalk this year, will they? Or should they be put into a separate seedbed to mature for a season or two?

Shauna

Hmmmmm should we have a glad thread going. LOL.

Here some of last years.....

{{gwi:734332}}

{{gwi:734333}}

{{gwi:734334}}

{{gwi:734335}}

Marcia...why did you type "RED" in pink..haha joking!

verenap.....That sounds like a couple things I can think of. 1. wet and then hot sun damage or 2. A virus....which the bulbs that you bought could have already had. If that was the case nothing you could do about it....unfortunately this does happen with any kind of bulbs that you might buy.

Maybe try just a few.....dip in a 1 part bleach to 10 parts warm water solution...just before you plant. Look for the biggest and healthiest corms you can find. (Jumbo) They will give you the largest flowers.

Then do the little glad dance while planting and while they are growing....each kind of plant has their own dance...if you do the wrong dance it confuses them, and some you have to dance more around than others... haha

Sierra

Verena, that's classic thrips damage. Itty bitty insects you can barely see. Same thing happened to my 80 glads a few years ago. As Sierra mentioned in a different thread, rinsing the corms before planting in a weak bleach solution will kill off their eggs. I think it was in the Begonias thread we were talking about it. I do like glads especially for cut flowers, but I just have a hard time working them into a landscape design. They're so straight up & down. Makes me think of old ladies in the country who grow them as a crop and sell them from a bucket by the side of the road.

Sierra actually I wanted to know which caladiums you picked - that's what I was talking about. ;-) Your glads sound lovely though. I just bought a mixed bag - they are probably all yellow or something. LOL.

Marcia I can't wait to see your Oh Canada bed this year. Does it have those Danish Flag poppies I'm so jealous of? Oh BTW did you notice my zone designation? Feelin the luv! LOL

Wow we sure all posted at the same time there! Sierra sorry I didn't mean to contradict you, but I still think it sounds like thrips. When mine got them they made horrid brown streaks on the petals and leaves - especially on pale coloured flowers. And yes we should probably have a glads thread.

Hey you can't jump to zone 3a....and leave me in zone 2b. I wanna be in zone 5! Whaaaaaaaa Whaaaaaaaaa...(big tears)

Oh caladiums haha....I got a mixed bag of 12 at Walmart......that was all they had. I didn't know they had them at HD packed individually until later. So not sure what colors they will be. It sounds like the color intensity has a lot to do with the soil they are planted in.

Oh it could be thrips too on the glads.....They are such a pain...but as you said Gil...you won't see that problem if you dip in bleach water.

Shauna...its usually not worth the effort to grow the small corms....I'm not sure how long it takes before you get a flower but I would think at least 3 years. However if this is a variety that you really want to keep going.....ya plant them seperately in a nursery bed.

Sierra

Thanks for the tips...I'll give 'em another try I think. Should make DH happy too...now...where to put them... : )

Verena

Thanks, Sierra. Confirmed my thinking, too. The bulbs I bought last year were very, very pretty and I got them at Walmart. But, I'm always game for new and different. When they "wear out", I'll change to something else. Sort of like my closet. Usually don't buy clothes 'til I wear them out or get really sick of what I've got. lol

Shauna

Oh boy - i owe you some seeds, Gil! LOL I don't have Danish Flag poppies, but i do have seeds for some red Shirleys, and some other California poppy seeds that say "White Linen" (leads me to believe they'll be white!). I put anything "really" RED in the "O Canada" bed - well, last year it was a large container and a hanging basket, but i built a bed for it in the fall and planted red and white tulips and some white crocuses in it.

Verena, you'll learn that Sierra's answer to everything is doing a grow dance! LOL

LOL...my neighbors (and hubby) are going to think I'm nuts, but here goes...*dancing up a storm* Oops, now it's raining... wrong dance...I'll have to save that one 'til later...Do you think a polka will help?? I'm fairly limited on my knowledge of dance...LOL...Maybe Sierra can do a demonstration... ; )

Nope, we've tried, Sierra will not give a demo. She won't even go into a detailed description. LOL

Marcia, I can't conscienciously take your poppy seeds - me & poppies have a love-hate relationship. But thanks again!

HEY quit picking on meeeeee....eeeee...eeeee

I'm tellin ya the dancing works. It works REAL well for keepin da neighbours away tooooo. LOL!!! My hubby already knows I'm nuts...so nothing to worry about there..haha

Oooo...you made it rain.....now you have to do the dance in reverser...haha..to make it stop

You put your left foot in....

Sierra :-))

Hey Gil...if you are talking annual poppies...they don't like to be transplanted...so if you prepare the soil where you want them early spring and just throw the seed on top....they grow and flower...are pretty easy care. Oh ya and dance girl dance.

Wow I have a lot of catching up to do in all the threads!..I went to costco with my daughter on Saturday..I wanted some of everything...butttt..I had lots of self control (don't know that came from..lol) and bought a box of 5 siberian iris is all...must have been the effects of the lingering flu bug..lol..savona

hahaha.....Oooooooo now we have a name. LOL "The Dancing Dirt Diggers"

Savona the siberian iris should do well for you...I have a rather large collection of them now. I think 'super ego' is my favorite...its a true blue.

Sierra

Marcia I checked and I still have danish flag poppy seed..if you like some let me know..Sierra the box of sibrian iris were 2 ruffled velvet and 3 sparkling rose...savona

Savona, you're tempting me! I googled it, and it's pretty! Okay, okay, twist my arm! You have mail!

Marcia, just in case you're wondering why I thought you had DF poppies, you posted a pic of white & red poppies with something else in the ABC lists, but I was remembering DF poppies as red on white, not white on red. If that makes any sense. Just got confused! :0o

Ok what are danish flag poppies...anyone have a pic to post?

Sierra

Google them, Sierra - the first site that comes up has a nice picture.

Gil, are you thinking of the O Canada containers? Petunias and verbena, mostly, in red and white. I did have some gorgeous red Shirley poppies a couple of years ago, and last summer i had, what was it now - can't remember offhand, but it was white and very fringy. Shoot. Oh well, senior moment. LOL

Marcia, it was the pic in the A's with your beautiful purple alliums. There were (I think!) red & white poppies growing between them. I suppose they could be tulips but I thought poppies.

Sierra thanks for the tip about not transplanting poppies. I actually tried twice to direct sow them, (once a pink ruffled p. somniferum and once mixed Icelandic Poppies) but nothing came up. With the exception of ONE Icelandic Poppy, the next year! It was very nice all by itself. It was orange.

This is a picture of my Danish Flag poppy
{{gwi:734336}}
Years ago when I knew nothing about gardening I would start my poppies inside..no one told me they were hard to transplant...lol..over the years I have gotten pretty good about transplanting them with excellant success..this is one of the flats of poppies from last year..I transplanted 300 poppies
{{gwi:734337}}
Last year I loved this poppy..not sure where it came from..if it was a cross from a danish flag or a flemish antique but it was lovely..I saved seed but it probably wont come true plus there were other poppies in the same bed.I did see Swallowtail seeds have some seeds like this poppy for sell this year
{{gwi:734338}} And just a few of the colours of poppies from last year
{{gwi:734340}} savona

Gil, those were 'Zurel' tulips - aren't they pretty?

Well, i went to Dryden with no dh today. Walmart had some bulbs in but the case was wrapped tight in plastic. There weren't very many anyway - nothing that i wanted, though i may have succumbed to the caladiums. Canadian Tire didn't have any in at all, and when i asked, the clerk looked at me as if i was nuts. Next, sil and i checked out a hardware store with an attached nursery and they didn't have any and weren't planning on getting any. >:(

Just reread this whole thread, and no one seems to have found begonias anywhere. That's what i was looking for. I should have ordered some. Oh well.... I'll have to mention to my daughter to hint to dh that a great birthday gift would be a gift certificate at one of the nurseries! I already told the kids that they could get me rocks (flagstones). I KNOW dh won't buy rocks! LOL

Savona - wow! I have poppy envy! LOL Very nice.

Marcia - well that solves it then. The pic was kinda small... they sure are nice tulips. I have added them to my "want" list since tulips do not hate me the way poppies do. I just planted 40 pastel tulips last fall and am dying to see them! Soon!

I bought two begonia tubers about a month ago at Schreimer's greenhouse. They had a rack with a fairly good assortment and they were in good shape.

Rats. We drove right past there on our way to - where else? - Princess Auto a couple of weeks ago. We just brought our son in to pick up his new truck and then went home, with the obligatory Princess Auto stop, of course. Dh had to return something. Of course he came out with a few bags... Well, i guess i'll be buying them already-grown - much easier that way, anyhow!

Oh, and the tulips came from Botanus, so you can look out for them this fall. :)