Marcia, don't give me that....I can see you peeking!

LOL!!!

Did you guys see the white and yellow peony in the Vessy's fall catalog? I keep telling myself I won't order it.......LOL!

Sierra

Oooooo...

Off to sneak a peek...

Now where's that credit card... LOL

I was floored to receive that email already when I haven't even seen the results of last fall's purchases. I also got the Vesey's fall catalogue in the mail this week. None of that fall shopping for me yet - there is just too much spring and summer gardening to think about.

Susan

Well, rats, i did peek. I mean, how am i going to be tulipped to death otherwise? There are three new beds that will need tulips next spring... :>

Well heck, see what happens when it's raining outside! I went ahead and placed my order. LOL, hey now, stop wagging the finger at me... I tried to clean the house... I'd say I did pretty good, I kept it under $100 ;)

Botanus Fall Order 2005

Tulipa Tulips
Darwin Pastel Mixed 50
Lily Flowered Garden Party 20
Mini Botanical Saxatillis 10 FREE
Triumph Washington 50

Narcissi Daffodils
Cupped Barret Browning 5
Cupped Ice Follies 5
Poetaz Scarlet Gem 5
Rock Garden Suzy 5 FREE

Allium moly luteum 20 FREE
Erythronium Pagoda Dog Tooth Violets 2
Fritillaria meleagris 10
Iris germanica ÂCrimson Snow Tall Bearded Iris
Muscari latifolium Grape Hyacinths 10 FREE

OK, fess up and tell me what you ordered or tell me later when you've decided ;)

Sharon - the crazy one!

btw, the Allium moly 20 FREE coupon is in the back of the Canadian Gardening June magazine.
If you don't get the magazine, email me and I will give you the promo number ;)

Anyone grow Greigii Red Riding Hood Tulips? Last fall I planted them with some bulb boost, however I'm not impressed with them this spring, the leaves are only about 3-4" with NO blooms. Are these not suppose to be an early variety, shouldn't they have bloom already? Or do they do their best the following year?

I'm pretty sure that's what i have - you can check the web album i posted. They do seem better this year than last. Last year only half of them came up, but this year they seem to have multiplied. The leaves ARE small. On the whole, very cute, i think!

Usually, they perform very well the first year, and yes, they should have bloomed by now.

Well, I wonder what happened to Little Red Riding Hood, perhaps I planted too deep or a wolf stepped on it?

You know, I had forgotten about the free shipping deal if you order over $150!, so therefore I cancelled the first order and revised to this order. LOL, I tell yah, this rain is getting to me, besides you can never have too many bulbs, right!

Fall Order 2005

Tulipa Tulips
Darwin Apeldoorn 10
Darwin Pastel Mixed 50
Darwin Pink Impression 10
Lily Flowered Garden Party 20
Mini Botanical Little Beauty 10
Mini Botanical Saxatillis 10 FREE
Single Late Queen of Night 10
Triumph Atlantis 20
Triumph Washington 50

Narcissi Daffodils
Cupped Barret Browning 10
Cupped Ice Follies 10
Poetaz Scarlet Gem 10
Rock Garden Suzy 5 FREE
Trumpet King Alfred Type 50

Allium moly 20 FREE
Crocus tommasinianus Ruby Giant Snow Crocus 20
Erythronium Pagoda Dog Tooth Violets 2
Fritillaria meleagris 10
Iris germanica Crimson Snow Tall Bearded Iris
Muscari armeniacum 'Blue' 40
Muscari latifolium Grape Hyacinths 10 FREE

Does anyone know the species name of the Erythronium? Or is supposed to be E. pagoda, not Pagoda? If it is hardy here will it naturalize at a good rate each year?

Sharon

Apparently, it's a hybrid: Erythronium tuolumnense x californicum 'Pagoda'
I've found Erythronium, in general, to be extremely slow - have planted bulbs through the years and I'm still waiting on a flower.

Ack is right....my catalogue came day before yesterday...I have been trying not to look at it...

Must...get...balance...on...credit...card...paid...down.....

sheesh...its getting harder and harder to resist! Between Botanus and the Vesesys e mails I keep getting...ugh

This is definitely enabling addicts - those people should be charged! Heh heh heh.

How did you get so many FREE ones? They must have really like your order...lol

Thanks Lori for the proper name, I too am anal when it comes to names ;)

TheGr8Blade, the Muscari latifolium is automatically FREE with every order, the Saxatilis Tulips are FREE if you place your order before July 15, the shipping and handling is FREE when you order $150, the Suzy Daffodils was a FREE coupon that they stuck in my Spring Order, and the Allium moly coupon is in the back of the CG magazine ;)

Now if only I could take time to save coupons for groceries like I do for plants ;)

They are a wonderful mail order company, wonderful gals that work there with the best customer-friendly service available!

Sharon

Holy MOLY...no pun intended. You gotta love free! WOW! Great job with your savings!

Thanks for sharing Sharon! Appreciate it!

Ka-ching!! There goes the credit card again...can't have enough tulips and/or lillies from Botanus and/or Veseys!!

$162.03 order over here.....ouch! Like I didn't spend enough already. Oh well, can't take it with ya might as well enjoy it! Woohoo! Can't wait for it to come. Thanks again Sharon for the promo code!

Yes, thank you Sharon!

:)

Com'on, tell me what you ordered ;)

Since I ordered so many bulbs for this coming fall, I figured Id better make this easy on me, so I ordered one of those bulb augers from Lee Valley Tools. All you do is attach it to a cordless drill, pretty nifty eh? Anyone tried one of these?

Yes, seems like a great idea, but as you retract the bit from the soil, it actually flings the soil around, so that you either have to collect it up to repack into the hole, or you have to drag a pail of soil around with you for that purpose.
I'll stick to my step-on bulb planters, where you just shove the core of soil back into the hole on top of the bulb.

Hi all,

I'm ordering bulbs for my mom's birthday gift and was wondering if anyone could pass along the Botanus coupon code for the Allium moly luteum?

If you can send it to klam_chowder@yahoo.com, my mom would get a great bonus!

(I just e-mailed Sharon thru her website but given the deadline is tomorrow and she might not check it by then, etc. I thought I'd ask here as well.)

TIA,
klam

What a nice birthday present Klam, you've got mail ;)

Sharon

Don't forget...today's the deadline for getting the bonus Saxatilis tulips. I'm a sucker for freebies (that's why marketing people use them!!), so I had to quit procrastinating and send in my order. I'm also looking forward to the free Muscari (although I'm not keen on the variety...picky, picky), and the Allium moly from the CG coupon (although, I'm not keen on that plant, either--always flops for me, and it's hard to hide the dying leaves at the front of the border. I can always use them as trade materials, though).

Sharon, I loved seeing your list. You've got a lot of planting to do later on!! I'd love to know what everyone else has ordered. This is my first order with Botanus; everyone has sung their praises on this forum, so I thought I'd see what I've been missing! This was my final list (you have no idea how often it changed!!):

20 Turkestanica tulips...to go with the free 'Saxitilis', as well as the 'Tarda' that I already have. Species tulips are great. As long as the cable company doesn't dig through the patch (grrrr), they naturalize and spread very nicely. 'Tarda' has self-seeded in a few unexpected places.
10 Princess Irene tulips...I've always been intrigued with the colour combination of orange and purple! I hope they're as nice as the photo.

Large flowering crocus mix--40 bulbs--Crocuses don't bloom long, but they're a welcome sight after a long winter, and I don't have many in my garden.

Three varieties of early Snow Crocus (20 each) that I thought might look nice together: Advance, Ruby Giant and Tricolour. I have Ladykiller in my garden already. It's one of the first flowers in the spring.

10 Golden Ducat double Narcissi--I've loved the double form of daffodils ever since I discovered how long the flowers last.

10 Praestens unicum tulips--my absolute favourite spring bulb...I already have some in my garden, but I need MORE--these positively glow in the spring sun, and their variegated foliage looks like hosta leaves.

Now, to go through Vesey's catalogue (again). The offer of a $25 gift certificate for next year, if $50 or more is ordered this fall, is too good to pass up. I have until July 21 to decide what to buy. ;-)
(Earlier, I put in an order to Breck's for 50 Grape Hyacinths. With the $25 coupon, they're absolutely free...including tax and shipping. With people like me, how will they ever stay in business??)

Just a note for Fritillaria lovers...over the years, I've bought several bags of F. meleagris from different suppliers. Most only contained the dark purple checkered flowers; I guess those are the most popular. However, Vesey's offers a mix of dark purple, lighter purple and white. That's the batch that looks the nicest in the garden, IMO. The lighter colours brighten up the planting and make the darker flowers richer looking. I suppose it depends on what's planted near the Frit's, but I'm not as happy with the dark flowers only. I was going to buy the F. meleagris alba from Botanus, to plant among the dark bulbs, but the effect wouldn't be the same without the lighter purple flowers as well.

By the way, Sharon. I ordered Erythronium 'Pagoda' from Vesey's years ago. It took 2 or 3 years to get a bloom, but since then the clump has been slowly increasing in size, and I get flowers each year. The deep freeze this spring didn't faze them. They're gorgeous...well worth the wait. The leaves are also lovely. I have them planted close to the east wall of the house, where they get protection and morning sun. That's the same area where I have the one and only Helleborus niger that's survived (and flowered) for me.

So, enough about my purchases. How about yours?? Come on, klam and TheGr8Blade, and anyone else who ordered...we want details!! (Never too soon to start a wish list for next year...heh heh!)

Doris
(charter member of Plant Collectors Anonymous, who still hasn't planted all the perennials she bought this spring)

Hi,

Where is the $25 gift certificate from veseys for next year? All my catalogue says is if I buy $45 or more they send Petite Spring Bouquet..18 bulbs which is Toronto tulips and glory of the snow. or For an order of $125 or more they will send an additional 10 Tulip Perestroyka, as a free bonus. I'd much prefer the $25 off my spring order.

I am just starting to think about ordering...LOL...

Sierra

Hmmm. So, when the $25 coupon inside the catalogue says "For our special customers only" I guess they mean it. (Just kidding!!) I always assumed phrases like that were written just to butter you up for the big sale! Actually, the fine print (now that I've looked at it more closely) says that I'm "part of a test group" that was chosen to receive the certificate if my purchase is over $50. They may be trying to see which incentives work the best. Well, this one certainly works for me. I'm sorry that not everyone gets the same deal. Maybe they'll offer it more widely next year. Now, I'm curious to know how large the test group is. This was a catalogue addressed to me, not one included with a magazine subscription.

So, Sierra...what are you thinking of ordering??

Ohh, Doris, now I will have to go see if I'm SPECIAL ;) too! Thanks for the tip on the Erythronium & Fritillaria.

I also placed a small order with McFayden,

Iris germanica Edith Wolford Tall Bearded
and
Narcissus bulbocodium var. conspicuous Miniature Daffodil 'Golden Bells' (6)

I've always had good service and excellent seed germination with MF, but have never ordered plants from them before, so will see come this fall how they do ;)

Sharon

Sharon, let us know, next spring, how the N. bulbocodium does for you. I tried them, once (I think I got them from Vesey's) and they didn't survive the winter. Sometimes, I just plant things in the wrong place. And, sometimes, our winters are just too severe. (No, really!?!) All the catalogues have this bulb rated at zone 3, so they should have been OK. If they grow for you, I'll try them again. The flowers look so cute!

I'll probably regret this in the spring, but I used a great deal of restraint and decided not to order. I know I don't have to justify it but we decided to do a 2 level, 600 sq. ft. composite deck and I have to stop somewhere for now. I guess I could have said that I lost my VISA in the garden again. Besides, if I get everything now, where would I possibly put things that I get next year? And I'll have to satisfy my wants and needs in February, based on this year's developing addiction. Happy ordering, everyone. Show me lots of pictures.

Shauna

cailinriley

Hee hee....I am thinking of ordering....

crocus..Firefly
crocus..Blue Pearl
Purple tulips...not sure which ones
Lily 'Black Beauty'
Amaryllis 'Black Pearl
Amaryllis 'red Lion'
I would also would like a couple Fritillaria

But I don't know if I should order from them or not....might just wait and see what comes out locally at the nursery here. Or maybe see what Costco has.

Sierra

Oh man, Botanus is just evil. So is Vesey's. I can't even remember what I ordered. My mom and I both have subscriptions to CG so that was 50 free dollars worth of bulbs/tax/shipping there with those Brecks coupons and the three free bulb offers from Botanus I think I wound up getting 110 free bulbs this year. Oh man, I'm going to be planting bulbs until I'm 80 - and that's just the free ones. I don't even remember what I actually paid for!

Oh, wait. I have it in my email.
Botanus:
Greenwave Calgary
Queen of the night
Negrita
Anemone De Caen 'The Bride'
Anemone De Caen 'Blue Poppy'
Fritillaria meleagris alba
Fritillaria meleagris Ranunculus asiaticus Mix

From Brecks I ordered two mixed bag assortments of early blooming flowers and from Vesey's I ordered Hair allium and the Deirdre tulip.

Man, the garden in my head is so much bigger than the garden in my yard.