If it isn't too much to remember to do, I'd be interested if you could come back in the fall and tell us how this project turned out. Here are some questions I'd like to hear about: We still don't know what these are, but I'm guessing Oriental Lilies? Did you buy dwarf, lowgrowers? How many bulbs were you able to stuff into one basket? How tall did the stalks grow, as compared to expectations for bulbs planted in the ground? How long did the blooms last, and how many per stalk? When the blooms faded, did you leave them in the basket, or plant out in the ground? Did you move the basket elsewhere for the stalk to mature for next years flowers? When you repot them for the next season, I'm wondering if the bulbs will have grown in size, as they do in good fertile ground where there's room to pull themselves down and get 'comfortable' or have they shrunk? Also, was there room for the bulbs to multiply/divide -- did you find smaller bulbs had grown in there as well? And did you water, if there's no rainfall where they're hanging? Do your friends who don't water, also grow in baskets? Any other comments on how they turned out would be of interest, too. Nell

They don't like 'wet feet' and they do like to have humus in the soil. Leaf mould is good. Heads in the sun and cool feet - like Clematis. And they appreciate a topping with an organic mulch. If you plant them in company with shrubs ensure they get reasonable sun during the day. If you got the bulbs locally they probably won't need lifting for winter protection. And they don't like being out of the ground for too long - unless you leave them in a box with potting soil to protect their scales. Even when they lose their stems and leaves, they never get to be as dormant as a daffodil. If the scales develop a deep purple shade the bulbs have probably become too hot and dry. You might only get short stems and no flowers the following year. Leave enough room for daughter bulbs to develop around the original mother plant and form a larger clump. Some of the asiatics develop stem bulbils which drop off and start to sprout on the ground's surface. Some lilies have two sets of roots: basal which are the first ones and are like daffodil roots; then another set which are very close to the surface and come from the stem not the bulb itself. They're feeding roots, which is why mulching and a humus-rich soil is so good for growing good lilies. Expect stems 3' plus. Don't sniff the orientals too closely - they're generous about sharing their pollen, and it can stain.

I will take them and give them a wonderful - I live in Florida and have a heated greenhouse and lots of experience with tropicals - please email me and we will make the necessary arrangements. Thanks!

I've had great luck with this method. I've planted mostly grape hyacinths (muscari) and tulips together. The most fantastic success was a large, low, cobalt blue pot with several packages of 'Apricot Impressions' tulips and 100 grape hyacinths. So pretty. I've also used white daffodils with light blue muscari 'Valarie Finnis'. That was a lovely and soft combination. One fall I found small quart-sized perennials on sale for next to nothing and tucked one or two into each pot along the very edges. Those came out beautifully - the emerging foliage of heuchera and pulmonaria and creeping veronica was so fresh and lovely with the bulbs. They were like miniature gardens in a pot. Violas and pansies could be tucked in, too, once available in the spring. And little lettuces would be cute, wouldn't they? I know I planted a pot with a red tulip and narcissus 'Jetfire' that turned out well, but I'm more partial to the height difference with the grape hyacinths and the taller tulips and daffodils. The little muscari also bloom for such a long time that there is less of a problem with planning the bulbs to bloom together, which is what I like. I haven't tried crocus, chinodoxa, scilla, etc. but I'm sure they would all work well. And yes, you can really stuff them into the pot "cheek to jowl"! Like Dennis said, leave some room for "heaving" and "flexing" when the bulbs are planted so densely. I've planted them in fresh potting soil, used potting soil, and both with and without bonemeal or bulb fertilizer and have always had great results. After the blooms are spent, the pot can be shuffled away to allow to foliage to decline in privacy, which is nice. It is also easy to decide where to plant the bulbs that you've grown in pots when things are up and growing. Empty spots in need of spring color are easier to note in April than in September, after all. I would recommend finding and using bulbs that bloom at approximately the same time (early, middle, or late spring) for the best show. I keep my pots stacked in an unheated mudroom. I water them very lightly when I plant them and then water them lightly again in mid winter. I move them outside in maybe mid-late Februaryish when I start seeing little bits of growth and want them to slow down and "become one with nature" again. Of course, depending upon your climate and the fragility of the pots you're using, this might vary. By the time the bulbs go into deep clearance here I am done digging outside anyway, and my pots that held annuals have been emptied. It works out well for me to putter around in the relative warmth of the garage or mudroom with bulbs that are so inexpensive I am not required to feel guilty if I don't find a spot for them in the ground the following spring. Sorry for so much enthusiastic gushing! Just talking about this has me excited to get started again this fall! Adona