I'm a bit of a gambler with my bulbs. I had a nice tulip bed, but decided to do something else there. While they were blooming, I used plastic knives that I stuck in the soil with the color (I always forget names). Then I started working the new bed. I dug and dug and let it rest. Then a couple of weeks later, I dug some more. After a total of six weeks of mess, I recently replanted the bulbs. I used some bonemeal and worked in lots of organic matter. I covered and mulched. I could not imagine any difference between saving the bulbs for autumn and planting them in deep good soil. I have confidence that it will work. If it doesn't, then my friendly garden store will welcome my money next year. Jim

It can be useful to use a bulb basket for planting out if you have a small garden. It's a bit easier to locate the plastic container and reduce the risk of bulb kebabs on your garden fork...:-((. Then you can clear away the bulbs in time to plant up for a summer's display and watering regime. If you want to do this - be sure that the pots you use have very generous holes otherwise the daffs particularly will circle the pot many times before they find an exit. Not optimum for developing buds and reserves for the following year. Also - some Narcissus seem to be downright picky about flowering in pots more than once. (Jonquils. Tazetta.) Others, such as Tete a tete and Jetfire are quite uninhibited and multiply generously. The system you're proposing - lift and replant annually - definitely works in my zone. Make sure you select your bulbs for size and keep the smaller bulbs together for growing on. Tulips. Deep pots are better, IMO. They provide enough room for the droppers and the formation of the new bulbs. But I'd have to be very fond of the variety before I'd be excavating foot-deep holes.

Every year I have a pair of bats flying around like mad high above my neighbors pool, and plenty more above the baseball field across the street from my house. It's thrilling to watch them at dusk. Last night, one of the bats was above the pool, as usual, as was a dragonfly. It was funny watching them both fluttering around together. A few years ago, just after I had gotten home from work (5:30-ish), there had to be thousands of dragonflies flying around, from the field across the street to the empty lot next door to me and down to my neighbors house. There was a girls softball team playing in the field at that time. People standing around, looking up, in amazement. My young daughter & I standing in the driveway, absolutely still, just watching them. She actually decided to go inside, and I was starting to get a little freaked out too, wondering if I'd get smacked by some of them. I didn't get hit by one, surprisingly. It was an incredible sight for me, something I'll never forget. I've never seen that since :(

I don't think their sap, which is clearer and doesn't flow as much as daffs' sap does, is harmful to other flowers. Tulips do benefit from being wrapped so their stems are straight, then conditioning in water or preservative for 12 hours or so, wrapped, before being unwrapped and arranged. If that isn't done, the stems tend to bend way over. Tulips combine with other flowers nicely. I haven't combined daffs with anything else; early in the season when they're in bloom here, nothing else is. I haven't sold them, either, because the market I used to go to starts after the last of the daffs are done. Tulips were a big hit, but I had to grow only the late-blooming kinds, because, like the daffs, the others were done before our market started. As for what to put in the water, there are several powdered (and maybe some liquid) mixtures, and some home-made solutions, that you can put in the water to increase vase life. Which of those you use, if any, is up to you. Powders are easy and fast but more expensive than home-mades. If you're going to be selling your flowers, it's nice to give the customers a packet of Floralife or something similar with their bouquets. I have a home-made formula I always used for harvesting, conditioning, and display, but I gave my customers a packet of Floralife Crystal Clear. I'm not selling flowers any more and find that I use my home-made formula if I'm going to be cutting and arranging multiple large vases, but use the packets if I'm only cutting for one vase. The powdered kinds are available in buckets as well as packets, for big users. My formula has bleach; the powdered things usually have a different biocide. If you're going to sell flowers, it might be worth your while to experiment with what you use. What is in your water can make a difference from one solution to another. Also, there are some flowers that don't like preservatives and are better off in plain water. Zinnias are like that. Some say sunflowers, lilies, and glads are also, but that hasn't been my experience at all. Jeanne