I think you had poor quality bulbs. I have had clusiana cynthia in my garden for a number of years. I do replant / replenish them because I also grow caladiums there in the summer. I have the species tulips on the outside edge of a circle bed. But still, I dig around and plant other things there and grow lush caladiums in deep shade all summer long. Still, mine return and are lovely. The bulbs are much larger than pea sized. I'm mooting around for something common as a shape. Everything I can think of (acron in it's pod from a live oak, wooden bead etc is variable. How about this: Make a circle with your thumb and forefinger. Overlap the thumb so the thumb joint and the top joint of the fore finger are touching. That's the approximate size of the bulbs I planted. Order from a reputable online vendor. Colorblends gives the bulb size for Lady Jane (about the same size and cynthia) as 6-7cm for Clus. Tubergen's Gem as 5-6cm these are the smallest sizes they sell. I tried my first species tulips from a big box store in a little plastic bag. They were pea sized and never grew. Here is a link that might be useful: species tulips

Well, the answer is yes -- sort of. You can refridgerate the tulip bulbs now, but they'll need 12-15 weeks of cold storage before you can force them. Also, it's so late in the season that you'll need to pot them up before putting them into cold storage. (I'm potting up the last of my tulips that have been in cold storage since November this weekend.) Hyacinth bulbs can be kept unpotted longer than tulips; these you may be able to just chill and then plant up and force. Chances are that you don't have enough room in the fridge for a bunch of pots, so you may want to put the potted bulbs outside for now if you have a balcony; weather in our area will be mostly above freezing for a while, and they can withstand short periods of slightly below freezing temps (high 20s) at night. Good luck.

The tree and the house have lived together for a while. you say nothing that causes alarm in my mind, but then again...I haven't been there, and without eyes on, this is incredibly difficult. I'd keep some different folks coming out. maybe you can do it under the guise of an estimate, maybe you'll have to pay up a time or two for on site inspections. So you ask someone to come out and look at a tree. keep the language as open as possible, because as soon as you say, what about taking it down, you have self-selected the direction of the conversation. What you're looking for is someone you will answer your questions and you feel comfortable with. everyone comes into a conversation with an agenda...everyone. but if you're talking to a guy about a tree, knowing he makes money by taking it down, and if he says he really doesn't think it's necessary, he's advising he doesn't get paid. if he say yes it should be trimmed or removed, what's his reason? do other people agree with the reasoning? There's always certifications, more of those than I care to mention, insurance, various methods of checking out contractors. you're starting something a lot of people don't really know well, which is evaluating tree health. there's a lot of people who see a tree close to a house and the only thought they have is it has to come down. I assume the house is new to you? sorry if I missed that above. unless you see something that just scares the living bejessus out of you, i'd wait to see how things look once they leaf out. if nothing else, it'll give you a sense of how specific trees and the house relate to each other, and to the yard. P.S. zero-turn mower. you still need the lawn tractor for cleaning and working, but you'll love the zero-turn for mowing.

I just went and cut off all the blooms - which in itself, did not have a decent timeframe as well, they pethered out pretty quick. In reality, about 40% came up. Another 20 or so that had leaves bloom up to 10 inches high, with no stem/bloom. Debating whether to let the leaves yellow out and just add ~more same specices bulbs~ in spring . Or just skip to the next GO sign, and dig and toss the bulbs. If they did not perform great in year 1, see no reason why they will perform any better in year 2