The first Rijnvelds Early Sensation started blooming about a week and a half ago. I have these in various places dotted around the yard. They were planted in fall of '03. In this picture you can see the several varieties planted behind these are not anywhere near so far along. The bulbs in front are surprise lilies. If you are looking for an early narcissus, I recommend this variety. The wind was horrible the day before this picture was taken, but these beauties can take it.

Thanks, The vendor also asked me to dig them up and report their status, but there is nothing there - no husks, no remains at all. Now if they did rot, that would explain not finding anything as it would be absorbed into the ground. Not a wet summer last year, and the bed is raised 10" so drainage is good, but something definitely went wrong with those bulbs. Since it only happened to Galactic Star and it happened to all of them, I'm assuming they are weak and prone to rot. I didn't know the theory behind reverse bicolors, thanks for telling me!

I'm sorry but I still have serious reservations on the effectiveness of using nematodes. First, the larvae are generally nowhere near the soil. The adult fly lays eggs deep into the bulb foliage, sometimes actually tunneling under the paper sheath of the bulb itself to deposit her eggs. They hatch and the maggots immediately start working their way into the bulb itself, where they remain over winter. It is not until they begin to pupate in early spring that they move into the soil and by then it is far too late for nematodes to be of any value. Beneficial nematodes need warm soil temperatures to regenerate and start feeding, usually around 50F. This generally does not occur in the Puget Sound area until late May, so the timing of this control may be off slightly as well as questions about its effectiveness. And at $20 something a pop for the nematodes, it is kind of an expensive proposition that may or may not have any benefit. Again, after more than 30 minutes of online research, I didn't turn up a single hit that posed nematodes as a control agent for this problem. FWIW, the flies are typically present in this area in late spring. Promptly removing the dried, spent foliage, especially of early blooming narcissus, should go a long way to control bulb fly damage.

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