I have lots of grape hyacinths. Please let me know if you still need some for your garden. Thanks.

I figured it was "big-box" or a less-than-reputable mail order vendor. If you want to be absolutely certain you get the variety and color you want, you use a good vendor like Brent and Becky's, John Scheepers/Van Engelen, Colorblends or Old House Gardens. I put all my packing slips in a binder, and put all of the package labels in a paper bag in the garage. Then, on those rare occasions when a good vendor sends me a mislabeled variety (alina is right--it happens from time to time) and I genuinely wanted the correct variety, I take a digital photo of mislabeled plants, scan the labels and packing slips, and send it all in an email to the vendor. Good vendors always issue a credit, a refund, or otherwise make it right. I don't keep records and packing slips just because I "should". I do it for several reasons--one is to keep myself from ordering more of something I already have. Another is so that I can order more of whatever I completely fell in love with. I also like to know roughly where I planted it (I only note down to the flower bed level--"south center back bed") so that I can watch for it and get way too excited when I see signs of life. Finally, I keep packing slips, labels and receipts as a way to say to myself: "Lisa, don't you think you have ENOUGH plants/bulbs already?" Sure, the answer is always: "Not yet", but I order 10 bulbs of something instead of 100 when I look at the running total of 3000 to 4000 bulbs in the past 5 years :-) Lisa

We've had a very mild winter in Western Canada and my 'Impression' tulips are already about 3 inches high. The 'Impression' series flowers early and is reliably perennial.

Darwin tulips tend to return (perennialize) better than other types and Red Apeldoorn is pretty much the classic red Darwin (although there are others). These are often available at box stores, groceries, garden centers and anywhere else selling spring bulbs now - a very common and popular variety. Also available from most online vendors. And all you need is well drained soil in a decent amount of sun.