ironically enough i do know of a llama farm up in grand rapids near where i used to live. overheated my paper shredder last night in shredding a bag of newspaper in preparation for mixing it in with the compost. with any luck, I'll have the area done tonite since it's supposed to be cooler, providing my back holds out. Might still get some use from the landscape fabric though. I don't have any wood chips yet to put on top, so to prevent weeds from taking root, until I get some chips, I think I'm going to cover the area with the fabric i bought, removing it once I get a bulk mulch shipment in.

I have to jump in on this one -- In the original White Flower Farm book published by Little Brown in the 1960s, they say you can dig up any tulip when the foliage starts to dull. Not turn brown, not turn partly brown, and not totally senesce, just dull. The likened the color to a dull olive green I leave tulips in place for only *one week* after bloom, that is all the energy they seem to need. I pull tulip bulbs up (or dig the up, depending on the soil) and bag them in net onion sacks (or orange sacks) with the foliage and roots still on them. I was told by an oldtimer that the roots store energy and if they remain on the bulbs, the energy will go back into the bulb as they dry. As wacky as only one week after bloom might sound to you, can you imagine any kind of photosynthesis working when the foliage is folded over and tightly banded? I store over summer where they will be HOT and DRY. This is really important. I replant them at first frost when I dig the dahlias that are in the same spot over summer. Needless to say between years of tulips and dahlias and mulch, the soil is very friable and I actually pulled up most the tulip bulbs this year, like harvesting carrots or something! I noticed today the foliage is still a little green on them, even though they were pulled in April. Just thought I would post my method for you to consider. BTW, I don't have huge success with Parrot Tulips -- about 50% Lime

How about some daylilies? There are enough cultivars that you could always have some blooming through the season. Try Bloomingfields in CT, lots of old fashioned ones -- or Abundant Daylilies in FL (daylilies.net), many reasonably priced ones here. I prefer the old fashioned kinds myself, lots of those at Bloomingfields. Bloomingfield's site has a chart showing the blooming times of each kind. Daylilies come in all kinds of colors including pinks to go with your roses. There are some nearly white ones that would be nice, too. I also have some irises under or in front of (and in a couple of spots, in back of) my roses---they too come in different heights & love sun as do roses. They bloom mostly in May in NJ where I live. Schreiners (Schreinersgardens.com) has many many photos -- they specialize in them -- (Nichollsgardens.com) Nicholls Gardens carries reblooming irises & are also quite reasonably priced. You can get miniature or dwarf irises & they will make nice color in spring. You have a different climate in TX but I'll mention the spring bulbs--daffodils & the like---and the "little guys" squill, grape hyacinth, etc --- they can be planted in front of roses, will come up every year. You would have to find ones suitable to your region.

Due to the mild winters throughout a large portion of California, certain popular bulbs in other parts of the country do poorly here. But on the bright side, we can leave in the ground many bulb species that would never make it through a New England winter! Tulips: Unfortunately the hybrid commercial tulips like the Darwins and Triumphs are poorly adapted here and need special treatment to bloom well. Tulips should be purchased as soon as offered in early September, then stored in the refrigerator (NOT the freezer) until the weather cools off in late October or early November. Without this chilling, the plants will emerge stunted, and the flower stem will not elongate, resulting in the flower blooming down in the base of the leaves. Try to get the bulbs into the ground within a half hour of removing from the refigerator, DON"T leave them sitting in the sun for a few hours while you are digging your holes, that will undo a lot of the artificial chilling. Plant deeply, about nine or ten inches down. After blooming the tulips will break up into several smaller bulbs that will not bloom next year, and these never seem to grow on to flowering size. Thus tulips are considered an annual, and are replanted fresh every year. Because of this it is best to shop around to get the best price on bulbs, since you are only going to get one flower from each bulb. The large home improvement stores are generally the best source for cheap tulip bulbs. A few species tulips will naturalize here, foremost T. sylvestis, bakeri, clusiana and saxatilis. Daffodils: These are easy here, and come back every year. There is a common misperception that these are hurt by water during the summer. This is not true, and they will decline and eventually disappear if not given some summer watering (they will rot out, however, if planted in poorly draining heavy soil). Newbies are often surprised to see daffodils blooming in late fall. These are the Tazetta division of daffodils, the ones commonly grown for forcing indoors. The only daffodils that do not do well in California are the Poeticus division, they bloom so late in spring the weather is too warm and they don't amount to much. Crocus: The regular hybrid crocuses are hit or miss, they will bloom, and come back for a few years, then peter out. Some of the species are good repeaters, C. tommasinianus, sieberi and ancyrensis especially. Hyacinth: These are very similar to tulips, and the same problems apply. Buy cheap bulbs in fall, refrigerate for six to eight weeks, plant when the weather cools off. Don't expect more than one year of bloom. Galanthus(snowdrops) Same as for tulips. Alliums, Ipheion, Leucojum and Muscari do VERY well here, need no special treatment, and can become invasive, hard to eliminate pests, so keep and eye on them. One of the special delights of gardening in California is the ability to grow the less hardy, beautiful irids. This includes the common Dutch iris, as well as many lesser known but very lovely South Africans like Freesia, Sparaxis, Ixia, and Babiana. These sometimes startle Newbies by coming up in fall. This is normal, the foliage will get a bit tatty by spring, but it does not hurt the plant and they will bloom in spring on schedule! Here are some additional bulbs recommended for Southern California by Gardenguru1950 1. Not ALL daffodils/narcissus naturalize here, especially in SOUTHERN California. Here are some that are best for that purpose: Accent -- large pink cup, white petals Arctic Gold -- trumpet with deep all-yellow flowers Bantam -- large orange-red cup and smallish, deep yellow petals Binkie -- large sulfur yellow cup that fades to white, sulfur petals Bridal Crown -- double-flowered, pure white Carlton -- large-cupped, soft yellow Ceylon -- large pale orange deepening to orange red cup, golden petals Cheerfulness -- white double tazetta Delibes -- large-cupped, yellow petals, red-banded yellow cup Erlicher -- small very fragrant, double white flowers in clusters February Gold -- cyclamineus, golden yellow trumpet and pale yellow swept-back petals Festivity -- yellow trumpet, large clear yellow cup, white overlapping petals Galway -- large-cupped all gold Geranium -- tazetta, white and orange flowers Green Island -- greenish lemon cup, white petals Hawera -- triandrus, soft yellow, recurved petals, 5 Jenny -- cyclamineus hybrid, white and yellow, swept-back petals Kinglet -- jonquilla hybrid, fragrant, yellow petals, orange cups Mabel Taylor -- large pink cup, ivory petals Matador -- tazetta, bright orange cup and sulfur petals, several fragrant flowers per stem Martha Washington -- tazetta, red cups, white petals Mount Hood -- trumpet, giant all white Rustom Pasha -- large trumpet all yellow Silver Chimes -- tazetta, several fragrant creamy white flowers per stem Sir Winston Churchill -- double-flowered version of Geranium Suzy -- jonquilla, small red cups, ruffled yellow petals Sweetness -- jonquilla, rich yellow, fragrant Thalia -- triandrus, all-white, 2-3 per stem Trevithian -- jonquilla, bright yellow, 2-3 per stem Vigil -- all white trumpet Vireo -- jonquilla, fragrant, tiny greenish cup and gold petals, 9 Wee Bee -- trumpet, tiny all-golden, 5 Yellow Cheerfulness -- double tazetta, creamy yellow Species: Narcissus bulbocodium Narcissus jonquilla Narcissus viridiflorus -- tiny yellow-green flowers; fall-blooming 2. Some other good bulbs: Allium neopolitanum Cowanii FLOWERING ONION Allium sphaerocephalon DRUMSTICKS Anemone blanda GREEK WINDFLOWER Anemone coronaria POPPY-FLOWERED ANEMONE Anemone x fulgens SCARLET WINDFLOWER Arum italicum (shade) ITALIAN ARUM Babiana (many) BABOON FLOWER Calochortus (many, some difficult) MARIPOSA LILIES Chlidanthus fragrans PERFUMED FAIRY LILY Cyclamen hederifolium (shade) HARDY CYCLAMEN Cyclamen persicum (shade) CYCLAMEN Crocosmia MONTBRETIA Crocus imperati ITALIAN CROCUS Freesia (including Lapeyrousia) FREESIA Galtonia candicans (for summer color) SUMMER HYACINTH Gladiolus x hybrida GLADIOLA Gladiolus tristis LEMON GLADIOLA Hyacinthoides hispanica SPANISH BLUEBELL Ipheion uniflorum SPRING STAR FLOWER Iris xiphium ENGLISH/DUTCH IRIS Ixia hybrids CORN LILY Lachenalia aloides CAPE COWSLIP Leucojum vernum SPRING SNOWFLAKE Muscari armeniacum GRAPE HYACINTH Narcissus (see separate list) NARCISSUS, DAFFODIL Nectaroscordum siculum NECTAROSCORDUM Ornithogalum arabicum STAR OF BETHLEHEM Ornithogalum narbonense NARBONE STAR Ornithogalum thyrsoides CHINCHERINCHEE Oxalis purpurea CAPE SORRELL Ranunculus asiaticus RANUNCULUS Scilla peruviana PERUVIAN SQUILL Sparaxis tricolor HARLEQUIN FLOWER Triteleia Queen Fabiola BRODIAEA Tritonia crocata FLAME FREESIA Veltheimia bracteata (shade) CAPE FOREST LILY Watsonia BUGLE LILY 3. Soe great California native bulbs: Bloomeria crocea GOLDEN STARS Brodiaea elegans HARVEST BRODIAEA Calochortus (many) MARIPOSA LILY Chlorogalum pomeridianum AMOLE, SOAP PLANT Dichelostemma pulchellum BLUE DICKS, WILD HYACINTH Lilium humboldtii HUMBOLDT LILY Lilium washingtonianum WASHINGTON LILY Triteleia hyacinthina WHITE HYACINTH BRODIAEA Triteleia laxa PRETTY FACE, TRIPLET LILY 4. Some good TULIPS for us: Tulipa clusiana LADY TULIP Tulipa clusiana chrysantha GOLDEN TULIP Tulipa saxatilis MIDDLE-EAST TULIP Tulipa sylvestris FRAGRANT WILD TULIP ... and one very good Crocus(a fall bloomer): Crocus sativus (SAFFRON CROCUS)