In your zone the bulbs will need to be chilled to bloom properly next season. You will need to dig them after the foliage has yellowed, clean and dry them well to prevent mold. Store them in an airy cool dry area until about September first. Put them in a refrigerator with a temperature from 35 to 45, with no fresh fruit stored in the same refrigerator. About the middle of December they should be replanted in the garden. I went through this routine for about 3 or 4 years, before deciding that the cheap cost of buying new bulbs, when they become available, about the first of September and just throwing the bags in the refrigerator, (one without fresh fruit) was the way to go. At least 30% of your saved bulbs will be splits and not sized enough to bloom anyway. You still have plenty of season left if you buy a flat or two of summer bedding plants at your local nursery to fill the area you removed the tulip bulbs from. Al

Thanks for the link, Mindy. 2007/2008 I had Darwin Hybrids, Hyacinths & Daffs do fine in containers. 2008/2009 almost all bulbs rotted in containers. They were Triumphs which I read were more suited to container planting. Some had started to grow roots but don't know what happened to them. Same Tulip varieties rotted in ground also. I can't blame it on the bulbs since I didn't plunge pots and/or cover with any mulch. Another Tulip variety did grow and bloom in ground. I went back to Darwin Hybrids this year since my father is old fashioned and just wants the Red and Yellow combo with black/blue inner base he always planted years ago. I'm trying to figure out how I can stash bulb planted nursery pots in my father's attached garage. I think that's a safer bet than rolling the dice under the overhang up on the deck even with bags of leaves around for protection. Besides, that way my decorative containers will be cleaner and free to plant annuals earlier than if they had bulbs planted directly inside them. I over winter perennials in pots along south facing house foundation with bags of leaves over/around them. They did fine last year but every year is different so I just cross my fingers. It's hard gardening where it's barely tolerated let alone encouraged. I need a little storage shed of my own. Better pick up more 'Ropels' spray. I spray bulbs before planting and the nanosecond foliage appears in Spring. Bambi herds and wascally wabbits! :) Your garden of eden is gorgeous. Leslie

try species tulips- there's greggiis, which are great for their foliage alone, the little ones that look like crocus- those multiply really well(can't recall the species name), & turkis something has done well for me, too. crocus have always done well for me- there again, i tend to like the smaller species. chiondoxia, pushkinia & squill have done well for me too. de caen anemones come back for me for a few yrs in a row- but man, what bang for the buck! i happily replant some each yr- they make the best cut flowers. soak them before you plant them & they'll do better. ixias do well. the fragrant glads come back each yr, and in fact, regular glads will, too, for the most part. had no problems with daffodils whatsoever. i especially like the little ones. jetfire multiplies really well here. for fall bloom, consider fall blooming crocus and lycoris species. alliums do really well. one thing i've never had much luck with is fritillarias, much to my chagrin. never tried the crown ones, but the meleagris & tall plum ones never did well for me. i've tucked so many bulbs into the beds by my house through the yrs it's a jungle come about jan/feb. i see that bare soil in the fall and forget how many ae already asleep in there! i have seen ranunculus at lowe's & h/d- but i haven't been by this yr. their bulb selecton gets better each yr. i picked up some really unusual ones there last yr. if you can't find them locally you could always do mail order with one of the good companies- there's lots out there. with ranunculas being in pots, you could probably get going on them a little later than other things. fyi, most winter bulbs need to be planted @ thanksgiving around here. you have to wait til the soil cools down. buy them now to get what you want(or wait til they're picked over & cheap) and store them in the fridge w/o fruit. i've planted as late as january with clearance bulbs and had some bloom. lowe's usually sells big bags of like 100 mixed daffs for a low price, which when it's on sale is a great deal. lotsa color for little moolah & a pretty good staggered bloom. they are the big kinds, though.

Well 2 1/2 weeks left before bulbs are due and there seems to be a little less interest in this swap than usual on this forum -- I have 3 people from the forum email me, and at least 5 from outside this forum so we'll have a good variety of bulbs nonetheless. Of course, if there are still people on here who'd like to participate, please don't hesitate to email me and let me know! We're always looking for more people . . . more people just means more variety! I'll continue to post on here to keep everyone updated. One person suggested to me that the beginning of October may be too late in the year to plant new daylilies, especially in the colder zones of Canada . . . so if you'd like to request no daylilies, please just let me know! There are also those who enjoy receiving daylilies in the fall swap and ask for them, so at the same time, don't hesitate to send them in!