I am probably in the exact same zone as you are, because I live right on the top of 8A or at the bottom of 7b. Though I don't live in the desert. Are you in the Southwest? Anyway, Here's the deal for our area. Tulips and hyacinths need more winter chill than you can ever give them. Put them into the refrigerator right now (but NOT in a drawer with fruit! Fruit gives off a gas that will kill the blooms) Mark your calendar for 6 to 8 weeks from when you put them in the refrigerator. At that time, regardless of the weather, take them out and plant them. You can plant daffodils, crocus, and iris NOW or as late as New Year's Day. Honest!!! They may come up if we start getting rain and it starts to get colder. But if they do, don't worry. They will stay green all winter until it's time to bloom on schedule. I often have bulbs in my yard coming up at Thanksgiving time, but they know it's too soon to bloom and they don't until it's time. Now, the time they bloom for us is going to be earlier than for folks who live up north. My first daffodils are usually blooming in early to mid February, but that is normal for our climate. You also need to know that your pre-chilled bulbs may very well come up and bloom almost immediately once you plant them outside, especially the tulips. This is a good thing and a bad thing. Good, because the blooms will last way longer in the cool of our winter. Bad, if you want them to bloom, say, at Easter. So, time your planting accordingly. Keep them in the refrigerator an extra month or so, if you want to. The amazing thing about bulbs is how versatile they are. Have fun! If you have some failures, you'll learn from them and do better next year. Finally you need to know that your tulips will not bloom again after this year. End of story. You are essentially forcing them to bloom and they will NOT like our climate. So, come spring, dig them up (the leaves will come back next year and make you feel like a failure when they don't bloom, but it's not your fault). They are cheap, so if you love them, get some new ones next year, put them in the fridge and proceed again. Daffodils should do well for you and return, even naturalize, if you choose the right kinds. You will need to do some internet and library research to find out which kinds those are. But, no matter what kind you have now, they should return at least a few years before they decline and die (or live and flourish). Crocus are the same way.

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

Hi Bette, If you are talking about tall bearded iris rhizomes, they must be in the ground about six weeks before the first hard frost. Otherwise you are better off waiting until spring and buying plants in flower at the nursery if you want blooms. I don't know your climate, but I would imagine it is too late this year. Iris usually bloom the spring after they are planted. Renee

Hi High alt, I definitely second the motion to plant them now! Fall is a GREAT time for planting. The only real negative is the fact that you have to wait all winter to see for sure if they'll come up in spring, but most of them will---and they'll be so-o-o far ahead of where they'd be if you waited till spring that it's worth possibly loosing an occasional plant. Anytime the soil's not frozen the roots will be growing! And with Achillea--which is virtually indestructible--I'd be amazed if they died overwinter. As Charlene says, be sure they're well watered when you put them in, and after that be careful that you don't keep them too wet. There's some Achillea millefolium growing in an isolated area by the Kmart I go to and it is NEVER watered or taken care of in any way (it's a Kmart, after all!), and it just keeps going and going and going..... The only thing I'd be hesitant to plant in fall would be something that's only marginally hardy in our zone. I still have some things in pots I bought earlier this year that I never had time to put in that I hope to get planted yet, and in terms of mulch, I don't plan to do anything once they're planted. I do have bark mulch around all my perennials to make it look nice and help conserve moisture, but I won't be adding anything else that's actually on top of the plants. With some plants--especially ones that like it dry or are in any way a succulent type of plant--the crown can stay too wet if there's not enough air circulation, and they could rot out. If you do decide to mulch over the top, be sure it's something that allows free air circulation. One word of caution--be sure whatever you're planting is thoroughly hardened off if it will be cold for the first few nights after you plant it. Or else wait till we warm again and you know it will be warm for the first several nights before it gets really cold again---that way they'll harden off naturally as the temps drop once it's in the ground. You especially need to be sure you harden off things you get in the mail since you don't know what conditions they've been in before they were shipped. The plants you have sitting outside in pots I'd just leave out there! If they've been out there for over a week now, they've been exposed to some pretty cold temps and should be well enough hardened off to be just fine. If you move them inside, they'll just need to be hardened off all over again. I'm not familiar with Coreopsis 'Autumn Blush." Is that one listed as z5 or colder? Some of the newer Coreopsis's (sp?--Coreopsi!!!) are not reliably hardy. I hope that one is--it sure sounds pretty! Happy gardening, Skybird P.S. Charlene, good luck with your "little sticks!" I LOVE your descriptions!