January weather go away. We have been so spoiled by a glorious fall up till now this year that the cold is hard to take.

@Marilyn,

I've planted 287 tulips so far. Twenty Parrot tulips were planted around the mailbox today, along with pansies.

The planting of the pansies on top of the bulbs has slowed down how many bulbs I can get planted daily. I've done 8 flats so far, along with 2 flats of snapdragons. I'm down to the last few plants, thank goodness.

Today I got all of my pots on my kitchen steps done. The bulbs went in yesterday, the pansies and snapdragons were put in today.

I'm just going to keep plugging away until all of the bulbs get planted😕

@Cem9165
Annette, snapdragons can take freezing temps.?????? I knew pansies could but I didn't know they could take *that* much that you would get where you are! If this is so, then I could do both here where I am.

Yes Ann, I plant them every fall for the past several years, and they've survived here. We've been in the 20's the past 2 nights, and the plants are still alive.

They're sold in a local nursery with buds and blooms, here for fall planting. They even survived through our 2 snow events last winter.

I did not know that either about the pansies and snapdragons for fall down south. And over planting the bulbs seems like a great idea. Even if it does take longer to get it all done.

Cem9165 said:Yes Ann, I plant them every fall for the past several years, and they've survived here. We've been in the 20's the past 2 nights, and the plants are still alive.

They're sold in a local nursery with buds and blooms, here for fall planting. They even survived through our 2 snow events last winter.

Wow, thanks Annette! I had no idea they would take that much punishment. I generally see them for sale here when winter is winding down at a time when we will still get hard frosts & maybe even a freeze or two but certainly not he kind of cold you get. I'm so happy to learn this. I can get seeds & grow my own & not have to worry about when the stores have them.

Glad you both found this information useful Rita and Ann.

We have always planted pansies in the fall, since we moved from FL to GA in 1996. It was only in the last 4 years that I started planting the snapdragons in the fall, part of my willy nilly gardening, and not paying attention to zone hardiness, and noticed that they survived. I occasionally have volunteer plants that show up, because I'm not good about deadheading the SD plants, and they've produced seed heads.

Here's a link with more info about the snapdragons.
http://msucares.com/news/print...

Rita, I love using the pansies as a base, for the tulips to grow up between and bloom through. This year I planted a pansy mix called "Blaze" that's full of plants that have yellow, dark red and orange tones. I thought this would be a good color echo for the tones of Moris Gudanov.

I have a few more areas to plant more tulips in the front garden, then it's off to the backyard to plant the rest of the bulbs.

If I planted pansy's and/or johnny jump ups in my garden, the wild rabbits would feast on them down to the ground. I'd only feel they would be safe in my big 24 inch containers. Don't think they'd be eaten then.

So are the snap dragons perennial where you are?
I have had the odd one go through a winter,-- if they are up near the house.

I've had snapdragons return for 3 or 4 years, but only a random plant here and there, and not the whole planting. I don't see them offered for fall planting here, I assume winters here are a bit too cold, but Pansies are regularly offered in the fall here. A lot of commercial plantings around here plant them in the fall upon removing summer annuals. It's a nice way to have something in the bed year round, and provides nice color till the tulips bloom!

Annette, I'm excited to see that combo- it will be gorgeous!

Marilyn, I've had that happen as well with the deer and rabbits. They also like tulip blooms as well.

I usually put landscape netting over the bed closest to the street where they like to dine. The squirrels and chipmunks also like to dig up my planted tulip and crocus bulbs, and that would also drive me nuts. I try to plant mini daffs around the tulips and other bulbs they like, and this seemed to have stopped that.

@Caroline, SD tend to look crazy in the summer, they don't like the heat.
I tend to pull them when I put my summer plants in. It's reported that if you cut them down, they're supposed to come back when the weather cools down.

Annette

To keep the critters from digging up my tulip bulbs, I use crushed oyster shells and that has seemed to worked. http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com... Don't think it deters them from the crocus bulbs, as I don't get as many blooming, as I did planted. Maybe I need to plant the crocus deeper.

Last Spring, the wild rabbits were eating my Tulipa humilis 'Violacea Black Base', so I figured that I'd plant tulips that bloom a little later than that one. Species Tulip (Tulipa humilis var. violacea 'Black Base') They didn't eat everyone (36) that I planted and hopefully, I see some blooming next Spring. Maybe I can plant that particular tulip in a different spot, instead.

What was the total # of bulbs you bought? I remember you stating you got hundreds from Colorblends. And I read that you bought some elsewhere. Can't wait to see pics of your bulbs next year!

Marilyn, from Colorblends I bought:

500 Moris Gudanov tulips
100 Akebono tulips
100 Parrot Blend tulips
100 N. Winston Churchill
100 H. City of Haarlem

From Walmart- for plant pots:
40 Darwin tulip blend
40 N. Golden Ducat

980 bulbs total. I'm looking forward to spring as well

I have planted hundreds of crocus bulbs over the years, as well as several tulip humilis varieties. I now see very few blooms, thanks to the critters. I had hoped that they would have naturalized, and created a nice carpet at the edge of my beds.

Annette, have you tried any Crocus tommasinianus varieties? I often read they're less attractive to rodents, but I don't how true that is. They're really nice and naturalize quickly, and many varieties are inexpensive, so they may be worth a try.

My bulb total this fall came close to last year, 2,161. I think I'm most excited about the tulips from Colorblends. This was my first time ordering from them.

Hi Neal,

I've planted 200 crocus t. Lilac Beauty in the past, I have very few left. I've also planted 100 Sieberi Tricolor, in addition to hundreds of the crocus giant mix, and also see very few of those as well. I have found many partially eaten bulbs in the past, at the edges of my beds, it really frustrating

That is frustrating! At least there are other early options that aren't so attractive to rodents, snow drops, winter aconites, Siberian squills, etc. I noticed one year that rabbits had eaten all the tops of a clump of Crocus in the garden, but hadn't touched any growing in the lawn. Not sure if it was because there was nothing else growing in that spot, or because it was near a large spruce where the bunnies could grab a quick snack before taking refuge under the boughs (and go unseen by the cats).

Pesky squirrels. They dug up crocus blubs I planted in the lawn on a slope near my driveway. But left all the other crocus planted around the garden alone. Year before they dug up every single one of my 500 crocus that I planted in my southside rose garden.

The next year I replanted in that same rose garden and mulched over right away. That way they did not see the soil disturbed so did not realize there were bulbs there.

Neal

Can't wait to see pics of your tulips and other bulbs next year!

What Colorblend tulip mixes did you get?

Every year, the wild rabbits chew off the crocus leaves and flowers here also.

Yep, they're so cute but such destructive, munching little devils

We had so much rain last night, it washed out part of my newly planted street bed

I found my some of my new tulip bulbs exposed, and there's no telling how many bulbs washed away. I also found some crocus bulbs that had been washed up. Theses were planted amongst some mini daffs last fall. There's no telling what this bed will now look like when spring arrives😔