I no longer make massive purchases either - too many animals, especially deer, eating em. By the hundreds and hundreds. Of several multiple thousand planted since 2010, probably less than a hundred remained this past spring.

I only plant anything new, right near the house and will not likely put in much this year.

I did order some fall saffron crocus to plant now and enjoy next fall and some shorter Watsonia (36 ") to hold til spring (actually late winter pot indoors) and then pot up and keep them there and bring in pots over winter. I asked Dena the proprietor of Easytogrowbulbs if this would work in my zone and she thought it would. They have some good stuff and I have made multiple purchases from them. Great and helpful customer service. They do have some specials now.

For mass purchases, I love van Engelen who I have had good dealings with since the mid 1980s. Over the years, I probably bought > 5,000 bulbs from them.

Kabby, I know a place that sells Globemaster for a very reasonable price and that is where I bought mine two years ago, but it sadly will not help you as it's in Europe
I'm going to be the worst enabler ever and say that you should just go ahead and buy it even if you need to pay a little more and then dig and divide them every year as they basically will double in number every year if you do that. I LOVE Globemaster and I have yet to try an Allium that is longer blooming or showier. If there is one, someone please let me know

David, sorry to hear about the deer and other critters terrorising your bulbs - I know the feeling. We didn't use to have a deer problem here, but since I guess perhaps 10 years we do and as a consequence we had to change what we grow a lot Fortunately they don't eat lilies(yet) here but most of the more common bulbs such as tulips or crocus are impossible here without protection. Daffodils have never liked our sandy, dry soil - or so I thought - but three years ago I discovered the real reason for this by accidentally stepping on a mushy bulb and found a narcissus bulb fly larvae. They have probably been here for decades, so now the daffodils need protection as well .

This is part of the reason I like to try a lot of different bulbs, the taste of deer varies from location so much that one never know what they will eat or not.

William, do you lift Globemaster each year like tulips? I have had large alliums dwindle and disappear in the past, do you treat them like tulips to encourage longevity?

Neal, no I don't dig all of the Globemasters each year, but I have dug some of them up and divided them to check on their health and how large the bulbs have grown.
What can I say, I'm curious! Those that were divided every year was much larger than those that were left to form a clump.

I haven't stored them dry over the summer and I don't think it's necessary here. However the soil here is pure sand on a slope and we have some 25 feet down to the ground water and also very mature pine trees sucking up all extra moisture. Even in a heavily amended garden bed it never gets particularly wet in most places. That said I have grown Globemaster in a spot that is pretty dry, even for my conditions. This year I have planted a few where they will get a bit more moisture and I will see how that goes. Storing them dry over summer or perhaps in dry sand would for sure be a great idea if one was unsure over the local conditions!!!

This year I have had Allium Ambassador in the garden and despite being planted in the driest, most sunlit area I have, I noticed some rot on some of them when digging and dividing in early September. This could be the heritage from Allium giganteum which supposedly is a bit sensitive to summer moisture, or it could have been something that have been nibbling on the bulbs and introduced rot. Some union flies and other pests can supposedly attack ornamental unions as well, so it can be good to be aware of this possibility. If they survive to next year, I plan to lift them for summer

Before the deer invasion we let the tougher tulip types (darwin hybrids and Tulipa tarda was the best) naturalise here and they did very well without lifting, growing and multiplying every year as the soil is so well drained. They even sawed themself around to a small extent. One thing to watch out for in our climate is Botrytis blight and looking back I suspect that this was what really killed the less vigorous tulips here, not summer moisture. Summer lifting and discarding suspicious bulbs helps control this as they are replanted in fresh soil, free of sclerotia infected debris. Also of course many tulips are bred specifically to multiply and this is the best for the tulip grower who wants to sell his crop, but for us trying to have them in the garden it's not ideal as all we get is a lot of leaves, but no bloom, as the tulips breaks up in many small bulbs!!!

With annual lifting I noticed that some of the old fashioned large Darwin hybrids produce very big bulbs, 16cm+, on a regular basis, so no wonder they are survivors. This however hasn't been true for van Eijk (a small Darwin hybrid) that is prone to breaking up in small bulbs here (it could be excellent in other conditions for all I know) .

The soil here is heavy with a high clay content. Loamy and dark, but with enough clay to make it heavy and sticky when wet. Probably not the best for encouraging perennializing of large alliums...

Neal and William,
I have clay soil also and my Globe Master alliums didnt last more than 2 years.
I also planted Silver Spring,one season for them,They were expensive too

Alliums really need well drained soil and full sun.

My alliums have started slowly disappearing in my heavy, moisture-retentive clay soil.

Large alliums like Globemaster have been the shortest-surviving type for me. Now that I'm thinking about it, Schubertii was the shortest-lived variety. It didn't come back at all the second year!

This year I'm trying Allium 'Ivory Queen' for the first time.

That is very true, Jo Ann, and clay soil is indeed very bad for many bulbs. My only suggestion for Alliums and other sensitive bulbs in those conditions would be to try a raised bed filled with nothing but coarse sand. This way the drainage would be perfect and it would even be possible for the roots to go down in the clay for moisture and extra nutrition. Some extra fertilizer would still be needed in those conditions.

William - sound like a heck of a challenge!!

Our "soil" here is referred to as gumbo. Much of it is very heavy clay. Any created bed must be dug deeply and amended heavily. If you just dig a hole and drop in a tulip it ain't gonna make it.

I did forget to mention something above. I enjoy the "original" tulips sometimes referred to as species or botanicals. They do lack the size and pizazz of all the hybrids but where I have them planted, I have not noticed any deer problems.

I don't remember who asked before if I lifted my bulbs and replanted (maybe it was @gemini_sage). I forgot til now and I just remembered the question.

I have Multiple Sclerosis and it would be too much for me, so I never have and/or will to do it. I'm lucky if I have a long, cool, dry and sunny fall to be able to take the time to admen our Kentucky clay soil every year and dig down and plant the bulbs. If we have a hot or very warm fall, which we had before, then I'm going to have problems with the fall bulbs.

This fall has been nothing, but rain, since last Tuesday and every day with strong Northeast winds to make it even colder and blustry. Today is the first day of sun since last Monday or before.

It look likes we're suppose to have dry and sunny conditions with temps in the 70''s this week.

No, wasn't me asking, Marilyn, I think it maybe was Neil? However I'm sorry to hear about your health problems and hope that you take care of yourself and try to not to take on too much. Sometimes we want more than our health and other circumstances allows us.

Marilyn, Amen.
Advancing years and ailments are cutting into my gardening chores too.
Just planted a dozen daffs.It made me realize I need help for the other 80 or so.
Any digging is parsed out for economy of movement.
DD helps with the bigger deeper holes for lilies.

I live where the soil is arguably some of the best in the world. Mount Everest has flourished over a decade in the same spot, another victor is Purple Sensation (A. aflatunense), also chives, A. bulgaricum, A. atropurpureum, and the drumstick allium. A. schubertii may last two years, but not reliably, same with azureum and karataviense. Summer Drummer, the most recent planted has survived a couple of years but never attained it's purported great height. Allium Mars didn't last long. I've never planted Globemaster, though I probably should. The little alliums were fleetingly of short duration while the wild onion, A. mutabile has been where it is for many years but blooms appear only some years

William said:No, wasn't me asking, Marilyn, I think it maybe was Neil?

I think you're right about it being Neal and I edited my previous post to show his name.

William said:However I'm sorry to hear about your health problems and hope that you take care of yourself and try to not to take on too much. Sometimes we want more than our health and other circumstances allows us.

Thanks @William!

I sometimes worry that I'll order (and buy locally) too many bulbs early and then wonder and worry if I'll be able to do everything I need to do in the fall to be able to plant the bulbs with my MS.

Fall is usually my best season with my health that I can do things in the garden. With the cooler temps and cooler winds it helps me, but then the sun sets earlier and earlier, as the fall progresses, so it makes for shorter daylight days to get things done.

jmorth said:I live where the soil is arguably some of the best in the world. Mount Everest has flourished over a decade in the same spot, another victor is Purple Sensation (A. aflatunense), also chives, A. bulgaricum, A. atropurpureum, and the drumstick allium. A. schubertii may last two years, but not reliably, same with azureum and karataviense. Summer Drummer, the most recent planted has survived a couple of years but never attained it's purported great height. Allium Mars didn't last long. I've never planted Globemaster, though I probably should. The little alliums were fleetingly of short duration while the wild onion, A. mutabile has been where it is for many years but blooms appear only some years

Lucky, lucky you!

Sure wish we had your soil here. It would make it a lot easier on me.

Great pics Jack.

I live on a peninsula that was made from the Alabama River flooding. Half of my property is river sand and the other half is mud that ended up being clay. Most of my gardening is on the sandy loam side but now I'm ready to expand to the clay.
Last yr was really my first yr into allium, daffs, muscari, crocus. Ambassador allium was great, drumsticks were slow but finally put on a show, azurem had foliage and one bloom. Ivory Queen was a no show.
@William I have 3 Globemasters already coming but I wanted to pick up some cheaper ones when everything goes on sale. I'm glad they did well for you.

Yep Marilyn, that was me wondering if you dig your tulips. Some folks plant annuals where their tulips grow and are digging the spot anyway, so its no extra trouble. I couldn't recall if that's what you did or not. I've done that in some spots, but the majority here don't get dug either. Hope the weather and MS symptoms allow for lots of fun digging this fall! I'm so happy to see the sun today- I've been playing in the dirt for a few hours

Neal,

I thought the soil was too wet to dig with all the rainy days we've had, so I didn't. Maybe I should've tried.

I'm on a hilltop that drains well, but it was a bit wet because the soil here is pretty heavy. Surprisingly it wasn't too muddy though. The digging was dividing Japanese Irises, and that is best done while they're good and moist. They're all in buckets of water now and will be re-planted today.