LOL Kabby! If you wait for the fall sales, you can get some really good deals, but don't feel pressured to buy the tulips now, unless there's something you really want, which may not be available then.

I got some tulips at a few places during the Fall sales a couple of years ago, but won't be doing that anymore. I'm zone 6a and by the time they arrived, I was planting in mid Dec. with "inches" of snow on the ground. I had to walk up and down on the slippery slope to the backyard many times during that day. I had dug the soil out a month before and stored it in our garage in trug tugs (that have handles).I was very cold and frozen when I got done late afternoon.

I've already emailed John Scheepers and asked if I could add to the madness, I mean order.

@gemini_sage I' m going to have to bring some pots of hedychium in this winter. I had too many rot last yr after being left outside. Should I leave them in their pots and let them go dormant or dig them out of the pot, allow to dry then place them in peat? Then bring the tub inside. Anyone can answer, I just want to keep as many as I can.

I think it would be best to leave them in the pots and let them go dormant. Some things dry too much if un-potted, and that dry soil around them seems to prevent it.

Thanks for the advice Neal it will be a new adventure.

May I ask here ? or should I start a new thread ?

What is the easiest and efficient way to plant 1000's of bulbs?

I am to put in tulips and lilies this fall for a large estate.

Tools ? technique ?

Cinda, I'd recommend the no dig method that is kinda like lasagna gardening. Cardboard is placed over the sod, then topped with 6-8" depth of compost or topsoil. Place the bulbs right on top, and cover with at least 8" of mulch. Check Brent and Becky's site for more details- they showed photos of the process in their catalog. This would work for tulips, but I don't think it would be so good for lilies. Lilies prefer to be planted deeper, and prefer some compost.

@gardengus

Yes, this would be the place to ask!

Besides @gemini_sage, @Newyorkrita and @Cem9165 have planted 1000's of bulbs before! All three would be your best bet for planting 1000's of bulbs. Rita got me started on digging 10 inch trenches a couple of falls ago. I've done that, as well as, dig 6 inch trenches too. It seems in the short and long run, to dig trenches for planting bunches of bulbs is better than to dig individual holes for bulbs. I hope they all chime in to give you their info for planting 1000's of bulbs. I'm still a 'newbie'.

I pretty much filled up my garden by planting each Fall on the thousands. Last year I did nothing and not planning any bulbs this year either.

I'm probably the only crazy one that plants the bulbs 1 by 1! I have red clay, so it's really hard to dig deep trenches here. In addition, I over plant in areas where I already have bulbs.

I would try the trench method, especially if you have large areas to plant. Neal's info about the lasagna method also sounds easier than the way I do it.

I have found the bulb dibber to be a very useful tool, I can plant 300 tulip bulbs with it in 1 day. I also use bags of composted manure, and Bulb Food when I plant the bulbs, and they come up and bloom beautifully every year.

@gardengus, how many bulbs do you have to plant?

I just placed my first bulb order, but it isn't for spring blooming bulbs- rather for autumn crocus. I had a little credit with Brent and Becky's I wanted to use, and I loved C. speciosus so much last year I knew I wanted to add more. I planted 50 last year, and just ordered 100 more, plus 100 C. speciosus 'Conqueror' that is described as having "very large, deep, sky blue flowers". I would normally wait to see how well they bloom the 2nd year, but I feel confident because they had a nice showing of spring foliage and I haven't seen any critter activity in the spot.

'Conqueror' will go in my "sky garden" of blues, white, and yellow. I just planted some yellow and white mums and periwinkle blue asters there this morning - it would be great to see them all in bloom together!

Thank you all for your responses ,I have been off a while . I am thinking the trench sounds like the best way for this place . I will be placing them a bit closer than recommended spacing.
I have tried the no dig at home here and found it successful, but I had less to put in .

I have ordered 1500 tulips a few hundred lilies ,a bunch of assorted allium and some daffodils.

The trench method will definitely be best for lilies since they like to be planted deeper, and probably daffodils too since the bulbs are often big. Planting the tulips closer than recommended is good too, since most of those don't return well anyway. We're going to need to see photos of this amazing display!

please share your pictures next spring.

I will try to get some photos next spring but this is not my house I am just doing an install for a client.

Annette no you're not crazy I do a bulb at a time with a bulb planter. I had an auger many yrs ago but it's gone the way of the dodo.
Neal good idea about planting tulips closer together since return rate might not be great. I am showing admirable restraint and waiting for the sales later in the season. I'm done with ordering anything else for fall.

It's great to wait on the sales Kabby, I have always liked the bulbs that I get at a discount. Van Engelen tends to have great sales later in the fall. It's great that I live further south, where the ground freezes later, and I can plant them in December, and sometimes early January.

Annette, I meant to mention that I end up planting most of mine one at a time too. My beds are already full of other plants, so the various options for planting a bunch at a time don't work. Last year I had made some beds larger and was able to do something similar to the trenching method for tulips from Colorblends purchased by the 100 (I say similar because I like irregular, amoebic shaped plantings with no straight lines). I'll be replanting all those this fall, but won't be able to do it the same way because I've scattered various perennials and some roses in those areas. I'll plant clumps of 10-20 bulbs here and there instead of masses, which I think I will like better. There's a formality to mass plantings that doesn't really suit my cottage style garden.