I am going bulbs crazy recently!
Living in South Florida, I know I can not grow those bulbs popular up north, such as Tulips, Iris, Alliums, Hyacinth, Crocus and Daffodils. After having read my fellow Floridians' blogs for a while and the information from the Internet, I found we also have our fair choices of "tropical bulbs".
After failing to find those bulbs in the local nurseries, I turn to "Wild World Web", and luckily found lots of them. To avoid paying high shipping cost for each individual item, I had to order in batches. I know it is a little risky considering I almost had no experience with growing bulbs. But this is a risk I am willing and can not resist to take.
Here are the list I ordered so far. Some have arrived, and some are still on the way... Can not wait to receive them all!
For my own record, I borrowed the pictures from those sale sites to go with each item:
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| Ranunculus asiaticus (20 bulbs/roots, mixed colors) |
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| Sparaxis tricolor (50 bulbs, mixed colors) |
I seem have not seen much Floridians are growing the above two, but since they are marked for "Zone 10", I decided to give them a try.
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| SHAMROCK OXALIA BULBS (5 bulbs) |
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| PEACOCK IRIS ORCHARD LILY ( 2 bulbs) |
I lost my only Daylily in the summer, so this new purchased one will be my another lonely Daylily. It is said to be evergreen and suitable for planting in South. We will see...
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| RASPBERRY daylily ( 1 fan) |
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| WHITE RAIN LILY (2 bulbs) |
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| white spider lily ( 1 bulb) |
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| Red Spider Lily (5 bulbs) |
These crinum Lily bulbs are marked as blooming sizes, hope this means I can see the flowers in the near future. The flowers are supposed to be huge. It would be a gorgeous view when they are blooming!
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| Ellen Bosanquet Crinum Lily ( 5 blooming size bulbs) |
The following pink spider lily was marked as "Rare". Anybody is planting this same one?
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| Pink Spider Lily ( 1 bulb) |
When I visited one of big box stores this weekend, I surprisingly found they have Amaryllis bulbs for sale for $3.98 each! The bulbs are in nice size. Usually this size of Amaryllis bulb could cost about $10. I bought one "Apple Blossom", and one "Oskar", and think I should go back to grab more before they are all gone.
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| Apple Blossom |
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| Oskar Amaryllis |
Today I planted some of arrived bulbs, and expecting the rest of them arriving in the next two weeks. I am curious to see how all these would perform in our climate and my garden. I know some of them may even not bloom for several years. So, I would practice my patience, and learn to be a patient gardener.
Any Floridian who have grown these bulbs, I welcome you offer any tips/experience/lessons learned. I will also periodically update the progress of these bulbs.
I will continue searching for the bulbs that are great for our climate and hopefully buy more when pocket allows... Am I being bulbs crazy?
You have a lovely selection there. I particularly like the pink and red spider lillies. The white spider lilly is quite common here and grows quite big, but I have never seen the coloured one. I will be following along as this year none of my amarylis have flowered and I am not sure why!
ReplyDeleteWow! That's quite a shopping spree! I've never grown a few of those, so I'll look forward to seeing your updates.
ReplyDelete'Ellen Bosanquet' is a fave of mine, as you might have noticed. The Peruvian daffodil you show is a bulb I planted two of last fall, but they failed to bloom this year for me. The foliage came in beautifully this fall though. Probably not big enough yet. I have white rain lilies also, which weren't very floriferous this year, though they bloomed prettily last year. Jury's still out on those.
Of course, amaryllis and daylilies are awesome! I also think the native spider lilies, blood lilies, and belladonna lilies are good Florida bulbs. Oh, almost forgot, I just bought a clivia today!!! Can't wait to see how that one does, as it's one I don't see too often.
P.S. Bulbs are so much fun! It's only fair that we get to plant them too.
You will be happy with your bulbs, they are very rewarding plants to grow as they steadily increase and make you more plants free of charge.
ReplyDeleteI grow many of the ones you have chosen. It also adds great interest to the garden and it is lovely to see them emerge and finally flower.
I know what you mean...it is so hard to be a patient gardener. You have some really pretty ones to look forward to in the spring! I don't have many bulbs in the ground right now, however I bought some more to plant. You are not bulb crazy...bulb smart!
ReplyDeleteWow, if these all grow and bloom for you, you are going to have some beautiful additions to your already lovely gardens.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the planting and the expectation of your spring gardens bursting into bloom.
FlowerLady
You must have had a lot of fun picking out those bulbs! Hope they all do well for you. I've not seen or heard of the first two but that doesn't mean anything. Their zone 10 designation is a good sign. I might try some day lilies this year...
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited that I get to see these bulbs come up in your garden! Most of them will do well, but I'm curious to see what happens to the ranunculus since I think zone 10 is an exaggeration. I love the spider lilies, and the rain lilies are wonderful naturalized in a lawn!
ReplyDeleteafricanaussie: I loved all the spider lillies shown other people's blogs, now I can not wait for mine to bloom someday :) This will also be my first year to grow amarylis, excited!
ReplyDeleteFG: Ellen Bosanquet looks gorgeous in the picture, and I remember you also have several crinium lillies in your garden, and those flowers are just unresistable!
ReplyDeleteThe bulbs I bought some are claimed as "bloom size", some are not. I hope I don't need to wait too long to see any flowers.
Thanks for other ideas of tropical bulbs! I know I will be watching those too!
How wonderful you got the clivia! I remember lots of people in China love to grow this plant. I would be very interested to see hot it goes in your garden.
Titania: It would be great to see them grow and expand. Before that I hope at least they can survive and bloom for me :) It is always exciting to try something new.
ReplyDeleteAmy: Hehe, I know I NOT a real patient gardener, but I just have to learn to be one. Sometimes to wait for a plant to bloom for months, even years made that plant more precious :) Actually my friend gave me some Amaryllis seeds earlier this year. I planted them, but I heard that I might have to wait for THREE years for them to grow big enough to bloom. So I can not wait to buy two mature ones for now! hehe...
ReplyDeleteFlowerlady: Thanks! I certainly hope all those bulbs can bloom for me someday! It is always fun to experiment.
ReplyDeleteNanaK:
ReplyDeleteI bought the first two before I discovered other Florida-friendly bulbs. So, even they are marked for zone 10, I am not sure how they will do in our climate. No floridians are growing them are NOT a good sign. Well, we will see. But I am very excited to try all other bulbs since they seem love our hot humid weather just fine.
RFG: I checked the places where people grow ranunculus, seems some California zone 10 people are growing it. But CA zone 10 again is different from FL zone 10. So I just have to see. Fortunately, ranunculus roots are not very expensive, so I won't endure too big of loss if they fail :)
ReplyDeleteI am FL zone 8...ranunculus performed wonderfully for me last year. The test will be to see if they come back up this year. Spider lilies do not normally bloom their first year when I transplant them. Crinums are also very popular here. You have some great picks here, good luck!
ReplyDeleteHi Ami...Looks like you've got a bounty of bulbs arriving daily. It's always fun to try new plants in the garden. I've grown rain lilies, spider lilies, amaryllis and crinums successfully. Love that pink lily...very pretty. Good luck with your new bulbs.
ReplyDeleteDarla: yes, I remembered seeing the ranunculus on your blog post, and I loved it! Hope they can grow in my garden too, but I am also prepared if they don't :)
ReplyDeleteSusan: Thanks! I need all the lucks I can get to grow these bulbs! I probably need to wait for very long time to actual see the flowers if they eventually come!
ReplyDeleteHi Ami,
ReplyDeleteYou really are having fun with the WWW and all the options for bulbs. I love bulbs in general as they are so fun to plant and watch come up later. Can't wait to see how they all do for you.
Meems
Meems: Yes, bulbs are so much fun. It just add more interests into the garden, and it will be exciting when see the flowers emerging.
ReplyDeletePiękne kwiaty, piękne zdjęcia, gratuluję, pozdrawiam :)
ReplyDeleteYes you are going bulb crazy, but soonest we will be the ones to be crazy admiring your flowers. That is quite a lot and will be occupying a lot of space. And i can imagine the outcome. Good luck and we will be anticipating.
ReplyDeleteI too have gone crazy over bulbs.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I get too impatient when I don't see the blooms.
So, its a season thing. Do enjoy the most when the flowers come for its certainly very rewarding to find one.
Hi Ami,
ReplyDeleteI am excited to see what grows for you and what doesn't. Like you, we are somewhat limited as to what type of bulbs grow here as well. I have seen ranunculus and rain lily do well in our area. Good Luck!
Bulbs do have lovely flowers. I have some bulbs in my garden but they are not flowering yet. I'll be looking forward to your bulb growing adventures.
ReplyDeleteHey Amy. I would really like to buy and plant some pink spider lilies. Where can I buy these bulbs? Thanks, Brandie
ReplyDeleteHi…I just found this and I was wondering how your ranunculus did down here?? I would love to get some…I just planted a bunch of bulbs..the first were freesias, which are coming up quite nicely so far!
ReplyDelete