The Lucky 260

Do you believe in luck? I don't but perhaps what I do believe in - fate, karma, Divine intervention - is simply luck under a different name. Earlier this week a farm and garden catalog from a company on the west coast arrived advertising Fall Bulbs   Plant these bulbs NOW ! Plant bulbs in January?? In Virginia? No way!  I dialed our local garden center to determine the insanity of the claim as I mentally stuffed my front garden with daffodils. I knew their bulbs were 50% off but had assumed it was simply a ruse to get rid of inventory.

I ws quickly informed that while it was too late to plant tulips, daffodils and several other bulbs that don't require extended winter chill periods were guaranteed to grow even if planted this close to February. It was all the encouragement I needed. I raced home from a dentist appt, accidentally ran a stop sign (behind a grocery store in an empty parking lot so I don't think it counts), and according to my daughter, although I dispute this claim, nearly ran over a five year old in the grocery store. By the time I was on the road she was yelling, "Quit thinking about daffodils! Mom, you're crazy!" That part is undisputable.

200 daffodils and 72 purple Dutch iris were waiting in a bag in the garage. 125+ science projects, 30 tests, and files bursting with student work lay slumped across the kitchen table. In the house, up the stairs, and out of my work clothes I raced. Clad in a hoodie and holey jeans held up with an old belt, I charged into the garage, grabbed the bulbs, and was off. Dinner and grading could wait. It's January and I had bulbs to plant!! Thank you, Unwinter!!

I exended this narrow bed by three feet and filled it with daffodils and Dutch iris. The area around the black light pole is filled with pink and white naked lady lilies. I bought 272 bulbs but by the time I took out a few duds, I had 260 left. I need to finish extending the rest of this bed, but that will have to wait.

These iris will grow to about 22 inches tall and are planted in drifts in the middle of the bed.

The front garden already has about a 100 daffodils and possibly a few tulips mixed in with the daylilies and near the dormant lespedeza. I love the surprise factor of buying bags of mixed varieties. I can hardly wait to see what grows!  I bought one bag of the variety below because that's all they had and six bags of the rock garden mix.

Disclaimer: No five year olds were harmed during these exploits. They simply don't jog as fast as I do requiring me to maneuver around them and their sparkly yellow purses.