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?