On Mon, 19 May 2003 20:35:18 GMT, ellie clemens
wrote:

Last fall I planted some narcissus bulbs that I think are a type I've
been searching for for many years. I saw them in a friend's garden, she
gave me bulbs, and I was eagerly awaiting their flowering to see if they
had the same scent as the ones from long ago in my mother's garden.
Well, this past weekend a so called garden service came in to clear out
some old beds, and they attacked this one - which was supposed to be off
limits - and the idiot of a guy ripped the leaves off of all my
narcissus. Along with some very expensive daylilies but that's another
rant. Well, since he was such an idiot he also didn't know that weeding
entails pulling up roots, so all he did was rip off the tops of all the
things he savaged. So here I am with these narcissus bulbs lurking
there underground somewhere. Obviously, I could just let them stay
there and wait until next year. But I'm moving to a new house and was
planning on taking these bulbs. So should I dig them up now or wait to
see if they put up some leaves? Don't know how the poor things are
going to survive without any leaves at all....

Note to all -- get some references and *call* before hiring anyone for
yard work. Easy to say; not so easy to remember when a touring circus
offers to clean everything up. The advantage of engaging a licensed
business is that you have some (small) chance of reparation.

Let's hope your Narcissis had gotten enough sun and growth to sustain
'em. I would leave them as long as possible, hoping for a little
renewed growth, and marking the area for digging up when you move. A
not-so-knowledgable but careful service I had years ago very kindly
presented me with a box of the (done blooming) bulbs they'd
encountered. All those did splendidly, as did the ones shifted around
but left more or less in place.