I zipped over to Lowe's cuz of mad's reminder that bulbs are half price,
and I suddenly need a thousand or so relatively common bulbs for a
landscaping job this coming week. These aren't for me, they'll be planted
at the place I'll be working on a lot next spring & a little right now. I
have a budget so it isn't an option to buy the expensive semi-rarities I'd
get for myself.

I didn't find anything at Lowes that I could use, & at 50% discount Van
Engelen Bulbs is still wayyyyy cheaper for most things. But on the way to
Lowes I also checked in at Fred Meyer to see what they had on sale, &
their already-cheap bags of 100 each of basic narcissi now at 40% off were
way cheaper than even Van Engelen whose narcissi aren't so cheap even at
wholesale (because they don't stock the super-common types sold in chain
nurseries). Also a bag of 100 muscaris at 40% brought them down to about
Van Engelen's price so I got those. So I got several big bags of bulbs for
a pittance, which will be added to a sizeable last-minute order from Van
Englelen which damn well better arrive immediately.

I also knew a source of C. hederifolium for $2.99 each quite mature.
Though fearing they'd already be sold out & no chance to reorder until
next autumn, I dashed off yesterday morning to Bainbridge & bought all
they had left, about a tray & a half is all, but enough to make one fairly
substantial area of cyclamens under a large evergreen. Tomorrow I'll be
digging shallow pits & working in compost & planting large drifts of
cyclamens, narcissi, & grape hyacinths, & when the Van Engelen order
arrives, adding hundreds of crocuses & siberian scilla & botanical tulips
& two more kinds of grape hyacinths -- plus I piggybacked a couple things
for last-minute for myself, including a dwarf Iris tuberosa, & may keep
like a dozen of the 'Blue Magic' muscari, but mainly for once it was fun
to order a bunch of stuff knowing it ain't my money. I do wish the job had
been firmed up & budgeted eight weeks ago, I could've gotten such cool
crocuses that are already out of stocks now, but the fewer to choose from
now are spiffy enough.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com