On 9/21/11 1:06 PM, mkr5000 wrote:
Indiana. I forgot to mention, on top of everything else, this soil is
very dry. I'm within a mile of a large river, maybe that's
characteristic if soil near one, dry and even "rocky" here and
there.

Dry, shade, snow in winter, possibly shallow soil. Instead of bulbs,
you might try hardy perennials. I can't recommend any because your
climate is too different from mine.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary