After a few years of trying to order bulbs from catalogs and getting
VERY poor results, I went to gardenwatchdog and found that most EVERY
catalog that I get has a ton of negatives from people complaining
about moldy bulbs, mislabeled bulbs, tiny bulbs, and poor growth
rates. Last year I planted a small patch of bulbs I got at my local
Frank's, and they all grew beautifully this year.

I have to wonder, what are these companies thinking? How is it that
they are allowed to operate? Why doesn't a corporate officer for one
of these companies say, "Holy cow, we have to DO something about our
product quality!"

Some of the companies are, but not limited to:

Michigan Bulb
Gurney's
Breck's
Dutch Gardens
Brent & Becky's Bulbs
Wayside

It would appear that some companies are actually the SAME, they just
start a separate "division" doing business as a different name, I
would guess to try to hide their poor reputation? But then they still
continue to perform poorly!

The BIGGEST question I have is, where are the BEST places online to
order bulbs? I'm mainly interested in Tulips and Daffodils
(Narcissus).

I ordered tulips and hyacinths from John Scheepers last year, and I was VERY
pleased with the results this spring. HUGE blooms, great prices and
variety.

http://www.johnscheepers.com/

Lori

Interesting list - I've had very good success with bulbs from both
Wayside and Dutch Gardens. Wouldn't touch Michigan Bulb with a ten
foot pole. Also try White Flower Farm (www.whitflowerfarm.com) or
Van Bourgondien (www.dutchbulbs.com).

A lot depends on determining exactly what the bulbs need and putting
them in the right places in your garden. I lost a lot of tulip bulbs
until I realized that they want a wet winter and a dryish summer.
Once I planted them in an area that tends to dry out fast, I've had
them last and spread for 4 - 5 years (which is a typical life span for
a tulip). Hyacinth like it to be a bit wetter, but none like it real
wet. Alliums hate clay soil, daffodils thrive in amended clay, etc.
etc.

HTH

On Mon, 01 Sep 2003 18:14:21 -0400, Vicki H
wrote:

After a few years of trying to order bulbs from catalogs and getting
VERY poor results, I went to gardenwatchdog and found that most EVERY
catalog that I get has a ton of negatives from people complaining
about moldy bulbs, mislabeled bulbs, tiny bulbs, and poor growth
rates. Last year I planted a small patch of bulbs I got at my local
Frank's, and they all grew beautifully this year.

I have to wonder, what are these companies thinking? How is it that
they are allowed to operate? Why doesn't a corporate officer for one
of these companies say, "Holy cow, we have to DO something about our
product quality!"

Some of the companies are, but not limited to:

Michigan Bulb
Gurney's
Breck's
Dutch Gardens
Brent & Becky's Bulbs
Wayside

It would appear that some companies are actually the SAME, they just
start a separate "division" doing business as a different name, I
would guess to try to hide their poor reputation? But then they still
continue to perform poorly!

The BIGGEST question I have is, where are the BEST places online to
order bulbs? I'm mainly interested in Tulips and Daffodils
(Narcissus).

If you look at these different companies on Gardenwatchdog, you see
that most of them show the exact same trends... nothing but positive
replies for one year, say 1999, and then a bunch of negatives start at
relatively the same time, mostly around 2001-2002.

I'm just speculating here... I think most of these companies import
their stocks from The Netherlands, probably from the same suppliers.
So, the quality of the stock is dependant on the quality of the
shipments from the Netherlands. I'm betting these bulbs aren't put on
a plane and overnighted. They probably come by boat, and I'll bet they
spend weeks in boxes. If they sit around in hot and humid places, they
can get soft and moldy.

Last year, I ordered 5 Decoy Daffodil bulbs from Breck's. I ordered
them in June. They arrived in September, and they were HUGE double
bulbs, very firm with great color, and they ended up growing GREAT,
with foliage that outlasted all of the other daffodils I saw planted
by neighbors. HOWEVER, after I planted these 5, I looked at the area
and thought, "You know, I could fit 10 more of them in there." So, I
went online late in September and ordered another 10 from Breck's.
They arrived in a couple of weeks, and the quality was AWFUL. The
bulbs were soft, many moldy, and most were very light, like they were
just husks and hollow inside. I planted them anyway, and not one of
these 10 grew. SO, it may have to do with WHEN YOU ORDER.

If you can find a place that raises and produces bulbs HERE in the
USA, you probably will get much better quality. ALternatively, if you
can find an importer that actually INSPECTS the product and SORTS OUT
bad bulbs, that should be good as well.

I hear vanengelen.com / johnscheepers.com (they are sister companies)
are pretty good. I looked them up on Gardenwatchdog and they are one
of the few bulb vendors with no negative comments (yet anyway).


Vicki H wrote:

I have to wonder, what are these companies thinking? How is it that
they are allowed to operate? Why doesn't a corporate officer for one
of these companies say, "Holy cow, we have to DO something about our
product quality!"

Some of the companies are, but not limited to:

Michigan Bulb
Gurney's
Breck's
Dutch Gardens
Brent & Becky's Bulbs
Wayside

On Mon, 1 Sep 2003 19:55:19 -0400, "~ Lori ~" ljadkins@keep yer
junkmail.comcast.net wrote:
I ordered tulips and hyacinths from John Scheepers last year, and I was VERY
pleased with the results this spring. HUGE blooms, great prices and
variety.

http://www.johnscheepers.com/
Lori
I've had good results from Scheepers for a few years now.

Swyck

I have had fantastic luck with Schleepers. the retail division of Van B

fran wrote:
Van Bourgondien (www.dutchbulbs.com).


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

yeah, them... LOL. cant spell.

"~ Lori ~" ljadkins@keep yer junkmail.comcast.net wrote:

I ordered tulips and hyacinths from John Scheepers last year, and I was VERY
pleased with the results this spring. HUGE blooms, great prices and
variety.

http://www.johnscheepers.com/

Lori




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Pelvis Popcan wrote:
I hear vanengelen.com / johnscheepers.com (they are sister companies)
are pretty good. I looked them up on Gardenwatchdog and they are one
of the few bulb vendors with no negative comments (yet anyway).


I have ordered from them for the last couple of years and I
have been very happy with the quality of the bulbs I have
received. I intend to order my bulbs from them this year
too. Their prices may not be as low as some of your local
discount stores but you get what you pay for.
--
Bill R. (Ohio Valley, U.S.A)

Digital Camera: HP PhotoSmart 850

For pictures of my garden visit http://members.iglou.com/brosen

Remove NO_WEEDS_ in e-mail address to reply by e-mail

Vicki H wrote:

After a few years of trying to order bulbs from catalogs and getting
VERY poor results, I went to gardenwatchdog and found that most EVERY
catalog that I get has a ton of negatives from people complaining
about moldy bulbs, mislabeled bulbs, tiny bulbs, and poor growth
rates. Last year I planted a small patch of bulbs I got at my local
Frank's, and they all grew beautifully this year.

I have to wonder, what are these companies thinking? How is it that
they are allowed to operate? Why doesn't a corporate officer for one
of these companies say, "Holy cow, we have to DO something about our
product quality!"

Some of the companies are, but not limited to:

Michigan Bulb
Gurney's
Breck's
Dutch Gardens
Brent & Becky's Bulbs
Wayside

It would appear that some companies are actually the SAME, they just
start a separate "division" doing business as a different name, I
would guess to try to hide their poor reputation? But then they still
continue to perform poorly!

The BIGGEST question I have is, where are the BEST places online to
order bulbs? I'm mainly interested in Tulips and Daffodils
(Narcissus).

Van Engelen [www.vanengelen.com] for large volumes; John
Scheepers [www.johnscheepers.com] for small. These are actually
two divisions of the same company; one's for wholesale, the other
retail. I've never had a complaint about ANYTHING I've gotten
from them.

Chris Owens




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