• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Home Garden Joy
  • Home
  • How to Garden
    • Seed Starting
    • Plant Profiles
    • Tools & Equipment
    • Raised Bed Gardening
  • Vegetables
  • Fruit
  • Herbs
  • About
    • Books & Classes
      • Herbalism Classes
      • Books for Christian Herbalists
      • Privacy Policy

Over 400 Spring Bulbs to Plant

October 19, 2009 by Jeanne

That’s not a typo. We bought 430 spring bulbs to plant around Seven Oaks.

Many years ago, I got a book out of the library filled with landscaping ideas. One glossy color photo captured our attention. It showed an orchard of apple trees. Planted among the floweirng apples trees were daffodils, grape hyacinth, crocus…a living carpet of yellow, purple, white, buzzing with bees while the dainty pink apple blossoms swayed above.

We were absolutely captivated by that image, and we wanted to recreate it when we finally could. Now’s our chance…

Last year, I planted just about a dozen King Alfred bulbs in the orchard. A few came up. This photo is from last year (the one above is from Morguefile – but what we aspire to!)

According to the book, the spring flowers flourish in the orchard. Sunlight nurtures them until the trees leaf out, and by the time the grass grows high enough to need mowing, the bulbs are finished for the year.

So that is what was are doing here.

We bought 100 King Alfred Daffodils, and 100 of a professional landscaping mix for naturalizing. We bought 100 crocus and another 100 grape hyacinths.

And the remaining 30?

I love tulips. I can’t be without them. Fifteen mixed pastel tulips will be planted near the deck, alongside 15 mixed color hyacinths for their heavenly smell.

The deer love to graze in our orchard, and ever night, the mama deer with the crooked leg and her two almost-grown fawns graze among the apple trees. We picked the daffodils for the wide open areas for the most important reason: they’re deer resistant!

Now on to planting them….I wonder how long that’s going to take?!

So what does 400+ bulbs look like? Like this!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Previous Post: « Praying Mantis
Next Post: Awe »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Liz

    October 19, 2009 at

    I’m in a similar situation, bought a lot of bulbs… So far I’ve got through almost 200 of them with plenty more still to go… Not sure if I’ll manage it and no doubt will give some away!

    Good luck with your planting 🙂

  2. Sylvana

    October 19, 2009 at

    A great naturalizer are the Tete-a-Tete daffodils. I bought a few four packs one year and within three years I had over 10 times the amount that I started with! Grape hyacinths and squill are another great reproducer.

    I usually plant close to 700 bulbs every year. They jump into my shopping cart every fall! How can I say no?

  3. Nell Jean

    October 19, 2009 at

    Four hundred are too many when you are planting, too few when they bloom. I haven’t missed a year adding bulbs since 1994.

  4. Bangchik

    October 20, 2009 at

    To play around with 400 bulbs must be interesting, visualising the final look while putting them down…, and have to wait months to enjoy the beauty!.. Sounds great. ~bangchik

  5. Jeanne

    October 20, 2009 at

    Nell Jean, I’d love to see pictures of your garden. Wow. I can just imagine the bulbs! My goal is to add one or two iris every year 🙂 I’m obsessed with iris and now I bought an encyclopedia of iris. Look out….

  6. Jeanne

    October 20, 2009 at

    Bangchik, I’ll definitely post photos when they bloom – should be next April. Only 6 months away LOL!
    Thanks for posting a comment.

  7. Nell - Daffodils

    October 28, 2009 at

    You can see a few of my blooming bulbs from previous years by clicking on my name on this comment.

    They bloom in sequence, so the show is never as grand as if there was one or two cultivars that all bloomed together, but it extends the season to have early, mid and late bloomers.

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

As Seen in Porch

 As Seen in Porch

We were featured in Porch.com and answered reader's questions about indoor plants.

Explore All Gardening Articles

a zucchini growing in a raised bed

Growing Zucchini in Raised Beds

kale growing in a raised bed

Replenishing Raised Bed Garden Soil

raised bed garden

How to Build a Vegetable Garden Using Raised Beds

a watering can next to a seed tray on a sidewalk

What Veggies Can I Plant Now?

Herbalism Classes & Supplies

Goods Shop by Herbal Academy – botanically inspired products

Disclosure

Home Garden Joy participates in two affiliate programs: Amazon and The Herbal Academy. Home Garden Joy earns a commission from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate. As an Herbal Academy Associate, HGJ also earns a commission when you sign up for classes or purchase herbs or supplies from The Herbal Academy. Herbal information and recipes on this site are provided for educational purposes only.

Footer

butternut squash growing in a raised garden bed

How to Grow Butternut Squash Organically

Learning how to grow butternut squash organically ensures you know how to grow this tasty, nutritious vegetable in your home garden. I’ll share with you some basic information on growing butternut squash, followed by some organic gardening tips that have been helpful for me here at Seven Oaks Farm in dealing with the various pests…

Read More

herbs in a pink dish

How to Make the Perfect Cup of Herbal Tea

Make the perfect cup of herbal tea, right from your own garden! In May, I gave two free talks on how to grow, harvest, dry, and create your very own herbal teas. This lecture proved so popular that I recorded the narration and uploaded it to YouTube. You can view it below: Supplies to Make…

Read More

tent caterpillars on a pear tree

How to Get Rid of Tent Caterpillars

I spent last Saturday morning getting rid of Eastern tent caterpillars from the apple and pear trees in the orchard here on the farm. Malacosoma americanum, the Eastern tent caterpillar, is a regular visitor each spring. We first spot the shimmery webs on a clear spring day. The small ‘tents’ built by the caterpillars quickly…

Read More

kale growing in a raised bed

Replenishing Raised Bed Garden Soil

Raised bed vegetable garden soil soil needs to be replenished periodically. If you’ve done your job right and selected great soil, and amended it with nice compost, you’re going to have super garden soil for the first few years. Because you don’t walk on a raised bed garden the way that you do with typical…

Read More

  • Privacy Policy
  • About
  • Awards

Copyright © 2025 Home Garden Joy on the Foodie Pro Theme