Bulb Lawn Is Coming - September 2026

I included a Fall garden project on my 2026 to-do list that I haven't done in a few seasons: plant Fall bulbs. It was #13 on my list. Earlier this Spring, I found a naturlized crocus growing in the lawn and talked about how 2026 should be the year of planting my bulb lawn. After all, one of my favorite garden follows on the Web (Erin the Impatient Gardener) called the bulb lawn that she put in ""the best garden project she's ever done".

Well...imagine my delight when I came across this rack at Menards. Full of Fall planting bulbs.

I grabbed this photo and said to myself:  "You don't know enough about these to buy anything.  Yet."

Yet.  

How do I get past "Yet".  

One of the things that I picked up from Erin's videos about her bulb lawn is the sheer volume of bulbs she's using (thousands.  Yes...thousands of bulbs.), but also that she's focusing on short-height varieties.  Things that aren't super tall and work well in the lawn.  Versus....say in a garden bed.

So, with mature height as a key factor, I decided to look at what was available in this rack.

For now, I'm going to skip over the Allium in the top row.  I'll get to that on a separate post.  

The second row features three daffodils and three crocuses.  The bottom two rows are all tulips and I know those aren't right for a bulb lawn.  So, I'm going to focus on the second row.

Here's a look at each of them.  First up, the daffodils:

1.  Daffodil Double Golden Ducat.  Longfield Gardens has them.  They're lovely.  But, I quickly scrolled to the 'height' on their listing page and it says: 16-18" tall.  Not going to work.

2.  Daffodil Jonquilla Martinette.  Longfield Gardens has these, too.  Same thing as above.  Lovely.  But, at 14-16", they're "too tall".  

3.  Daffodil California (Carlton).  TulipWorld has them.  They call them Carlton.  Mature height:  14 to 18".  Not going to work for my bulb lawn project.

Now, we move on the crocuses:

4.  Crocus Large Flowering King of the Striped.  Longfield Gardens has a listing for King of the Striped Crocus.  Here's what they say:  

"King of the Striped is a striking early spring crocus known for its large, goblet-shaped blooms of pale lavender-white heavily etched with deep purple striping. Blooming at the very start of the season, often as winter fades, these eye-catching flowers rise just 4–6" tall and bring vibrant contrast to lawns, borders, and rock gardens. Plant in sweeping drifts for a bold display, or tuck them into containers for a colorful welcome to spring."

Emphasis, mine.   

Two things that jumped out to me:  First their timing.  Early blooming.  That is very attractive to me.  Seeing something pop as "winter fades"?  Yes, please.  

But, maybe even more important:  4-6" tall.  

2.  Crocus Romance.  Longfield, again.   Here's what they say: "A sweet little crocus with buttery yellow petals and white highlights. The flowers appear in clusters and open about a week before most other crocus varieties..."  And, they list them at just 4" tall in height. 

3.  Crocus Species Ruby Giant.  Back at Longfield Gardens for their description.  They list it at just 4" tall and say:

A sturdy little crocus from Holland with strong stems and broad purple petals. The flowers have frosty white highlights inside and red-violet shading outside. Like all crocus, they close up on cloudy days and open wide when it's sunny. Blooms extra-early and is a good naturalizer.

Emphasis, mine.   

Early blooming.  And, naturalizes.  Wonder if what I found in my own yard was a Ruby Giant? 

Of the six options here, three are no's (the daffodils) and it seems like three are yes's (the crocuses). 

I've watched some videos (and TikToks) about how to plant a bulb lawn.  And, how to make it look 'natural'.  It seems there are multiple ways to go about it and I haven't quite settled on the *right way*.  Or at least the way I'm going to approach planting them.   Some people MIX UP all the various bulbs into a big bin and have it be totally random.  Some people TOSS them out onto the lawn by hand so they appear 'scattered at random'.  And, other people dig up squares of turf and neatly pack in like 15 corms into one spot.  All the same variety.  

King of the Striped Crocus comes in a package of 25 corms.  While Romance and Ruby Giant come in packages of 35 each.  $6 each.  

But, at this point, I *do* know that I'm not going to be planting THOUSANDS of corms (or bulbs).  How many to buy is the question I'm wrasslin' with right now.  Do I start small with just a package or two?  And, see how it goes?  

I like the idea of mixing the purple and yellow crocuses.  And, maybe that's a way to go for year one:  focus just on crocuses.  No snowdrops or any other bulb that is short - like a dwarf daffodil.

If I buy 2 bags of each, that gets me:  25 + 25 + 35 + 35 + 35 + 35 = 190 corms.   6 bags x $6 = $36. $0.18 per bulb/corm.

If I buy 3 bags of each, that gets me: 25 + 25 + 25 + 35 + 35 + 35 + 35 + 35 +35 = 285 corms.  9 bags x $6 = $54. Same $0.18 per bulb/corm.

What kind of impact would 190 crocuses (all planted in our front lawn) have?  What about 285?  I'm not sure.  But, more is probably better, right?

Either amount will flip the item on my to-do list, though.