Why I Oughta...

Yesterday, I posted photos and details of how I'm starting a bulb lawn with (just) 95 crocus corms and mentioned that I also was expanding the bulb lawn by planting some bulbs in the parkway. Like the Crocus varieties that I planted (Ruby Giant, King of the Striped and Romance), when I was looking at the Daffodils, I also wanted something a bit shorter in height.  I ended up buying (for now) just one package of 14 Tete a Tete Daffodil bulbs.  Here's how Longfield Gardens describes them : A miniature daffodil with one to three perfect little blossoms per stem. Though Tete a Tete stands just 7" tall, the bright yellow flowers can be seen from a great distance. Emphasis, mine.   Miniature and bright yellow.  Sounds great. These bulbs are a bit bigger than the Crocus bulbs: I've long thought about how to transform the parkway into something more interesting than turf grass.  I don't have built-in irrigation and the parkway is pretty far from our hose bib, so...

Back at the beginning of September, I posted some details about planting a bulb lawn and took a photo of a set of bulbs at Menards that included some short-stature (in height) crocus flowers and other Fall-planting bulbs/corms.  I'm looking for short early-bloomers and after doing a little bit of research, I found that three crocus flowers were right for me.   I ended up buying one package of Ruby Giant, King of the Striped and Romance.  Here, below, is a photo of the bags.  35 + 25 + 35 = 95 crocus corms. #13 on my 2026 to-do list was to get some bulbs in the ground : 13. Plant fall bulbs. For my first few gardening seasons, I was pretty good about planting fall bulbs. Alliums and tulips, mostly. But, I got away from it. Get back to it this Fall. And…Try a bulb lawn in front. Yes…a bulb lawn. Or, at least a patch of bulb lawn as an experiment. A bulb lawn.  Doing one would require WAY, WAY, WAY more bulbs (corms).  Less than 100 is like dipping my to...

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 w...

I took this photo of a volunteer Crocus that has appeared in the middle of our backyard lawn a few weeks back.  This was from late March.  And, it is such a delight to see.  This lone Crocus is a volunteer as I've never planted a single Crocus bulb (or...corm if you'd prefer) in the garden.  See below for the short, purple flower: Just because I haven't planted a single Crocus, doesn't mean that I haven't thought about it.  And, for me....that's a real sign of growth as a gardener.  There was a time when I fell into the 'lawn care' world.  I was treating feeding my lawn, treating it with iron, cutting it in a specific way and I even had a "Domination Line" up front.  But, my feelings on turf grass have evolved over time and I'm even actively removing more of it from our front yard with bed extensions this Spring.   On my recently published 2026 to-do list, I included as #13:  Plant Fall Bulbs .  In the past, that has mostly bee...

I have planted zero Crocus bulbs.  Yet, I have a couple of Crocus flowers that have shot up this Spring.  See below for one of them.  I've begun to think about a 'bulb lawn' - vs....where I used to be:  a perfect lawn.  This naturalized Crocus might have pushed me over the edge in that direction.