We finally had a 2-day respite from the 95+ degrees of heat and smoke. And am I EVER grateful!! I hope we’ve turned toward cooler weather; even cooler nights will help. 

There is no better way to change seasons than to start thinking about next year’s garden (she says, with a sheepish grin). I am bombarded with email ads about tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and every bulb you can plant in the fall.

Here are a few ideas and tricks as you make your way through bulb-planting season:

1. I photographed most of my bulbs last spring/early summer when they came up, and I made a few notes about what I liked, what worked, and what was just so-so. I also tried to mark where the bulbs came up last year. I use a chopstick for each clump, and I number it. And if I get lucky, sometimes the stick is still there in the fall at planting time. 

2. I plant at least 12 bulbs in a cluster of tulips or daffodils and never in a line. You can use fewer bulbs if you are planting larger bulbs for larger plants. 

3. Daffodils (Narcissus), Darwin hybrid tulips, Emperor types, and the wild or species tulips are the best for perennializing (repeatedly returning). If I feel wild for other types, I will plant them in pulp pots that can be placed inside larger containers in the spring. I don’t worry if they don’t all make it. By the way, Costco has excellent fall-planted bulbs.

I try to get mine in the ground by the last week in September. They are always in by Halloween. As I go, I tuck a chopstick of popsicle stick in the clump with the name and number of bulbs.

Let me know what you choose!