The problem with bulbs...

I've bought some daffodil bulbs... and am considering planting them in a container rather than in the ground ....

You are right in that very many bulbs get damaged by spades or seem to disappear completely !

The first year we grew them Terratoonie, my husband pulled them up thinking they were wild chives!!! I was hopping grrrr

Dutch iris I mean..sorry

Sounds good to me Terra. Look at it this way, if you buried £5 notes in various places in the garden, we would'nt want to be losing them, would we. :o))

That's a good point Littlelegs... Lol...

bulbs are very expensive... and the ones I bought in B&Q yesterday didn't even have information on the labels of the packets...

..no details of when they are expected to flower, how deep to plant ... how tall they might grow ... in fact IDENTICAL information printed for the daffodils and for the snowdrops... the only guide is to have a container more than ten inches deeps... ! I expect the tulip bulb labels also had the same info... :o(((

You used to be able get round baskets (bit like a garden seive?) to put your bulbs in before planting, then when they are finished....just lift the basket...and store.........the problem is where DID I put them......(:

LOL :>) sounds like me that

I remember those baskets AmbleA..used them for the pond too..but I did think they might convey "open sesame" to lots of buggy things and baby slugs and snails which might give up if they bashed their noses against black plastic!

Oh and guess what? Did you leave them in the corner of the greenhouse where the sun gets, so they broke to pieces when you tried to use them???

I do that aswell - I dig the spade in only to find I've sliced through some lovely bulbs. it's annoying. You have a good idea.

Behind the greenhouse actually..under a compost bag "to keep them safe"....and found the following year.(Sept)....and the daff bulbs were in flower.......doh.......

LOL! Birds of a feather...

Did this two years ago, although not with coloured markers, coated bulbs with chilli powder to keep the wildlife at bay, and covered in chicken wire, taken off when bulbs show, and it worked a treat. You can buy some lovely bulb markers but oh so expensive.

Well Im glad to hear it worked for you TerraT and Daisy..not sure I would pay out for fancy labels however nice..frustrating tho it is, sometimes its quite exciting waiting for a "lost label" plant to flower...
Yes Littlelegs, and when you add the cost of the bulbs to the beautiful rhodo I bought for £25 which flowered then died on me, and the £8 magnolia that never grew at all and the daffs I bought then forgot to plant, the £15 acer that withered and died and thats just this year! Gardening can be an expensive pastime..but oh the pleasure when it all bursts into bud in the spring...worth EVERY penny!

Yes... :o)))

I`ve always put my bulbs in pots Tetra I find this way you can move them round, and I dont like the folliage when the flower has gone over and you have to leave them for about six weeks.