It was probably the second year after we’d moved into our home that I found a real bargain on tulip bulbs; the photos on the packages promised a profusion of bright red and luminous yellow blooms the following spring. Fifty – FIFTY Darwin tulips in each package! I bought three packages: two of the red tulips and one of the yellow. I even bought one of those bulb planters that have the long handle and you use like a shovel.

It was fairly late fall when I got a chance to plant them one damp and gray Saturday. The wind was cold and my ears and fingers were pretty numb well before I was finished with the first package of fifty bulbs. I questioned my judgement, but in my imagination, I envisioned the entire garden aflame with crimson and gold tulips; multiplying every year; a real eye-catching display! It was nearly dusk when I finished and could go inside and warm up by the fire.

All that winter, which was a long, cold one, I thought of all my tulip bulbs nestled under the snow, just waiting for the sunshine to pop up and bloom. I waited…and I waited…and I waited. All the other gardens had tulips blooming and I hadn’t even seen a leaf. I never did figure out what happened to them. My Wonderful Husband (who hates squirrels) blamed the squirrels. I thought maybe the deer were to blame. Maybe it was the voles. Or maybe the bulbs were old. Maybe it was our nasty clay soil. I still don’t know. But after that, I gave up on tulips.

Not to say I’ve given up on bulbs! Oh, NO! I’ve dug up daffodil bulbs from all sorts of abandoned home sites and then moved them each time I’ve moved. Daffodils never let me down; often I see them sprouting in January and they don’t seem bothered if snow covers them for a while.

Lately, I tried alliums – with about as much luck as I had with the tulips. Last fall, I planted some Oriental / Asiatic lilies. Although not all of the Oriental / Asiatic lilies I’ve planted have been outstanding successes, I really do think that the organic matter with which I’ve been diligently improving the soil has helped, since lilies do like well-drained soil. I finally have some beds which get a reasonable amount of sun, too. Apparently, the deer, the squirrels and / or the voles aren’t fond of the lilies – or maybe they just aren’t hungry yet!