We’re going to cut down the old sand cherry shrub that was damaged by the freak October snowstorm. We’ve never liked it’s rather scruffy appearance anyway, but I’m concerned about the big hole that will be left in the center of its flower bed.
The idea to plant tulips around its trunk came to me when I noticed the spring bulbs were half-off at Christmas Tree Shoppe. (Maybe you can take advantage of their clearance sale too.) I think these fancy Rembrandt tulips will be a stunning addition!
I’m planting three bags of them, forty-two tulips!
The shaggy green plants at the outer edge of the bed are grape hyacinths, or muscari, that I planted many years ago. Although the deer often crop their leaves, they faithfully bloom every year and slowly multiply. I love plants that multiply, slowly. (We don’t need to get into my feelings about artemisia or obedient plant, here and now. Can you say “rampant”? lol.)
Imagine, right behind the hyacinths, in the bare-looking area, are short red species (wild) tulips and behind them, closer to the trunk, are white daffodils. I want to make sure that the new tulips, which will be in the center of the bed, end up at least as tall as the daffodils in front of them. The tulips’ package label says twenty inches, which sounds plenty tall, but who remembers exactly how tall these particular daffodils grow? So I’m planting the tulip bulbs shallower than directed and I’m going to mound more soil over the center of the bed once we cut down the bush. It should work.
I am anticipating a beautiful show of color come spring!
P.S. Unrelated, except that it was also a result of the storm: This is how it looks when a peach tree loses all of its leaves overnight, thanks to an early snow. Fooomph!
alottastitches 
Linda, I am imagining how beautiful your bulb garden looked! It can be difficult to make sure each type gets its due and is seen. Did your Rembrandts come up nicely for you?
The Rembrandts came up and were very lovely – but even with my ‘advanced flower bed engineering’ they turned out to be shorter than the cream daffodils surrounding them. :S
Mother Nature tried to help by sending heavy rain and winds which flattened many of the daffodil leaves. 🙂
I’ve read that daffodil bulbs need the greens to survive as long as possible, so I never would have flattened them myself.
This is my favorite time of the year – something new coming in to bloom all the time! Irises, Sweet William, Clematis, Daisies, Poppies, even Chives have pretty blooms!!