Way back in spring, Susan at Our French Oasis and I were commenting to each other about how wonderful our bulbs looked as spring made its early attempts to fight off winter. There is something renewing in seeing those flowers you planted months ago come up in spring. They show up before the trees have leaves, as the grass is greening up, and even before all the birds have returned from their winter homes down south, giving everyone hope that winter has finally loosened its grip on us.
Despite how much I love them and want as many as possible, every spring, I see my gardens and wish I had more bulbs. The problem is, in the fall, I just don’t always have the motivation to plant those bulbs. I’m not thinking about how much I’m going to value those blooms in a few months, or how they will brighten those first warm days as our snow melts; I’m just thinking about all the other things I have to do now that seem to take priority over something that seems so far in the future.
To help remedy this, many months ago as my daffodils were blooming, I told Susan I would do a post in the fall to remind us about how much we needed to fight that lack of motivation and get outside and plant bulbs.
I even took spring pictures of my gardens to show where I could use some bulbs.
Look at all that space between the tulips which could use some brightening up:
Two sad daffodils blooming. That’s just unacceptable:
So here’s that reminder for Susan and the rest of you who (like me) may be making excuses not to plant those bulbs now: take a couple hours this fall and plant some bulbs. Come spring, you won’t regret a single minute you spent out there.

Very wonderful reminder, Sarah! I have a few Crocuses and took some videos of some very hungry and happy Honey bees, who found pollen….buzz, buzz, buzz.
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Very nice! We already had some tulips, daffodils, crocuses (croci?), and hyacinths I had planted when we moved in, but I wanted more flowers and more variety. I got a lot of new ones in last week, so hopefully spring will bring a profusion of flowers.
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Pretty photos to look forward to!
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Hopefully!
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I have some snowdropbulbs I keep not planting! π
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More than once I have bought bulbs fully intending to plant them, only to fail to plant them or to find myself planting them far too late for them to thrive.
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This is so true! I love seeing the bulbs coming up in the Spring, but it’s hard to remember later in the year when it comes to planting more.
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Exactly! Fall is also the busiest time of the year at our house, so I can easily find an excuse not to plant them. Not this year, though! This year I plant!
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Choppy is going to be busy the next few days planting all those bulbs. Hopefully he remembers to not dig them back up of you will have a big surprise in the Springtime and wonder what happens to the flowers!
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If only I could channel the digging into specific places, though, I would have much less work to do. I really need to work on Choppy’s digging skills.
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Excellent! You will be soooo happy come Spring! π
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I hope so – I don’t want to find out I put in everything upside down or too deep or too shallow! I tried to be careful, but it still requires a lot of faith that it will work out.
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Agh – I’ve done the upside down thing! π
Fingers crossed yours will flower next spring. π
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And if they don’t, there’s always next year!
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That’s the spirit! π
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Thanks for sharing this Sarah. It is worth looking into actually.
Cheers.
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I got mine all planted, so that should be wonderful come spring!
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What a wonderful post! And you are so right about the importance of doing a little work now so we can enjoy the fruits, well flowers in this case, when we most need them. I already bought some bulbs but like you I find always other things to do – but thanks to your reminder I’m definitely going to plant them this weekend! ππ·
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Yay! I actually got all these planted last week (and I am considering more). Now I wait for spring!
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This is an awesome idea for more than just bulbs. Photographing a yard, garden, or bed in general is an excellent way to remember what the spot looked like at its peak, and what you want to accomplish the following season. Finding the motivation… well, that’s another story! Choppy looks lovely, btw!
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I really need to do better at taking the pictures – they are far more motivating than anything else for me. This year I did a lot of work in one of the flower beds, so I actually have pictures for once!
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I wish we could palnt those here in our garden, too, Sarah. But we would only feed the deer with that. π¦
Hope you’ll be able to enjoy many (spring) flowers in yours,
Pit
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Choppy keeps them away from the house. If we go away or Choppy isn’t home for a few days, it’s amazing how close they start to get (I’ve seen them up at the bird feeders, which are only a couple feet from the house).
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When we still had Sally, the deer never took any notice of her. They were around as if no dog was there. What amazed us: even with all her hunting-instincts she never bothered the deer. Maybe that’s why they didn’t take notice of her. Kind of happy and peaceful co-existence – to the detriment of our plants. π
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Choppy gives them a little chase, but she doesn’t tend to follow them too long. Mostly, she sees them at my parents’ house, where they disappear into the woods, and Choppy is generally not a fan of going into the woods unless there’s a person with her (she only acts big and bad – she can be a bit of a scaredy-dog!).
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Of course, we were happy that Sally didn’t chase them (away) as we like to have them here.
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After a summer of way too hot temps and way too much weed pulling, it’s no wonder we get burnt out digging spots for bulbs. Plus digging in clay soil is no fun and is not easy work. Still I bought a lovely package of assorted spring bulbs in early September but only managed to get maybe a third to half of the 100 bulbs in the ground. I’ll add the rest of them next year (assuming I don’t forget which covered-bucket I put them in). Same as last year and the year before that. LOL π·
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You’re far more ambitious than me! I got about 25 in – I figure that is better than nothing (and I know from past experience if I have more, I won’t plant them because the task seems so daunting).
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Yes! Taking the time now will ensure great happiness come spring. I garden almost entirely envisioning future rewards! π
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Experience and foresight π. I seem to let plants grow where they are and buy and grow for pollinators. β₯οΈ
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It’s like baking – there’s a lot of hope that it will work out if you do things correctly, but you never know!
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Good analogy!
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Brilliant post Sarah….we all make those excuses. Enjoy planting your bulbs π π π
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Perhaps I’ll send you a link to it come (our) spring – fall bulb planting probably isn’t on your mind these days!
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