2008 Catalogs of Spring-blooming Bulbs

Quality Bulbs Insure Superior Spring-blooming Bulb Gardens

Jul 17, 2008 Georgene A. Bramlage

Independent garden centers, discount big-box stores and internet / mail order catalog vendors market spring-blooming bulbs. Which source is best for landscape gardens?

The main advantage of buying spring-blooming bulbs from internet / mail order catalog companies – ones that you or your friends have previously used with good results – is that vendors use well-established standards for bulb handling and storage.

Open trays or aerated bins hold bulbs for storage. Storerooms are cool [55-65°F (13-18°C)], well-ventilated and ethylene-free areas. Ethylene is a colorless, odorless gas produced by ripening fruit like apples and pears. Ethylene causes "flower abortion" and other flowering problems in bulbs exposed to it. Vendors usually deliver bulbs to customers in time for bulb planting for specific plant hardiness growing zones.

More Advantages of Internet / Mail Order Buying

An important factor in buying spring-blooming bulbs is quality. Research at the University of North Carolina (Raleigh) and elsewhere shows that size and firmness are equally important. Large bulbs produce large blooms. Firm bulbs, free from soft or rot spots and other blemishes, keep disease from the garden landscape.

Internet / mail order catalogs provide a larger selection of bulb varieties than local retail sources. They usually operate as part of a Dutch family or consortium dedicated to growing and selling flowering bulbs. In many cases, harvesting, grading, inspection by U.S. authorities, and shipping of spring-flowering bulbs destined for North America is a smooth extended-family operation. There are few, if any, intermediaries on either side of the Atlantic.

Disadvantages of Internet / Mail Order Buying

The biggest disadvantage of buying from internet / mail order catalogs is that buyers do not know what bulbs will look like until they arrive. This is why it pays landscape gardeners to do their homework:

Look for company reviews on internet gardening forums or ask for recommendations from friends and local spring-flowering bulb experts.
Read carefully in the catalog or internet web site for guarantees or recourse for disappointing spring bloom. Most vendors want to have successful customers.
Remember that cheap bulbs deliver scrappy flowers or none at all. Failure in gardens is sometimes the result of a poor source rather than any lack of skill on the part of the gardener.

Some Internet / Mail Order Catalog Sources

There are many internet / mail order catalog sources for spring-blooming bulbs. Here are several owned and operated by horticulturists whose families have been in the flowering bulb trade for several generations. Each source occupies and maintains a distinctive niche in the wholesale / retail bulb industry.

COLORBLENDS® is part of Schipper & Company started in the Netherlands in 1912. It is still family owned, run by third-generation flower bulb merchants. Colorblends® offers well-tested selections of bulbs blended and timed to bloom simultaneously. They invest in time trials and quality control so landscape gardeners do not waste time and money trying to figure out displays. The 2008 catalog is available at the end of July. Colorblends® targets professional gardeners, but also sells retail with a $50 minimum purchase. The United States warehouse is at 747 Barnum Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06608; telephone number is 888 847-8637.
John Scheepers, Inc. and Van Engelen, Inc. are sister companies founded over 90 years ago and owned by Jan S. Ohms, a fourth-generation Dutch flower bulb horticulturist. Scheepers offers small units of flower bulbs. Van Engelen offers large collections with volume price discounts, but accommodates large residential orders. Catalogs for both businesses are available from 23 Tulip Drive, PO Box 638, Bantam, CT 06750 with telephone number: 860-567-0838 and Fax: 860-567-5323.
Brent and Becky's Bulbs is an American company owned by third generation bulb horticulturists Brent and Becky Heath. They are daffodil hybridizers who trial many unusual and specialty bulbs on their 10 acre farm and gardens in Gloucester, VA. Order now for delivery between September 15th and December 15th. Readers may download a catalog from the Internet or request a print catalog from: 7900 Daffodil Lane, Gloucester, VA 23061 with telephone: 877-661-2852 and Fax: 804-693-9436.

Landscaping Articles about Spring-blooming Bulbs

The copyright of the article 2008 Catalogs of Spring-blooming Bulbs in Landscaping is owned by Georgene A. Bramlage. Permission to republish 2008 Catalogs of Spring-blooming Bulbs in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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