Floral Friday: Dec. 9

There has been so much to do in the garden this past week, and I've been blessed that the ground had not yet frozen in my Zone 6b garden! I managed to plant all the remaining spring bulbs that I ordered this year (300 of the 1,225 bulbs), just within the last week. (Before you clutch your chest from the shock, I bought all my bulbs with wholesale pricing.)

When I ordered I was confident that I had a place to put all those bulbs, especially the tiny ones like snowdrops and crocus. But sure enough, I was outside Sunday pacing around the front garden, trying to figure out where I could tuck in a few more bulbs.

... To be fair, I only placed 1,205 in the ground. I kept 20 daffodils to try and force to bloom indoors. (Because that makes a difference, right?)

"El Nino" tulips waiting to be planted.

I now treat tulips like annuals, and in the case I planted them in one of my grow beds.
I'm hoping for a punch of color, and I think these orange tulips will do the trick. After
they bloom, I am going to try to dig them up and store them during the summer.

I forgot how hard it is to rip out portions of the lawn and plant bulbs
- or maybe it's just because I've done that so much this fall!

Daffodils before they are tucked in for winter.

And sure enough, right after I planted the last bulbs on Sunday, we had light snowfall Monday morning, and temperatures have hovered around the 30 degree mark during the day for the rest of the week. Today I'm sipping my coffee and feeling totally relieved that the bulbs are all tucked away, and in my head I have the spring countdown beginning (101 days left as of today).

This tree has grown so much since I planted it three years ago. Hoping it completely
covers my neighbor's fence in a few more years.

The top of the tree. This year the pop up greenhouse and patio furniture are stored
in front of this tree, but I plan to change that for next year so I can decorate it and
enjoy the view.