Worth It? Hmm...

Okay, it took me about an hour to get 15 Daydream tulips planted. When I examined the bulbs, I found some have just begun to break out of their papery coverings-- yikes! I figured I'd better get to it. I headed out to the back yard with a piece of leftover foam board to kneel on and my large spoon. (No trowel-- I was originally thinking about forcing some of the bulbs indoors in nice, soft potting soil-- I wouldn't need a trowel, I thought.)


Now for the digging-- eww, worms! I know they're great for the soil, but gosh, I really don't want them to touch me. Even worse, I don't want to hurt them-- those poor defenseless things. I hope I didn't cut any in half.


The package directions said to plant the bulbs 6 inches deep. I didn't have the strength to pull up clay with a large spoon to that depth, so I admit that some of my holes may only have been 4 inches deep. And kneeling for that long is strenuous!!! I got up and walked around between holes, but wow.


If all 15 bloom and I get a nice bouquet, that won't be good enough; I could buy a decent bouquet of tulips at Wal-Mart for about $10-15. I've already paid at least $5 for the bulbs and have now put in an hour of labor digging holes, and got clay-mud on my jeans (which may or may not wash out). So, those suckers better bloom this year AND next year or else. ;-)

Image source:

 http://gardenist.com/tuwh+112-4415+-qb100_.234_.fg40.htm

Actually, it was work, but it was pleasant to be outside and trying something new. Even if they don't bloom, I suppose I'll survive. I'll be disappointed though!


There's still one other problem which is that I have 2 more bags of bulbs. One bag is daffodils which I am going to force simply because I'm running out of time. The other bag is more tulips-- pink ones-- which aren't suitable for forcing. I need to get them in the ground ASAP. I can buy a trowel, that's not a problem, but I can't plant anymore today-- my knees aren't up for it. Also, it's likely to start raining again tonight, but I'm doubtful the tulips can wait much longer. Well, we'll see.