Re: Planting Bulbs in Hosta Beds

Clyde:
Tulipa praestans unicum has lovely variegated foliage.  I wanted to buy some
this fall as part of the way too excessive bulb purchases I made, but of the
garden centers I went to, only one had had them in and they were sold out.
Next year I guess. (Yes I'm sure there are mail order sources but I prefer
to buy bulbs I can see personally after some bad experiences and anyway I
spent twice what I intended).  I can highly recommend most of the species
tulips, many of which are quite small, and usually come up quite early so
they are essentially done flowering by the time your hostas emerge.  I have
not really looked at it closely to see if the hosta foliage would cover the
browning of the bulb foliage- it might.
Crocus and grape hyacinth should do well for you and they really don't have
obtrusive foliage. Neither does Fritillaria meleagris, which is certainly an
interesting plant.  Anemone blanda ( I like both the blue and the white, the
pink is only okay in my book) and Chionodoxa  are both small plants that
shouldn't be too obtrusive again while waiting for the foliage to brown.  I
am trying both Siberian squill (Scilla sibirica) and striped squill
(Puschkinia libanotica) for the first time but they are such pretty plants
you might want to try them.

I'm not in New England, but here in southern Ontario the colour seems to be
at it's peak.

Bob Campbell
USDA 4

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