Dig Drop Done - Or, in Hopes of Spring

The gardener is always optimistic.  It take a leap of faith to assume that, at the end of one growing season, you will be alive and well the following spring and early summer- and, to plant some bulbs in anticipation of that event.  To order from seed catalogs.  To dream.

Yesterday, it got up to 66 degrees here in upstate New York with a partially cloudy sky.  What a day it was - being able to rake leaves in my shirtsleeves, being able to take a 2 mile exercise walk (we had to cut ours short, and were going to walk "later" - "later", of course, never happened.) It is the kind of day we treasure at this time of year. On the rare mid fall day like this, we race to beat the clock, as the sun set today at 4:45 pm.

Yesterday, we bought four packages of buy one-get one free - fall clearance bulbs at a local nursery.  This is what we planted - we've never gotten into much more than tulips and daffodils/narcissus, and are trying to branch out a little.  These came from a company whose slogan is "Dig Drop Done." Spouse did the digging and the planting, while I raked leaves.

In the front of our house spouse planted:

6 Nectaroscordum (Mediterranean Bells), an allium, with "Basal green foliage and a sturdy 32-38 inch stem" which "support a generous cluster of bell shaped flowers" that "atract birds and butterflies."  These are supposed to be an early summer bloomer and a good cut flower.

12 "Deer Resistant Tulips" - that I've got to see (although,knock on wood, we don't seem to have deer problems at our house, deer are an increasing urban problem here).  "Excellent naturalizer", these bloom in early spring.

In the back of our house spouse planted:

15 Azureum alliums, an heirloom from 1830, "extremely easy to grow" and emerge in early summer. These can be dried.

And, last but not least, 20 "mountain bells", an allium mix,  late spring.

Gardening - always a gamble. Let's hope for a good payoff this next spring and early summer.