On my last day before starting the new job about two weeks ago, I had the day entirely to myself without Jameson or Brian. So I decided to plant bulbs.

See, we are internet deal shoppers, and Brian found a deal for a box of random bulbs for cheap. It took like 6 weeks to get to us, by which time we had forgotten we had even purchased them. They arrived and they said “plant as soon as possible”. So that is how I spent my day off, and by the end of the day I had a sunburn. It took a lot longer than I thought.

Before I start, I should mention that I am not plant savvy at all. But apparently I am not bad at it, when I am paying attention (for example, I had a spider plant which I almost killed, but now it’s thriving. As soon as I started paying attention to it and re-potted it [which was scary], it exploded with little mini spider strands).

Okay okay, there are photos in this post, stick with me. Here’s a teaser.

Resolved to pay attention, I spent a significant portion of the morning planning. I drew out a map of the flower beds, noted 1. colors of the plants, 2. height of the plants (obviously, tall plants were would go in the back. Unfortunately, they all seemed to be tall plants.), 3. flowering season (all between early summer through late summer) and 4. location preference (they were all between full sun and part sun, good for my front flower beds).

The box was full of gladiolas in various colors, freesia in various colors, dahlias in various colors. I also found a few oriental lilies in the box, hostas which I didn’t plant because we already have some, and then some plants that weren’t bulbs at all, but seemed to be a cluster of roots and needed soaked in water before planting. These were phlox nadia, baby joe, and beebalm.

Did you realize how ugly dahlias are when they are just bulbs? I know I didn’t. It looks like a dead creature.

My plan changed a bit as I was planting and realized the spacing recommendation allowed me less room than I thought. My final map was chicken scratch and eraser marks around my already established plants which included my hibiscus, from my grandmothers garden.

Side note: It is not blooming yet, but it is a gorgeous dark red pink (should look like this)

Also, I already have hostas, an Asiatic orange lily, and some cool shrubs.

The majority of the bulbs that I received in the box have to be lifted in the fall. That is, I actually have to do gardening more than once a year. ugh. But if it turns out nice, I suppose it might be worth it. Maybe.

So the map that I chicken scratched, I decided needed to be more permanent if I want to find these things in the fall and/or change up the location next year. So here is my awesome map, not to scale at all (click to view larger):

After all my awesome planning, here’s where the real fun begins. Digging holes. Have you ever read the young adult book Holes? That is how I felt except there wasn’t any treasure. Oops that was a spoiler.