For love of daffodils

When a friend called and said she had a ton of daffodil bulbs she couldn't use I was thrilled, but look at the photo, there are 10 giant bags filled with the bulbs. She knew I was the guy to call because I try to plant at least 1000 bulbs a year. It goes back to Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland where my grandparents and other relatives are buried. They have something there called Daffodil Hill and when I visited the graves as a child I was profoundly effected by the site of those yellow trumpets in bloom. When I set up my current garden I told my mother that I was creating my own Daffodil Hill in honor of my grandparents. So how does one plant over 1000 bulbs a season and not break their back, click "Read More."

We all start out using a hand bulb planter, you know the kind with a handle that keeps you on your knees as you plant. I like to call that cruel and unusual punishment for gardeners. I use a bulb auger, it's inserted onto a powerful drill and will make the perfect holes for the bulb. In fact I used to use it to punish my children, but don't get the wrong idea, it was part of them being grounded in the fall. Dad drills while the kids drop in bulbs listening to their father ramble on  about how these bulbs would outlive the gardener.
The bulb auger is a god send, it makes planting bulbs fun again. You can plant hundreds in just a couple hours and it works great in rocky, dry soil.
If you ever see Rick Sebak's Cemetery Show on PBS there's a segment featuring myself at Daffodil Hill.

Get some bulbs in the ground this month, the site of those blooms in the spring makes us forget another endless winter.