The Case of the Missing Bulbs - or All's Well that Ends Well

Before I get into my little garden mystery regarding missing bulbs, I'll start with a few beauty shots of my back garden during what we expect will be a very short reprieve from the rain.  My "water year" to-date rain total (counted from October 1, 2025) is 2.89 inches but that tally may be low as my rooftop rain meter was clogged during the first twenty-four hours of the "atmospheric river's" movement through Southern California.  My total includes the 0.74/inch of rain delivered by October's surprise storm.  Counts quoted by nearby areas have suggested the total could be an inch or more greater than we recorded.  Downtown Los Angeles reported 3.47 inches just from the November rain and Santa Barbara was hit hard by 8.58 inches.  All those totals are many times greater than the norms for the southern part of the state in November, or most any other month here.  And we have a ninety percent chance of more rain starting this Thursday. 

View from the back door yesterday morning looking east

Another view looking south

Our backyard fountain is full to the brim for the first time in recent memory without any help from me

The next rainstorm is expected to roll from Thursday into Friday  My rain tanks are already full and, as the ground is saturated and everything is thoroughly wet, there's not much I can do in the garden at the moment.  I still have thirty Freesia bulbs, a handful of Anemones, and ten lily bulbs to plant but all will have to wait until next week when the garden's dried out a bit.  So on to the case of the missing bulbs!

I've admitted to ordering a large number of bulbs this year - and that's without acknowledging the pre-orders of dahlia tubers that won't ship until spring.  However, my biggest orders were three I placed on top of one another in mid-September, all companies that obtain all or the majority of their stock from Dutch bulb sellers.  The first of these orders from K. van Bourgondien shipped in early October, absent three Hippeastrum 'Razzmatazz' bulbs to be shipped at an unspecified future date.

I received my second order on October 21st from John Scheepers.  It also arrived absent a Hippeastrum, this time a single 'Aphrodite'.

I promptly planted the Dutch Iris but the Allium bulgaricum, Ipheion uniflorum, and Tulip clusiana bulbs are sitting a time out in the fridge to get the equivalent of a "winter chill" first

I subsequently received a UPS notice regarding my order to Van Engelen, my third supplier, referencing a pending shipment.  It was quickly followed by two additional messages from UPS showing changes to the delivery date window.  The last notice referenced delivery by the evening of October 28th.  Meanwhile, I received the delayed shipments of Hippeastrums 'Razzmatazz' and 'Aphrodite' separately from their respective sellers.

When I received nothing from Van Engelen by early November, I checked the UPS tracking notice and found they'd recorded a delivery of that package on October 24th.  We checked our camera and found confirmation that I'd opened the door and picked up a small package at the time indicated by UPS.  But I couldn't remember receiving any package from Van Engelen.  I scoured the garden and everywhere and anywhere I might have placed another box.  My husband asked if I was mixing up my bulb deliveries.  Acquainted with my proclivity for "purging" junk, he also asked if I could've tossed the box by accident.  I contended that any box containing the contents of the Van Engelen order would've been large and heavy as the order included six Hippeastrum and fifteen lily bulbs, which I'd be unlikely to throw out as cardboard trash but, as our trash and recyclables had already been collected, I couldn't verify that.  As I was upset that he appeared to think I'd experienced a "senior moment," he checked our cameras to see if he could track my movements involving boxed bulbs.  The only video we found showed me handling one of the recent Hippeastrum deliveries but the box label wasn't visible.

I finally contacted Van Engelen directly by email asking if my order was still in process.  I provided the order number Van Engelen had assigned me and was told there wasn't a pending shipment.  However, I made the mistake of referencing a UPS delivery on October 24th and the customer service representative simply stated that the company had record of a shipment initiated October 20th and delivered on October 24th.  I threw in the towel at that point and decided the bulbs (and $144) might well be a lost cause - but then I noticed that location information in my incoming email "correspondents" list showed "John Scheepers" even though the contact information shown in the message itself identified her as a Van Engelen representative.  I then recalled that I'd suspected but hadn't confirmed a relationship between the two companies.  Google AI confirmed that Van Engelen owns both entities.  For the record, they send out separate catalogs and accept orders separately under the two names.  They've established different minimum order amounts, their pricing is different, and their bulb offers aren't identical.  Effectively, Scheepers operates as a retail seller while Van Engelen is more of a wholesaler.

On November 5th, the day following my exchange with Van Engelen's customer service representative, I received another notice from UPS regarding a shipment to be delivered by November 11th.

The box was bigger and heavier than any of my prior bulb deliveries.  Although the cardboard box here was photographed showing Van Engelen's name, another side of the same box says John Scheepers.  The smaller boxes received with the Scheepers bulbs only had labels identifying Scheepers.

All my Hippeastrums have been potted up (including some purchased from a 4th company).  I hope to give some away as Christmas presents assuming they don't rot in their pots after all this rain.  I intend to put them under cover before the next storm arrives.

So, the mystery is solved and all's well!  I haven't been certified as demented yet but I clearly need to pay closer attention to the companies I'm purchasing from.  I've learned that UPS labels provide tracking numbers but those bear no direct relationship to company order numbers and one has to be careful in framing queries to customer service representatives.  I also learned that I probably shouldn't delete any UPS shipping notices based on "updated schedules" until the deliveries in question are in hand.  As I've just bounced around trying to track an Amazon order that's been shoved off to a patchwork quilt of delivery companies, sending me from a transportation company in Los Angeles to a logistics company in Alabama (which has promised to email the appropriate contact back in Los Angeles), I'm wondering if the old school method of conducting purchases locally may be easiest after all.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Hip hip hooray! Annie's mail order plants are back!

In mid-September I received a notice from GrowOrganic.com, advertised as the "Online Home of Peaceful Valley Farm" located in Grass Valley, California.  They anoounced that they were going live with the mail order business they purchased after Annie's Annuals and Perennials suddenly closed its doors in October last year.  They offered a discount code for use on my first order and, when they published "Annie's Annuals & Perennials Best of Fall Collection" on September 20th, I submitted an order.  (You can find their webpage here.)  Did I "need" to order new plants now, with summer's hold on us is still in place?  No, I did not but I ordered anyway.  My order was promptly processed and my first shipment arrived as promised on Wednesday afternoon.

They're using the Annie's brand, at least for now.  Even the shipping boxes are the same as those used by the original Annie's operation.

I don'r remember a "this end up" label like this in the old days, though

My order was packed in the same fashion as my prior Annie's orders.

The internal packing was the same too, except that 2 plants had been laid on their sides on this occasion

Here's a better view of what I ordered.

I purchased 4 varieties of plants, 9 in total.  Annie's always only sold mail order plants in 4-inch pots, which I prefer when I can get them that way.

Believe it or not, I've got spots designated for everything included in this order, which isn't always the case:

The three snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus 'Double Azalea Bronze') will go into my cutting garden, where there's enough space for them given recent losses.  It's earlier than I'd like to plant snapdragons, which are cool season plants here, but I love them and my dahlias appear to be seeking an early exit.

Annie's snapdragons have been more resistant to rust than any of those I've purchased locally

The three Carex divulsa will edge the area that formerly held two overgrown and woody Coleonema album in the front garden.  I already have one specimen of this Carex elsewhere (which came from the original Annie's) so I know it handles partial shade and low water well.

The grass-like plant is attractive but also easy to care for

The two coyote mints (Monardella villosa) will be planted in empty spots in a very dry area in my back garden next to the flagstone path.  The evergreen plant is said to be a good selection for a "no-water path," which would make it perfect for the spot in question.

In the interest of full disclosure, I tried growing this plant once before and it died; however, I think I failed to give it enough water when it was in the early stages of getting established that time

The single Mexican marigold (Tagetes lemmonii) will replace the woody specimen I pulled earlier this year when it was no longer flowering as well as it had in prior years.

Tagetes lemmonii provided flushes of bright yellow-gold color in spring and fall in its former position.  The Gazanias currently in that spot don't do the job.

Everything will be tucked into place and well-watered this weekend.  The marine layer has returned and it was noticeably cooler yesterday.  I'm expecting more of the same today.

I can't claim that the Annie's/GrowOrganic order is the only one I've placed recently.  I've actually gone bonkers with bulb orders recently, including three to Dutch sellers, two of which called out six percent tariffs on their goods.

I ordered 83 bulbs from K. van Bourgondien, including Amaryllis (Hippeastrum), Orienpet Lilies, Dutch Iris, Crocus, and Tazetta daffodils

John Scheepers will supply another 101 bulbs, including more Dutch Iris, Alliums, Ipheion, species tulips, and a single Amaryllis (Hippeastrum)

What I ordered from Van Engelen are pricier bulbs sold in bulk, including Scilla peruviana, more Orienpet Lilies, and more Amaryllis.  I like to give Hippeastrums as holiday gifts and they're less expensive ordered well before the holidays.

I tallied up the expense of the fall bulb orders and, given two pre-orders of dahlia bulbs to ship in spring, I decided I'd best tuck my credit card away for awhile.  When it's not uncomfortably warm, I've been chipping away at pruning chores, boring and often arduous.  Every time I turn around, I find more plants that need such attention.  I'm going to call on my tree service to schedule the larger scale jobs I can't handle.  Although it still feels a lot like summer here, my internal clock is telling me I need to get cracking on preparations for our cool season.

Best wishes for a pleasant weekend as September comes to its end.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Bloom Day - March 2024

Is spring already working up to its peak in coastal Southern California?  It certainly feels like that's the case.  We've had more than a week of sunny skies after regular rounds of rain since January.  The temperatures have been warmer too, although we've only occasionally reached the low 70sF thus far.

I'm going to start this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day post with the bulb flowers as, more than any others, they celebrate the spring season.

Because Scilla peruviana (aka Portuguese squill) is looking its best at the moment, it got top billing.  Every year, I plan to dig up and divide this clump but somehow I never get around to it.

The blue Anemone coronaria are still putting on a good show.  I think I've lost all the white 'Mount Everest' bulbs I planted in the fall to a smothering blanket of marsh parsley weeds but a couple strays came back from those planted in prior years.  I've also had several 'Rosa Tigrato' blooms, one shown here adorned with a ladybug. 

The white and yellow Freesias have peaked but the blue, pink and red varieties have appeared recently in small numbers.  I think gophers may have cost me the majority of the blue ones this year.

Ipheion uniflorum (aka spring star flower and Mexican star) can still be found throughout the back garden

I haven't seen many Narcissus 'Geranium' yet but 'Beautiful Eyes' (top row) came along like parade marchers.  Those in the bottom row are a noID Tazetta type, a noID variety I planted my first year year here, and peach-colored 'Katie Heath'.

I planted 2 pots of orange Ranunculus purchased in bud but I was tickled to see the plant on the left come back in a barrel I planted in spring 2023.  Orange Sparaxis tricolor (right) are everywhere, although rainstorms flattened many of the flowers earlier this month.

Tulipa clusiana 'Lady Jane' showed up early this year.  I'm still waiting on her cousin 'Cynthia'.

Iris hollandica 'Sapphire Beauty' (left and middle) showed up just last week.  The first 'Pink Panther' flower (right) opened this week.  Other Dutch Irises will be arriving in the following weeks.

The potted Hippeastrums are fading fast.  They don't appreciate standing in heavy rain or wind.  Clockwise from the upper left are: Hippeastrums 'Aphrodite', 'Evergreen', 'Exception', 'Lemon Star', and 'Zombie'.

I'm still waiting on most of the seeds I sowed in November.

I sowed seeds of 5 varieties of sweet peas in November, 2 of them mixes.  This one variety has bloomed for over a month without flowers from any of the others.  My best guess is that it's one of the (unnamed) flowers included in the Lathyrus annuus 'Mermaid Dreams' mix.  The larkspur seeds (Consolida ajacis) have produced lots of seedlings, some with buds.  The Nigella papillosa seedlings are up but I've yet to see any buds.

The flowering shrubs and perennials are piling on to the spring express train.

The Alstroemerias are just getting started.  Left to to right are a noID pink Alstroemeria, A. 'Inca Lucky', and A. 'Indian Summer'.

Arctotis 'Pink Sugar' (top row) were the first out the gate but yellow 'Large Marge' and 'Opera Pink' (bottom row) are working hard to catch up

Argyranthemum frutescens, clockwise from the top left: 'Grandaisy Dark Pink', 'Pink Comet', and 'Angelic Maize'

Calliandra haematocephala (aka red powder puff) is as pretty in bud (right) as in bloom

I thought Camellia williamsii 'Taylor's Perfection' was heading for the exit in mid-February but it surprised me with another, larger flush of bloom in March; however, the flowers are now dropping more rapidly and there are relatively few buds left to see it through another month

With a thicker blanket of flowers, I got better shots to capture the blue color of Ceanonthus arboreus 'Cliff  Schmidt' this month

The Cistus (aka rockrose) are also just getting started.  Left to right are: Cistus 'Grayswood Pink', C. x scanbergii, and C. 'Sunset'

Coleonema album (left) is trailing pink-flowering Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold' (right)

The chartreuse flowers of Euphorbia rigida look particularly bright when backed up by blue succulents

The downward-facing flowers of hellebores are notoriously difficult to photograph but I'm happy to have far more blooms this year.  Clockwise from the upper left are: hybrids Helleborus 'Anna's Red', H. 'Phoebe', H. orientalis 'True Love', H. orientalis 'Blue Lady', and H. 'Wedding Bells'.

The Leucospermum (pincushion) flowers are generally plentiful but they take their time opening from buds.  Clockwise from the upper left are: 'Royal Hawaiian Brandi', 'Spider Hybrid', and 'High Gold'.  Leucospermum 'Sunrise' (not shown) has only 2 open flowers so far.

The Osteospermums are making the most of spring.  Top: O. '4D Pink', '4D White', and '4D Sunburst'
Middle: O. 'Double Moonglow', an Osteospermum mix, and 'Serenity Bronze'
Bottom: self-seeded Osteospermum (possibly a variant of 'Berry White'), '4D Violet Ice', and 'Serenity Purple'

Pyrethropsis hosmariense (aka Moroccan daisy) is in the process of covering an area of my front garden with white flowers

Of course there are also what I call my "old dependables" that bloom much of the year, if not year-round.

Felicia aethiopica (aka wild aster) blooms most of the year if routinely deadheaded

I don't know how I gardened in my climate without Grevilleas.  The varieties with the largest flowers bloom year-round here.  Those with smaller flowers bloom for several months.  Clockwise from the upper left are: Grevillea 'Poorinda Leane', G. 'Peaches & Cream', G. lavandulacea 'Penola', G. 'Scarlet Sprite', G. 'Superb' (2 photos), and G. sericea.

Leucadendrons 'Safari Sunset' and 'Summer Red' have colorful bracts in lieu of real flowers but most people view them as flowers

Polygala myrtifolia (aka sweet pea bush) flowers most heavily in spring and summer.  It also self-seeds like crazy but that's another story.

And there are the Aeonium arboreum flowers, which bloom for months, usually until I become fed up with their screams for attention and cut them down en masse. 

Aeonium arboreum in bloom in my front and back gardens.  They're actually in every area of my garden.  The bees love them so it's hard to simply toss them out upon arrival.

I'll close this post as I usually do with color-coded collages of flowers that make less of a splash but which I can't bring myself to entirely ignore.

Top: Anchusa capensis, Aristea inaequalis, and Delphinium grandiflora
Middle: Geranium 'Tiny Monster', Lavandula multifida, and Limonium perezii
Bottom: Pericallis 'Magic Salmon', Salvia rosmarinus (aka rosemary), and noID Scaevola

Clockwise from the upper left: Boronia crenulata 'Shark Bay', Centradenia florabunda (aka Spanish shawl, new), mixed Cyclamen, Hebe 'Wiri Blush', Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl', and Pelargonium peltatum (aka ivy geraniun)

Clockwise from upper left: Auranticarpa rhombifolium, Nemesia 'Nessie Plus White', Daphne odora, Euryops chrysanthemoides 'Sonnenschein', and Laurus nobilis (aka bay laurel)

Top: Aloe striata, Arbutus 'Marina', and Cuphea 'Honeybells
Middle: Erysimum 'Wild Orchid', Lobelia laxiflora, and Metrosideros collina 'Springfire'
Bottom: noID Oncidium (my best guess), Primula acaulis, and Salvia africana-lutea

If you made it through the entire photo gallery, congratulations!  For more GBBD posts, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Clearing the decks

During the past week, I've spent a lot of time clearing the raised planters in my cutting garden of the remnants of summer blooms, packing away dahlia tubers, and refreshing the soil in those beds to receive bulbs, plugs, and seeds suitable for our cool season.  At the same time, we've been dealing dealing with hot, dry Santa Ana winds so conditions have been anything but cool but fall will take hold eventually.  It may not look like much but it was a lot of work.

The photo on the left was taken October 23rd, before I started pulling out the contents of the raised planters.  The photo on the right was taken late yesterday afternoon.

 

I'll give you a closer look at each of the raised planters.

Bed #1 has been planted with 5 Digitalis 'Dalmatian Peach' plugs, 40 Anemone coronaria bulbs ('Mount Everest', 'Mistral Plus Rose Tigrato', and 'Mistral Plus Bicolore'), and seeds of Nigella papillosa 'African Bride'.  I left a Cuphea 'Honeybells' and a noID Tanacetum in place.  I've laid wire mesh over the bulbs and seeds to prevent the raccoons and possums from digging up the area in search of grubs.

Clockwise from the upper left are photos of 4 of these these plants taken in prior years: Anemone 'Mount Everest', A. 'Mistral Plus Bicolore', Digitalis 'Dalmatian Peach' and Nigella 'African Bride'

Bed #2 has 6 plugs of a Digitalis purpurea mix, 40 Anemone coronaria bulbs (Anemone 'Admiral' and A. Lord Lieutenant'), and seeds of 4 different larkspurs (Consolida ajacis 'Smokey Eyes', 'Frosted Skies', 'Shade of Blue', and 'Light Blue')

Clockwise from the upper left are photos of Anemone 'Admiral', a facsimile of A. 'Lord Lieutenant', blue Consolida ajacis, and pink Digitalis purpurea.  In the past, most of the bulbs sold to me as Anemone 'Lord Lieutenant' bulbs did not have the multi-petaled flowers the cultivar is known for.  It remains to be seen if this year will be different.

I've cleared bed #3 of everything other than 2 Angelonia and a mystery plant that showed up recently.  I have 7 varieties of sweet peas to plant here, which I should have in place within the next day or so.  I also have 2 other varieties of Nigella papillosa seeds to sow here.

 

I also replanted two of the three barrels in the cutting garden with new plants.

I filled the barrel in the rear that had held Dahlia 'Lavender Ruffles' with white snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus 'Sonnet White') and my favorite pansies (Viola 'Penny Peach').  I pulled Helianthus 'Brown-Eyed Girl' from the barrel in the foreground and filled in with Argyranthemum frutescens 'Angelic Maize', leaving a yellow multi-petaled Calibrachoa in place.  The latter barrel still needs something with more height.  As the 'Sonnet' snapdragons aren't known to be rust-resistant, I suspect they'll require replacing within a couple of months,

 

When I'll see blooms from the cutting garden is anyone's guess.  I soaked all the Anemone bulbs in water for twenty-fours hours as recommended and I'll be soaking the sweet pea seeds as well in the interest of spurring germination.  However, last year virtually everything in my cutting garden bloomed late because late winter and early spring temperatures were much colder than usual here.  My sweet peas didn't take off until May!  On the other hand I've seen some flowers as early as January in other years.  I'll try to be patient.  Elsewhere in the garden, the foliage of the Freesia and Dutch Iris bulbs is already emerging so my earliest cool season flowers may come from them.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party