So I wanted to show you some bulbs that I ordered online from K.Van Bourgondien at dutchbulbs.com. I placed my order in early September and they were delivered in October. The company ships at the appropriate planting time for one's area.
When I ordered, I had the Home Depot website open in one tab and the dutchbulbs.com site in another. I compared prices on similar packages between the two sites. In the end I chose dutchbulbs because their prices were very slightly lower for my total order than Home Depot's, and their selection was better. The tulips were an especially good deal, while the crocus were slightly more for the quantity I was ordering. I did have to pay for shipping. Whereas if I'd ordered from Home Depot, I would have received free shipping. I still came out very slightly ahead. Despite just a small savings, I had also heard good things about this company from others.
Here's my experience:
The box arrived about 10 days ago. I couldn't plant right then, so I put the box into our cold storage room. The box itself had ventilation holes, something I'm not sure about with Home Depot boxes for bulb shipments.
I ordered 100 tulip bulbs and 100 crocus bulbs. This is how they were packaged inside the box.
The bulbs were packaged in ventilated bags.
Upon opening the bag of tulips, they mostly looked very good, and they were good sized.
There was 1 bulb, however, that was very moldy. The rest of the bulbs were in good condition.
The crocus bulbs all were in good condition and were good sized.
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| lunchtime -- halfway through |
We got them all planted just in time before the rain returned. So, I'll see next spring how they all did.
My thoughts:
If I were to order only tulips, I would definitely choose dutchbulbs.com again, due to their great prices on tulips in particular. I'm not too disappointed with the one bulb that was moldy. I would expect that could happen with a Home Depot order as well. Like I said, we shall see how they perform next spring.
By the way, this is an unsolicited review -- simply my opinion as a full-paying customer.
100 each! That's a lot of bulbs, but they will look beautiful when they are all blooming.. Do you have a special method for planting that many?
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteThe thought of them blooming in spring will get me through the dark days of winter. No special method, just dig a hole and pop the bulb in. It was a long process to do them all, but pleasant with help from family members.
Those tulip bulbs look really nice. I have ordered various bulbs from Roozengaarde (tulips.com) which is the Skagit Valley (northern WA state). Each spring, I visit their tulip fields as well. It used to be free, but now the entrance fee is around $15. I bring my own lunch and buy one bunch of tulips and a few postcards. It's an outing I look forward to every year.
ReplyDeleteHi Tina,
DeleteI'll remember Roozengaarde as a bulb source for next time. We went up to the tulip fields several years ago. At that time, we could walk through some of the fields for free but not all of them. It was beautiful to see the tulips in masse. Even with the admission fee, it sounds like a beautiful way to spend an afternoon.
You reminded me that I really should think about planting some spring bulbs. I can't wait to see pictures of your flowers in the spring!
ReplyDeleteHi Kris,
DeleteI hope you can pick up some spring bulbs soon and get them planted. I'll be sure to share photos in the spring when mine bloom!