NPR: What's A Four Letter Word for Procrastination?

What's A Four Letter Word for Procrastination?

It's spelled BULB.

So full of promise, but did they ever get in the ground? Depends on whether they were yours, or mine...

photo credit: Bethany King

Of course the good news is that I never ordered any, so I'm free and clear. But you folks with vital bulbaceous life in the garage (or the basement, or the trunks of your cars) -- how long is too long?

The question reminds me of the afternoon I spent with a very charming man and rose-crazed gardener, the now-deceased actor, John Spencer (he played Leo on West Wing). Mr. Spencer was featured in a Morning Edition series on Celebrity Gardeners back in 2000.

I've often bought more than I've had time have time to plant. And I'm jonesing to buy some dahlia bulbs. So the question is, will these dahlia bulbs get planted? Or, like some of the bulbs I bought, they bloomed in the bag. And I looked at them guiltily when I pulled the car in coming back from Warner Brothers every night. And they never saw the ground!!

You can hear the entire series at the bottom of this page.

So...no prizes for the best procrastinators among you, but plenty of good company. Check out some of the competition at Garden Rant.

10:18 AM ET | 11-29-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Funny you should bring up abandoned bulbs. I just threw out a set of daffodil bulbs I found in the laundry room (why the laundry room?) that had to be at least four years old. I wonder what color they would have been.

Sent by Lauren Uroff | 7:38 AM ET | 11-30-2007

I once planted some Narcissus in February (in Portland Oregon) - after I noticed other people's Daffs starting to emerge. I think they were a little behind the curve that first year, but ever since they have bloomed every spring. Happy little yellow faces!

Sent by Kai in Portland | 11:48 AM ET | 11-30-2007

Oh, I'm in this company too! Between the weather (too wet, too cold, too windy, now too snowy) and just not having enough hours in the day, I still have quite a few unplanted bulbs. It happens. They'll get in. I've planted in January before and things worked out okay.

Sent by jodi | 12:14 AM ET | 12-02-2007

Okay, I'm a little late getting in on this one, but I read it and laughed because I HAVE gotten all of the bulbs that I bought into the ground, even thought it took several weekends. However, reading your comments, I realized that if I lived anywhere other than coastal Georiga, I, too, would have missed the planting window and been picking at the frozen soil wondering if it was okay to drop the little bulbs in. Fortunately for me and my procrastinating ways, it is still 80 degrees here - in fact, I jogged by some blooming azaleas and blooming daffodils this evening (yes, it is mid-december). And if I was anywhere else, I would not have been lured outside the past few weekends by the glorious weather, and my bulbs would not be in the ground. Instead, they are already peeping out, just waiting to burst into bloom (or to get frozen I'm afraid by some sneaky February frost).

Sent by Jesse | 10:11 PM ET | 12-12-2007

I liked John Spencer as Leo on the West Wing... and I smiled to know that he was a gardener.

I planted the last of my bulbs (some random tulips and a 3 packs of dog's-tooth violets) and also tucked orphan pots of perennials into temporary homes on Thursday night. Or Friday morning, technically, since it was after midnight!
http://blackswampgirl.blogspot.com/2007/12/planting-finally-complete.html

Sent by Kim aka blackswampgirl | 8:18 PM ET | 12-16-2007

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