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I have a very similar scenario but am actually more at fault for my woes. I bought a bunch of bulbs (rhyzomes too for those more apt than myself) from Costco in the fall as well. I did this with the best of intentions. Didn't get them in the ground in the fall. No biggie- get them in before the last frost. Did not do that either. I put them in pots because I had waited so late some had actually sprung in the bag.
So here is my success rate on the bulbs which I am assuming are similar to yours isnce they also came from Costco-
Tulips- about 8 tulips for 100 + that were planted (I had tossed any that looked rotted or were dusty since I'd been warned those would harm the others- feel free to tell me if this is correct.)
Muscari- my all-stars- at least 24 are already coming up and I doubt I planted over sixty.
Iris- 4 of the six I planted are coming up. And all six had already begun to grow in the bag- I simply ripped of the leaves after putting them in soil. This is actually the most surprising success for me.
Lillies and some mystery bulb (I pulled them form a bag tossed it and forgot what they were)- zero.
I'm in coastal SC so maybe you simply need a couple of more weeks to have everything kick in for you. I have also been watering religiously. Which is humorous given my earlier inability to even throw the bulbs in soil.
My big question is should I assume the tulips, lilies, et al that did not come up are goners due to my late start and pull/toss them? Or should I leave them in the containers and wait until next year to make that call?
Good news!
i checked today and what do you know! i have about 50 individual plants starting to come out!!!!
granted, i planted about 150 but i'll take 50 over 1 ANY day! :-)
who knows, maybe more will follow! my lilies are coming out like crazy! (about an inch or two off the ground....but still! they're OUT! :-)
We planted a bunch of those asiatic lilies from Costco and they all had big flowers after a few weeks. We're in semi-arid environment so we've been watering aggressively. At first we were worried that they would not do well since they had been sitting in the garage in the original box for a month. When we took them out they were all sprouted and dehydrated looking. However they had been doing well beyond our expectations, I've never seen flowers so big and vibrant. Hopefully they'll come back next year as well, but I hear they can live all the way to -20F in their dormant state?
Did you add bone meal when you planted? Too bad those big box stores try to sell plant material at the wrong season. I hope you got a bargain. If you haven't seen any evidence of critters digging them up or moles tunnels in your yard they surely will come back in the spring. I have learned from experience to plant each bulb in a protected pocket like screening or even just sink the entire pot in the garden. That keep most pests away. Daylillies are your best bet for year after year blooms. They are almost impossible to kill but deer do love to eat the buds and flowers but not the leaves. Hopefully your spring will be glorious.
Just a suggestion for you "new" to gardening. Before buying what you want to plant, do a bit of research on line, about your desired plants. There is a wealth of information out there and you can see what does well in your growing zone. Some things just do not do well in certain places. Such as lilac will thrive in the Northeast but not do so well or not at all in hot and dry climate. Gardening is an on going process. Don't get discouraged, as it is very rewarding when you have your first success. You will find certain things may even do better in some areas of your own yard than in others, depending on the soil content and number of hours of sun. I have found in my yard, here in central Maine, that daylilies and astillbe along with lady's mantle do very well.. This year has been especially wet and all of these are doing great. I also had a good display of iris earlier in the summer. Happy Gardening.
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