Does anyone know if there are any retailers left in the Toronto area who are selling a decent variety of bulbs that are not pre-packaged??

With the demise of White Rose, I've been increasingly frustrated in shopping for anything different in spring bulbs. Only the most common varieties of tulips and daffodils seem to be available in bulk anywhere!

Not only do I not appreciate haveing to deal with all the extra packaging materials, but I'd really like to be the one deciding how many bulbs I'm going to plant. More and more the bulb companies are forcing me to buy in multiples of 6 or 8 or whatever THEY decide is the appropriate number for a grouping. And frequently at much higher prices and for smaller bulbs!!

Imagine if the grocery stores went back to the days where they decided the package sizes of your fruit and vegetables??? They'd have a small riot on their hands. Why are we going the opposite way with bulbs?? I can understand the difficulties with verifying counts, or getting them mixed up, but I'd be OK with slightly slower check-outs and the occasional spring "surprise".

I want my freedom to choose back!

Hi Nancy.

The Royal Botanical Gardens holds a used bulb sale every spring. The bulbs come from the extensive displays in the rock garden at the RBG. They are on the small side since they dig them up shortly after blooming, and you have to get there early for a good selection. But they are relatively cheap and you can choose your own. They take a season or two to recover to full health after being so rudely and prematurely yanked out of the ground. The best thing about it is that there are so many varieties!

Cheers G