Fall Bulb Timeline: How Wholesale Bulb Ordering Works
What’s it like to order wholesale bulbs? Here’s a little primer on how and when things happen.
February
Fall planted bulbs are pre-ordered by our customers starting in mid February. Each year, the start of this timeline seems to move a little earlier as wholesale distributors like us compete for access to bulbs abroad.
At that time (late winter), we list a comprehensive collection of bulbs that our supplier feels will be likely available after the summer harvests. No bulb farmer or supplier can tell in the winter exactly how many bulbs of each variety will be available at harvest, because yields are dependent upon environmental factors. Droughts, floods, and diseases have all affected tulip bulb harvest yields in recent years and these problems are exacerbated by climate change. A true bulb count is only available after the bulb harvests and inspections in the summer.
Our late winter customer pre-orders serve as reservations. If everything is available on their lists in the summer, everything can and will be fulfilled. Most of the time, there will be some shortages. In this case, those items are removed from customer pre-orders and customers have the opportunity to add substitute varieties (if they like) from our shop.
If you have any questions about your order, you can always share a message with us right from your order in our online platform. All conversations are logged there and linked to orders (instead of in lengthy email chains). You’ll be notified by email with a copy of messages when we write back to you.
Over the course of the spring we add new varieties to our list and share updates with you. We love tracking down new options for our customers.
Our bulbs are hand inspected by our team of flower farmers. We only share bulbs we’d want to grow ourselves.
July
Cancellations are due by July 1. Up to that point you can remove products from your pre-order without penalty.
A 15% deposit on fall bulb pre-orders is due July 1. The remaining balance is due prior to shipping in the fall. The deposit is payable right from your online wholesale account. You will receive email notification when the invoice is ready for you.
August
In August we learn how the bulb harvests went and which varieties are affected by shortages. We remove unavailable bulbs from customer pre-orders and open stock on substitutions for anyone who would like to add more bulbs to their programs.
Our substitution process is customer-driven. 🎉 We worked hard to build a system that is simple and that prevents growers from disappointment and unwanted surprises. We will never send you a substitute that you don’t order and approve yourself, unless of course, you’d like us to complete that process for you.
September
Once your order is complete you will receive an invoice for the balance due prior to shipping. Your invoice is payable from within the wholesale platform. You will receive an email notification when your invoice is ready.
SHIPPING
Fall bulbs are shipped from late September through Thanksgiving. Miscellaneous bulbs like allium, amaryllis, hyacinth, etc. ship first at the end of September and in early October. Untreated tulip bulbs ship in October. Pre-cooled bulbs ship from the end of October to Thanksgiving. (The pre-cooled bulbs arrive later due to their cooling process in The Netherlands. They are still the first tulips to bloom for winter tulip forcers.)
For customers wanting the earliest possible tulips for winter forcing (by Christmas under the correct growing conditions), we offer a small collection of bulbs that are best suited for this purpose and we ship these pre-cooled bulbs first before fulfilling the other 5C bulb orders.
We ship small orders (15 crates or less, typically) in bulb crates inside of twin wall cardboard boxes via FedEx, UPS or USPS. Larger orders (typically 15 or more crates) ship via freight. Liftgate service is included the customer specifies they do not need it. We compare shipping options for our customers and choose the most economical, speedy, and bulb safe journey possible.
Have a question? Let us know! Share a comment below and we’ll be in touch shortly. As fellow flower farmers- timing, quality, and transparency are super important to us, too. We aim to the bulb company we always hope to work with oursleves.
Cheers,
The Team at Ampersand Bulb Co.