Rich Santoro isn’t just a bulb guy. He’s The Bulb Guy — and he’s got the numbers to prove it. For years, he’s planted thousands of flowering bulbs in his spacious backyard in San Jose’s Berryessa neighborhood, then invited the public to enjoy the colorful springtime blooms.
After the pandemic forced his tours to become virtual visits last year, he (admittedly) went a little nuts, planting more than 28,000 daffodils, tulips, irises, scalia and others for the 2021 season. If you’re keeping track, and Santoro is, that’s twice as many as last year.
We chatted with him about his over-the-top hobby and how you, too, can join the bulb mania.
Q How did your bulb garden get started?
A It was back in the fall of 1985, and we stopped by to see my sister-in-law, Carmen Felisilda. She was puttering around the front. I yelled out, “What are you doing?” She came up to the car with an apron full of daffodil bulbs and said, “I’m bulb gardening.” I said to her, “Isn’t that difficult? You have to do it a certain time with special fertilizers and talk with an English accent?” She said, “Let me show you.” I watched her and was hooked. My wife, Riza, and I went and bought 50 daffodils, came home and buried them in our 2,000-square-foot lawn.
Q What did she show you? We’re curious: Just how easy is it to plant bulbs?
A This easy: Dig hole for bulb. Drop bulb in hole. Water bulb in hole. Cover bulb with dirt. Step awaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy from the bulb. The last step is critical (he says with a laugh).
Q What’s the optimal time of year to plant for spring blooms?
A I tell people to plant after Thanksgiving. The key is the dirt must not be warm.
Q How did you feel about not being able to allow the public to enjoy the garden last year?
A This was a Bulb Guy bummer of all bummers. Can you imagine Michelangelo not being able to show his art? I tell a pretty good story during my tours, and that is sooooooooooo much fun. The garden is not just a garden of tulips and ranunculi.
Because of COVID, we had to shut down the 2020 Bulb Guy Show. So my sister Joyce, who sings with me with Swing Solution and the Millennium Sounds Orchestra, took a video of the garden and put it to music — “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” by the McGuire Sisters. Usually I get 2,300 people walking through. But Joyce’s YouTube video was seen by 25,000 people. Now that’s just crazy.
Q What’s the outlook for visitors this year?
A The decision to open the garden is up in the air. Usually, the last week of March is when it opens. (With the pandemic), we think maybe eight people at a time might be the limit, with 15 minutes of viewing time. I planted a lot of late bloomers, so it will be interesting to see what happens. (For updates, check www.the-bulbguy.com.)
Q You’re also a big-band vocalist, so we have to ask: Do plants really grow faster when you sing to them?
A They like Michael Bublé. Well, I can see why … Bublé … bulb … ’nuff said!
SANTORO’S 5 FAVORITE GARDENS TO VISIT
Nola’s Iris Garden at Prevost Ranch, San Jose: Nola starts taking orders in August and ships in November. Her claim to fame is that her irises are in The Bulb Guy Garden AND the Queen of England’s garden. (That’s the way I tell the story.) During blooming season, the gardens are open to the public.
Hakone Gardens, Saratoga: One of the finest Japanese gardens in the Bay Area — if not the finest. Meticulous.
Filoli, Woodside: A must-go, with 225 acres of gardens from tulips to trees.
San Francisco Botanical Garden: 8,000 plants at Golden Gate Park. So much to see.
Copenhagen, Denmark: The sheer volume of bulbs (in the city’s greenspaces) is overwhelming.
