There are few things that you can plant in your garden that give as much as spring-blooming bulbs. They truly are the earliest show offs of the year and come in such a wide variety of types and colors, most gardeners can’t resist putting some in. Of course, some of us – who have invited and welcomed in the neighborhood deer – will not have tulips but rather a very nice display of leaves and blossomless stems. “They are bold, those deer!” – says the gardener who recently had a deer ON HER FRONT PORCH, snacking on a Tropicana potted rose. But I digress…this is about bulbs; not deer.
Nurseries and garden centers generally have a good selection of bulbs, but you’ve got to hit the stores at the right time or the supplies will have dwindled rapidly. You’ve got to get there early, well before it’s time to plant. In this case, the early bird gets the fritillaria. Then you’ll have to hold over those bulbs until the right time to plant. They need to be stored in a cool, dry place. If you’re going to have them for a month before planting, the refrigerator would be a good place to ensure that they’ve gotten their “chill on.”
Paul James, of DIY’s Gardening By The Yard, tells us, “I like more choices and I don’t like risking storing the bulbs. I prefer to order mine. There are literally dozens of catalogs and online sources for doing just that. Many offer varieties that you won’t find in stores and they’ll ship the bulbs to you when it’s time to plant them in your area.”
Two online sources I like are www.tulipworld.com and www.bloomingbulbs.com. Each also offers a paper catalog. I love gardening catalogs. Much more than surfing a website.
If you’re doing mail-order, plant your bulbs immediately, if possible. If you can’t plant right away, it’s best to open the boxes and bags and allow air to circulate around the bulbs.
Most bulbs are sun-lovers, although Spanish bluebells prefer the shade. Early bloomers, such as crocus, do best beneath leaf bearing trees since they bloom long before the trees fill in with leaves. Generally, plant your bulb in a location that gets at least six hours of sunlight a day.
Paul James suggests a planting technique using a mattock. Wikipedia tells us that a mattock is a hand tool similar to a pick axe. It is distinguished by the head, which makes it particularly suitable for digging or breaking up moderately hard ground. A mattock has a broad chisel-like blade perpendicular to the handle. This broad-bladed end is effectively an adze that could be used as a hoe as well. The reverse may have a pointed end, in which case the tool is called a pick mattock, or instead have an axe-like splitting end, then it is a cutter mattock. In some regions of the southern USA, the mattock is called a "grub hoe" or "grub axe". Stab the mattock into the ground and pull back the soil to create a hole for the bulb. In the event that your bulbs did not come with planting instructions, the general rule of thumb is to plant the bulb three to four times deep as the bulb is tall.
When you plant your bulbs, plant the taller ones – like gladiolus – in the back and the ones with the smaller, low growing blossoms in the front. If you’re adding bulbs to an already existing bed, plant in groups of threes and fives to produce the appearance of lushness as if those plants have always grown there.
And WHEN really is the question, isn’t it? It’s really better to get your crocus and Madonna lilies in the ground around mid-September along with daffodils and the larger flowering hyacinths. This month is great for crocus, tulips, grape hyacinth, fritillaria, alliums, snowdrops, scillia and squill. Don’t forget that squill has the added benefit of being repellent to burrowing critters. Also, irises should go in the ground now.
If you’re working a whole new bed, spade up the area, work in a 10-10-10 fertilizer and 2 cups of bone meal per 10 square feet to give your bulbs the best possible start. This is especially important if you are planning on keeping the bulbs in situ for more than one year.
After the ground freezes, or after consistent frosts, set in (we’re not living in Vermont, after all!) cover your bulb planted areas with a 3-inch mulch. You might want to rake it back in early April or late March, if the weather is mild, unless the new shoots can penetrate it easily.
When your bulb blooming time has come and gone, we’re often tempted to cut back that yellow, dying and unsightly foliage. Don’t. You can remove the spent blooms, because otherwise the bulb will use up it’s energy in seed production. Leave that foliage. After the blooms, the bulb itself needs that foliage to store up food before it’s next dormancy. The leaves will provide nourishment to sustain the bulb through dormancy and growth of the bulb itself. Camouflage that fading foliage with bright annuals, maybe pansies, zinnia and some spreading sweet allysum.
Favorites in the bulb world are daffodils, voted #1 in Sunset magazines gardening survey year after year, followed by tulips of all kinds. My personal favorite of the tulips are the botanical Parrot tulips. I just love them! It’s tough to beat the hyacinth’s sweet fragrance in the spring. These come in many shades of purple, blue, pink, red and white. They are also easy to force in a dish of gravel, as are narcissus. One of the first flowers to usher in spring is the crocus. Their lovely, cup-shape blooms come in colorful shades of yellow, orange, purple, blue, and white. Their small size makes them easy to tuck pathways, or at the front of the border. The bold lollipop types of allium are what most gardeners are familiar with. The allium family is huge and offers gardeners a great mix of plant sizes, shapes, and colors. They are a deterrent to a number of pests and burrowing critters. I mentioned squill earlier, but it’s worth a second look. It is one of my favorites. Siberian squill features easy-growing ways and incredible blue color. It's spring's finest blue hue -- and an incredibly easy bulb to boot. It grows just about anywhere. Crown Imperial - with a name like this, you know it has to be an eye-catcher! Crown imperials offer a beautiful cluster of downward-facing flowers in warm, Hawaiian shades. They're topped by a tuft of leaves. Though beautiful and dramatic, they're also a bit stinky – helpful in keeping those who would munch on your garden away. Graceful little bulbs, anemones are the very breath of spring, popping up cheerfully from ferny foliage. They bloom in shades of pink, white, and blue -- and work well in virtually every garden. They’re under used and under rated and definitely are worth considering. I really enjoy the fragrance of freesia, but I do find them rather finicky albeit fabulous and worth the effort. They grow well in containers.
Bulbs offer variety, loads of color and ease of growing that are unsurpassed. I just love them!
Nurseries and garden centers generally have a good selection of bulbs, but you’ve got to hit the stores at the right time or the supplies will have dwindled rapidly. You’ve got to get there early, well before it’s time to plant. In this case, the early bird gets the fritillaria. Then you’ll have to hold over those bulbs until the right time to plant. They need to be stored in a cool, dry place. If you’re going to have them for a month before planting, the refrigerator would be a good place to ensure that they’ve gotten their “chill on.”
Paul James, of DIY’s Gardening By The Yard, tells us, “I like more choices and I don’t like risking storing the bulbs. I prefer to order mine. There are literally dozens of catalogs and online sources for doing just that. Many offer varieties that you won’t find in stores and they’ll ship the bulbs to you when it’s time to plant them in your area.”
Two online sources I like are www.tulipworld.com and www.bloomingbulbs.com. Each also offers a paper catalog. I love gardening catalogs. Much more than surfing a website.
If you’re doing mail-order, plant your bulbs immediately, if possible. If you can’t plant right away, it’s best to open the boxes and bags and allow air to circulate around the bulbs.
Most bulbs are sun-lovers, although Spanish bluebells prefer the shade. Early bloomers, such as crocus, do best beneath leaf bearing trees since they bloom long before the trees fill in with leaves. Generally, plant your bulb in a location that gets at least six hours of sunlight a day.
Paul James suggests a planting technique using a mattock. Wikipedia tells us that a mattock is a hand tool similar to a pick axe. It is distinguished by the head, which makes it particularly suitable for digging or breaking up moderately hard ground. A mattock has a broad chisel-like blade perpendicular to the handle. This broad-bladed end is effectively an adze that could be used as a hoe as well. The reverse may have a pointed end, in which case the tool is called a pick mattock, or instead have an axe-like splitting end, then it is a cutter mattock. In some regions of the southern USA, the mattock is called a "grub hoe" or "grub axe". Stab the mattock into the ground and pull back the soil to create a hole for the bulb. In the event that your bulbs did not come with planting instructions, the general rule of thumb is to plant the bulb three to four times deep as the bulb is tall.
When you plant your bulbs, plant the taller ones – like gladiolus – in the back and the ones with the smaller, low growing blossoms in the front. If you’re adding bulbs to an already existing bed, plant in groups of threes and fives to produce the appearance of lushness as if those plants have always grown there.
And WHEN really is the question, isn’t it? It’s really better to get your crocus and Madonna lilies in the ground around mid-September along with daffodils and the larger flowering hyacinths. This month is great for crocus, tulips, grape hyacinth, fritillaria, alliums, snowdrops, scillia and squill. Don’t forget that squill has the added benefit of being repellent to burrowing critters. Also, irises should go in the ground now.
If you’re working a whole new bed, spade up the area, work in a 10-10-10 fertilizer and 2 cups of bone meal per 10 square feet to give your bulbs the best possible start. This is especially important if you are planning on keeping the bulbs in situ for more than one year.
After the ground freezes, or after consistent frosts, set in (we’re not living in Vermont, after all!) cover your bulb planted areas with a 3-inch mulch. You might want to rake it back in early April or late March, if the weather is mild, unless the new shoots can penetrate it easily.
When your bulb blooming time has come and gone, we’re often tempted to cut back that yellow, dying and unsightly foliage. Don’t. You can remove the spent blooms, because otherwise the bulb will use up it’s energy in seed production. Leave that foliage. After the blooms, the bulb itself needs that foliage to store up food before it’s next dormancy. The leaves will provide nourishment to sustain the bulb through dormancy and growth of the bulb itself. Camouflage that fading foliage with bright annuals, maybe pansies, zinnia and some spreading sweet allysum.
Favorites in the bulb world are daffodils, voted #1 in Sunset magazines gardening survey year after year, followed by tulips of all kinds. My personal favorite of the tulips are the botanical Parrot tulips. I just love them! It’s tough to beat the hyacinth’s sweet fragrance in the spring. These come in many shades of purple, blue, pink, red and white. They are also easy to force in a dish of gravel, as are narcissus. One of the first flowers to usher in spring is the crocus. Their lovely, cup-shape blooms come in colorful shades of yellow, orange, purple, blue, and white. Their small size makes them easy to tuck pathways, or at the front of the border. The bold lollipop types of allium are what most gardeners are familiar with. The allium family is huge and offers gardeners a great mix of plant sizes, shapes, and colors. They are a deterrent to a number of pests and burrowing critters. I mentioned squill earlier, but it’s worth a second look. It is one of my favorites. Siberian squill features easy-growing ways and incredible blue color. It's spring's finest blue hue -- and an incredibly easy bulb to boot. It grows just about anywhere. Crown Imperial - with a name like this, you know it has to be an eye-catcher! Crown imperials offer a beautiful cluster of downward-facing flowers in warm, Hawaiian shades. They're topped by a tuft of leaves. Though beautiful and dramatic, they're also a bit stinky – helpful in keeping those who would munch on your garden away. Graceful little bulbs, anemones are the very breath of spring, popping up cheerfully from ferny foliage. They bloom in shades of pink, white, and blue -- and work well in virtually every garden. They’re under used and under rated and definitely are worth considering. I really enjoy the fragrance of freesia, but I do find them rather finicky albeit fabulous and worth the effort. They grow well in containers.
Bulbs offer variety, loads of color and ease of growing that are unsurpassed. I just love them!
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