Aug
08
Posted under
Flower bulb care
When you look at any blooming flower, whether it is a tulip or a wildflower, you see the very last stage of its growth. Not all flowers start the same way, though. There is a difference between a tulip bulb and a seed that every gardener should know. To learn more, read the following information.
Let’s start with the basic definition of an ordinary flower bulb. There are many different definitions you can find on gardening websites. Here are two similar, but different definitions:
An underground leaf bud enwrapped in fleshy scales or coats.
An underground storage organ made up of fleshy scales wrapped around each other from which flowers and leaves are produced.
Let’s pull out the common elements. A tulip bulb is the bottom part of a tulip plant. When the bulb is planted in the soil and begins to come to life, roots and shoots break through the outer wall. Roots dig deeper into the soil to collect water and nutrients. Shoots grow upward and break through the surface of the soil and grow into the green plant that bears a tulip flower.
A bulb is a “storage organ.” It stores food in the “fleshy scales” around the “core” of the bulb. That core grows into next year’s plant.
According to Wikipedia, a seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. The seed coat is a hard case that protects the tiny plant inside. Seeds grow inside a flower or fruit. A seed can be harvested, cleaned, dried and planted to grow new flowers and plants.
You can find tulip seeds within the seed pod in tulip flowers. The pod needs to be pollinated so that the seeds will grow. When the flower dies, you can extract seeds from the pod and plant them the following September. Just be aware that it can take several years before you see a flower on a tulip grown from a seed. Some gardening authorities state that it can take five-to-seven years before these tulips to produce blossoms. A tulip bulb is different from a seed because a bulb will produce a tulip plant and flower the very next year. Make sure to plant either one in the right soil with proper watering and care.
A seed can be as tiny as a poppy seed or as large as a peach pit. The biggest seed in the plant kingdom is from a coco de mer palm tree found in the Silhouette Islands in the Seychelles. That seed can weigh up to 17.6 kilograms or 38 pounds!
Tulip bulbs are very large compared to most flower seeds. A tulip bulb is measured by its circumference. A typical tulip bulb is 11-12 centimeters in circumference which translates to 1.5 inches in diameter. An average tulip bulb measures between 1.5 inches and 3 inches long.
Here’s one more, significant difference between a tulip bulb and a seed. Seeds often grow at the furthest end of a plant, tree or flower. Bulbs do not. A tulip bulbs multiplies by dividing into two bulbs that are attached to each other near the roots of the plant.
Jul
25
Posted under
Flower bulb care
A great way to raise money is with a Spring flower bulb fundraiser. This is usually done as an order-taker sale from a brochure showing colorful pictures and descriptions of available flowers and plants.
You collect payment in advance, place your order, and arrange for pickup or home delivery when your supplier ships your group order. You can do a flower bulb fundraiser at any time of the year, but they work best in late Winter when people start thinking about their gardens and landscaping.
Getting started Picking the right supplier is key to your fundraising success. You want a company that’s been in business for many years and that has a strong fundraising program.
Request a sample catalog from your top three choices and compare product offerings and prices. You’ll sell more if the prices are low and the brochure is colorful and easy to read.
Once you’ve picked your supplier, there are two ways to generate sales. One is the traditional door-to-door sales approach and the other is hosting a spring gardening event. There’s no reason why you can’t do both!
Sales tips For in person sales, following a sales script produces the best results. There are three things you want to do right away with each prospect.
1 – Look the customer in the eye and smile as you extend your sales brochure while introducing yourself. Example: ‘Hi, I’m Jane Jones…’
2 – Clearly explain in one sentence who you are and why you are raising funds. Example: ‘Hi, I’m Jane Jones with the Millbrook High Band and we’re raising funds for new uniforms with these great flower bulbs.’
3 – Ask for their help and use the word ‘because’ because it’s a subconscious psychological trigger word. Example: ‘Can you help us out with an order because the old uniforms are really worn out?’
Additionally, recommending a favorite item gets the person looking for their own favorite to order. Example: ‘I really like the hyacinths because they smell so good.’
Garden event tips Hosting a gardening event is a lot more work than selling to family, friends, and neighbors, but it offers a lot more profit potential. You can offer a lot of related products such as mulch, pine straw, flowering plants, gardening tools, lawn service, etc.
Contact merchants who offer gardening-related products and sell display space at your event where they can show their wares. Contract with nurseries for larger plants and take a cut of sales.
Work with suppliers of mulch and pine straw to offer those products that require delivery. Sell them yourself with a markup added or have them staff a sales table at the event for a share of the revenue instead of a booth fee.
An of course, sell flower bulbs from the brochures at the highest traffic location. Adding displays of those particular flowers will greatly increase sales.
Publicity Any fundraising event requires publicity, so be sure to get a press release out to all the major media outlets in your area. Cover the who, what, when where, why and how of your fundraiser.
Make sure the summary paragraph features a newsworthy angle and describes why you are raising funds. After all, these organizations are looking for news that will interest their viewers, readers, or listeners.
Summary A flower bulb fundraiser is a great way to raise much needed funds for any group. You can do the traditional door-to-door sales approach or you can turn it into an event.
The choice is yours, but whichever one you choose, have fun with your flower bulb fundraiser!
Article written by Kimberly Reynolds.
May
20
Posted under
Planting flower bulbs
The Secret Lives of Squirrels
I think squirrels lead double lives. On the surface they look cute, with their big, fluffy tails, but underneath there’s a dark side.
My first hint came when I was growing up and my parents added a family room addition onto our home. Like any good 1970s era family room it included a sliding glass door that led out to a stonework patio. One day, I was amazed to see a squirrel walk right up to the sliding glass door and press his paws and face against the glass. He seemed to be peering inside. Apparently satisfied that the “coast was clear” he then proceeded to dig some newly planted flower bulbs from pots that my mother had left on the patio and eat them, leaving a messy pile of the bits that he didn’t want behind as if he were in some full service, flower bulb diner with someone else to bus the tables. (And he didn’t even leave a tip!)
My next unpleasant squirrel encounter came some years later, when my husband and I bought our first home. It was a lovely neighborhood. Our house sat high on a hill and our backyard sloped down to a small creek that traversed the entire subdivision. Beyond the creek was a small grove of walnut trees.
Our dog, a black and tan terrier mix, loved to run up and down the hill and across the little foot bridge that allowed us to cross the creek to the walnut trees. The walnut tree grove proved to be a popular squirrel hangout and one day our dog decided he would have a bit of fun. He went tearing down the hill toward a small congregation of squirrels in the middle of their walnut feast. They actually seemed to taunt him, waiting until he had nearly reached their group before scampering high up in to the various trees. As he barked at them helplessly from the ground, the squirrels seemed to be pelting him with walnuts! This battle repeated itself nearly every day for the entire time that we lived in that house.
By far my most harrowing squirrel episode occurred several more years down the road. I was living in another home surrounded by many lovely trees and plants. Although by this time I was a single mother with a four year old son, and the black and tan terrier was decidedly older and slower than before.
This house was a modern looking bi-level, where the upper level included the bedrooms of my son and me as well as an open loft which served as an upstairs family room. In one corner was a working fireplace.
One night I was awakened from a deep sleep by what I thought was a loud crash. But after
Apr
24
Posted under
Flower bulb care
The flower of a tulip is usually formed in July. When they receive enough care, a tulip flower is formed for the coming season (for tulips, sometime in late July). But the lust for tulips was not so much a enthusiasm for the flower, the bulbs became an actual type of currency.
The leaves are four to six inches in diameter with four lobes that are notched into the rough “tulip-flower” shape. In garden tulips there is considerable diversity both in color, flower shape, and time of blooming. The common method to group tulips is by blooming time and flower height. These shorter tulips grow from 15-25cm in height and flower from mid-March.
In the last weeks of April you can catch tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and narcissi all flowering simultaneously. In Holland, where spring is long and cool, tulip flowers last up to six weeks. Each tulip flower has a glass tube inside to protect the bulb from the weather and stands 24″ high. Triumph Tulips: The cup-shaped flowers are borne on strong stems and stand up well under poor weather conditions. ‘Plaisir’ Tulip Double late tulips are also known as peony-flowered tulips, alluding to their large double flowers. These early-flowering tulips are known for their intensely-colored flowers that open wide in the sunshine.
Although the Dutch didn’t know it at the time, these striped flowers were produced when a tulip bulb became infected with the Mosaic virus. Huge collections of nearly worthless tulips became the genesis of the modern Dutch flower-bulb industry of today. The tulip’s entry into Dutch society came in the 16th century when diplomats from Constantinople were said to have brought over the flowering plant. These flowers, such as the Yellow Crown tulips, could be purchased cheaply by even the poorer segments of society. Cut some closed tulip flowers (or flowers from another type of plant).
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Mar
29
Posted under
Books about flower bulbs 
Product Description
In this handy guide, you will find pictures and information on a selection of flower bulbs listed in Latin alphabetical order. This reference booklet is divided in two sections. The first section shows pictures of bulbous and tuberous plants that bloom in spring. The second section contains plants that bloom in summer. Each kind of flower bulb has a variety of characteristics which are indicated in the guide by means of symbols. The meaning of the symbols is describ… More >>
Flower Bulb Guide
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