Sep
06
Posted under
Flower bulb care
Bulbs are among the most interesting, most beautiful and easiest to grow of all flower varieties. Tulip bulbs were once so prized in Holland that it led to one of the best known financial bubbles in history, and even today, tulips are a leading export from that part of the world.Many of the most popular varieties of flowers are actually grown from bulbs, including tulips, crocuses, daffodils, irises, lilies, daylilies, dahlias and snowdrops.Even though bulb based plants are collectively known as bulbs, there are actually five distinct types of bulb plants the true bulb, the corm, the tuber, the rhizome and the tuberous root. This article will provide examples of each type.The embryonic plant contained within the stem base is surrounded by scales (modified leaves that overlap in a manner reminiscent of reptile or fish scales). At the bottom of the bulb is a basal plate; this basal plate holds the scales together and produces the roots of the plant.
Examples of true bulbs are such popular flower varieties as daffodils, tulips and lilies. True bulb varieties of plants are susceptible to dryness and must be handled carefully. When properly cared for, however, individual bulbs can live for many years without being planted.Popular types of corms include gladiolas and crocus. Each corm lasts for a single season, and as the corm shrinks away after blooming, a new corm forms on top of it. In addition, small increases, called cormels, are produced around the base of the corms basal plate.The Rhizome
The rhizome is actually a thickened stem that grows either partly or completely underneath the ground. The largest growth point on a rhizome is located at one end, and additional growth points are located along the sides. The most well known rhizome is the bearded iris.That’s the latest from the understanding flower bulbs authorities. Once you’re familiar with these ideas, you’ll be ready to move to the next level.
If you base what you do on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Make sure you get the whole understanding of flower bulbs from informed sources.
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
Flower bulbs can be planted in your garden or kept indoors and forced to bloom. Either way, they offer beautiful, colorful, fragrant flowers that add character to any garden or…
Written by experts in the field, Quick Easy Guides share little-known trade secrets and helpful hints to get you moving in the right direction.
Quick Easy Guides gives you books you can judge by the cover. Our books are short, sweet and cheap. You can see for yourself.
More >>
How To Buy Flower Bulbs
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Mar
29
Posted under
Books about flower bulbs 
Product Description
De Jager Flower Bulbs and Plants, Spring 1965, edited & published by P. de Jager & Sons, Inc. Illustrated with color illustrations. Paperback with 40 pages…. More >>
De Jager Flower Bulbs and Plants
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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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Mar
29
Posted under
Books about flower bulbs 
Product Description
Representing the most comprehensive review of the physiological research conducted on 61 genera of ornamental geophytes, this book covers the basic aspects of world production, horticultural utilization, botanical descriptions and origins, bulb growth and development and flowering, production systems, diseases, insects, plant breeding and the economics related to flower bulbs.This is the first publication to allow access to this research in one single volume, with e… More >>
The Physiology of Flower Bulbs: A Comprehensive Treatise on the Physiology and Utilization of Ornamental Flowering Bulbous and Tuberous Plants
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Mar
13
Posted under
Flower bulb care
Ordering flowers in Chicago is no different than ordering flowers in any other city. Some people have preferences of using a locally known florist, while others have no such preference. If you are ordering from a city outside of Chicago, your best bet will probably be to do an Internet search for florists in the area. You can also use national flower companies for Chicago flower delivery.
Floral Essence is one among hundreds of results you may find. This company is located just outside of Chicago and is locally owned. Floral Essence offers Chicago flower delivery and may have discounts available upon your request. They specialize in weddings and are open 7 days a week.
Accents Flowers & Gifts also offers Chicago flower delivery as well as delivery for outlying suburbs. This florist specializes in all occasions and offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Finding a company that offers a non-conditional guarantee can be an important factor for a lot of people; you certainly want the quality of products and service to be exceptional. Flower Delivery provides information on same day, next day, international, and online flower delivery in various regions Flower Delivery is the sister site of Flower Bulbs Web.
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Feb
05
Posted under
Flower bulb care
In the summer, the sun is shining and everything is vibrant. Even the summer flowers are brighter and bolder. No meek pastels or pasty whites here; summer flower bulbs are vivacious. While less hardy plants are dried, brown, and dying, summer flowers are bright, alive, and thriving. Summer flower bulbs are flowers that bloom in the summer. Some examples are daylilies, lilies, gladiolus, dahlia, begonia, and caladium.
Summer flower bulbs should be planted in early spring. They need to be planted in an area with adequate drainage. Flower bulbs will rot in standing water. For this reason, they should never be planted at the bottom of a hill.
Summer flower bulbs vary in their sun requirements. Dahlias, lilies, and daylilies, for example, thrive in full sun to partial shade. Gladiolus, on the other hand, requires full sun and iris prefer partial shade. When planning your arrangement, pay special attention to the amount of sun your garden or flowerbed receives and pick your flower bulbs accordingly.
All summer flower bulbs require loose, workable soil. If the area has never been used for growing, add some compost or peat moss. Most bulbs will not require any special fertilization, but follow your package directions carefully.
These flowers work best in masses. For the best effect, do not plant a single bulb or a thin line of bulbs. They look best when they are clumped as in the wild.
Summer flower bulbs should be planted when the soil is dry and free-flowing. Did the hole six to eight inches deep, and place the bulb in with the pointed side facing up. Cover the hole with dirt and pack firmly. Water thoroughly.
If you plant your summer flower bulbs in an appropriate location and give them the most basic attention, you will be abundantly rewarded. When all the other plants and flowers are dying, you will have a bed of bright, vibrant flowers.
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