May
05
Posted under
Flower bulb care
With fall just around the corner and the gardening season winding down, it’s hard to think about planting. But that’s exactly what you should do if you want to see some bright blooms early next spring. Tulips, daffodils, crocuses and other spring flowers start with bulbs planted in the fall.
What’s nice about these early spring flowers is that they are usually done blooming before perennials and other plants take over the flower bed. Keeping that in mind, take a walk around your yard and look at areas where you want to add some early color to your landscape in the spring. Garden catalogs with pictures of different types of bulbs can help you select the type and color of flowers you want in your yard.
Consider different heights and colors of plants and how they might look next to each other. A row of lavender tulips, for example, can provide the perfect backdrop for a row of shorter pink hyacinths. You may want to sketch out your plan on some paper to indicate where you would like to have spring flowers in your yard. This will also give you an idea of how many bulbs you will need to purchase.
If you are as comfortable around a computer as you are the garden, you can try landscaping software. Some programs let you plug in a picture of your home and simulate various plantings. While it might be a bit of overkill if you only want a spring flower plan, it can give you a more holistic approach to your landscaping. You can map out a strategy of what to plant so you will have blooms all summer long, not just in the spring.
You can also take the low-tech, no planning approach of a spring surprise. Try randomly planting different bulbs in flower beds and other areas of your yard. Consider planting some in areas of your lawn that are fairly protected like under trees or near your home. If the grass starts growing, you can always mow around the plants until they are done blooming. After a long winter, it’s a pleasant surprise to see colorful blooms popping out of the ground from bulbs you forgot about.
Most spring bulbs appear on shelves in September and October. If you are a bargain hunter and willing to take a little risk, watch for clearance sales on bulbs late in the fall at garden shops. I have planted these clearance bulbs late in the season with a decent success rate of blooms the following spring. Be sure to plant before the ground freezes.
While you are at the garden shop, be sure to buy a bulb-planting tool to simplify your work. Most spring bulbs should be planted at a depth of four inches or more, depending on the type of flower. Be sure to follow the instructions on the package and check how much space you should have between each bulb.
Once your bulbs are in the ground, you may need to protect your investment from deer, chipmunks and other garden invaders. A publication from University of Vermont Extension by Dr. Leonard Perry suggests placing fine mesh over your plantings to help prevent rodents and other animals from digging up your bulbs. After your flowers bloom, the same publication recommends leaving the leaves on the plants until they turn yellow to ensure the bulbs get enough nutrients for the next season.
With some advance planting and a little luck, your work in the fall will be rewarded the following spring. The bright blooms will help you forget about winter and get you motivated for another season of gardening.
Sep
02
Posted under
Flower bulb care
Flower bulbs need a good, long, winters sleep. Like some people we know, if they wake up before they are fully rested they get kind of cranky, and then they dont bloom well at all.
Actually what happens is during a mild winter, the soil stays too warm and the bulbs begin to come out of dormancy early. They start to grow, and once the tips emerge above the soil line, they are subject to freezing if the temperatures dip back down below freezing. And thats usually what happens. After the bulbs have emerged, they freeze and then dont bloom at all, or if they do its a very sad display.
Another reason this happens is because the bulbs are not planted deep enough. They may have been deep enough when you planted them, but as the soil goes through the freezing and thawing process, the bulbs can actually work their way up in the ground. One way to keep your flower bulbs sleeping longer, which will protect them from freezing, is to mulch the bed.
In the fall just apply a 3-4 layer of well composted mulch. This layer of mulch will do a couple of things. It will maintain a higher moisture content in the soil, which is good as long as the soil isnt too soggy. Well composted mulch also adds valuable organic matter to the planting bed. Organic matter makes a great natural fertilizer.
A 3-4 layer of mulch also acts as an insulator. It will keep the soil from freezing for a while, which is good because you dont want the bulbs going through a series of short cycles of freezing and thawing. Then when the temperatures drop below freezing and stay there for a while, the soil does eventually freeze. Then the mulch actually works in reverse and keeps the soil from thawing out too early. Keeping it in a frozen state is actually good because the bulbs remain dormant for a longer period of time.
When they finally do wake up it is spring time, and hopefully by the time they emerge from the ground the danger of a hard freeze is past and they will not be damaged. If you can keep them from freezing, they will flower beautifully. The extra organic matter will help to nourish the bulbs when they are done blooming, and the cycle starts all over again.
We also plant annual flowers in the same beds with our spring bulbs. By the time the danger of frost is past and its time to plant the annuals, the top of the bulbs have died back and are ready to be removed. The mulch that is added in the fall also helps to nourish the annual flowers, as well as improve the soil permanently. Any time you add well composted organic matter to your planting beds, you are bound to realize multiple benefits. The key words here are well composted. Fresh material is not good.
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Jun
25
Posted under
Flower bulb care
Flower bulbs need a good, long, winters sleep. Like some people we know, if they wake up before they are fully rested they get kind of cranky, and then they dont bloom well at all.
Actually what happens is during a mild winter, the soil stays too warm and the bulbs begin to come out of dormancy early. They start to grow, and once the tips emerge above the soil line, they are subject to freezing if the temperatures dip back down below freezing. And thats usually what happens. After the bulbs have emerged, they freeze and then dont bloom at all, or if they do its a very sad display.
Another reason this happens is because the bulbs are not planted deep enough. They may have been deep enough when you planted them, but as the soil goes through the freezing and thawing process, the bulbs can actually work their way up in the ground. One way to keep your flower bulbs sleeping longer, which will protect them from freezing, is to mulch the bed.
In the fall just apply a 3-4 layer of well composted mulch. This layer of mulch will do a couple of things. It will maintain a higher moisture content in the soil, which is good as long as the soil isnt too soggy. Well composted mulch also adds valuable organic matter to the planting bed. Organic matter makes a great natural fertilizer.
A 3-4 layer of mulch also acts as an insulator. It will keep the soil from freezing for a while, which is good because you dont want the bulbs going through a series of short cycles of freezing and thawing. Then when the temperatures drop below freezing and stay there for a while, the soil does eventually freeze. Then the mulch actually works in reverse and keeps the soil from thawing out too early. Keeping it in a frozen state is actually good because the bulbs remain dormant for a longer period of time.
When they finally do wake up it is spring time, and hopefully by the time they emerge from the ground the danger of a hard freeze is past and they will not be damaged. If you can keep them from freezing, they will flower beautifully. The extra organic matter will help to nourish the bulbs when they are done blooming, and the cycle starts all over again.
We also plant annual flowers in the same beds with our spring bulbs. By the time the danger of frost is past and its time to plant the annuals, the top of the bulbs have died back and are ready to be removed. The mulch that is added in the fall also helps to nourish the annual flowers, as well as improve the soil permanently. Any time you add well composted organic matter to your planting beds, you are bound to realize multiple benefits. The key words here are well composted. Fresh material is not good.
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