The ups and downs of the gardening world.
Sunny yellow blooms fringed with a green ruff green poking through snow is my first sign that spring has sprung. Eranthis hyamalis, or Winter Aconite, in the buttercup family, is a spring ephemeral, which means that it is a short-lived plant above ground with a burst of blooms, then disappears, remaining under ground until next …
Continue reading "Winter Aconites-Harbinger of Spring"
If you are a flower lover, you are starved for color right about now. I turn to the big box stores and nurseries to pick up my flower fixes. With grapefruit sized amaryllis bulbs available now, you can have bloom November through February if you start them at different times and use different species. …
Continue reading "Amaryllis-Queen of Bulbs"
The days are getting shorter and the temperatures are moderating with some chilly nights. What does that mean?? Bulb time!!! Planting bulbs around my house is a process. I add to my collection in the ground every year and also pot up containers with bulbs to strategically place around my yard for pops of color. …
Continue reading "Container Bulbs For Spring Color"
You love spring bulbs but have a huge deer and squirrel problem? Yes, this fall you can plant a number of bulbs that they will pass up! Most people know that daffodils are always ignored by deer and rodents, but don't limit yourself to daffodils. There are many other deer/rodent resistant bulb varieties. Deer and …
Continue reading "Critter Proof Bulbs"
A bulb that blooms in the fall? I get a lot of puzzled looks when I try to explain Autumn Crocus or Meadow saffron. Not really a crocus, but actually in the lily family, it resembles the spring flowering crocus but the flowers are larger and chalice-shaped instead of stiffly upright. The similarity to a …
Continue reading "Autumn Crocus-Fall Super Star"
Planting bulbs in pots now in the fall ensures that you will have pots of flowers to enjoy in the spring outdoors.
From July to a killing frost in October, dahlias dominate my garden with their many petaled lushly colored flowers. Except for a true blue, you can find just about every flower color in a dahlia. Sizes can vary from an enormous 12 inch dinner plate to small button pom poms. Bee magnet blooms cover my …
Continue reading "Dahlias-Divas of the Garden"
Amaryllis bulbs are a popular Christmas gift and with the proper care, you can have a beautiful winter/early spring blooming bulb for many years.
Alliums are the best kept secret of the bulb world and once you start planting them, you will add to your collection every year. Deer resistant, easy to grow, and multi-season interest are some of their best attributes.
Bring spring in with forcing easy to bloom bulbs for color and fragrance. Learn how to force Hyacinths, Paperwhites, and Amaryllis for lots of blooms in the winter months ahead.
