SPRING FLOWERING BULBS
Spring Flowering Bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths are among my favorite flowers. Soon enough, they will be blooming, and these mountains of snow will be but a memory. Then it’s time to plan for the flowers I want in my garden next year. Flower bulbs are planted in the Fall for Springtime bloom.
Whenever I notice something pretty in a garden catalog it ends up on my Wish List – – – but I don’t dare get carried away. Even with a bulb planter that you just step down on, it still takes some effort to get them in the ground. So after deciding on the ones I just can’t live without, I send in my order. And same time next year, I’ll get to watch them bloom for the very first time.
TULIPS
Garden nurseries create new types and colors of tulips each year. It’s sort of like fashion catalogs – – – clothing is different every year. I always check out the bargain pages, since there are often special offers of mixed varieties. I don’t really care if the colors match – – – in fact, it’s more fun if they push, shove, and elbow each other for attention. “Kingsblood” Tulip is my favorite red. It is a Single Late Tulip, and if I could only have one variety in my garden, this would be it.
It’s hard to get the bulbs to multiply, and many gardeners treat tulips like annuals. I dig mine up every other year, pop the small, multiplying bulbs apart, and replant them in a larger hole. Feed them well with commercial bulb food, and you and your neighbors will have much to ogle next season.
DAFFODILS
Daffodils usually beat the tulips by blooming as early as February. And if anything will make you smile, it is a yellow frilled bloom pushing up through the snow. Daffodils are a favorite of mine since deer won’t touch them. The slimy, sticky substance that drips from the stems is very bitter. I sometimes mix this into my homemade “critter gitter” concoction that keeps deer and other creatures from devouring everything in my flower bed.
HYACINTHS
Hyacinths are a huge favorite of mine, but always wear work gloves when you handle the bulbs. They can cause a bad allergic reaction in many people. The deep blue and the rose colored hyacinths are my favorites, although the white ones seem to have the strongest scent. And the fragrance of hyacinth is something you’ll never forget.
HAPPY PLANTING! Susan
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