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| Daffodils are the national flower of Wales. Mrs. Ichabod's boss loved seeing them on his desk. We grew them in our lawn and mowed late. |
A true bulb is actually a flower encased in food for the plant. Fall bulbs planted early will develop roots and send the stem upward, but break the surface only after a good winter and a spring thaw. Fall bulbs can and should be planted early. When I got them late in New Ulm, Minnesota, I had to dig near the parsonage, where the soil was still soft from the heat in the basement.
Like roses, I have planted fall (akakhardy) bulbs almost everywhere we lived.
Someone was kind enough to plant Grape Hyacinths at our home in Springdale, the Ichabode. They bloom early, for a long time, flower and then go to seed, creating a patch of color here and there. They multiply, so they are a good choice for naturalizing.
Make a Big Bet on Bulbs
The only place to get fall and spring bulbs is Dutch Gardens. They are bigger and cost less than all others. That has been true for decades.
http://www.dutchgardens.com/
Sign up for their catalogs - works of art by themselves.
Like many gardening adventures, bulbs can inspire the hair-on-fire buy everything impulse. That will be coupled with remorse with all of them arrive at once. They have to be dug into the ground.
My suggestion is to make one big bet each year on favorite bulbs.
- Buy a large amount of one variety, one color. The mass of color is impressive.
- Or - buy two colors and group them accordingly.
- Plan for a layer of little bulbs planted above the big ones.
Daffodils are an easy choice. Critters do not eat them, so they are not dug up and replanted by tree squirrels and ground squirrels - as crocus are.
The layer above could be early tiny bulbs. That would mean one larger hold about seven inches deep, a fair amount of soil to move, the big bulbs covered up, then the tiny bulbs in the top layer.
We did group bulb orders at several churches and got a bulb discount, which we took in bulbs to plant at the church.
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| Grape Hyacinths are not hyacinths and often come in other colors. |
My Modest Plan
I am going to buy some Grape Hyacynths, which are very inexpensive, long lasting, and good at multiplying.
Our helper will get some to plant with his two children. They are enjoying gardening and participating:
- The maple tree seedling from our yard is now 10 feet tall in theirs.
- The Purple Splash roses are in bloom all the time.
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| Purple Splash blooms all the time if prune. Our helper's son prunes and mulches it. |
