Daffodil Distribution Days Deliver an Early Spring

 

As everyone knows, daffodils are ugly bulbs that get buried in autumn by tired rose gardeners in their hopes for early spring. The flower is almost completely formed underground and grows more bulbs from the original one.

With the bulb cost buried already, months ago, optimistic gardeners can plan areas for roses.

My first crop of daffodils came up, knowing as they do, that cutting the flowers will make the bulbs stronger for the future. I counted the blooms, filled some of my party cups, and made each one a cheerful and inexpensive gift for cul de sac neighbors. Charlie Sue refused to go along because she wanted to stay near her dog friends along the fence.

One helper said, last fall, "Do we NEED this many daffodils?!" Digging in dry clay soil does put a damper on such projects. Soon I will plant more roses. I promised to reduce the greedy height and width of Joe Pye Weed and even the spread of Clethra (the Cinnabon tree).

Easy Does It Rose

Daffodils Are Blooming - March 3, 2025

 

Ah, yes. You almost wanted to plant daffodils last fall. The ground was either dry and hard to manage or soggy and discouraging. Oh - and the bulb packages were so expensive. 

Some bargain bags might arrive very late, the chilling winds less than welcoming. As one helper said, "You have enough daffodils." That has become a garden joke mantra, along with "You have enough roses." I am third generation in growing flowers, so I will face the wind and pollens steadfastly.

Impulsively, I planted enough Joe Pye Weed to welcome every butterfly and bee in Northwest Arkansas. I coddled Clethra until I began to realize their aggressiveness once planted, coddled, earthwormed, and manured. 

An anti-gardener said, "You paid money for a weed? Honeysuckle? I had to tear it out!" I set aside a sunny patch next to the garage. I obtained cow squares to support the vines. I was given a rain barrel to water the honeysuckle and the roses. The fragile looking vine now looks like it is going to cover the county in time.

Clethra aroma? Cinnabon!

Rain Came - After the Daffodils Appeared on Doorsteps

I had a big vase of home grown daffodils on the altar this week, promising I would distribute them, if the rain held back.

Thursday morning I had no reason to duck out of the distribution. I keep tall plastic glasses (10 cents each) to give away flowers. We have 9 houses on the cul-de-sac, so I used the altar flowers to place them at each door. 

Fifty daffodils have bloomed, and a lot more are getting ready. Critters do not eat them and the bulbs grow fatter sooner when the flowers are removed.

Norma A. Boeckler posted the graphic - above - that describes how we should scatter the Word of God. Sowing sparingly will produce a weak harvest, while sowing with abundance will mean more than we can even imagine. 

The Scriptures teach the efficacy of the Word throughout, from the Six Day Creation to the end of time. The Word is spread through preaching, teaching, and the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. A congregation has no other divine work - not

• Entertaining people
• Building, owning, and remodeling structures
• Piling up treasures on earth
• Junk for Jesus sales
• Kissing up to insurance companies for extra money.

Autumn Is Upon Us

 

 Grape hyacinths are easy to plant and enjoy a sweet fragrance. They multiply over time and come in blue, blue/white, white, and pink.

Tomorrow promises 100% rain, once started. The leaves are coming down quickly, and the serious cold will start on November 11th.

The bulbs are planted, with a few daffodils hiding in one of many cardboard boxes. My favorite way of finding things is not looking for them. Then they show up in surprising and mysterious places.

The new grape hyacinths just sent their leaves above ground. Every bulb starts its roots, once planted. The greens will feed the hidden flower, but I doubt the flower will show up before spring. 

My next trick is remembering where all the bulbs have been buried. It is easy to say, "But they will be blooming all over the gardens. Take notes, make a map, photograph them." 

Creation does not allow all bulbs to have the benefits of the others. Because we have such early and late warmth, the hardy (or autumn) bulbs do not fare well - except for daffodils and grape hyacinths. I have tried tulips and other beautiful bulbs, but they come up looking sick and not very hardy.

On the other hand, I can keep cannas and glads in the ground and not dig them up. They are tender or spring bulbs, but they will stay in the ground over winter and come back again.

 I have seen spectacular cannas in the neighborhood. Their roots spread and tolerate our cool weather.

Daffodils Painting the Sodden Gardens with Yellow, White, and Orange`

 

 Happy Electric Meters

The gardens (front, butterfly, and backyard) are sodden with rain-soaked leaves and debris, but the daffodils are blooming all over. We planted them two different years, maybe more, but the most last year.

Every so often, the same pair of companies emailed me about this or that kind of daffodil. They arrived at once, got installed in the dry can't-dig season of fall, and disappeared as if forgotten.

Bulbs - especially daffodils - are planted flowers, pre-destined to thrive. They establish themselves, as designed by the Son of God, the Logos, and thrill to ice cold winters and drippy spring. The pointed leaves push up to release the more delicate flower stems, and the colors suddenly appear. They are easily harvested with scissors and decorate the altar and the cemeteries. 

The daffodil bulbs use their vacation time to build up the bulbs and increase the next year's yield.

Robins Land on Our Garbage Barrel - After the Pickup

 

Robin, by Norma A. Boeckler

I have found the garbage and recycle barrel lids ideal for bird-feeding. They are washed by the rain and also drain water away from food. The Sass and I returned from our walk to see a robin walking around on the garbage barrel lid, wondering where his food was. It was pick up day.

I felt bad, so I took the barrel to the back yard and piled up squirrel feed for everyone - corn kernels, peanuts in the shell, and a few sunflower seeds. I went inside and found the starlings sharing food with a cardinal, all crowded together. That is what birds consider "calling a lid." Squirrels are not welcome until they have sampled. But sometimes, two birds become one squirrel feeding in their place. 

A squirrel will also try to claw at birds buzzing him from above, more of a warning on both sides.

We had a big rain with long, dripping supplements, so the innocent little mint weeds are looking ready to take over the garden. The ground is too gooshy to walk on, so I have excused myself from that - for now.

The roses got the kind of drenching they love, to be followed today by bright sun - ideal for weed growth too.

I think the great soil fertility contributed to the height and health of the daffodils, with perhaps 120 blooming. I keep harvesting them for the altar and for Ranger Bob's cemetery visits. They have stayed fresh the whole time - two varieties - pure yellow, white with orange cups. Bob thought only pure yellow ones were good - until he saw white and orange. Next year will be giant Mt. Hood daffodils and a bag of mixed colors. 

Mt. Hood daffodils

Butterfly daffodils

Bulbs Are Encased Flowers

Grape hyacinths cost about a dime each and they multiply.

Bulbs arrived just before the rain, so we had a chance to plant some and have them watered. The daffodils are primary, because

Critters do not eat daffodils or dig them up to plant elsewhere. I am talking about squirrels. 

In spite of vows, pledges, and promises, I bought a bag of strange purple tulips for the diabetes doctor and a few iris to try out a rainbow collection. Those two are subordinate to the daffodils. I was only going to buy daffodils. Tulips in Springdale? - neve again. Iris? - never bought them before. That comes from swooning over all the photos and not facing the task of digging.

Lest I forget, I bought a bag of grape hyacinths, which are not hyacinths or grapes - but cost 10 cents each. They can be included in a drift or two of daffodils. Like the buttercups, as Ranger Bob calls them, they will multiply over time. Tulips fade.

I watered the initial planting area for two hours, one day before planting. When we began digging the next day, the soil seemed as dry as before. However, the clay soil was dug and the daffodils planted, with fresh mulch on top to mark the planted area. Do not laugh - the mulch is a good cover and a horticultural bookmark.

Last night we were starting to fall asleep when clouds began booming. I said, "Ahhh." Mrs. Ichabod asked anxiously, "What's wrong?" I said, "Nothing. The rain is watering the newly planted bulbs, just what I wanted."

We had the initial threats of the storm during the Military Gardening Group meeting, attended by Ranger Bob, PFC, Sassy and me. We saw a rabbit duck under the Hosta leaves when it started to rain. Bob has the eyes of a hunter, so he spotted the rabbit first. I told him, "My people have eyes that are bad for hunting, good for accounting."

Ranger Bob got his dozen daffodils. I showed Bob and PFC the daffodil box. They could not believe it.

Our vet tech neighbor came by, so we were talking flowers and bulbs. "Need some daffodils?" She said, "I haven't shopped for them yet." That is when people bypass the purchase. Store bulbs are usually not that good. Not everyone is blessed with gardening catalogs and emails arriving daily. I made the purchase months before with that in mind. "I could use a few," she said about the bulbs just inside the door. "You should get a dozen." Her eyes lit up. Bulbs impress with a mass of color.

The idea is to have bulbs and flowers for everyone to enjoy. Unless there is a specific order and a known prices, I give the extras away. The lawn crew got a dozen daffodils to take home, too. 

Daffodils will come up in the early spring, flower, and fade before mowing/weed-eating time. Anyone can plant them in the lawn, mowing the first time once the greens are faded. 

Bee balms were cut back, so they began growing again.

Those Clever Gardening Catalogs - Fall Bulbs Entice as Spring Blooms Fade

Nothing sets up fall ordering like the fading of the spring, hardy bulbs.

The rain began dripping down yesterday as I went out to empty some rainwater storage. Do not laugh (followed by even more laughter). I put rainwater on the new Joe Pyes because so little rain was coming down. I also did an audit. One was missing entirely - not crushed, not chewed, just gone. Rabbits? Birds? Sassy? The garden police are divided, which means, I do not know. That is a price we pay when planting.

Norma Boeckler said the deer got her Little Joe Pye plants, and Alicia said the deer eat everything outside, especially the deer-proof ones.

The gardening crew told me the flowers and bulbs I shared were growing. They looked for some of the oriental lilies they planted in our yard, and were pleased to see the stalks up and leafed out. We compare notes on roses, lilies, whatever is shared.

I told them, "This year - estate planting!" I figure daffodils are the best candidates for a large bag of them planted all over the front yard. For those with front yards in grass, daffodils can be planted in the lawn, bloom and fade before the first lawn-mowing.

Daffodils do not taste good to critters but they are great in the yard and in the vases.

 Grape Hyacinths come in varieties of blue, white, and mixed colors.

Tiny bulbs like grape hyacinths (neither grapey nor hyacinthy) are very inexpensive in small or estate orders. They can be placed in groups or planted near the daffodils as markers. They seem to last for many years, unlike some other tulips.

Roses and Roots

Easy Does It bloomed before the wild roses, and now the wild roses are competing with dark red and bright red blooms. I was eager to dig up all the wild roses, but they have blended into a wall of Mountain Mint and Spirea bushes, both having grown beyond belief or foresight.

Crepe Myrtles grow rather slowly.

So much has happened quickly that I have to catch up with pruning the non-glamorous plants. Myrtles still have seed pods on them. Removing the pods will help the plants bloom this year.  I counted one row of them dead, but they began to grow from the ground up again. Another row, along the Gardener fence, has three colors of inter-twined Crepes planted together, so I should get some interesting displays in time.

One farmer group convinced me that deep roots really matter, even when the original plants are removed later. The roots account for 75% of the nutrition added to the soil, so deep roots break up the clay soil and add organic matter without kudos or expense. One way to use - and not be bullied - by a deep rooting plant/weed is to cut it at the base to end its meddling or at least to slow down its above ground growth.

Spring Fever Is Hatching the Bulbs of Last Fall's Fling

The first lonely daffodil has bloomed in the rose garden. That reminds me of the time I arrived at the Greek semester final a day early. The college professor, Harry S. B. Johnson, laughed and said, "That is great! Now you have an extra day to study."

Daffodils are inevitable in the Creation Garden. They do not taste good to the wildlife, gradually increase below ground, and bring a cheerful reminder that spring is close.

Roses were leafing out a few weeks ago, and other plants were greening up with optimism, only to remain at parade rest until we had genuinely warm, sunny days.

Of course, with some variation, winter (or hardy) bulbs are already flowers. When planted in the fall, they develop roots and grow almost to the soil's surface. They know winter is coming, whether it is by hearing the geese squawking overhead or the squirrels digging in food beside them. A bitterly cold winter helps hardy bulbs, so they reward the fall gardener ordering in snow country, who hopes to dig in bulbs before the soil is frozen. I remember having that problem in New Ulm, but the bulbs were glorious.

The day the agents came to visit our house for sale, all my bulbs bloomed at once, including some rare varieties. The agents were stunned, and the house sold at once. We moved to Arizona, where gardening dreams die under the merciless sun in a cloudless sky. Nothing except citrus and cactus grew well, so we had plenty of both.

Last year we had so many drenching rainstorms, dropping inches at a time, that few plants grew well. However, we set up five humming bird feeders and quickly became a destination.

Planting Flowers from Dutch Gardens

Crown Imperial - one whiff and you will never forget this skunky bulb.
The distinctive flowers stand tall on stems 24 inches tall.
They bloomed when we were selling our home in New Ulm,
surrounded by giant yellow tulips. 
Visiting real estate agents were stunned.

I ordered from Dutch Gardens today - surely the easiest garden I can plant, because each bulb is really a flower almost ready to bloom. The bulb grows almost to the top of the soil surface when planted, then waits for a good winter, and finally blooms according its normal schedule.  The greens gather energy for the bulb to repeat each year, although tulips tend to fade over time.

Dutch Gardens offer the best bulbs for the lowest prices. I once looked at "special daffodil" ordering, where a single bulb priced at $100. They looked like they were worth it, and the specialty catalogs promised abundant growth. But I resisted  the temptation.

Instead I get the healthiest (fattest) bulbs at a good price. The Dutch Gardens daffodils are doubles or triples I have to pull apart to plant. That means a $3 bulb is really three $1 bulbs. Many people buy $1 bulbs in the hardware store that are really 50 cent bulbs in value and size.

The tulip bulbs from Dutch Gardens make other catalog offerings look like walnuts.

Ceylon daffodil - tall and not very yummy for furry pests.

I would  like to grow many small bulbs, like crocus, but squirrels will dig them up and replant them. The tree-rats lay claim to anything edible in the soil. Of course, they eat a few bulbs too. Tulips can be eaten - and they were by the Dutch during WWII and by the deer at Dow Gardens. I decided to risk a very small order of Parade Red tulips.

Forget those fancy-dancy tulips with  various colors and fringes and other distractions.
The best tulip is large, egg-shaped, and solid red or yellow.

The garlic family (allium) is essential for any garden, so I plant garlic chives for the roses and future salads.

The giant allium is an impressive compound flower, with the additional benefit of yukky for animals or insects.

Allium - these garlic bulbs are so large that children are frightened of them.

That is my entire order - tulips, daffodils, allium, and crown imperial. Three of them should not be tempting to squirrels. I may protect tulips with garlic planted above or beside them.

Sceptics are wondering where I will plant them in the yard. That will be fun - between the roses. I can plant allium and crown imperial between the roses in the back two rows. Tulips will be in front, alone, required for their dignity and honor in the garden. The daffodils will be a drift around and behind the crepe myrtle bush.