Spring Bulbs Jumping the Season

Tulip from a spring past.

If your spring bulbs are jumping the gun - jumping the season, that is - don't worry about it.  My snowdrops are already an inch tall, I've got Siberian iris starting to sprout, and some of the tulips are going "YEE HAH!" at the warm weather this week. Everything thinks it's spring. It's not. It's December 3rd, and they're all in for a rude surprise later this week when the temperatures return to seasonal norms. In the meantime, however, I've seen all sorts of insects awake that shouldn't be awake and all sorts of planting showing up among the mulch who shouldn't be peeking out at this time of year.

What to do? The answer is simple: nothing. Honestly, there's nothing you can do, and nothing you should do when the spring flowering bulbs make an early appearance.  Nature knows what she is doing, and for countless centuries, weather patterns have fluctuated and spring bulbs have been fooled into peeking out early from the soil.

What may happen is that at the next hard frost, the green shoots will die back. They may turn brown or even black, and it will appear as if your little plant is dead. However, bulbs are miraculous things; their energy is stored underground, in the bulb portion.  Even if the green tips get nipped by the frost, there is still plenty of energy left in the bulb to push forth a new shoot when the weather finally turns, once and for all, into spring.

So enjoy the unseasonably warm weather while it lasts. Use the warmer temperatures to get outside and place your outdoor decorations or hang strings of Christmas lights. Within a few days, winter's chill will return, and your bulbs will sleep once more.

Layering Flower Bulbs

Tulip mix blooming last spring...I planted "Easter Joy" mix this year.

Yesterday, we planted 250 flower bulbs in the garden. I use a technique called layering for continuous spring color. It's fairly simple, but requires you to do a little bit of thinking about when each of the flowers bulbs is expected to bloom. You plant the ones requiring the deepest planting hole at the bottom and layer other bulbs over them, like making a layer cake or a lasagna.  But the bulbs that you choose to plant in the same hole should bloom at different times. Early spring bulbs include snow drops (galanthus), crocus, Glory of the Snow, some types of hyacinth, early spring species tulips and several others. Think small, woodland, natural-looking flowers. The mid spring blooming flowers are usually daffodils and certain types of tulips. The late spring blooming flowers are almost always the large, showy tulips that most of us love.  I'm also quite partial to Dutch iris, and planted 100 more yesterday (okay; I guess that means I'm a tad bit more than partial to them!).  The Dutch iris bloom the latest, flowering here in my zone 7 southern Virginia garden in late May to June.

The way that I planted the bulbs yesterday should mean that we'll see crocus and snow drops first, followed by the Easter Joy Darwin hybrid tulip mixture.  Lastly, as the tulip flowers fade and the green stems and leaves are left, the Dutch iris should take over and complete the show. By the time the spring flowering bulbs are done their work, it should be time for me to plant annuals. In the area of the garden where I planted the bulbs, I hope to add more sunflowers next year of varying heights, and more zinnias. Both do well in the garden. For more on layer spring bulbs, my post today on MainLine Gardening may be of interest. I also have an article on HubPages about planting spring bulbs for continuous color that you may wish to read, too. (The links are live as of today; the sites I write for can change the links at any time, so if the link doesn't work at a later date, my apologies.)

I had my garden 'helpers' with my yesterday.  Raz was outside, along with the three new cats.  Things were in turmoil here from early September until mid October while my father in law was ill, so I don't think I wrote a lot about the three newest family members.  Once again, Shadow our German shepherd dog found three kittens in the same spot by the side of the road where she found Genghis, our black cat, and very near to where she found Raz the year before.  The kittens were not there in the morning when I walked her by that spot, but in the evening they were huddled together, along with some new fast food wrappers and trash that seemed to have been thrown from a car.  I'm guessing they were dropped off in that section of the woods just like other cats we have found there, but that's pure speculation of course. All I know is that they were not feral cats at all. No, quite the contrary. They were sweet, healthy, lovable and playful, not at all scared of humans or the dog.

Whitey, one of the three new cats

All three followed us home and moved onto our front porch.  They got a clean bill of health from the veterinarian when we took them in for their vaccinations and neutering, and now are part of the family.  Whitey, Shy Boy and Groucho are brothers.  Whitey is nearly all white with some gray and tannish-gray patches and bright, slightly crossed blue eyes that have remained blue as he matures. Everyone who sees him instantly speculates on some Siamese ancestry, and while he does have the fact and eyes of a Siamese, he does not have the loud vocalizations I've come to expect of a Siamese. Shy Boy lives up to his name; he is shy around humans but adores Shadow, racing over to see her when we take her outside for her walks, playing with her and seeking her company outside.  Shadow and Shy Boy have a special bond.  Groucho is my little boy, the runt of the litter. He's black and white, and the patches on his hind legs make him look like he's wearing a pair of pants. He has a little black mustache marking under his nose, which is how he earned the name Groucho.

Groucho, the runt of the litter, peeking out from among the mums

The three have a nice snug cat house, like a dog house, that my husband built for them on the porch.  It provides an added layer of security for them. They have a tall, sturdy perch rising from the top, a blanket and a cat bed inside for warmth and comfort, and a nice scratchy rug underneath to rub their claws against.

Shy Boy loves to play with our dog.

The three love to garden with me.  Yesterday when we dug the holes for the bulbs, all three cats had to "help".  They'd race over and dig some more, then lay down in the hole. Groucho in particular loves to dig holes like fox holes from war movies and lay flat, with just his little green-gold eyes peeking out over the rim. He uses them for launching pads to launch sneak attacks against his brothers.

Whitey is a born mouser and often brings home "presents" from the woods.  He's caught mice and voles so far. He seems quite pleased with himself and often refuses to drop his 'gift' to us, carrying it around the porch until we can chase him down to properly 'thank him' for the offering...and remove it to the woods for a decent burial.

Raz gets along very well with the new cats, and when he goes out for his bit of sunshine and fresh air, they often follow him around as if he's the uncle or big brother. Pierre, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with the newcomers. He'll hunker down under a bush and stare with big, suspicious eyes at the kittens. If they try to play, watch out! He's off to find a new hiding spot.

Three Fall Gardening Articles

Photo by Jeanne Grunert

I thought you might enjoy reading some fall gardening articles this week. These are articles I've written about various topics, including:

• Fall Garden Clean Up
• How to Choose Spring Flowering Bulbs
• Types of Chrysanthemums

Among these topics, the one I get the most questions about is the topic of spring flowering bulbs. Many new gardeners assume that because tulips, daffodils and other beautiful spring flowers bloom in the spring, they're planted in the spring. Actually, you must plant the bulbs now, in the fall, before the ground freezes.  The trick is not to plant them too early. They'll be fooled into thinking it is spring and begin sprouting.  That's not going to hurt the plant other than use up some of its energy that it could have put to better use in the spring. Although the ice, snow and cold will kill any shoots showing above the ground, the future tulip or daffodil is actually stored inside the bulb nestled into the garden soil below the ground.  By planting spring flowering bulbs according to the package directions, at the depth indicated for each type, you'll make sure that the soil cushions and insulates the bulbs against the cold.  Bulbs actually need a period of chilling in order to grow, flourish and flower - hence planting them in the fall.

Now these links are accurately pointing to my content as of today. Links can change over time, so if you click a link and it's broken or points to something else, please contact me so that I can fix it.  Thanks.

Blooming Today at Seven Oaks

Pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea, sit back, and enjoy a photo tour through two of my garden areas today....a tour of beautiful spring blooms.  Have a blessed Palm Sunday, everyone.

The patio garden. Blooming today: pansies, phlox, tulips and columbine.

Graceful Columbine

Pastel tulips

The garden area under the peach tree was an accident.  We buried PVC pipes underground to allow rainwater from the roof to flow through the gutters, down the drain spout, and flow far away from the house.  A natural slope ensures that all the water flows downhill and away from the foundation.  John got the idea to build a raised bed there so that rainwater would provide plenty of moisture to the garden bed and I would have one more garden to plant flowers.  Because it it within a few feet of the kitchen, the deer do not bother it (yet) and if a deer does stray close, Shadow's barks from inside the house send them fleeing back to the woods.

The peach tree was in the orchard, and it had about two leaves and looked like it was dying.  So we dug it up and moved it, and bought a replacement peach tree at Lowe's for the orchard.  The replacement tree is thriving and lo and behold, this tree is too!  It LOVES having the constant water supply and it does not get waterlogged because the garden is on a slope. You can't really see it, but the ground does slope down right below the bed.  Excess water drips away.  I planted many tulips in the bed and the zinnias reseed freely.  The zinnias are also starting to emerge....

The struggling peach tree is now the biggest in the garden.

Rembrandt Tulips

 

Another Rembrandt...I love this color...like a flame!

Mix of pastels and Rembrandt tulips near peach tree

Closeup of the tulip mix

....like a closed flame...more tulips

How Long Do Tulips Last?

Tulip bulbs should last for many years - or should they be treated as annuals? My blog post earlier in this week on Tulip Growing Problems prompted some interesting comments, and I want to thank the readers who took the time to share their experiences with these beautiful flowers.

For those who said, "Yes, tulips are annuals and should be treated as such because they don't come back as vigorously as in the first year - " the bulbs that I had which grew into the short, stubby and small flowered tulips were new bulbs planted in November 2011, so it wasn't the fact that those bulbs were old.  In fact, the bulbs I planted three years ago are producing the best tulips this year.  I purchased a bargain package of pastel colored tulips heavily discounted at Wal-Mart about three years ago, planted them, and crossed my fingers.  Now they are tall, vigorous plants and it actually looks as if I need to dig them up this year and separate some of the little bulblets off of the parent bulbs - I have a feeling it's getting rather crowded in there.

Also of note is this statement from the North Dakota Cooperative Extension office: "Tulips will last much longer than two to three years, but they often need to be dug up and spaced every three to five years to maintain their blooming vigor. I would suggest that, this fall, you dig them up and reset them with more spacing and possibly in some new locations."

So why do some people treat tulips as annuals and others expect many years from them? I know that the commenter who posted about the famous Dutch gardens treating the bulbs like annuals is correct.  When my sister worked at Old Westbury Gardens, the famous mansion and gardens on Long Island, the tulips in the Walled Garden were treated as annuals. Ditto for when I worked at Martin Viette Nurseries; the two years I worked there, the Pink Impression bulbs planted by the front gates would be dug up and new bulbs planted for the following season.

Given the bits of information I've gleaned online from the various extension offices, as well as my favorite tulip reference books here in the home office, I think there are multiple answers to the question of how long tulips may be expected to flowers.  Some types, such as the species tulips and in my experience many of the Darwin hybrids, will flower for several years.  However, if you want tulips looking their absolutely best, it's best to treat them like annuals.  That probably explains why the garden center I worked at and the two famous demonstration gardens mentioned do the same thing.  The public expects such places to look spectacular, and they must provide a great show of flowers for the visitors.  So to ensure the best and most beautiful tulip displays, my best guess is that they do replant the bulbs each year.

Here in Virginia, between the critters and the weather, tulips are a tricky operation.  I look forward to them every year and I guess I do need to adjust my expectations to view them as annuals, and if they return for more than one season, count my blessings and be thankful.   Well, I guess this means I just have to order more for next year....! (Someone tell my husband only AFTER I place the order for more bulbs, okay?)

During my research, I found the question and answers on tulip bulbs previously linked to for the North Dakota Extension Office, plus a great reference publication from the Illinois Cooperative Extension Office.  If anyone has any additional Extension links to share, post them in the comments.  

The photos on today's post are from Morguefile, a photo sharing website.   Not my garden. I wish!

Spring Garden Flowers in Bloom

It's a soft morning today, all damp with yesterday's rains, with warm spring breezes smelling of hay and pine flowing through my office windows.  I had to take two walks today (oh yes; poor me) because Shadow refused to go out early.  She's afraid of the neighbor's tractor trailer truck, and won't pass it when he's warming it up to go to work. So early this morning, I walked myself up to the mail box to leave some outbound mail for the mail carrier, then took Shadow out an hour later after our neighbor left for work.  She was very happy about that and gave me a big, silly doggy grin in between sniffing all the deer tracks in the mud alongside the driveway.

Last night while driving home from my Master Gardener class, it was pouring rain and windy, and I thought some leaves were blowing over the road. Our country road does not have street lights, and in addition to heavy rain and wind I had to contend with patches of thick fog that popped up mysteriously, as if a blanket was thrown over the windshield of the car.  Well, as the "leaves" moved across the road, I suddenly realized what I was looking at: toads!  Dozens and dozens of big toads hopping around.  I guess the heavy rains had flooded them out of the roadside gutters where they hide among all the fallen leaves.  I tried my best not to squash any but they seemed determined to hop under the wheels of the car....

During my morning walk, I saw bluebirds beginning their hunt for the perfect nesting box.  They act as if a realtor is showing them many properties; try this birdhouse on the fence next to the vegetable garden, sir.  What, not to your liking?  How about the one next to the shed?  And on and on the males flit, stopping to trill their lovely liquid song on top of a fence post, then flying into the next box to scope it out for their mates.  I'm so glad that John remember to clean the boxes this past weekend.  Now they are all clean and waiting for the nesting pairs to find them.

I also took my camera into the garden, and was rewarded by many spring flowers blooming weeks early.  This is what normally blooms in our garden around April 1, not March 1.  Everything is at least a month early.  The pansies are from plants I added to the foundation garden in front of the porch back in 2009...they reseed and love the spots under the azaleas, and so I have color there throughout the season starting with pansies, then moving into the bright neon azalea colors, and finally green azaleas and pansies blooming sporadically in the damp, cool northwest exposure.

All of the vegetable plants and seeds have been ordered.  The seeds have finally germinated thanks to a fresh package of pepper and eggplant seeds I used after the older seeds refused to germinate.   Plenty of tomatoes - four varieties in all - are up, and now the peppers and eggplants join them.   I plan to start more perennial seeds from seeds I gathered over the years this week, too.

Enjoy the pictures, and I hope today brings you warmth, friendship, peace and love.

Time to Shop for Spring Flowering Bulbs

Fall is one of my favorite times of year for many reasons. The days remain warm, but the nights are cooler. Football. Apples. Apple cider. The Prospect Fire Department Harvest Festival, complete with yard sale and old-fashioned auction. The Five County Fair. Pumpkins, mums...and buying bulbs. Tulips, daffodils and more. It's really an act of faith to buy bags of bulbs now, and plant them in the cooler days near Halloween, then wait until the promise of spring. I always forget where I plant my bulbs. I think that makes me more sensitive to the plight of squirrels...

I've written some tips today for Main Line Gardening on the things you need to think about when buying your spring flowering bulbs. You can read the original article on Main Line Gardening - click the underlined words.

Start Thinking Spring: Squirrel and Deer Proof Your Tulip Bulbs

Think spring! My latest article provides several humane ways to discourage deer, squirrels and rabbits from destroying your tulips bulbs.  And if all else fails? Plant daffodils!

Please click the link below to read the full article: Gardening Tips-Critter Proof Your Spring Flower Bulbs

Celebrating the First Day of Spring in Pictures

Bluebird in vegetable garden

I'll let these photos speak for themselves.  Welcome, Spring. Cast your green mantle speckled with flowers upon the Earth. We welcome you with open arms!

Peach trees in bloom in the orchard....

Flowers greeting you as you step on to my porch.

Gardening in Harmony with Nature

One change I've noticed in my behavior since moving to the country from the city is that I'm starting to adapt to nature's rhythm and timing. It's as if I'm becoming more in tune with the seasons and gardening in harmony with nature rather than fighting against it.  Instead of trying to force the vegetable plants earlier under cold frames, I'm waiting until the soil feels warm to the touch; instead of ticking off dates on a seed planting calendar, I'm walking around the orchard and noting the swell of the pear and peach tree buds and planting the cool weather vegetables accordingly.

Nature has its own timing and pace. Yesterday afternoon John and I took Shadow for a walk.  The sunlight was warm but the breeze was cool. We walked past our neighbor's huge cattle farm. It is several hundred acres of rolling green hills dotted with a large herd of pure and mixed Black Angus cattle.  There's one mama we nicknamed "mean Mommy" not because of her behavior but because she has white markings on her face that make her look like she's scowling all the time.  Well, Mean Mommy had her calf this week. A tiny, fuzzy little future bull frolicked by her side.  Each day this week we noticed more and more calves joining the herd. You can spot them a mile off by their spindly little legs and furry baby coats and their silly bovine behavior.  They jump and leap for joy, and just as suddenly collapse in a heap of exhaustion, snuggling up to whichever cow is closest while Mama gazes patiently from across the field.

John asked me if I knew whether cattle gave birth during specific times. Did they have more babies at night or during the day? I had no idea.  Watching the newborn calves at play, and listening to the trilling burble of bluebirds returning to the fields after their winter hiatus, I began to realize that all around me nature unfolded her patterns according to her own plan. We think we've got nature all figured out though, don't we? We learn every day about new advances in science that do miraculous things.

Yet I can't help but marvel at the soft fuzzy muzzle of the calf, the delightful song of the bluebird, the daffodils breaking the hard clay soil among the apple trees in the orchard.

I find myself watching the weather reports, noting the moon phases, and planting according to both - but more based on weather than anything else.  Yesterday I spent a few minutes and planted beet seeds, broccoli rabe, Swiss chard, various lettuces and radishes, all to take advantage of another weather front moving in that promises a day and a half of rain.  Rain; we live by this rhythm of water, the soft sound of rain and the way it nurtures the garden.

Gardening in harmony with nature makes me slow down. This spring, I feel more connected to the gardens here at Seven Oaks than ever before, as if I am slowly but surely coming to know a little bit of this land, and it of me. 

Frugal Gardener Strikes Again: Bulb Sale

 After Mass I headed to Walmart yesterday to pick up a few necessities - cat litter, apples, lettuce, you know the drill. There's always something running out or about to run out in any home.  On a hunch, I meandered into the garden center area. It was a mess. They were unpacking Christmas ornaments and artificial trees, lights and garland.  Walmart employees in blue smocks scurried hither and yon with price guns in hand like they were about to have a shoot out at the OK Corral.  Lots of shouting and bubble wrap flying.

And there at the end of an aisle...bulbs.  Spring bulbs.  With 50% off stickers on them and a huge sign that read: All Bulbs. Clearance.  $2.50



Wait, that can't be right....it was right Quick as a wink,  your frugal gardening friend snapped up four bags of bulbs.  One bag of Apricot Impression tulips, two of mixed dutch iris, and one bag of crocus bulbs. Something like 105 spring flowers for about $10.  It doesn't get any better than that. It can get a tad bit cheaper - I've hit sales at the dollar store like this, but nothing at Walmart or Lowes this cheap.

I spent Saturday weeding, thinking we were going to work on the flower garden paths. No dice.  I worked for five hours hauling up the amazingly resilient weeds that grew up around the pile of slates we'd had delivered over a year ago.  There are now sapling trees there - sumacs and a loblolly pine.  I'm going to need helping getting those out and reclaiming the area.

My hard work paid off, however, since Sunday's find at Walmart needed a home.  Now I have two new spots of color to anticipate in the spring.  The best part is that we planted bulbs that bloom early (crocus), mid (iris), and late (Darwin hybrid tulilps), so I will have continuous blossoms starting in late March, God willing, all the way through May.

That is, if the deer don't eat the tulip flowers, the rabbits and squirrels don't get the bulbs, and it doesn't snow like it did last year, covering the lot of 'em...

 We also ordered 200 more daffodil bulbs for the orchard.  They should arrive this week.  Last year we planted a little over 430 in the orchard, a mixture of daffodils, narcissus and crocus.  This year we focused solely on daffodils; given the space to cover, they gave the best show in the spring, and although deer nibbled on them, they mostly left them alone.

I love planting spring bulbs. They give me a much needed boost of color after long cold winters. There's joy in them. It's like planting a time capsule, or perhaps a little present marked "Open when the robins arrive."

Five Frequently Asked Questions About Growing Tulips

It's that time of year when gardeners everywhere plant tulips. After having worked the reception desk for a large garden center for a while, I know that people have questions - lots of questions! - about growing tulips. Please enjoy my latest article for Suite 101 by clicking the link below to read the five most frequently asked questions about growing tulips, along with straightforward, simple answers.


Five Frequently Asked Questions About Growing Tulips

Over 400 Spring Bulbs to Plant

That's not a typo. We bought 430 spring bulbs to plant around Seven Oaks.

Many years ago, I got a book out of the library filled with landscaping ideas. One glossy color photo captured our attention. It showed an orchard of apple trees. Planted among the floweirng apples trees were daffodils, grape hyacinth, crocus...a living carpet of yellow, purple, white, buzzing with bees while the dainty pink apple blossoms swayed above.



We were absolutely captivated by that image, and we wanted to recreate it when we finally could. Now's our chance...

Last year, I planted just about a dozen King Alfred bulbs in the orchard. A few came up. This photo is from last year (the one above is from Morguefile - but what we aspire to!)



According to the book, the spring flowers flourish in the orchard. Sunlight nurtures them until the trees leaf out, and by the time the grass grows high enough to need mowing, the bulbs are finished for the year.

So that is what was are doing here.

We bought 100 King Alfred Daffodils, and 100 of a professional landscaping mix for naturalizing. We bought 100 crocus and another 100 grape hyacinths.

And the remaining 30?

I love tulips. I can't be without them. Fifteen mixed pastel tulips will be planted near the deck, alongside 15 mixed color hyacinths for their heavenly smell.

The deer love to graze in our orchard, and ever night, the mama deer with the crooked leg and her two almost-grown fawns graze among the apple trees. We picked the daffodils for the wide open areas for the most important reason: they're deer resistant!

Now on to planting them....I wonder how long that's going to take?!

So what does 400+ bulbs look like? Like this!