With season's end approaching, don't hang up your trowel just yet. For less than the cost of lunch with your friends, you can purchase a bag of flowering bulbs, pop them into the ground just about anywhere and enjoy show-stopping blooms next spring.
Growing beautiful bulbs is easy and there are many surprising ways to use them, both indoors and out.
Karen Loewen, president of the Steinbach-area garden club, likes to place tulip bulbs into pots filled with fresh, well-draining potting medium, not garden soil, before sinking them into the ground, the edge of the pot level with the soil surface.
Loewen plants multiple tulip bulbs into each container, leaving space between each so they are not touching and at a depth that allows for adequate root growth. After watering, she mulches with a layer of fallen leaves. As soon as the ground thaws enough for Loewen to retrieve the pots, she then situates them in the most ideal location for viewing from either her kitchen or living room window.
Although her property is surrounded by trees, squirrels have never dug up the bulbs. Nor have any of the decorative pots cracked in the frozen ground of her vegetable garden where she sinks them. Use plastic nursery pots if you have any concerns about cracking. Upturning a container above ground may provide some added protection but wait until the ground has frozen.
"It's nice to be able to brush the soil off the pot in the early spring and display it in a really conspicuous location," said Loewen who notes that container-grown bulbs bloom a bit earlier.
After lifting, this method also lends itself to combining the tulips in a larger container display with 10 or 15 centimetre pots of cool season plants such as pansies, violas, violets and primroses. These are generally readily available in the spring time at garden centres and retail outlets. Tuck in an assortment for the most pleasing arrangement, insert a few pussy willow branches or other leafless stems and you will have a spectacular front door display after a long winter.
It's safe from rabbits, too.
Do remember, though, that containerized displays dry out more quickly than plants in the ground. Check the soil regularly and water as needed.
Suppose you have had enough of digging or have no interest in getting your hands dirty. Forcing bulbs indoors into winter bloom can be as uncomplicated as you like. One method uses only a pinch-necked forcing vase, pre-chilled bulb, and some water. Bulbs for forcing indoors, such as the ones available in kits, have been prepared by growers so won't need to undergo the weeks of chilling they would otherwise need. Store them away from heat, ideally in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator, until they are ready to use. Keep them from touching any produce as the ethylene gas from ripening fruit will have an adverse effect on the bulb's ability to produce flowers.
Tracy Musson Sitar, owner of Portico Indoor & Outdoor Living on Academy Road, has been forcing bulbs for years and says glass forcing vases, in all shapes and sizes, have been popular for a long time. Vintage forcing vases dating to the 1800s can fetch a good price.
Widely used in Europe, the forcing vase features a bulb-shaped reservoir at its base which holds water. The upper pinch-neck or waist of the vase is where the bulb sits, without touching water.
Bulbs prepared for forcing include hyacinths, double tulips, crocuses, daffodils, muscari and amaryllis. Paperwhite narcissus is a popular choice for forcing. If you can allow yourself to start thinking of Christmas this early, imagine the holiday tablescape you could create with a mix of forcing vases or bowls and assorted fragrant blooms.
Sitar says the end of October is a good time to begin. It is a great project for children who will be interested to see the roots growing. To play up the intense fragrance of paperwhites, group vases together or consider using a larger bowl that will hold several bulbs.
Sitar begins by putting a small amount of water in the basin of the bowl and then adds a layer of polished pebbles. The bulbs are nestled into the stones without touching the water which is below the rocks. Again, only prepared bulbs should be used. Hyacinth or tulip bulbs that have not been specially prepared for forcing will require several weeks (eight or more) of chilling at eight degrees Celsius or below.
For growing outdoors, there is a new type of bulb in town. This year, for the first time, Sage Garden Herbs will be carrying only certified organic bulbs. Marketed by Mantel Holland, a major producer that sells more than 15 million bulbs annually, organic bulbs are grown without chemical pesticides or mineral fertilizers and are said to have higher resistance to disease, better flowering results and hardier skin.
Dave Hanson, owner of Sage Garden Herbs, made the decision to switch to organic bulbs out of concern for the ongoing threat to bees whose populations are threatened due to chemical pesticides, groundwater contamination from fertilizers and lack of pollen and nectar.
Since 1994 when neonicotinoids were introduced for widespread pesticide application in both agriculture and horticulture, it became evident early on there was a clear link with declining bee populations. Dutch policy-makers recognized that while bulbs represent a massively important economic engine for their country, environmental sustainability is critical, too. For now, only about two per cent of the billions of Dutch bulbs sold annually are being grown organically, but this is expected to increase.
Are they more expensive and will there be the same number of varieties? The answer is no to both questions. Hanson says he will be selling organic flowering bulbs for the same price as he sold non-organic bulbs in the past. There is a good selection of varieties and these will only increase as more gardeners embrace organic alternatives.
Many gardeners purchase bulbs from mail order catalogues. Dugald Cameron, owner of Garden Import (gardenimport.com), a mail order company located in Richmond Hill, Ont., recommends gardeners rediscover the narcissus. Visualizing the typical yellow trumpet-shaped blooms? Visualize instead shocking white perianths (outer part of the flower) with cups that range from brilliant orange-red, apricot-pink, ruffled pink, even orange and green. Narcissus Mix, for example, consists of 85 different varieties.
Squirrels won't touch daffodil bulbs, says Cameron, who also recommends species tulips that don't seem to be bothered by wildlife. Species tulips bloom much earlier than other tulips and while their size is smaller and the bloom is simpler, they thrive in our climate and increase in number each year.
Daffodils, though, are longer lived, sometimes up to 10 years.
"The key to successfully growing narcissus," said Cameron, "is to plant them in the fall while the ground is still warm. Narcissus needs to begin to root before the ground freezes."
Cameron recommends mulching the planting site before the bulbs arrive as a means to keeping out frost. "When the bulbs arrive," suggests Cameron, "soak them overnight in tepid water so they will root faster. Then mulch after planting to keep the frost out as long as you can."
Site your early-blooming bulbs such as crocus, muscari and scilla on higher ground or where snow melts sooner. As bees emerge in spring, they will thank you for this early source of pollen.
University of Winnipeg Prof. Richard Westwood reminds gardeners to consider planting their bulbs this fall in areas apart from perennial beds.
The majority of butterflies and moths overwinter in the larval stage and some overwinter as pupae."There may be overwintering eggs, larvae or pupae on the plants, at the soil surface or buried in the top fem cm of the soil," said Westwood. Take care to not disturb these sites.
Fall is also an excellent time for planting lily bulbs. Plan to attend the Manitoba Regional Lily Society Fall Bulb Sale on Sept. 27 at the Assiniboine Park Conservatory, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Featured bulbs include tall-growing lillim pardalinum, white keynote border lily, double-flowered cocktail twins and many other varieties. Visit www.manitobalilies.ca for full details.
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