Flash player is required to view weather conditions. Download

site web  

E-mail this page Print this page Most E-mailed / Most printed

It is now October, and the beginning of the time to plant bulbs. It is not too late to order them from the Internet or a catalog, and they can of course, be bought locally for the next couple of months. Most larger discount department or home and garden stores carry a wide assortment.

I am actually behind this year and am just getting ready to browse my favorite bulb comany — www.vanengelen.com or www.johnscheepers.com — and place my own order. There are other bulb companies online, but I know and trust these. I have ordered from them several times already and been very pleased.

On my list

I definitely want to get more Fritillaria meleagris bulbs, as they are so different and charming — perfect in a lightly shaded area. They have actual checkered petals and are shaped like little bells.

One hundred scilla siberica also are on my list, as I want to plant them in my front lawn so that in April, there will be little blue flowers dotting my grass in front of my house. I also want to plant more tulips, both at my daughter's new home, and at my church's garden.

In the tulip category I selected "Greenland" — a pink, white and green combination, "Black Parrot" — with very dark, fringed and curled petals, and "Pink Impression" — a tall and large flowered Darwin hybrid in soft pink. Darwin hybrids are the category of tulip that will come back year after year. I have had good results with Parrot tulips coming back for years as well.

Many daffodils already are in my yard, but I could not resist ordering some "Fortissimo" daffodils to plant here and there in other gardens as previously mentioned. "Fortissimo" has deep yellow petals and deep orange cups.

Bulb strategies

Do you long to plant bulbs, but live in an apartment? Would you like to have your large outdoor containers filled with blooms long before the

May 15 last frost date? Try planting bulbs in large weatherproof containers.

A large plastic pot (at least 18 to 24 inches across) can work. The large containers that are made of foam-like material are perfect for the purpose of planting bulbs in pots. If you have some pots like this, try some bulbs in at least one this year.

To get the longest period of bloom, plant the bulbs in layers. You can do this in your regular garden as well. Start by filling the pot with potting mix up to a foot from the top. Put in a few daffodils first, then add an inch of soil. Add a few tulips and/or hyacinths, and then add a couple of more inches of soil. Add some smaller bulbs at this point, such as muscari, crocus, scilla or bright blue iris reticulata "Harmony" — then finish covering the bulbs with potting mix. Last of all, add some pansies that will blend well with the bulb colors in spring and also will bloom

on and off during the milder days of winter.

Next late March/early April, the crocus or scilla or iris reticulata will come up first and put on their show, then will be followed by the daffodils in mid-April with their cheery presence, and then the grand finale of the tulips in May. The pansies also will be blooming.

After this wonderful show of a pot of blooming bulbs — annuals can then be planted around and between the fading bulb foliage. By following this strategy, one can keep one of those pricey faux-clay foam pots blooming nearly all year long. I did this in my "bright spot" this year, which is basically a very large container — I had "Ipi Tombi" daffodils in April, followed in May by "Carnaval de Nice" tulips with blue muscari.

Bright spot fundraiser

"Keep Middletown Beautiful" — the nonprofit organization that does indeed help to keep Middletown beautiful and also provides the flowers for the many bright spots around town is having a fundraiser garage sale. The purpose is to raise funds for buying plants for all the bright spots next spring. The sale will be held 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Friday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at 4420 Brandon Lane in Middletown. Donations for the sale still may be dropped off today or Friday. For more information, call the Keep

Middletown Beautiful office at (513) 425-7750.

I

ldiko Sherman is a local gardener and columnist. Contact her with gardening questions at Ildiko5@earthlink.net or write c/o The Journal, 52 S. Broad St., Middletown, OH 45044.