Gardeners invest in the bank account for the soul

Gardeners have a reputation for being practical. Many of you who follow my weekly blog will be digging up your mature perennials like Hosta, daylilies and the like to divide them into smaller root portions. These, you move around your garden or give away or swap with other gardeners. More on this subject next week.

Practical as we may be, even the most frugal among us understand the value of investing in Holland bulbs this time of year. Even if it means dipping into the rainy day fund.

It is time to get to the investment that gardeners make this time of year in a great looking garden NEXT SPRING. We plant spring flowering bulbs like tulips, daffodils, crocus and hyacinths to wake up the garden come spring. More than anything that you can do, planting spring bulbs now will reward you BIG in months down the road. All you need is some patience, to make the effort to plant them in the first place and of course to make the investment in quality bulbs this time of year.

Let's get started...

Buying bulbs.

Golden rule: the bigger the better.
Tulips, for example, are graded in the Netherlands according to their circumference. A '10 plus' bulb is 10 cm in circumference and is considered small, where most tulips are concerned (the exceptions being the botanical tulips which are small by nature). A truly great performing tulip is 12 cm plus. I have seen some Darwin Hybrids (the classic of all tulips) at 14 cm.

Remember this: the bigger the bulb the stronger the plant and the more bloom per bulb. This is also true of amaryllis by the way.

For daffodils the size is measured according to the number of growing points on each bulb - these are called 'noses'. A two nosed King Alfred daffodil is average, a 3 nose fabulous and a 4 nose almost unheard of. From each 'nose' grows a stem and a flower or cluster of flowers.

Tip: you will know the true colour of hyacinths by the colour of the skin on the bulb. Hyacinths are the most fragrant of all spring flowering bulbs.

Planning your bulb garden.

Most Canadian home gardeners will dig up tired annuals and plant among existing perennials and shrubs to make room for spring flowering bulbs, rather than devote a complete garden space to planting. Parks and Recreation departments take the opposite approach, which is one reason why I like to follow my own advice where planning my bulb planting is concerned... I mimic Mother Nature.

The effect of planting random clusters of bulbs in your garden is to create a look that gives the impression that you didn't actually have anything to do with it. "Hey, what do you know?" you might exclaim to your visitors come spring, "tulips coming up all over the place. Who would have thought?"

It is great fun to drop early flowering narcissus (small daffodils) or crocus in your lawn. They will come up for years to come and will finish flowering before the first cut of your lawn.

Tip: to get a truly natural, random, scattered effect from your bulbs grab a handful of them, turn your back on the planting area and gently toss them over your shoulder. Plant them where they lie. This works best in the lawn.

To plant naturally looking clusters of bulbs in your garden I recommend that you dig a hole 3 times as deep as the bulbs are thick (measured from tip to bottom). Layer the bottom of the hole with a centimeter or two of quality soil or triple mix.
Press the bulbs into the new soil with a 1/2 twist to give them firm contact with the soil.
Fill in the hole with the original soil that you dug out (if it is reasonable quality) or fill with triple mix.

Water your bulbs thoroughly when planted.

Stick a plant label in the ground above the newly planted bulbs with the name of the species and variety (e.g. Tulip, Darwin Hybrid, and Oxford). This will not only give the ID of the bulb come spring but it will remind you of where you planted next time you go digging in your garden.

The payback for all of your trouble is the exciting appearances of your new bulbs come spring. It is hard to imagine how much fun this is, right now, in the fall, with a full gardening season just behind us. But take my word for it - when you see the performance of your bulbs come spring you will not regret your investment even if it meant raiding your 'rainy day' fund to do it.

Keep your knees dirty,

Mark

Mail order sources for bulbs:
www.gardenimport.com (Ontario)
www.mcfayden.com (prairies)
Retail: Home Hardware (across Canada) (http://www.markcullen.com/buyers_guide/markschoice_productsFall2009.htm)
www.veseys.com (maritimes)