Timely Tips from Over the Garden Fence
You can catch George Wedel on Over the Garden Fence, 9:05 am Saturdays on AM 590 WKZO.
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TIMELY GARDEN TIPS FROM OVER THE GARDEN FENCE SEPTEMBER 7, 2002 Down at the garden center this week, excitement has been running very high. Our annual shipment of spring blooming bulbs from the Netherlands has arrived and the hundreds and hundreds of crates of bulbs are being unpacked and put out on display for our customers to look over and buy. It is an exciting time because we all enjoy gardening and know what’s in store for everyone who plants bulbs this fall - a beautiful flower next spring from every bulb planted. Bulbs add so much to our gardens. They are the first plants to come up in the spring; after a long, cold winter it sure is exciting to see flower bulbs blooming in our gardens. For real “green thumbers”, a spring without flowering tulips and daffodils would be as serious as a Christmas without a Christmas tree or Independence Day without fireworks. Spring flowering bulbs are basic to our gardening well-being. There are tulips, daffodils, snowdrops, crocus, hyacinths, anemones, allium, fritillaria, scilla, grape hyacinths, and the list goes on and on. Wedel’s has nearly 400 varieties of flower bulbs, including 147 tulip varieties, 62 narcissus, hyacinths, crocus, 20 alliums, and a host of specialty and rock garden bulbs including chiondoxa, fritillaria, eranthis, muscari, and puschkinia – all ready to move to your garden. This grouping of bulbs is absolutely the best in West Michigan. Gardeners who enjoy the early spring color that Dutch bulbs bring to their gardens will want to be sure to come to Wedel’s and look over the great bulb selection. Over time, financial markets will rise and fall. But those looking for a sure return on their investment this fall need think only one thing: perennial flower bulbs. Perennial bulbs are flowering bulbs that, once established, will return year after year, often multiplying, to provide successive seasons of rewarding spring color. Actually, most bulbs are, by definition, perennials. But not all will come back readily year after year in every setting. Soil, climatic, and other conditions all play a part in determining which bulbs will be the best repeat performers in any given environment. The good news is that there are thousands of spring bloomers that will thrive in a wide variety of garden conditions. Some, including many tulip varieties, are best treated as annuals. Others will do well for several years before diminishing. Still others will make themselves right at home and naturalize into the landscape. The International Flower Bulb Center in Holland defines perennial bulbs as “those that will come back reliably for three to five years before diminishing”, and defines naturalizing bulbs as “those bulbs that accommodate themselves fully to their new sites, feeling so at home that they multiply naturally, on their own, increasing in numbers year after year”. Recently, an informal panel of Dutch experts met to decide which bulbs, in their opinion, were the best perennial performers for the widest range of growing conditions in the United States. Their list follows, courtesy of the Netherlands Flower Bulb Institute. Narcissus Salome is undoubtedly one of the finest large-cupped daffodils ever. Salome’s flower is creamy white with a center cup that opens peach-yellow and matures to soft apricot. Like most good naturalizers, its leaves remain green for six weeks or more after bloom to provide the bulb with plenty of nutritional reserves. These reserves help to recharge the bulb so it can readily multiply and flower again in subsequent years. Salome has a large, eye-catching flower that stands out in the garden or landscape and makes an excellent cut flower. Salome narcissus naturalizes well in Southwest Michigan planted in full sun or partial shade. Ice Follies narcissus was developed more than half a century ago in a small Dutch coastal town nestled in the windswept dunes, which hold off the waters of the North Sea. A favorite in this rugged setting, Ice Follies has proven to be one of the all-time great naturalizers around the globe. If comfortable in a site, Ice Follies can settle in for decades of bloom, multiplying to its heart’s content. It has “staying power”! Its flowers are long-lasting and large – up to four inches across – with icy-white petals and a center cup noted for changing colors as it matures. Wind and rain are no problem for these sturdy performers, which are perfect for perennial gardens and landscapes that beg for an early burst of spring color. Orange Emperor tulip is the tulip that Oprah Winfrey once declared her favorite. A colorful early-bloomer that kicks off the early spring season in glorious style, Orange Emperor has a large, luminous, carrot-orange flower flushed with blushes of chartreuse. Emperor tulips, classified as Fosteriana tulips, are prized for their huge flowers and ability to handle exposed, windy locations. Try them in massed drifts in the landscape. Orange Emperor will perennialize in our area. Tulip Tarda was first cultivated commercially in 1590. A top all-around performer, this species tulip has bunches of elegant star-shaped flowers with chrome-yellow petals edged in bright white. It begs to be planted in large groups, but even five to ten bulbs put on quite a springtime show. Plant Tarda in those tight spots, where little else will grow, as a perennial springtime groundcover along narrow edges, among rocks, and in combination with other perennials with a low to medium height profile. Jeanne d’Arc crocus is a large-flowered species crocus with snow-white flowers that open to reveal a small purplish base and bright orange pistil. This vigorous little bulb grows well in lawns and looks beautiful when mixed with other large-flowered crocus in stripes or colors. At the Keukenhof, Holland’s famous show garden, crocus Jeanne d’Arc is often planted in layers with later-blooming daffodils or tulips. This “double decker” technique is a practical solution for those with limited garden space. Jeanne d’Arc crocus will naturalize very well in the Kalamazoo area. Camassia is native to marshy meadows of northwestern North America and has only been commercially available to gardeners for the past thirty years. Camassia has attractive strappy foliage surrounding a tall, upright stalk. The flower rides high on the stalk – they seem to float above the plant. Each flower is ice-blue with golden pistils. Blooming in early summer, camassia fills a gap between the spring and summer garden seasons. Plant in moist locations. With just seven to ten bulbs, you can make a fairly significant visual impact in an average-sized garden or border. Or plant dozens! Camassia naturalizes in our area. Leucojum is also known as summer snowflake; the milky-white, bell-shaped flowers of leucojum bloom as the spring bloom season comes to an end. Its pendulous flowers have six petals of equal length with yellow-green dots at the tips. Leucojum will flower over a long period if planted in clusters and in areas protected from the sun. They prefer a moist habitat and will naturalize well. Daisy-flowered anemone Blanda are fancied for their early, abundant, blue flowers. In massed plantings, they form a colorful carpet, especially under taller woody plants, shrubs, and trees that are still bare when anemones bloom. Anemone Blanda is a long-blooming perennial and combines nicely with early bulb flowers and the emerging foliage of later-flowering plants. Scilla Siberica will provide exuberant waves of blue to enliven any spring garden. Scilla Siberica is possibly the best blue naturalizing bulb around. Plant in small clumps for short burst of electric color, in mass plantings for a blue carpet effect, or in double-decker layers to complement taller tulips or daffodils. Each scilla bulb produces three or four short stems, each bearing three to five starry bell-shaped blue flowers. One of the most winter hardy of the small bulbs, scilla Siberica tolerates shade – plus, squirrels and other pests don’t like them. They’re so tough, it’s hard to believe they can look so deceptively delicate in the garden. A complete listing of perennial bulbs is available at Wedel’s Garden Center. In our selection of spring flowering bulbs, there are over fifty varieties that are rated as perennial and most of these naturalize well. During the summer, many folks place some of their houseplants on the porch, in the garden, or on the patio. Because the days are getting shorter and the nights cooler, houseplants left out much longer will experience a shock when taken in. It’s time to return them to the house. Before taking houseplants indoors, be sure to spray them for insects. I suggest washing the foliage with a fine stream of water from the garden hose. Then when they are dry, spray with X-clude insect control. If tropical plants haven’t had a soil change for a year or two, repot them before taking indoors. Repot foliage plants in a clay pot one inch larger than the present pot. Always use a packaged, prepared potting soil to replant houseplants, never garden soil. Garden soils drain poorly and contain weed seeds, insects, and diseases. For most houseplant repotting, I like to use Schultz potting soil, mixed with one-third perlite. Be sure to fertilize your indoor plants every third time you water them with Schultz Houseplant Food this winter. Remember, for plants to be healthy, they need to be growing and putting out new leaves continually and this takes food! Don’t neglect to feed your houseplants! George Wedel |
Timely Tips
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09/21/02 |