.jpg)
Insert photo caption or credit here
Flowering bulbs are showing up in local nurseries this week. Bulbs are an answer to prayer for many gardeners, especially those who haven’t had much success in growing plants. Fall is the time to plant bulbs that will bloom in the spring. There are hundreds of bulb varieties to choose from, but don’t get frustrated, because every bulb package shows a picture of the flower, bloom time, height at maturity (extremely important), and instructions on how to plant. Bulbs are very easy to plant (roots down). If you’re not sure, plant them sideways and you can’t go wrong. Veteran gardeners and landscapers love bulbs because most are perennial. Once planted, they reward you with blooming beauty every year and require very little care. Sometimes within a bag, there can be a few bad flower bulbs. Be careful to buy fresh bulbs without mold, disease, or aphids.
There are different types of flower bulbs. Tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, lilies and even garlic bulbs are the common bulbs that most gardeners are familiar with. There are also bulbs called corms (crocosmia and crocus); tubers (tuberous begonias); and rhizomes (canna lily and peony). You can mix and match or stay uniform with just one or two varieties. The best way to plant is in groups if you’re planting them in the yard or garden. It’s much better to see a group of bulbs (even a group of five), rather than see one bloom here and one bloom there.
Philadelphia urban gardeners can plant bulbs in containers or even a small pot by the front step by using method of lasagna layers. When the bulbs begin to get overcrowded from multiplying, you can transplant the bulbs to the garden or divide and transplant to another container. You can also plant bulbs in groups under trees, or plant masses along the edge of the woods. Another way to use bulbs is to mix them with annuals, perennials, and shrubs. Low-growing bulbs such as the crocus make great ground covers; and taller growing bulbs like daffodils and tulips are useful as accents in front of shrubs and under shade trees.
The beauty that bulbs contribute to our flower gardens and landscapes is enormous. The display of colorful, vibrant, big, and bold blooms produced by a single bulb are incredible, just like a single person can contribute so much to this world. Just as a single gladiola bulb can showcase a stunning array of beauty, a single man or woman can bloom and shine in outstanding ways. Remember that a single bulb is a flowering powerhouse; it has an underground storage device that provides everything it needs for an explosion of glorious bloom, all contained within itself. Many times, single people are powerhouses all by themselves. Unfortunately, many singles think of themselves as outcasts, lonely, and unwanted because they don’t have spouses. They ignore the powerhouse that God has created inside each of them and sometimes they never bloom.
There are bulbs for every season and every purpose; some you plant in fall and others you can plant in spring and summer. Popular bulbs for every season include the common daffodils, hyacinth, and tulip that bloom in spring, and should be planted in the fall; giant allium, caladiums, lilies, gladiolus and tuberous begonias that bloom in summer, which should be planted in the spring ; and crocus, snowdrops and squill that bloom in winter, that should also be planted in the fall. Bulbs produce some of the most beautiful and exotic flowers such as amaryllis, gloriosa lily, desert candle, crown imperial, crocosmia, and Asiatic or oriental lilies. Gardeners can even force tulip and daffodil bulbs in September to bloom sooner than later inside. Get out to your local garden nursery in the next 2-3 weeks for the best selection of bulbs. And remember to bloom wherever you’re planted!
Click here to subscribe to my NATIONAL SPIRITUALITY AND NATURE COLUMN on Examiner.com
*Please feel free to subscribe to my articles by clicking the subscribe box above. A free subscription will alert you to new gardening articles
For more bloomin' articles:
Homegrown Series: Article 1 – Plant Marriages
Homegrown Series: Article 2 – Seedlings and Little Sprouts
Homegrown Series: Article 3 - Wildflowers
Homegrown Series: Article 4 – Those Wise Old Trees
References: A Down to Earth Bible Study, Author Joanne Taylor, AMG Publishers: http://www.amgpublishers.com/www/docs/122.42/down-earth.html
Comments