GARDENER'S READING ROOM
Bulbs and Seeds

Summer Spectacle Starts in Spring

Get the early scoop on hot spring bulbs for your summer garden!

Nothing provokes a gardener’s rending of hair and gnashing of teeth more than spotting a spectacular plant in someone else’s garden ‒ and discovering that, “you can’t get that now ‒ you had to look for it three months ago.” To spare you that agony this summer, here are a few sizzling summer beauties that you can buy as bulbs in early spring.

First on the list has to be crocosmia, with tall, brilliant spikes of red, orange, or yellow are HOT in a sunny location. When someone comes to Sky in July gasping, “What’s that tall red flower in your display that all the hummingbirds are dive-bombing each other over?” we don’t even have to glance out to chorus, “ ‘Lucifer’ crocosmia!”

Tigridia may be shorter, but it’s equally stunning when in bloom. Tiger flower (or shellflower) could be mistaken for a flashy orchid crossed with a tiger lily. Hot pink, red, orange, white, or yellow petals are spotted in the middle with a solid outer band. These beauties are sure to catch your eye in late summer ‒ don’t miss out!

Then there’s fragrance. Most people remember to look for their favorite Oriental lilies and lilies-of-the-valley now, but there’s always a horde of people trampling down our doors in vain when they smell Acidanthera in late summer.

Peacock lily, as it’s also called, has lovely cool-white flowers with maroon eyes and a fragrance to swoon over. February and March are the best times to find these and other summer-flowering bulbs, though you’ll hold most of them to April to be planted. Don’t be one of the people plaintively whimpering next August, “Can’t you please get that for me…?” Now’s the time!

by Terri Williamson
Skylights Spring 2011, Vol 26, No. 1

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