GARDENER'S READING ROOM
The Art of Gardening
Bulbs & Seeds

Think Summer

Think summer…..close your eyes and visualize flowers of many colors, blooming bright in your garden….open your eyes and wake up…it's still winter….but don't feel blue, it's time to plan for and purchase summer blooming bulbs.

The bulbs start arriving at the nursery around the end of January - we try and put them out as fast as we can! We're doing our part to help you get over the winter blahs by putting the promise of summer on our shelves. What bulbs do we get in the spring? Let's start with…

Begonias… it's best to start them indoors, putting the plants out after the danger of frost is passed. We get the large bulbs! Roseform, Ruffled, Hanging, Picotee….get them early!

Dahlias… you see them blooming in summer, & continuing to do so into the fall….many come looking for the tubers after seeing the beautiful blooms, but that's not when we have them! The tubers arrive in February... & depending on how the season is going weather-wise, plant the tubers starting late March. We will have over 80 different dahlias in stock! Be ready to make decisions.

Lilies... who can resist them? We order every variety offered to us by Langeveld... & the most popular still is the classic Stargazer, followed closely by Casa Blanca. Take a browse through the lily section, they are amazing.

Gladioli… so many beautiful colors! They love a sunny spot… plant the back section first, 2 weeks later plant the next row in front of the first…another 2 weeks, another row in front of the previous… first to bloom, the back row… as the flowers fade, the second row is in bloom, hiding the fading flowers, and so forth!

Okay, the above are the VIPs of summer… the best known… also arriving will be the Cannas… tropical looking, & fun to add to the garden. Callas… the hybrids, the colors! Crocosmia… another flowering corm that is ignored until you see it growing in someone's yard! Five varieties to choose from… remember, by the time you see them blooming, you can't get the bulbs!

Close your eyes again… think back… remember that white flower with the purple center that you saw blooming late summer? Fragrant… it's the Peacock Lily, Acidanthera… don't forget to plant it! Another bulb that gets a lot of double takes when it blooms is Nerine… and this year besides the regular pink color, we will have it in white and a dark red.

There are many other specialty bulbs… listing them is not as much fun as putting them out & watching the customers ooh & ah over them. It's a good way to lift the spirits during the last dark days of winter!

Along with the various bulbs, corms, tubers….boxed & bagged perennials also start arriving in the spring… Trillum, Clematis, Hostas, & more!
And Elephant Ears… start them inside, using lots of patience…
Okay… close your eyes... spring is just around the corner… the bulbs are arriving… summer isn't that far away!

By Deb Breazeale
Skylights Spring 2005, Vol 19, No. 1

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