Backyard Gardener: Spring flowering bulbs
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Hello, Mid-Ohio Valley farmers and gardeners! Halloween is Saturday night, so make sure you have plenty of candy for our local little ghosts and goblins. Many people have already selected the perfect pumpkin for carving up as a jack-o'-lantern. If you have not, here are a few tips to make your carved pumpkin last longer.
When you carve a pumpkin, it exposes the insides, making it more susceptible to infection through air flow. The environment (temperature, sunlight, etc.) can also be a factor in the pumpkin's quality. Thoroughly wash your pumpkin before cutting into it and sterilize spoons, knives or other carving tools before use.
Remove all of the pumpkin's insides to reduce the surface area where potential fungi can grow. Dip, wash or spray your finished carving with a 10% bleach solution. This will kill any microorganisms on your pumpkin.
Rub the cut areas with petroleum jelly, which helps lock in the moisture and slow the drying process. Finally, consider using an electric light or glow stick instead of a candle. This will prevent the pumpkin from "cooking" and spoiling faster.
Spring flowering bulbs can add gorgeous early color to raised beds and other areas around the home in early spring. Now is the time for planting spring bulbs, such as crocus, tulips, hyacinths and daffodils. Bulbs are a versatile group of plants, and there is a type for any location.
Spring flowering bulbs need time to develop a root system before winter sets in. You should wait until the soil temperature falls below 60 degrees F before planting the bulbs, typically late September and October.
Attractive mass plantings may be made in solid beds, to be followed in June by annuals. Groupings may be spotted about in a perennial border or rock garden. Bulbs are attractive along paths and walks, or planted around pools, or placed in front of foundation plantings around the home.
Well-drained soils are essential for spring flowering bulbs to prevent root rot. They will also benefit from adding organic matter to the soil such as compost or well-rotted manure.
When we discuss bulbs, we are also including other bulb-like structures such as corms, tubers, tuberous roots and stems, and rhizomes. A bulb is a specialized underground organ consisting of a short, fleshy, usually vertical stem axis bearing at the top a growing point or a flower bud enclosed by thick, fleshy scales. Daffodils, tulips and the lily are true bulbs.
Crocus and gladiolus are corms, the swollen base of a stem axis enclosed by dry, scale-like leaves.
There are many spring flowering bulbs to choose from to enjoy an explosion of color in early spring. The tulip is considered by many the premier spring bulb. More than 4,000 varieties are in existence.
Virtually all colors are represented, and most tulips also make excellent cut flowers. Darwin hybrid tulips, generally the longest blooming, are valued for their large, brightly colored blossoms in red, pink, orange, yellow and white and grow to 30 inches tall.
Hyacinths are popular for their spring flower spikes with colors ranging from white to pink, red and purple. They work well as a border plant intermixed with other spring flowers and usually grow 6-10 inches tall. The hyacinths usually start to lose vigor after three to four years and should be replanted.
Crocuses offer an early spring surprise because they are among the first flowers to bloom. They often actually push up through the snow. Flowers only reach 3-4 inches tall and come in shades of pink, white, yellow and lavender-purple. They are best planted in large groupings instead of individually.
Daffodils are an excellent bulb choice because they are deer resistant. They are long lived and should be divided every three to four years. Yellow is the most common color, but cultivars are available in creamy white and yellow orange, and newer white varieties have pink fringes. Some cultivars grow from 6-12 inches.
Alliums (in the onion family) perform well but are slightly less common. Blossoms are unique and are sometimes referred to as the spiky ball flower or fireworks flower. Colors include white, red, pink and purple. Flower height ranges from 6 inches to almost three feet. The largest cultivars are showy and are often used individually as a springtime flowerbed focal point.
Fritillaries, also called checkered lily, are less common but add beauty to the landscape. Known for having an upside-down flower, the color is usually white or light purple. Plant size ranges from 6 inches to 2 feet. The tallest cultivars are used as focal points just as larger alliums are. Smaller types will naturalize in drier areas.
When purchasing bulbs, buy only top quality bulbs that are large, firm and of good color. Cheap bulbs will only produce poor, or sometimes even no, flowers. Choose a site that is well-drained and receives at least six hours of direct sunlight a day.
If the soil is poorly drained, consider raised beds. To prepare planting beds, dig up 6-8 inches of soil. Add peat moss or other organic matter, then mix in fertilizer containing phosphorus such as rock phosphate, superphosphate or special bulb fertilizer.
Choose your bulbs on the basis of color and flower size for specific purposes. For example, small ones create a natural look and large ones stand out as specimen plants. The most
reliable tulips are the Darwin hybrids and species tulips such as Linifolia and Tarda. These tulips tend to live much longer and are truly perennials rather than many of the other varieties that will live for a few years and then die off.
Bulbs often look best planted in groups or clumps rather than in rows. For a nice show of color, plant bulbs in front of evergreen shrubs or among perennials and other flowering shrubs. Formal tulips look best planted in beds in symmetrical arrangements while daffodils should be planted in "naturalized" or informal plantings.
Plant bulbs upright, pointed ends up, at the recommended depth. As a rule of thumb, bulbs should be planted three times as deep as the bulb’s greatest dimension. Use a shovel, trowel or bulb planter, and space bulbs according to size.
Large bulbs such as tulips and daffodils should be placed 4-6 inches apart. Smaller bulbs such as crocus, snowdrops and squill should be placed 1-2 inches apart.
Experimentation has proven that fertilizer added to the soil before the bulbs are planted increases growth. The improvement in growth is not evident until the second year when the bulbs that were fertilized at planting maintain vigorous growth and large flower size, while those not fertilized tend to become smaller and poorer in quality. The best fertilizer is a complete commercial one such as 10-10-10.
When plants emerge in spring, fertilize lightly with bulb fertilizer at least 2 inches from the plant. Once flowers fade, use scissors or clippers to remove the flower parts and stem before the plant produces seed pods.
However, let the leaves remain until they have turned yellow and died down, so the bulbs get plenty of nourishment for the following spring’s display. Old established clumps might not produce flowers because they are overgrown and the bulbs have become too crowded. You may correct this by digging, separating, then resetting the bulbs.
Contact me at the Wood County WVU Extension Office 304-424-1960 or e-mail me at jj.barrett@mail.wvu.edu with questions. Good Luck and until next time, Happy Gardening!