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Tag Archives: bulbs

Giving Bulbs A Go!

10 Friday May 2013

Posted by gardensandpolkadots in Gardens

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Autumn Planting Bulbs, bulbs, Bulbs in Pots, Flowering, flowers, Gardening, Gardening Blog, Serendipity Garden Designs, Spring Flowering, Spring Flowering Bulbs

We know the cooler weather is upon us when the local garden-centre shop is filled with an assortment of spring flowering bulbs in an array of flowers and colours. The excitement and anticipation of the colours and arrangements that can be created in our gardens is wondrous.

Ambition is the key to success.

Ambition is the key to success. Right?

If you already know which bulbs you’ll be planting you can go straight for them and get them in your hot ‘green’ hands. For others it is a chance to riffle through the assortment of flowers and colours to choose the ones that tickle their fancy. Ensure that you choose bulbs that will suit the conditions that you can provide.

One day I too will have a pot of red Tulips!!!

One day I too will have a pot of red Tulips!!!

Last year I tried my hand at growing both Tulips and Hyacinth flowers, you may remember I wrote a post about it. You can read ‘It’s Bulb Planting Time’ here. I was very excited! I chose the bulbs, chilled them, got my pots, asked the husband where the soil was and planted my little bulbs. I had them in a great position on the north side of my house and I lovingly watered and cared for them. You can see where this is going can’t you… Well, don’t get too sad, it’s not all doom and gloom on the bulb front. I was a little disappointed with the result, but I did get some Hyacinth flowers and the scent of them knocked my socks off! I also got to glimpse some tulip leaves, but that’s as far as the tulip story goes.

A spike of perfumed Hyacinth flowers - that I grew.

A spike of perfumed Hyacinth flowers – that I grew.

In my defence I’ve never said I was a master horticulturist, I’ve only ever said I would give it a go, and that is exactly what I encourage you to do too. It’s one thing to know ‘stuff’, it’s another thing to make the ‘stuff’ you do know about gardens work. And that is what I love about gardening. It is seeing past the, what shall we call them… how about ‘the troubles’… seeing past the troubles, making adjustments and learning from the experience. That is what I think gardening is, some people have breathtaking eye-candy results (also known here as Polka Dots) while others plod along anticipating the next attempt.

This was my eye candy.

This was my eye candy.

But I think I know where I went wrong, actually it’s a few little but significant things.… I think it is a problem most of us have created all in the name of making do – it was bulb planting on a budget.

The soil I used was rubbish – in my quest to assemble all that was required to plant my bulbs I was directed to nutrient poor, unstructured soil. Good, nutrient rich soil is something I never skimp on when planting but it seems I inadvertently did so in this case. Don’t worry, I now have a stash of soil that I can put my hot ‘green’ hands on when I need.

Here you can see the beginning of the Hyacinth. This is where is gets exciting

Here you can see the beginning of the Hyacinth. This is where is gets exciting.

The second problem was the pots, they just weren’t deep enough and I wasn’t able to plant the bulbs deep enough in the soil. I had a gorgeous little weather worn terracotta pot that I thought my flowering Hyacinth would look spectacular in and it did, this one did flower but it wasn’t very big. A little rustic, a little old world, just scrumptious, but I think the bulbs would have done a whole lot better if the pot was deeper.

Can't you just imagine a gorgeous Tulip emerging out of this weather terracotta pot?

Can’t you just imagine a gorgeous Hyacinth emerging out of this weathered terracotta pot?

I have not been deterred. The excitement and anticipation of the coming flowers is such a lovely gardening experience. It’s what gardening dreams are made of.

One open flower and still more to come. Yippee!

One open flower and still more to come. Yippee!

So, I encourage you to come along on the bulb growing journey. It’s fun, it’s unexpected and you never know, you may just succeed and have a pot full of eye candy.

Until next time, happy bulb growing

Carmel

Pictures – assorted bulbs in pots and red tulips Bulb Blog

All other pictures Serendipity Garden Designs

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It’s Coming…

01 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by gardensandpolkadots in Gardens

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bulbs, garden design, Gardening, Hyacinth, Serendipity, Serendipity Garden Designs

I am so excited!

This morning I ventured out to the garden to check on the progress of the vegetable garden. It is doing very well, everything is thriving and appears to be happy. I know it could do with a little more sun but it’s just not possible at the moment. Over the next few weeks the sun will sink further to the north, but then it will be on its way back. Oh how I look forward to that.

But, the vegetables are not what I am ‘so excited’ about. I am ‘so excited’ about my bulbs, well one in particular. This morning I discovered that one of my Hyacinth bulbs has pushed its way up and out toward the heavens. It is so lovely… look!

Here it comes, the first sight of the beautiful Hyacinth

This pot contains a single Hyacinth bulb, the pot is not very deep and it gets more sun than the other pots that contain either Hyacinth or Tulip bulbs. In my opinion the exposure to sun and warmth has enabled this little bulb to have a fabulous head start on the others. Unfortunately I can’t get the other pots any higher, it just isn’t possible.

I’ll just have to be patient with the  others. I’m sure they will surprise me one morning when I venture out to visit the garden.

Making progress through the soil and heading up to the heavens

The next surprise this little bulb will have for me is the colour. I have no idea what colour flowers it will produce, white, blue or pink but I know they will be spectacular and they will smell magical.

If you haven’t read about my ventures in planting the bulbs please click here, ‘It’s Bulb Planting Time’. Then you can read about planting Tulip Bulbs, which I did after the bulbs had spent some time in the freezer.

Who else is having success with bulbs? I’d love to hear about it.

Until next time.

Carmel

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Tulip Bulb Planting Time

04 Friday May 2012

Posted by gardensandpolkadots in Gardens

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bulbs, flowers, garden design, Gardening, Hyacinth, landscape design, Planting, plants, Serendipity, Serendipity Garden Designs, Spring, Tulips

Stage two of growing flowers from bulbs is underway, I’m so excited and I’ve just added yet another reason to look forward to spring. If you haven’t read stage one, ‘It’s Bulb Planting Time’ click here and you can read all about when I planted my purple, papery Hyacinth bulbs. They are going very well by the way. I am keeping them moist and making sure that they get enough sunshine during the day. As the sun travels further north I have to make sure I move them so that they can get the maximum amount of sun available. I have managed to keep them close to a north facing wall so the heat from the wall is retained and radiates out even when the sun is going down.

I don’t know what colour this Hyacinth is going to be – pink, white or purple – but I am sure it will be magical and smell amazing.

You might remember that the Tulip bulbs I purchased required 4 to 6 weeks in the freezer. This tricks the bulb into thinking that it has spent a very chilly winter in the ground. When we plant them in Australia in Autumn the soil has usually retained some of the summer heat – depending on the year and your location, so you need them to chill before you plant them.

So, 5 to 6 weeks have past and my bulbs are ready for some potted love.

 

Chilly Tulip bulbs ready for potted love.

You can plant Tulips in a prepared garden bed or in a pot. I am planting mine in a pot, not just because my garden is predominantly filled with vegies (which would look quite magical with Tulips popping up) but also because I want to move the pot inside to the sunroom once it flowers. In addition to all these very good reasons, by planting in a pot I know exactly where they. At the end of the Tulip flowering season when the flowers have finished and the leaves have died down I can easily lift the bulbs (i.e. dig them up) wash them, dry them and store them over winter. Then next year at about the same time after 4 to 6 weeks in the freezer I will plant them all over again – it just keeps getting more exciting!

Yesterday in the gorgeous afternoon light and desperately needing some outdoor time I decided that my lovely little Tulip bulbs had spent sufficient time in my freezer and were ready for the next stage in their journey – some potted love! So out I went with my pot, soil, gloves, frozen Tulip bulbs and a will for the little things to produce the most wonderful display for our sunroom when they arrive. I don’t know what colours we will be blessed with but it really doesn’t matter, five flowering Tulip bulbs is all we need.

I have placed the bulbs deep in the composted soil with the pointy end facing up.

The most important thing about planting any bulb is that it is planted the right way up. You can see from the picture above that I have planted the bulbs with the pointy end facing up. This end is where all the fabulous green and flowered goodness will come from. If you plant them upside down you’ll be visiting the florist for your fresh Tulips.

Tulip bulbs require deep, moist, well-drained soil enriched with compost and leaving them to do their growing business in a nice sunny position. It also recommends (on this pack) that they be planted 10cm to 15cm apart. I have read just as many articles on planting bulbs that suggest mass planting them in pots and in the garden. If you are not sure, experiment. They are not expensive to purchase. You could plant some in the garden at different spacings or in pots with different numbers. If you do plant them in the garden remember where they are so that you can lift them and plant them again next autumn. By experimenting you can see what the bulbs respond to best and you can see what colours and spacing you prefer.

Let the magic begin. Oh, so excited for spring!

I am so excited about all the magical little bulbs I have planted over the past few months. I will care for them as best I can and encourage them to burst out of the soil in spring in wonderous colours and perfect health and look forward to displaying them in my home.

A vase full of beautiful pink Tulips.

Pink Tulips, I am so excited to see what colours mine will be.

I hope you too have enjoyed planting your bulbs, which ever you have decided to plant.

I can’t wait to hear your stories on your bulb flowering successes when they start showing their little green leaves to the heavens in spring. Good luck!

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It’s Bulb Planting Time

04 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by gardensandpolkadots in Gardens

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Autumn, bulbs, garden design, Gardening, Hyacinth, Planting, plants, Rainbows, Serendipity, Serendipity Garden Designs, Spring, Tulips

Have you ever thought how wonderful growing your own flowers from bulbs would be? Well now is the time to plant them. I have decided that this year I will indeed attempt to grow some flowers from bulbs. But which ones? There are an endless amount to choose from: Daffodils, Jonquils, Tulips, Ranunculus, Hyacinths, I could go on.

One of my favourite bulbs is the Tulip. So beautiful and so many colours to choose from. Anyone who has visited Keukenhof in Holland will agree with me when I say mass plantings of tulips can look like a magical carpet of rainbows! I couldn’t believe the range of colours. Black? Wow!

Me (in the middle) at Keukenhof in Holland 1997

I would like to try growing Tulips and I think I will also try growing Hyacinth. Hyacinth is probably not for everybody, it has a very strong perfume but in the right position in your house you’ll get the scent each time you pass. The flowers of the Hyacinth are a little magical too, standing upright and commanding just a little bit of importance. What’s not to love about that? The colours are cheery and bright, just what we need in winter.

So there we have it, it’s written, not only written but announced- globally, I will be growing flowers from bulbs. If you are also interested in trying this for the first time join me in planting some bulbs and share your growing story with me. I’d love to hear about your growing success.

The bulb journey so far:

Mixed Tulip bulbs

Mixed Tulip bulbs. I’m excited to see which colours pop up in spring.

It is recommended that these Tupils go into the freezer for 4 to 6 weeks before planting. They have taken up residence with the Broad Beans.

It is recommended that these Tulip bulbs go into the freezer for 4 to 6 weeks before planting. They have taken up residence with the Broad Beans!

Note: Not all Tulip bulbs require time in the freezer before planting. Read the packet or ask your friendly Horticulturalist for assistant.  I purchased at a good time, I will be able to keep my Tulip bulbs in the freezer until the end of April then plant them before the cold of winter starts.

Mixed Hyacinths. I can't wait to see these beauties bursting out of thier bulbs.

Mixed Hyacinths. I can’t wait to see these beauties bursting out of thier bulbs.

The beautiful Hyacinth bulb with its purple papery covering.

The beautiful Hyacinth bulb with its purple papery covering.

Hyacinth bulb in and ready to do its thing. I'm getting excited.

Hyacinth bulb in and ready to do its thing. I’m getting excited.

My Hyacinth bulbs new home for the winter.

My Hyacinth bulb’s new home for the winter, in full sun with good draining potting mix.

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