Specialty Gardening

Butterfly Gardening
Hummingbird Gardening
Special Use Flowers
Bulb Basics

Butterfly Gardening

• Choose a sunny location

• Select brilliantly colored flowers with a flat face

• Plant clusters of the same variety

• Design with flowers of different heights

Hummingbird Gardening

• Choose a sunny location

• Select brilliantly colored flowers with a trumpet shape

• Plant clusters of the same variety

• Design with flowers of different heights

Special Use Flowers

Bulb Basics

There are few sights as lovely as the first crocus of the year, peeking up out of frozen landscape of winter – and a few surprises as happy as the sight of a bowl of ‘Paper White’ Narcissus blooming indoors on a winter’s day. The flowers that we know as bulbs – tulips, daffodils, crocuses, irises, lilies, gladiolas and many others – contain a hidden world of color, lying beneath the ground waiting to be realized. Fortunately for us, bulbs are not only beautiful, but also easy to grow, lending themselves to a wide variety of terrains and performing well for anyone – from the novice to the most expert of gardeners.

By following a few simple rules, even a beginner can be proud of their garden.

• First remember, never to let your bulbs stand in water, or they will rot. While the bulbs are growing, be sure they have plenty of water; even when they are dormant, they should not be allowed to dry out entirely.

• Make sure that you plant them in rich, well-drained soil, in a place where they will have full sun while their leaves are green.

• For best results, when planting, add a bulb food, booster or bone meal to the soil. This will improve blooming.

• Mulch your bulbs in winter and allow the mulch to decompose in place, improving the soil. If you have problem visitors – squirrels, chipmunks – plant your bulbs and place flat over the bulbs a wire cage just beneath the ground level, to keep the creatures out.

Plant bulbs in the ground according to their shape.

• Plant tear-drop shaped bulbs with the pointed end up and the heavy end facing down.

• Plant bulbs with obviously flat ends so the flat end points up.

• Plant rooted bulbs with the roots pointed down.

• Place bulbs about two times as deep as their height, and leave twice its width between each bulb.

Above all, remember that a bulb is a magnificent energy machine, producing and storing this year all the food it needs to grow and bloom next year. So never remove the leaves from your bulbs until they have yellowed and died naturally.

Bulbs for spring planting and summer bloom time:

• Asiatic lilies, Calla lily, Canna, Colocasia, Crocosmia (Elephant Ear), Dahlia, Gladiolus, Oriental lilies

Bulbs for fall planting and spring bloom time:

• Allium, Asiatic lilies, Crocus, Daffodils, Hyacinth, Muscari, Oriental lilies, Tulips

Bulbs for winter planting and indoor blooms:

• Amarillys, Hyacinths, Paper White