Never too late for bulbs
In my garden column today in The Baltimore Sun, I talk to "the tulip lady," British garden writer Anna Pavord, who has just released a voluptuous new book on all kinds of bulbs called, well, "Bulb."
(Look on baltimoresun.com for a photo gallery of a few of her favorites.)
When I complained to her about planting 150 tulips one fall weekend, only to find the following spring that critters had eaten every single one, she inspired me to try once again by planting them in pots -- with lots and lots of drainage.
I'd tried this once before and the bulbs rotted. I am certain that drainage not critters, was the reason for that failure.
I can place the pots, Anna said, to fill in empty spots in my garden in the spring when the tulips emerge.
(This solves another problem. I'd like to add more bulbs to my garden, but I can't for the life of me remember where they old ones are planted.)
I was reading the garden blogs when I found another suggestion from Judy Lowe, author of the blog, diggin' it.
A friend told her to plant the bulbs in wide, shallow bowls, overwinter them in a protected area, and, in the spring, dig similarly sized planting holes and slide in the contents of the bowl.
This also quite conveniently solves the problem of not knowing where to plant new bulbs.
But back to Anna Pavord's book.
There are more than 600 photos of Anna's favorite bulbs, from anemone nemrosa "Blue Beauty" to an incredible double page photo of allium shubertii (which I actually planted for the first time this fall.)
While talking to her, Anna described finding flowers blooming in the mountains of central Asia where they explode in color and then retreat into their bulbs to regroup for the next season.
Not a drop of rain falls on them during their summer dormancy she said. Perhaps that is the reason why our tulips fade after a season or two...all that rain.
Anna was asked by London's Telegraph to name her top 10 bulbs. Keep reading for her list and her comments.
1. Tulipa orphanidea Whittallii Group, a cumbersome name for the most gorgeous tulip I've ever grown, pointed petals the colour of caramel.
2. Iris latifolia called English iris to distinguish them from the similar looking Dutch iris. Abandoned by the Dutch when they found it couldn't be forced as a cut flower. Superb ink-dark flowers. In danger of disappearing altogether unless we gardeners seek it out.
3. Lilium x dalhansonii 'Mrs R O Backhouse' the kind of lily I like best with speckled reflexed flowers of a smudgy apricot orange.
4. Fritillaria meleagris the enchanting snakeshead fritillary, never better than when naturalised in the kind of damp meadowish grass it likes best.
5. Cyclamen hederifolium best bought as a plant rather than a dry tuber, so you can choose exactly the flower colour and leaf patterning you want.
6. Hippeastrum papilio There is a life beyond the well-known pink 'Apple Blossom' and it lies with these deeply intriguing, orchid-like hippeastrums, this one creamy-green and maroon.
7. Crocus sieberi subsp. sublimis 'Tricolor' has petals banded horizontally in purple, white and yellow. Strong, showy and unusual in the intensity of its colour.
8. Arisaema candidissimum With arisaemas, I feel a new obsession coming on. Strange, witchy plants with hoods and spathes like our wild arums, but MUCH more frightening.
9. Narcissus 'White Lady' typical of the old cultivars that Alan Steeet of Avon Bulbs has been collecting and propagating for some time. Fine papery petals and a soul that is still wild.
10. Crinum x powellii 'Album' Too much strappy, beefy foliage, yes, but such an elegant neck to the flower, such poise and coming at such a good time of the year.
Comments
All of our flower beds are completely packed. So we have decided to take some of our front yard and make more flower beds. O f course my wife and I are having a difficult time selecting plants for our new berm. We have agreed on lining the berm with tulips and daffodils. Now we anxiously wait for spring to arrive.
Posted by: jeff-nhn | December 2, 2009 12:59 PM