Guest blogger Joannah Hill on summer-flowering bulbs: 

Spring has barely begun and I'm already thinking about summer. Sure, tulips and daffodils are great, but I have to confess I only consider them a warm-up act for summer-blooming bulbs.

My foxtail lilies have already thrown out foliage and the allium schubertii have the beginnings of buds. I won't see either of those bloom until June, but it was incentive to start planting some of the other summer-blooming bulbs.

The earliest of the summer bloomers are ranunculus and anemones. But don't try to chew on those tongue-twisters; use their lovely common names instead -- buttercups and windflowers. I asked my little neighbors (ages 4 and 6) to help me plant and they got a lesson on which end is up with these funny-looking bulbs.

Continue reading "The Bulbs of Summer" »

Posted by Joannah Hill at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Flowers in the Garden
        

Guest blogger Joannah Hill on primroses:

Every year I find a new garden passion. Last year it was Japanese chrysanthemums; this year it may be primroses.

Last spring I bought two primroses at the 32nd Street Market. They looked so cheerful and the weather had been so gloomy. I put them on my kitchen windowsill. After they bloomed out, instead of composting them, I stuck them in a bare spot in the garden. To my surprise, they had a modest second bloom in the fall.

Continue reading "The Primrose Show" »

Posted by Joannah Hill at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Flowers in the Garden