All the Dirt on Gardening

In the  cold fall months faithful gardeners plant spring blooming bulbs, coming inside to warm their cold-numbed hands between the bags of bulbs and corms that have to go into the ground. When the Crocus bulbs begin to bloom in January and February no matter how cold and snowy the weather, we get our reward. If you did not get any Crocus bulbs in last fall, put them on your calendar for Oct-Nov 2015 planting. Their tiny flowers are guaranteed to bring a smile in late winter-2016. posted from Bloggeroid

Nothing says spring like a pot or plot of tulips, daffodils, crocus and hyacinths. They are in the stores now because spring blooming bulbs are planted in the fall . Plenty of sun and good drainage are all they need. Though they have been grown in Holland since 1590, tulips came from the near east originally. Because of their formal appearance, tulips look great in rigid beds in lines of color. Purple, yellow, red and parrot tulips can be blended together or planted in banks/stripes of color. Plant early, mid-season and late blooming varieties in separate groups so you have flowering blocks of blooms rather than blotches. While most hybrid tulips are annuals here, the small, non-hybrid (called species), tulips may return. Look for these Species tulips: bakeri, clusiana, kaufmanniana, saxatilis, sylvestris, tarda and whitallii. Daffodils or Narcissus can bloom early, mid-season or late. They are reliable and will multiply. The variety of daffodils grows relentlessly and...