ILOVE THE OPPORTUNISTS AMONG BULBS–the beauties that ask only enough full sun to get up and growing each year, develop their foliage and finish flowering, and then will do with dappled shade. I grow some snowflakes (Leucojum) that way, and extra-early little Eranthis hyemalis (the winter aconite), and even lots of big Narcissus under my old apple trees. Then friends turned me on to a couple of other charmers that have found similar homes here in recent years: a Spanish bluebell called ‘Excelsior,’ above, and a little daffodil called ‘Hawera.’ [read more…]
bulbs
a narcissus and a bluebell that play well in shade
October 3, 2010 at 6:47 pm
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allium oddballs: a. azureum and a. ‘hair’
June 23, 2010 at 12:52 pm
MOST OF THE FAMILIAR PURPLE ONES ARE LONG GONE, but a few real oddball alliums are making a fashion statement here right now—and seemingly proud to be different. Meet Allium azureum (above; also called A. caeruleum) and the oddest of all, the well-named Allium ‘Hair.’ [read more…]
remember how to wake up tender bulbs?
April 9, 2010 at 8:08 am
I HAULED THE GARBAGE BAGS OF CANNAS and other tender bulb-like things from the cellar yesterday, where they’d slept quietly for months, to clean them up for action. Do you remember how to sound the wake-up call for cannas, callas, dahlias and other such tender things? This slideshow is a good step-by-step reminder. Remember how the process started last fall, at storage time, at the other end of the tender-bulb care cycle? That was all about storage; now I’m on to the “restorage” phase. Wake up, babies!
at last, a new beginning: first bloom of 2010
March 12, 2010 at 4:09 pm
IT’S OFFICIAL: A NEW GARDEN SEASON IS UNDER WAY. Or so the winter aconite, Eranthis hyemalis, told me today, once the fast-receding snow finally let it speak up. My official sentinel of spring, whom I have mentioned before, has reported for duty. Hallelujah.
paperwhites on the rocks
November 4, 2009 at 8:57 am
I AM REMINDED BY MY ANNUAL EMAIL from a venerable gardener in Rhode Island that paperwhites are lushes, and need a stiff drink their first two waterings to stay compact and less tipsy than they would otherwise. Depending on the “proof” of the alcohol you use, the mixture can be about 1:8 alcohol:water; her recommendations for serving them on the rocks are on this old post, and a fact sheet from Cornell can be had here. We are, of course, talking about serving them on the rocks, as in pebbles. Cheers!
brrrr! overwintering tips for tender plants
September 25, 2009 at 12:36 pm
A THREAT OF FROST LAST WEEKEND sent me scurrying to haul in the houseplants, and though it was a false alarm, it’s time: time to make plans for them and for other tender things like cannas and bananas, cordyline and a favorite pelargonium or two in hopes that what I call these “investment plants” (not perennial on their own, but carried over year to year with extra effort by me) are still around come spring. With frost warnings posted here again tonight, what better day to offer tips for how to overwinter some favorites? [read more…]
slideshow: bits of beauty before the fall burn
September 23, 2009 at 7:55 am
IHAVE BURNOUT, BUT THE GARDEN’S ABOUT TO SET ITSELF ON FIRE. Even before it does, though—before it colors up like last year or maybe better with all the rain—I find bits of beauty here and there, among the shagginess and decay, like the moments in this little show. [read more…]
the un-purple onion: allium moly
June 21, 2009 at 10:50 am
T HIS ONE SNUCK UPON ME. Allium moly, a foot-tall yellow ornamental onion, doesn’t have the baseball-or-bigger heads of some of its more dramatic purple cousins. But it has the rest beat in foliage (wide, beautifully pleated, blue-green leaves that don’t get nasty practically before bloom the way so many do) and durability. It has been gleaming for weeks here already, despite monsoon weather, its golden-yellow 2-inch-wide umbels screaming in the very nicest manner, calling the eye across the garden to please, come have a look. [read more…]
red martagons and gleaming baneberries
June 19, 2009 at 1:06 pm
A S IF TO CHEER ME ON DESPITE 7 INCHES of rain that fell the last two weeks, the screaming red martagon lilies are open again, right on time. I just thought I’d remind you in case you’re not the kind of visitor who digs through the archives compulsively (but if you did, you’d see that the similarly screaming red baneberry fruits are colored up now, too). If I had a red rainsuit and boots and perhaps a red umbrella, things would be picture-perfect here.
