Plants

3 Tips For Landscaping Successfully With Ornamental Trees

August 27, 2018 by Ilona Erwin

What are Ornamental Trees?

These trees are usually small with special features like interesting bark, showy flowers, or eye-catching foliage. An ornamental also has a pleasing shape and fits easily into modern yards. This may seem like a tall order of outstanding characteristics, but the “ornamental” part of the description means that the trees are selected and bred to deliver in a big way.

The main feature, however, is that the size is smaller than majestic shade trees.

Examples:

ornamental cherry trees — Cherry trees along a path

Using Smaller Size Trees

Because of the more compact dimensions, a greater number of this type may be included in a suburban landscaping plan. The shorter heights may not interfere as much with overhead lines. (Though it is still wise to give utility lines a wide berth from your trees).

Read more about Positioning Trees in Your Yard on Ilona’s Garden website.

First Tip for Success

(1) Even though more trees can be planted, avoid a “spotty” look. One of the key rules of good design is to repeat elements in a cohesive way. With ornamental trees, choose to have groups of the same choice, or use the primary cultivar in several spaces within the landscape plan.

Dotting a different tree into each possible spot create a disjointed effect that lacks harmony. It is a common mistake made with perennials. The same rule applies to trees, perhaps more so.

I edge very close to disregarding this design principle at times. Something of a “collector” there is a wide selection of many desirable trees in the ornamental class. But the rule is to use a number of one plant, the effect being so much more pleasing.

Success Tip #2

(2) Choose specimens that do well in your climate zone and planting conditions. Nothing undermines the good looks of your landscaping than unhealthy trees. Or worse: dead ones! Buy from a reputable local nursery for best results or do your research to discover which of the ornamental trees thrive best on your property.

Consider:

Soil pH
Soil structure: sandy, loamy, or clay
Drainage is very important. Good or poor drainage, and whether the tree tolerates the moisture levels of the soil.
Insect and Disease problems likely in your area. Some trees are resistant to problems and some much more susceptible.

Ornamental Trees in Your Landscape

Tip #3: Visit an Arboretum

This is one of my favorite tips for successful landscaping of all types. Visit a local arboretum. In my own area of Ohio we have two that I love, Chadwick and Dawes Arboretum.

No book can match the real world lessons of how a plant may look at maturity in the yard. While trips to parks and neighborhoods are great places to pick up ideas on trees to plant, the Arboretums will provide the names and placement inspiration. Taking notes can be as simple as snapping photos of favorites and their plant labels.

Learn from Arboretums

Making a Garden Plan

1910 garden plan showing ornamental trees

With these tips, once the trees are in place, bring bulbs and groundcovers to the base of the trees to accentuate the beauty of the season they are most attractive. Many will “play nice” with perennials and other plantings to create lovely pictures in a chosen season.

Dogwoods with spring flowering bulbs and Virginia bluebells is a scintillating spring example. Think of your own, and make pictures that bring special beauty to your property.

Are You Ready To Plant?

With these 3 tips to guide your landscape plan, choose some ornamental trees which match your situation and conditions. Fall is an ideal time to plant trees. For most species it is better than the spring. Put together a plan that includes those chosen for fragrance (Crabapples, Witch hazels), winter interest (Contorted Hazel, Stewartia Pseudocamellia), or autumn color (Acer palmatum spp, Fringe trees).

These are only a few of myriad choices available, and if you match the choice to the property (tip #2) this may well be your favorite part of the garden landscape.

Is It Fall Already?

October 3, 2016 by Ilona Erwin

Yesterday’s winds, today’s rain, and the smell that has been on the air tells me so. The asters blooming, the store displays burgeoning with mums (I bought two huge ones at Sam’s Club) also tell the undeniable story that summer has past.

I still have tomatoes ripening on the vine, and they should continue to the first frost, which I expect around midway through October. How did the summer get away from me?

Oh yes, all through the hot and humid days which kept me immobile in my house. When the weeds had their way – and due to my health I could do nothing about them. Do weeds laugh? If so, mine were in the throes of hilarity.

But such restrictions do have their bright side, believe it or not. I am learning, once again, to savor the days and their blessings. To be thankful for the gift of a hummingbird sighting, or a morning spent muddling about. The small joys to be had, no matter what the circumstance.

And now it is fall.

In Ohio, these really are the best of days. A cool, crisp edge to the air, and intense skies of celestial blue. A clear, strong blue so unlike summer’s. The bird calls change, with a Blue Jays strident voice above the others.

The menu changes, too, with everything becoming apples, pumpkins, and soups.

There is always a sense of reflection in the autumn, for me. Is it that way for you?

Looking back over the growing season as it now comes to its natural close, brings a little sadness, too. I am one of those people who begins with a burst of enthusiasm, and closings bring more melancholy than satisfaction.

The only antidote for closing is the cycle of seasons, a slow accumulation of progress and the sense of ebb and flow that the larger picture gives. I find comfort and satisfaction in that.

But fall time is a joy. Just that transition where everything balances on the cusp of change -a mad rush to enjoy all the fruits, the warmth, the abundance before winter’s advent during November. Time for walks in the woods, gathering the fallen leaves, a color scheme of oranges, yellows, purples, black.

I love fall, but it is a parting, a closing; so it is always tinged with the edge of a certain awareness of its brevity. It is the season of my life, as well. I sense I must enjoy and savor in this season. Enjoy each clear day, prepare during each cloudy one, and gather comforts in memory and materially for the winter ahead.

But a large lesson of the seasons is to not get ahead of oneself… one season at a time.

chinquapin leaves and acorns — Chinquapin leaves and acorns

A couple weeks ago I was taking a walk in a small park my husband and I like for its proximity and short, manageable trail distance. During a respite on a metal bench at one of the overlooks, a loud “kerplink” signaled falling acorns.

It caught my attention and I looked around for the nuts. They were so tiny, and the oak leaves were different from the usual Red or White oak, or the huge Burr oaks of my county. The leaves were almost dainty in their size and scallops, one had turned a premature yellow. Tufts of green ones, nuts attached, had blown off the trees on this upland ground, cut through with a fast running creek at the bottom of the ravine.

What were they?

The Oak at Indian Run

I have identified it as the Chinquapin Oak. It is also called Yellow Oak or “Yellow Chestnut Oak” as the shape of the leaves are reminiscent of Chestnut leaves.

The description says it is often found on the summit of hills, and this was the location of these.

I brought home some of the fallen leaves and a couple acorns to photograph. The nuts seem unusually small, and I thought of little cups for a fairy garden vignette. The drought of this summer may have contributed to how small they were, but maybe this is normal for the Chinquapin.

It is a “climax species on dry, drought prone soils, especially those of limestone origin“

What Is In a Name?

Latin name of this oak species is ‘Quercus muehlenbergii‘. I like the common name (first known use: 1612) which seems to be derived from Virginia Algonquian chechinquamin, denoting the acorn as an edible nut. citation

The word ‘chinquapin’ seems to be used in old times for sweet nuts, like Chestnuts, and the acorn of this tree (called by one source, the Shin oak) was supposed to be sweet. If it anything like other acorns, it has to be prepared properly to actually be edible.

This was the rabbithole I went down because I wanted to know what kind of oak this was. Oaks are incredibly important in their ecosystems.

Homesteader Heirloom Apples and Real Cider

September 20, 2016 by Ilona Erwin

The Renaissance of Heirloom Apples

Traditionally, an old fashioned fall treat has been the availability of aromatic autumn apples and the rich complex flavor of pressed cider.

Although grocery stores attempt to carry “cider” in pasteurized containers all year, the taste is insipid in comparison to the special flavor that blended heirloom varieties give to their juices.

Some of those heritage types especially loved for cider making were in danger of being lost, but there has been a resurgence in planting and growing the old heirloom trees. We can now enjoy many of these flavors, again.

Apples Are An Old Standby For Americans

We make apple desserts and sauce, cook them with meat and poultry, and eat them fresh. And nothing is as American as apple pie!

What Can You Learn From This Page?

The old types and how they are best used, tips on which you want to choose for cooking, eating fresh, or making cider. Products for preparing and preserving the fruits, resource books, and some great apple pie recipes follow in the paragraphs below.

Informative videos for picking and choosing some of the selections you may find in a Farmers Market near you!

About Old Fashioned Apple Varieties – What were they used for?

Cox Orange Pippin

Old Time Apples

Cooking? Fresh Eating? Long Storage?

FIND THE RIGHT APPLE FOR YOUR PURPOSE

Ashmead’s Kernel apple is not a pretty face, but has delicious flavor and is useful for eating, salads, cider, and cooking. Wow- if I were a homesteader this is the apple I would want to grow. Learn more about Ashmead’s Kernel

Gravenstein is a coastal type of apple. Quite famous in the past, a very old variety that originated in South Denmark. It is used mainly for cooking and cider.

Esopus Spitzenburg apple is an eating apple. It was Thomas Jefferson’s favorite. “The flavor is truly aromatic and matches the complexity of the English aromatic apples. The flesh is a buttery dense yellow, and there is a rich sharpness which is often characteristic of high quality dessert apples.” It is not a very healthy tree, though.

Cole’s Quince apple is a very rare cooking and eating apple.

Adam’s Pearmain apple is an old-fashioned dessert apple. Dry rather than juicy, it has an aromatic flavor.

Cox’s Orange Pippin is an old dessert apple variety, Gala apples are today’s version.

Antique Varieties

Grow The Best For Your Climate

Old Southern Apples: A Comprehensive History and Description of Varieties for Collectors, Growers, and Fruit Enthusiasts, 2nd Edition

Not every apple tree grows well in every part of the nation. Farmers developed those which grew well. Like many other fruit crops, there were particulars ones that were prized by those in Southern Climates.

This book, in its second edition, provides history, cooking and growing information of the classic apples of the South.

All About Apples

Learn about the old apples

Trees of Antiquity
Trees of Antiquity : fruits of all kinds-heirloom trees,
Apple Journal- “A Passion for Apples”
Apple Journal is a comprehensive resource for growers and consumers about apples and apple growing. Find information about cooking, nutrition, variety selection and usage, farm market reports, historical archives, and orchards

For Cooking And Eating

Cooking, Eating, Or Applesauce?

Did you realize that certain fruits have qualities of texture and flavor that make them best for cooking or fresh eating? The same goes for qualities that produce the best cider or applesauce.

Make Lots of Apple Sauce

Heirloom Varieties And Their Uses

Brier’s Sweet Crab originated in Wisconsin. Very sweet and good as dessert apple and for applesauce.

Newell’s Late Orange is good for cooking.

Dula Beauty, great for baking, hails from North Carolina. Dark red with yellowish, crisp flesh.

Winter Banana is a tart-sweet apple which makes it good for cooking. Also prized as an eating apple which has a “banana aroma”. Originated in Indiana.

Bentley’s Sweet is a very sweet and long keeping apple. Late ripening dessert apple.

Bietigheimer, from German origins, is an early ripening cooking apple.

Bramley’s Seedling, an English variety, is good for baking and cider. It has a sharp taste that is excellent used in those ways.

Chenango Strawberry, from New York, an aromatic apple good for eating and cooking.

Duchess of Oldenburg is an old Russian apple which is fine for both eating and cooking.Has a tangy flavor reminiscent of Winesap.

McIntosh Red is widely available in supermarkets, but is an old variety. Great for salads, and for cooking and baking. Famous for its sweet but mildly tangy flavor.

Margil was widely grown in England in the1700’s and established popularity in the Colonies here by the 1750’s. It is now a rare apple, tends to the small side with russet coat. Its flesh is tender, ivory, very sweet, and flavorful. Red Jacket Orchards of Genvea, New York grows it and I found it in my market in Ohio. Delicious!

Northern Spy from New York in the early 1800’s; it has a spicy, aromatic flavor. Quite famous for pies.

Softer apples are best for applesauce

Best varieties to use: Pippin, Rhode Island Greening, McIntosh, Elstar, Cortland, Fuji, Gala, Gravenstein

Source: Kightp

Cider Apples

Best apple varieties for cider making

Cider is a blend of several apple juices made from crushed apples.

How To Make Cider

Crush ripe apples and extract their juice under pressure.

If making an alcoholic sort of cider there is a fermentation process.

“The four types of apples for cider are describes as sweets, sharps, bittersweets and bittersharps. Sweet and sharp are easy enough to understand (eg Cox and Bramley) but the bitter types are apples grown specifically for cider and are not used for eating or cooking.

The specific thing about these fruits is that they have high levels of tannins, flavour compounds which set your teeth on edge if you bite into the apple, but which ferment out to give a richer, aromatic flavour with good mouth feel in the finished cider” [1]

Old Fashioned Cider

Apple Cider

Special Cider Varieties

American Varieties for Cider

Red Limbertwig
Harrison Cider
Campfield

English Varieties for Cider

Kingston Black – Bittersharp
Dabinett – Bittersweet
Sweet Coppin – Sweet
Crimson King – Sharp

How To Press Cider From Your Apple Crop

New England Cider Pie

Recipe from James Beard– that man really knew how to cook!

Ingredients

Pie dough for a 1-crust pie
2/3 cup boiled cider or 2 cups apple cider- boiled down to 2/3 cup
2 tablespoons sugar- to taste
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter -melted
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Pinch of salt
3 large well beaten eggs
2 tart apples such as Granny Smith- peeled | cored | coarsely grated
3 tablespoons packed light or dark brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream

Instructions

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a large circle about 1/8-inch thick. Fit it, without stretching, into a buttered 8- to 9-inch pie pan. Trim off the excess dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border. Fold under the edge of dough, pressing along rim of the pan and forming a high, fluted border. Chill the pie shell while you preheat the oven to 375° , with a rack in the lower third.
In a bowl, whisk together the boiled cider, sugar, melted butter, lemon juice, salt, and eggs. Add the grated apples and stir to blend well. Pour the filing into the pie shell; sprinkle the brown sugar and nutmeg over the top.
Bake until mixture is just set in the center, usually 50 minutes.
Let the pie cool on a wire rack. Serve warm, topped with ice cream or whipped cream.

Apple Gadget – Pare lots of apples

Norpro 865R Apple Master-Apple, Potato, Parer, Slicer & Corer with Vacuum Base & Clamp

This is the original style of apple parer you may have seen in your grandmother’s kitchen. Still works great!

Baking and Cooking Apples

Apples need to retain their shape to be good for cooking and baking, should not be too sweet. Good varieties are: Granny Smith, Jonathan, Jonagold, Pippin apples, Gravenstein, Braeburn, Fuji, and Pink Lady Apples

All American Favorite

Middle Western touch of cheddar cheese. Photo by bucklava

Deep-Dish Apple Pie from Emeril Lagasse.

Use the included Pie crust recipe

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
2 pounds Granny Smith apples-sliced 1/2-inch thick
2 pounds Macintosh Apples-sliced 1/2-inch thick
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
packed
1 lemon- juiced
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Pinch ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecan pieces
1 egg- beaten
4 ounces Wisconsin Sharp Cheddar-grated
1 Pie Crust recipe below

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large sauté pan, melt the butter. Add the apples and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the sugars, lemon juice and flour. Continue to sauté for 2 minutes. Season the apples with nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Mix thoroughly and remove from the heat. Mix in the pecans. Cool the mixture.
Lightly dust a surface with flour. Cut the dough in half. Roll out each half to 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8-inch thick. Fold 1 circle of dough in fourths. Carefully lift the dough and place in a 10-inch deep-dish pie pan. Unfold the pie dough and spoon the apples into the pie shell. Place the second round of dough over the apples. Using a sharp knife cut away the excess dough. Using your fingers, crimp the edges of the pie firmly to seal the dough completely. With the same sharp knife, make 3 slits, about 4 inches long and 2 inches apart, across the pie dough. Brush with the beaten egg, place the pie in the oven, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Remove the pie from the oven and sprinkle the cheese over the top. Return the pie to the oven and continue to cook for 8 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Let cool to room temperature before slicing, about 1 hour. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
Pie Dough:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
11 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
5 tablespoons ice water
Sift the flour, sugar, and salt into a large bowl. Using your fingers, work in the butter and shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 4 tablespoons of ice water and work with your fingers until the water is incorporated and the dough comes together. Add more water as needed just until the dough comes together, being careful not to over mix. Form the dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.
Yield: enough for 1 double crust pie

Bake A Great Apple Pie – KitchenAid can Help

KitchenAid 30 Double Wall Oven – Stainless Steel

Dependable appliances that work well to deliver you the best baking, and roasting outcomes.

Thanksgiving Cider Pie

Old fashioned pie from the archives of the Columbus Dispatch “Cooks Corner”

New England Speciality

Serving Size

Serves: 8

Ingredients

Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
8 tablespoons (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter-diced
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons ice water
1 large egg yolk-lightly beaten
Filling and topping:
2 cups apple cider
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large eggs at room temperature-separated
1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream or whole milk
Confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

Combine flour, butter and salt in a food processor. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water and egg yolk. Process until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather into a ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 30 minutes or longer.
Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch round. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Fold in overhanging dough to form a high-rising border. Flute the edges. Refrigerate dough at least 30 minutes. (Pie shell can be prepared 1 day ahead; cover with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated.)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
To make filling: Put cider in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until cider reduces to 1/2 cup, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Add sugar, water and butter to cider and return pan to high heat. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and cook until mixture reduces to 1 cup, about 10 minutes. Transfer mixture to a medium, heatproof mixing bowl and cool to room temperature.
Whisk yolks into the cooled cider mixture. With an electric mixer on high speed, beat egg whites until just firm. Fold them into the cider mixture in three additions.
Spoon filling into the prepared pie shell. Bake 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350° . Continue to bake until crust is golden brown, and filling has puffed and set and has become dark brown on top, about 25 minutes more. If filling and crust are browning too quickly, cover pie with a buttered sheet of foil.
Cool to room temperature.
To serve, place creme fraiche in a serving bowl, and whisk in 1 to 2 tablespoons cream to lighten slightly. Dust pie with confectioners’ sugar. Garnish with creme fraiche.

Growing Heirloom Apples – Resources

Useful Info from Urban Homestead
Growing information on old heirloom apples, common questions.

Keep Your Apple Crop – Old Fashioned Apple Rack

Orchard Rack, 6 Drawer

With good air circulation, the drawers slide for easy access. Ideal for keeping apples, squash, potatoes, and even drying herbs.

Cider
Apple cider notes from a personal point of view. The apples we grow are described more fully in the varieties page
Real Cider and Perry
Old Scrump’s Cider House: one of the most valuable web resources for cider & perry enthusiast.
The Wittenham Hill Cider Portal
All about small-scale cider making, cider growing, and making apple juice and vinegar – written by Andrew Lea, a food scientist and hobby cidermaker
In Celebration of The Apple
Apple recipes

I Have A Thing For Bicolor Bulbs, Especially Tulips

August 22, 2016 by Ilona Erwin

We all have our weaknesses, and one of mine is for those bicolor tulips that have a rim of one color and central color of another. while solid colors make a strong statement in the landscape view, the striking look of two colors suits me best.

Three Examples

One way I like to see these flowers in the garden are in the company of a harmonious lowgrowing perennial. One that picks up the lighter of the two colors.
If a two tone of red and white is planted, then one of the white flowered perennials like Arabis would be pretty.

Other Perennial Companions

Phlox subulata
Alyssum (Aurinia) saxatile
Arenaria montana
Ajuga
Aubrieta deltoidea
Bergenia

Plant Companions For Bicolor Bulbs

Besides perennials that echo the color of one of the hues, a solid color companion is probably best. Strong green foliage background may be the ideal foil, but plants that provide a frame and not a pattern competition allows the two tone blooms to stand out.

Another good companion is a solid color in a similar type of tulip. Bringing out one of the shades or contrasting altogether. This is where you color sense comes into play. Just be sure to match up flowering times and heights when planting tulips for this kind of display.

The Spring Ephemerals

Perennials that bloom in spring and then fade from the scene are called “ephemerals”. Virginia bluebells, Bleeding hearts, are two of the best known. Their foliage is an attractive match with flowering bulbs. The two tone bleeding hearts in cherry red and white look well with similar bicolor flowers.

The Bluebells have a fantastic blue and pinkish color with lush green leaves which looks especially pretty with pinks, but harmonizes with other colors, too. These two plants grow well with spring bulbs.

In The Landscape

Sometimes a flower or plant looks wonderful close at hand, but its qualities are lost when viewed in the overall landscape. Tulips tend to stand out. Their colors make a powerful impact on the impression even when viewed from the a distance.

Two tone, bicolor tulips tend to blend in distance viewing, but many still retain some feeling of shade distinction. I think it is always an attractive result. It might even be a better look than the solid tones, giving the effect of outlining the individual blooms.

Bulb Planting Rules

The rule of thumb is to plant no less than 10 in a group, preferably 20. It is more important to effect for the bicolor varieties. a larger group enhances their qualities, but too small a number looks lonely and small. So be sure to plant a proper sized group of them. If you add a blooming perennial at their feet, I think you will really like the picture that creates in your garden plan.

Are you planning on planting tulips this fall? what do you think of the bicolor varieties?

How To Plant Dutch Bulbs For Fabulous Spring Flowers

August 19, 2016 by Ilona Erwin

Start Spring With A Big Pop of Color

Apeldoorn Tulips |

Though the usual sequence is to plant the bulbs in the fall for bloom in the spring, some growers cheat the system by chilling those sold for spring bloom. This is necessary for Southern gardens which don’t get the required cold temperatures.

Presented here are some of the fine selections that you can plant in your own gardens to brighten up the Springtime with color and fragrance.

Find out if the small bulbs, tulips, or daffodils might be best for you.

Planting and maintenance tips, secrets to success, all included for your pretty garden.

A Healthy Look

Fat, Healthy Tulip Bulbs

These Are Always Planted In Autumn

Though planted in Autumn, Spring is the best time to make lists of varieties to order or look for when the season rolls around in late August.

Pick Healthy Bulbs

Dutch Perfection

The Dutch have perfected the bulb growing for ideal blooms.
Most bulbs are shipped to stores and gardeners at planting time ,starting about September.
Bulbs come in different sizes according to variety, but also due to quality.
They produce 4.32 billion tulip bulbs annually, some of which will grow cut flowers.

Fat Bulbs: Heavy Means Healthy

Because tulips and other fall planted spring bubs are grown in Holland to ideal size, it is important to get the largest bulbs you can. Look for tight tunics (the brown skin), a feel of heavy weight for the size, to indicate freshness and health.

Although bulbs differ in look, they should feel heavy, since the lighter they are the more they may have dried out. When taking care to get the best bulbs, be sure to plant them promptly. This allows the roots to get a start on the winter.

When ordering online, the catalog should record the diameter of the bulbs offered, usually in centimeters. This is the way to gauge the quality of what is offered.

10 cm. minimum for tulips, 12 cm. is better
Daffodils depend on variety and class, but look for those with 16 cm. bulbs for best results
Not sure of size? Choose according to feeling of weightiness

Big impact from a small size: plant in large groups. Glory of the Snow

How To Plant And Naturalize

Put Those (Plant) Babies In The Ground

Bulbs are simply a storehouse which contain the baby plant in entirety. Everything needed for a beautiful blooming plants is right inside the bulb along with a storehouse of food for that year. This is why we can “force” bulbs for inside the house during winter months.

It also explains two other things: why forced bulbs are useless to plant in the ground and why we need to leave the foliage growing after blooming. The foliage is fattening up the storage bulb and creating the next year’s flowers.

First Steps For Fabulous Results

Find a sunny spot- most spring flowering bulbs need full sunshine.
Make sure the soil is well-drained. These bulbs will rot in soggy ground.
Dig holes or a trench 3 x deeper than the bulb’s height.
Sprinkle in the fertilizer.
Plant bulb root (or plate) side down and cover with soil.

Mixed Triumph Tulips (25 Bulbs) – Assorted Colors of Tulip Bulbs

Add pretty color with old fashioned looking Triumph tulips. They are a bit shorter than Darwins, but their large flowers are held on sturdy stems.

These bulbs are grown to flower this spring, and don’t forget that they can look lovely in containers plantings, too.

Nothing says spring like a bunch of colorful tulips.

Plant them towards the front of the flower bed.They bloom mid-Spring.

Blooming Together For A Spring Picture

Daffodils and grape hyacinths usually bloom together. They are just one example of the layering technique, where large sized bulbs are planted deeper with small ones are planted a few inches higher.

This produces a carpet of contrasting color for the larger blooms of Daffoils and Tulips. It is a favorite method of Dutch growers in their display gardens.

How To Mix Bulbs Together In Pretty Combination In Your Garden

Check bloom times on bulbs for the greatest likelihood of pretty garden pictures.

Given the variability built into Mother Nature it still is no guarantee that the bulbs will all flower on cue. However, the upside of that truth is that sometimes many flower simultaneously with other plants that you didn’t expect.

This past winter delayed everything in my own garden, and provided quite a few surprises, but in normal years the inner clocks of the flowers are dependable.

The garden always surprises.

Good combos?

Small bulbs and earliest daffodils
Early Kaufmanniana tulips with crocus
Choosing two or three harmonious tulips of the same class
Daffodils and Scillas
Tulips and Hyacinths

My Favorite Spring Flower Pairings

Low growing perennials like Moss phlox ( Phlox subulata), Iberis sempervirens, ‘Basket of Gold’ Alyssum at the feet of tulips are probably the best of the blossoming spring show.

The moss phlox and Iberis are also attractive groundcovers all season long with attractive foliage that persists and smothers many weeds.

Moss Phlox With Red Tulips, And Yellow Daffodils

In my driveway garden, this carpet of moss phlox is paired with red tulips and golden daffodils.

What Flowers Make You Think Spring?

While there are many perennials which flower in springtime, it is the Dutch flower bulbs like Tulips, Daffodils, and Crocus which most of us identify with the beginning of the new garden season.

In fact if you would choose an icon for the Spring, it might well be one of those blooms. Although they may not come first to mind, there are a plethora of other flowers that bloom from bulbs in the spring: Hyacinths, Frittilarias, Snowdrops, Glory of the Snow, Eranthis, and numbers of lesser known like the Alliums and dainty bulb forming Irises.

Start the garden out right with a plan that includes a display of these easy care bulbs with good looking perennial plants to bloom with them, or cover them later.

Cover The Ground With Perennials

I like to grow perennials with Spring flowering bulbs, not just to cover the dying foliage, but also as companions that bloom in tandem with them.

Low growing perennials are the classic pairing, Phlox subulata, Arabis, Basket of Gold are just a few. Forget-me-nots and pansies create bright, colorful panoramas of bloom along with the larger flowers of tulips and daffodils.

Another Landscape Idea

Perennials that are slow to emerge will give the bulbs time to bloom and then cover the fading foliage. Hostas are ideal, but daylilies are better for sunny spots and keep the color going into summer months.

What Sort Of Fertilizer Should I Use?

Add Long Lasting Fertilizer

Fertilizers such as bone meal or the special formulation sold for bulbs create perennial vigor and bloom.
Organic fertilizers are often slow acting and soil building which is just what bulbs like to produce gorgeous flowers.

Fertilizing For Bulb Maintenance

Be sure your flowers come back year after year and bloom to maximum results by adding fertilizer when planting and annually thereafter.

Scotts Bulb Continuous Release Plant Food, 3-Pound (Not Sold in Pinellas County, FL)

I personally prefer to add bone meal, which has a typical analysis of 3-15-0. The middle number is phosphorus which aids in root growth and promotes blooms.

Fertilize as you see the shoots emerge, and then after bloom each year.

Remember that roots are growing under ground in the fall, and that is another period of time to add slow release fertilizers.

The food that is formulated especially for bulbs takes out the guesswork.

Scilla Hispanica or English Bluebells Naturalize In Shady Places

Naturalizing

Scatter

“Scatter” is the operative word in naturalizing.

Whether you scatter the bulbs on top of the ground before planting, or scatter seed after the flowers set seed, the effect is as if mother nature herself were at work.

Have you ever seen pictures of a river of blue flowers among trees? A lawn with an endless parade of spring flowers such as daffodils, or even a hillside covered in crocus? They probably did not get there by accident, but by the artful planting in a style called “naturalizing”.

Chionodoxa is a good choice for naturalizing

Some bulbs will helpfully seed and multiply, but many need a gardener who distributes bulbs each year in a way that looks so unstudied that it seems as though it had to be Mother Nature.

It is easy to do. Simply choose the bulbs you wish to grow, a spot where they can be left alone after blooming (remember they need time for leaves to die down), and patience.

How To Naturalize

Scillas and Chionodoxa are easiest to grow this way. Crocus is a little more difficult, because rodents may eat them and they don’t spread through seed in most gardens.
I like to scatter the bulbs in the area I want to plant them, and then use a shovel or trowel to open the ground. Drop in the bulb with a bit of bone meal. Done!
Under shrubs and trees when a neat lawn is required; in the lawn itself, if you don’t mind some weeks of shagginess for withering foliage.
Along a driveway, mulched during bulb dormancy, is a pretty way to naturalize Grape hyacinths.
In lightly wooded areas, on hillsides, within a shrubbery.

PLANTING BULBS IN FALL TO BLOOM IN SPRING.

5 Best Small Spring Blooms
One of the ways I like to combine these small bulbs is to have a garden with all blues, naturalized in the grassy areas and under trees. A mix of Scillas, Glory-of-the-snow, blue Muscari, are a melange of blue color spilled over the ground

My Daffodils Multiply Every Year

Bulb Garden Maintenance

SECOND STEP FOR KEEPING BULBS BLOOMING THROUGH THE YEARS

After bulbs bloom, snip off dead flowers, leaving stems.
Allow all green parts to wither and die down, or lift bulbs and keep in a cool, dry place.
Allow to grow in situ until bulbs no longer bloom well. Then lift, divide, and move.
Don’t allow to go to seed unless they are minor bulbs which you wish to naturalize. Seed formation weakens daffodil and tulip flowering. Allow all strength of plant to go to bulbs.
Lightly fertilize in following fall to help roots and plant prepare for next year.

Snip!

Take off the spent flowers to prevent bulb strength going into seed production.

Garden Snips I consider my garden snips to be invaluable for the job of dead heading and a surprising number of other garden tasks. Read my review of the economical, favorite brand I use.

Spring Garden Harmony

Choose colors, heights, and bloom times

Fall Planted Spring Bulbs

Plant Type	Colors	Depth
Tulips	many colors,except blue	6 to 8 inches
Daffodils	mainly yellow and white, but also oranges	6 to 8 inches
Fritillaria imperialis	yellow, orange	6 to 8 inches
Hyacinths	blue,purple,pink,white,salmon,	6 to 8 inches
Hyacinthoides hispanica	blue, white, pink	4 inches
Alliums, large	Purple	6 inches
Minor bulbs: crocus,scillas,galanthus,iris,etc	multi-colors and single colors	3 to 4 inches
Alliums, small	rose, yellow, white	3 to 4 inches

Quick color and planting depth chart

International Bulb Society
all the FAQ concerning bulbs

Herb Plant Information

July 10, 2016 by Ilona Erwin

Are you growing herbs or planning to? You might need a little guide to find all my written articles on the topic. (I have over 1000 posts here, and it is high time to organize it for ease in finding just the ones you need, quickly).

LAVENDER

Lavender has been one of my favorites from very early in my gardening career. It became a feature in my garden once I made the Lavender hedge to line the fieldstone walk.
How to Grow Lavender

Do You Like Lavender?

Making New Plants of Lavender

Lavender, Where Art Thou?

The Lavender Walk

Lavender Winter Damage

HERBS

I no longer have a special herb garden, but incorporate herbs throughout the different planting beds. Sage, hyssop, and thyme find a place beside the back walk. Within the vegetable gardens is where I grow most of my herbs today.
10 Reasons To Love Herbs

Helping Your Honeybees

Scented Garden

Rue

Help Your Honeybees

Considered Easy

Herbs are considered some of the easiest, or at least non-demanding plants to grow. They generally desire full sun and good drainage with average moisture.