Bulbs, Bulbs, Bulbs By Eileen Schilling
Fall 2007 - Vol. 20 No.2

The highlight of autumn is choosing which bulbs to plant. The selection of tulips and daffodils has really grown. Walking into our garden center is a little like walking into a Paint store… so many colors to choose from. We have some suggestions that may help with your purchase.
Bloom time. When do you want flowers? Bulbs begin to bloom as early as April (snowdrops, scilla) and continue, with cool weather, into mid to late June (parrot tulips, Dutch iris, single late flowering tulips, lily flowering tulips). It is easy to choose bulbs that will bloom in your desired time frame. The planting of tulips along the east side of our greenhouse (see photo) is timed for a mid-May bloom. We want the whole display to bloom at the same time and we want it to finish up in time for our mid-June installation of the annual garden in the same spot.
Bulbs for cutting. Tulips are a fabulous cut flower easily lasting up to a week in the vase. Their branches bend and curve towards sunlight. Plant tulips that grow at least 10 inches tall so you have a long enough stems. The Darwin hybrids with 22 inch stems are sold in bulk and work very well as cut flowers. The same clumps have lasted for many years in our gardens. Plant at least 10 per clump so you can have some in a vase and some in the garden. Daffodils and narcissus are long lived in the vase and the garden. When used in bouquets you need to condition them in cool water prior to combining them with other flowers. This allows a gooey substance to leach out of the stems.
Color preference. Tulips now come in every color combination you can dream of. Their color is pure and saturated so it really stands out against soft green foliage. Because of the different bloom times, you can have bouquets of your favorite color for months. Yellow, for example, flow like this; Monte Carlo, Fringed Elegance, Darwin yellow, Big Smile, and West Point.
Space. Be creative when planting bulbs. They can tuck into the most unlikely spots. Low growing crocus, botanical iris, and scilla are great choices to fill in small spaces.
Deer and rodent problems. Many people are hesitant to plant bulbs since deer and rabbits seem to view them as lunch. It is so frustrating to wait for that beautiful tulip to open up only to have a rabbit munch it the day before it is set to pop. Sprays such as ‘Ropel and ‘Deer Off ’ help tremendously but you cannot miss a single stalk or bud because the animals will find it. If spraying is not for you there are still ways to have lovely spring color without feeding the neighbors. Daffodils and narcissus are poisonous.
Animals won’t touch the bulbs or the foliage and flowers. Some clever gardeners plant these bulbs around their tulips in hopes of outsmarting the wildlife. You can also plant solid clumps and watch them multiply over the years.
Breeders have worked wonders with these bulbs and now there are so many multicolored combinations. Of course the classic yellow is still popular but check out some of the other varieties.
For the earliest blooms plant ‘Tete a Tete’ and February Gold’. Both are bright yellow with a large trumpet cup. Midseason blooms are plentiful. ‘King Alfred’ is the classic large yellow daffodil and ‘Mount Hood’ is pure white. Both are sold here in bulk and are some of the largest bulbs we have ever seen. ‘Professor Einstein’ has been around for 60 years and is still the best pure white with an orange center. ‘Sir Winston Churchill’ and ‘Flower Parade’ are both double-flowered. Each flower stem on Winston bears 3 to 5 double white flowers with flecks of orange in the center. It has a fresh sweet scent. Flower Parade has soft yellow petals and a dark orange-red center. Segovia has pure white blooms with a crimped, pastel yellow center that resembles a dogwood blossom. Virginia Sunrise is pure white with an orange ruffled center. Lemon Beauty’s pure white petals are accented with a bright yellow star in the center. Palmares is a beautiful narcissus with pale yellow outer petals and a large ruffled yellow and orange center.
For late spring you have Thalia with its clumps of small, pure white, large trumpeted flowers, Pink Charm, also pure white but much larger petals and a cup whose edge is painted bright pink and Yellow Cheerfulness which is pastel yellow with a double ruffled center that has a splash of orange. You can extend the season still with 5 more daffodil varieties. Hawera is tiny with bright yellow star-like petals and a pronounced yellow trumpet. Kissproof and Fragrant Rose both have bright sunset orange centers. Fragrant Rose has pure white outer petals (and is fragrant) and Kissproof is a pastel yellow. The trumpet on Flower Record is bright yellow with a painting of orange on the edge. Petals are pure white. Raoul Wallenberg finishes out the season with a yellow on yellow show standing tall on 18 inch stalks. Looking for something different to add to your garden? You can do that this fall with bulbs by trying some of these. Allium that are tall, short, purple, blue and electrified. Scilla ‘Queen of the Pinks’ blooms here around Memorial Day and resembles a tall, pink lily-of- the-valley. Blue crocus, Glory of the snow, snowdrops and the 2-toned muscari will all herald in spring as will the incredibly fragrant hyacinths and the tiny botanical iris. The tall, very late blooming dutch iris come in a rainbow of colors. The clump at the nursery always causes quite a flurry of photographs.
This should get you started. Come in soon for the best selection. Start planting as soon as the temperatures drop. We look forward to helping you with your selections.

‘Banja Luka ’ Tulip
Horsford Gardens and Nursery

Bulb border on east side of greenhouse, 2007
Horsford Gardens and Nursery