THE BEAUTY OF BULBS
(Page 3 of 5)
September/October 1981
By the Mother Earth News editors
[2] If you'd prefer to produce clusters of color rather than entire beds, dig small planting areas or even a number of closely spaced individual holes. But before you cover the bulbs with earth, be certain you haven't left any loose soil or air pockets below them. You can take care of this potential problem—and assure good drainage—by putting a handful of sand in each hole. Should you plant in a rock garden, which is an environment favored by many small bulbs, be sure the soil pockets are deep enough to accommodate the mature roots.
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[3] To naturalize your flowers, you must forget boundaries and borders. Instead, throw your future blossoms out by the mixed handful, then dig them in—using the technique described above—where they fall. Don't crowd the bulbs too much, however, since you'll want some room for them to multiply ... and let a few trail away in drifts and patches from the main planting area.
With any of these methods, water the newly tucked—in bulbs thoroughly, to stimulate root growth and settle the soil. In cold climates, you should also remember to protect half-hardy and tender varieties with layers of mulch. (During the summer, the mulch will help retain moisture, keep down weeds that compete for nutrients, and prevent mud from splattering on the plants.) Once the shoots appear, water them deeply whenever the surface soil is dry. It's best, however, that this chore be done in the morning, and never when the sun is hot. When the plants bloom, water more frequently, but less so as the foliage begins to fade.
A HEAVENLY HARVEST
If you want cut flowers, harvest them just before the buds begin to open up. The exceptions to this rule are flowers on spikes, such as gladioluses—which should be cut after the first two buds unfurl —and late tulips (including the Darwin varieties), which need extra time to reach their full size and shouldn't be taken indoors until they've been open for several days. (In order to produce long-lasting flower arrangements, place the blooms in a vase of cold water, and put it in a dark place for about ten hours. Then, every time you make your daily water change, snip off a small piece from the bottom of each blossom's stem.)
Should you prefer to let the flowers live out their lives in the yard, it's still best to remove them, along with their stems, as they begin to fade ...thereby directing the plants' energy toward producing more vigorous bulbs rather than seeds. In the process, however, cut off as little foliage as possible, since it's from these leaves that the bulbs receive the nutrients that will insure the following year's blooms. In fact, though it may look untidy to do so, you must allow the leaves to die back naturally until they turn yellow ...which is your clue that the food-storage process has been completed.
During the yellowing stage, you can spruce up the garden if you bind the fading plant tops together with rubber bands ...braid the leaves ...or—better yet —camouflage the foliage with some annuals and perennials such as viola, ageratum, English daisy, primrose, or a flowering ground cover. Then, when the leaves are finally cut away, the bulbs will appreciate a light mulch of sand and leaf mold.
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