AVOID THE

BARGA INS

13 - Friday, September 15, 1989 - North Shore News

Choosing your bulbs carefully

will pay off in the springtime

1 HAVE never. really understood the reasons for my fasci-
nation with spring flowering bulbs. I like all sorts of plants,
but these little things intrigue me like no other.

Remember those old Looney
Tunes that depicted some character
pouring a little water on a pill and
presto there was an instant dinner,
a car and trailer, a date for the
evening, or a giant bean stalk? Mi-
raculous!

Well, for me, bults appear to do
the same thing. Stick them in the
ground in the dreariest time of the
year and forget all about them
over the winter. Next thing you
know the garden is full of bright,
spring color; helping us to banish
the dull days of winter.

Another thing is the almost infi-
nite variety of form, color and tex-
ture. They can produce everything
from intricate little flowers barely
inches from the ground to com-
parative giants reaching nearly
eight feet in height.

This same variety can pose un-
limited problems — a case of too
many trees to see the forest. The
purpose of this article is to help
you determine which bulbs to buy
and how best to buy them.

Before you charge off to the
nearest garden centre, let the char-
acteristics of your garden help you
determine which bulbs to buy.

If you arm yourself with a well-
thought-out plan, you are less like-

WE VUE E BEEN] Fi

ly to fall prey to the pretty pictures
and more likely to succecd.

First, let us look at bulbs in rela-
tion to your particular garden. If
your planting area is quite shady,
look to aconitums, erythronium,
iris (some), narcissus and scilla.

Anemones, crocus, ranunculus
(some) and muscari will take some
light shade. All others should have
four or more hours of direct
sunlight.

Remember to plant your bulbs
in clusters or groups. The resulting
massing of one pacticular variety
will create a much better effect
than the ‘soldiers-in-a-row’-look.

Ht is best to try and repeat

themes in two or more areas of the £

garden. This will provide the feel-
ing of harmony which is needed to
tie the garden together into a
unified whole.

Use taller varieties in the rear of
one-sided beds and in the centre of
island beds. Each variety shouid be
slightly shorter than the preceding
as you move to the outer edge of
the planting.

Try to select your plants in rela-
tion to their respective blooming
periods. If you plan your buib
beds properly, you could have suc-
cessive color from early February

at the Re
Fall Festivall!”’

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straight through ‘til July.

By nature, most plants that grow
from bulbs prefer well-drained
sites. Coming from areas with
sandy soils and periods of drought,
they have adapted by developing a
variety of ingenious methods of
storing water.

Either thickened roots (tubers)
or stems (rhizomes), or under-

avoid the bargains or at least be
wary.

It usually pays to buy the best.
In the case of bulbs, it pays dou-
ble. Not only will you have less
trouble and fewer failures this
year, the following years will pro-
vide more than disappointing
queries as to ‘Where did they all
20?’

over the

garden gate

ground buds encased in layers
(bulbs) or those surrounded in a
nut-like corm. Just to keep us all
in a state of perpetual confusion,
all of the above forms are known
as bulbs.

Now that you have armed
yourself with a plan and the ac-
companying want-list, it is safe to
visit the garden centre.

Two more pieces of advice here: .

most retailers will begin selling out
of some varieties before the end of
the month, so do it soon; and

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Geoff Tobiasson

Choose large, high-quality bulbs
from a reliable, established
retailer. Avoid miass . merchan-
disers who are currently using the
interest in bulbs to get you into the

store; they seldom know the pro-
duct and selection is usually poor.

The outer skin’ of the bulb
should be intact but moderate
peeing, especially in tulips, is to be
expected. Good bulbs are firm,
heavy for their size, plump and
free of excessive scars.

Dutch growers must pass rigor-
ous standards set by the Dutch
government in order to obtain ex-
port permits. It is therefore safe to
say thai bulbs that display the im-
ported-from-Holland symbol are
of high quality. Look for it.

Once you have made your pur-
chase, do not rush home and plant
them. I suggest you wait until the
last two weeks of Gctober, but no
Jater. Store them in a cool, dry,
dark, air location until it is conve-
nient to plant them.

Iris, lilies and other fleshy bulbs
and rhizomes. should be planted
immediately or stored in damp
peat until planting. ©

Above all else, enjoy yourself. I
still maintain that gardening
should be a fun experience. And
sow it grows.

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