What bulbs are you planting?

November 11, 2009

My gardener, Shaun, and his crew are busy with autumn chores. The garden beds are being trimmed back and prepared for the cold days ahead. They've also been hard at work planting all of the flowering bulbs that I ordered. I must admit that when it comes to spring flowers, I have a tendency to get a little carried away. I just love painting the landscape with swaths of bright colors, a real treat after the long and harsh months of winter. My sources for these bulbs are Van Engelen, www.vanengelen.com Brent and Becky's Bulbs, The Lily Garden, and B & D Lilies. Please enjoy these photos of the planting process and be sure to visit my blog next spring when I'll post photos of these magnificent blooms. And by the way, have you gotten all your bulbs in the ground yet?

: These are assorted packaging for allium bulbs.

: I decided to have allium planted in the knot garden. Here are the bulbs all laid out waiting to be planted.

: As you can see from how they look, allium is the onion genus, with about 1,250 species. I just love their flowers.

: Digging a hole about 6-inches deep

: Setting the bulb in the hole, root-side down

: Covering the allium and filling up the hole with soil

: Allium ‘Ambassador’ is a giant with 20”-tall bright green stems and long-lasting 8”-diameter dark purple flower heads.

: After all the allium were planted in the knot garden, the soil was raked smooth.

: I ordered between five and six thousand spring flowering bulbs.

: All of the bulbs I ordered arrived in late October for autumn planting.

: Beneath the allée of linden, Shaun planted clusters of hyacinthoides Hispanica Excelsior or Scilla/Spanish Bluebell

: He laid out groupings of three.

: Wilmer followed by digging and sprinkling bonemeal for nutrition.

: Shaun and Wilmer cleaned out the lily borders for more planting.

: Lilium asiatic Linda is bright and cheerful lily with warm tones of yellow and ‘sunset’.

: Lilium Red Hot is not red at all but the color of glowing embers.

: Wilmer’s gloved hand displaying a lily bulb.

: Elsewhere on the property, the crew was busy planting hundreds of daffodils on what I call the ‘triangle.’ The ground was cleared and amended, before the bulbs were laid down.