Planting More Bulbs in My Pergola Garden and Around the Farm
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Back at my Bedford, New York farm, all the spring-blooming bulbs are finally planted.
My outdoor grounds crew continued the project in the flower cutting garden, by my pool, and under my beautiful pergola - these areas are some of the first I see when I drive into my property. Planting these bulbs can be a very labor intensive task, but I love this process. I always find it exciting to plant bulbs in the fall that you won't see for many months to come - it's such a wonderful surprise of color when they bloom in spring.
Here are some photos - enjoy.
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- Here’s Ryan sorting through more of the spring-blooming bulbs we ordered for the farm this season. Until they are in the ground, they’re stored in the gym garage. I order the bulbs not only for Bedford, but also for my gardens in East Hampton and Maine.
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- All the bulbs are packed according to transport needs. They must be kept moist without being wet, and planted soon after arrival.
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- The first thing to do is prepare the bed with the proper bulb food. Ryan sprinkles the area with a generous and even layer of bulb food along the entire pergola garden.
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- Next, bulbs are strategically placed along the bed.
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- In this bed, we’re planting a variety of alliums as well as camasia. Camassia is a genus of plants in the asparagus family native to Canada and the United States. Common names include camas, quamash, Indian hyacinth, camash, and wild hyacinth. They grow to a height of 12 to 50 inches and vary in color from pale lilac or white to deep purple or blue-violet.
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- Using the bulb planter, Phurba makes the hole wherever the bulb is positioned.
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- And one by one, each bulb is carefully placed into a hole, with the pointed end faced up, or root end faced down. This is very important, so the plant grows properly from the bulb.
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- Each large bulb is planted in a hole at least six-inches deep. There are already many other bulbs planted here, so the crew is very careful when planting additional bulbs in this space.
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- The pergola garden is long – they have quite a way to go.
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- And Blackie is right there with them, watching every move – make sure they plant them all, Blackie.
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- On many bulbs, it is very easy to see which end should be faced up. If it is planted upside down, the flower will still grow, but it will likely take longer.
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- Smaller bulbs can be planted about three to five inches deep.
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- Some bulbs are specifically planted behind the ajuga. Ajuga ‘Black Scallop’ is a unique perennial in the mint family Lamiaceae, with most species native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and southeastern Australia. Ajuga has lush dark burgundy-black foliage that blankets the ground when mature.
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- The ajuga is planted with three in between each boxwood shrub – two in the back and one in front. In landscape design, many gardeners go by the rule of planting in odd numbers for variance and repetition.
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- These bulbs were tossed, so they would grow in a more natural pattern.
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- Where they landed, they were planted – one by one. Phurba makes several holes before dropping the bulbs. The crew is excellent at planting, and works in an efficient assembly line process.
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- This area will even be more beautiful come spring.
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- The team then moves to the border surrounding my pool. Ryan drops more bulbs around the outside of the fence perimeter. It is still very much a work in progress, but I am so happy with how this area is developing.
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- Ryan dropped more Spanish Bluebells in between the Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Diabolo’ and Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’ shrubs.
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- Chhewang uses the dibber to plant these smaller bulbs. A few thousand bulbs are allocated to this space.
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- In the flower garden, the crew planted lily bulbs – these are much larger bulbs than those in the other beds.
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- These bulbs are also strategically placed. When positioning the bulbs, Ryan considers color, size of plant and time of bloom.
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- And here’s Chhewang planting more alliums. Chhewang starts in one corner and works his way around.
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- The crew is busy at work, but just a few more left and this bulb project will be complete for the year. Then we’ll all move onto the next big task – covering all the precious boxwood with burlap! What are your fall gardening chores? Share them with me in the comments section.
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