Planting Puschkinia and Chionodoxa Around the Farm
My Bedford, New York farm is buzzing with activity this fall - television shoots, photography shoots, and lots and lots of seasonal chores.
My gardeners have also been hard at work planting spring-flowering bulbs. Every year, I order thousands and thousands of bulbs to add to my landscape. It’s so exciting to see the swaths of color in the gardens after a cold and dreary winter. This week, Ryan McCallister planted Puschkinia and Chionodoxa in various beds outside my Summer House, outside my Tenant House, and under my grove of tall bald cypress trees. They will all look so marvelous come spring.
Here are some photos - enjoy.
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- Every year it is a rush to plant all our bulbs before the ground freezes. This season, we’ve had some very pleasant, very mild days – just perfect for planting. Ryan keeps track of all the flowers and plants, and knows exactly where our bulbs should go. Here he is organizing the varieties – all from Van Engelen Inc., and its sister company, John Scheepers,
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- When purchasing bulbs, always look for those that are plump and firm, and avoid those that are soft.
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- The bulbs getting planted on this day include this pretty Puschkinia. Puschkinias are also known as Striped Squill – a deer- and rodent-resistant naturalizer named after Russian botanist Count Apollos Apollosvich Mussin-Puschkin. Puschkinia does best in moist, fertile, well-draining soil in full sun to partial sunlight. (Photo from vanengelen.com)
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- This is Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica alba. All Puschkinia varieties take time to mature, but if it’s happy where it’s planted and left undisturbed, it naturalizes by bulb offsets called bulbils: baby bulbs and great planted en masse in garden borders. (Photo from vanengelen.com)
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- This is Chionodoxa forbesii. Commonly known as Glory of the Snow, this Chionodoxa has up to 12 star-shaped, six-petaled clustered rich blue flowers with bright white central zones atop dark stems with narrow foliage. (Photo from vanengelen.com)
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- A very close variety is Chionodoxa forbesii Blue Giant. Blue Giant is the improved form of forbesii with up to eight, larger, star-shaped, six-petaled clustered rich blue flowers. (Photo from vanengelen.com)
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- And this is Chionodoxa sardensis, which has multiple star-shaped, six-petaled clustered bright blue flowers with small white centers atop dark stems. This variety was discovered circa 1883 from an area around Turkey. (Photo from vanengelen.com)
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- The first thing before planting bulbs is to prepare the bed with the proper bulb food. The food should be a balanced fertilizer that has a good amount of phosphorous. Fertilizing spring-blooming bulbs also helps them fight off diseases and pests.
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- This area outside my Summer House garden is fed evenly and generously.
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- In this area, Puschkinia bulbs are tossed gently onto the soil – where they fall is where they are planted, creating a natural growth appearance.
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- Both Puschkinia bulbs and Chionodoxa bulbs are small, but looking closely, one can still tell which end is pointed and which end is not – it is important to know when planting.
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- This tool is a dibber, used to create a narrow deep hole for smaller bulbs.
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- In general, holes should be three times deeper than the bulb’s length.
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- One by one, each bulb is carefully placed into a hole, with the pointed end faced up, or root end faced down, so the plant grows properly from the bulb.
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- Once in the soil, Ryan backfills the area with his gloved hand.
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- Ryan planted both sides of the footpath leading to my Summer House garden. It will look very pretty come spring.
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- Another area is here, underneath and near my towering bald cypress trees, Taxodium distichum – a deciduous conifer.
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- Once again, Ryan feeds the area with a good amount of food specifically for planting bulbs.
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- Bulbs need to be packaged very carefully to ensure they are kept in the best conditions during transport. Van Engelen uses different bagging materials depending on the bulbs’ humidity needs. The bags are also designed with a number of holes for air circulation and humidity control.
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- Here are chionodoxa bulbs. These bulbs also have very distinct pointed ends and rounded bottoms.
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- Each bulb is placed in a hole about three to five inches deep. Ryan is always careful to place it in the hole properly. However, if a bulb accidentally gets planted sideways or upside down, it will still grow – it will just take a bit longer.
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- And once again, as the bulbs are planted, the areas are backfilled.
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- I can’t wait to see all these bulbs erupt with gorgeous color come spring. We still have many, many more bulbs to plant. Follow this blog and see where we go next – the daffodil border perhaps?
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