# Layered bulbs



## Tara_H (Apr 28, 2021)

I planted up these pots at the end of last year when I was having a really rough time.  It took me days just to plan which bulbs would go in which pot, and days more to get them planted up with my husband's help.

But it was so worth it, every time I go in or out of the house, I take a pause to admire them.  Because they're planted in layers with lots of different bulbs, there's always something new going on.


----------



## Susie (Apr 28, 2021)

Beautiful!


----------



## lsg (Apr 28, 2021)

Very pretty!


----------



## Mobjack Bay (Apr 28, 2021)

They look absolutely gorgeous!  Those are some happy colors and an excellent way to celebrate all this spring is promising.


----------



## AliOop (Apr 28, 2021)

Oooooh, flowers make me sooo happy, and yours are gorgeous. Thank you for my morning happy pill!


----------



## cmzaha (Apr 28, 2021)

Absolutely Gorgeous.


----------



## Zing (Apr 28, 2021)

These pots are stunning!  You did a really great job there.  Flowers make me happy too.  Do I see scilla in there?  I've got scilla all over my parkway, it's my very favorite.  We are also enjoying tulips and daffodils.  And what is the name of that blue/yellow iris?

Our local newspaper just ran an article about a man with 2,500 daffodils in his city yard and his goal is 10,000.  I love to garden but that's over the top!


----------



## Tara_H (Apr 28, 2021)

I'll have to double check the irises, I thought maybe Iris Katharine Hodgkin, but you can't really see those in the photos...


----------



## KimW (Apr 28, 2021)

Oh, these are breathtaking!  A nice outcome from dealing with a rough time.   I've tried for  years to grow bulbs here with no success.  Too many cute little critters.  I had no idea such success and beauty could be achieved with bulbs in containers.  Thank you for sharing!


----------



## Tara_H (Apr 28, 2021)

Zing said:


> Do I see scilla in there? I've got scilla all over my parkway, it's my very favorite


Oh, I forgot to say earlier, yes, lots of scilla! It's a great colour at a time of year when it's difficult to get anything other than daffodils flowering!



KimW said:


> I've tried for years to grow bulbs here with no success. Too many cute little critters.



The first 3 years in this house all my bulbs were dug up and eaten! 

I've had some success with planting 'in the green', and it's easy enough to get cheap crocuses etc that are just about to finish flowering, as long as I don't mind waiting a year to see if they're successful!  But by far the best result I get in pots - these have a nice fibrous mix to make sure they drain very well since it rains a lot where we are.


----------



## Zing (Apr 28, 2021)

Tara_H said:


> Oh, I forgot to say earlier, yes, lots of scilla! It's a great colour at a time of year when it's difficult to get anything other than daffodils flowering!
> The first 3 years in this house all my bulbs were dug up and eaten!
> I've had some success with planting 'in the green', and it's easy enough to get cheap crocuses etc that are just about to finish flowering, as long as I don't mind waiting a year to see if they're successful!  But by far the best result I get in pots - these have a nice fibrous mix to make sure they drain very well since it rains a lot where we are.


Love love love scilla -- it is the first sign of spring and I love how it naturalizes so quickly.  Patience with bulbs is even harder than patience with soap unmolding and cutting and curing!!  Most critters totally ignore scilla and daffodils, tulips are more tempting.  I spent all last summer battling Asian bettles and voles.  Now, oh the humanity, the new danger is jumping worms that destroy soil!!

The two cities I've lived are generous in giving away tulip bulbs after they have decorated conservatories and downtown medians.  I plant those bulbs in May or June and have to wait until the following Spring to find out the color and shape!  But hey, it's free, so who am I to complain?!

What does 'in the green' mean?  I like to collect local idioms.  Up until recently I lived in Chicago that had parkways (lawn between the street and sidewalk) and boulevards (long stretches of parkland for miles that border a main street and a side service road.)  Since I have moved and trying to learn Minnesotanese, 'parkways' and 'boulevards' are exactly opposite of Chicagoese even tho' you 'park' on a boulevard and 'drive' on a _park_way!!  The accent in the movie Fargo is totally spot on -- I cringe every time I hear the local radio anchor invite us to join in at twooooo this afternooooon for the noooooze.  Now I gotta go have dinner, I mean supper, which is a a casserole, woops, sorry, a hot dish.  I'll also have a pop too, not a soda.  Wanna join me over by here?  But first you gotta warsh your hands before dinner I mean supper, oh my Garsh.  Yah, sure, ya betcha!


----------



## Tara_H (Apr 29, 2021)

Zing said:


> Most critters totally ignore scilla and daffodils, tulips are more tempting.


Funny enough, I don't have nearly as much problems with tulips, I guess because they get planted so much deeper.  The critters around here don't seem to have too much patience for digging, but bulbs in soft soil near the surface will be quickly demolished!



Zing said:


> the new danger is jumping worms that destroy soil!!


Omg what??!



Zing said:


> What does 'in the green' mean?


Oh, it means to plant them while they still have leaves, after they finish flowering.  It's almost required with snowdrops, since they don't store very well, but I find that they don't seem to make such a tempting meal that way, and it gives them a chance to get established before they go dormant.

Funny about all the idioms, I'm sure we'd have plenty of novel ones for you!
To me a boulevard is a wide street with a grassy strip down the middle that's planted with trees. Parkway - not a thing!  We don't have either pop or soda, it's fizzy drinks, soft drinks, or minerals! Or mixers if there's going to be alcohol added 

But c'mere to me and I'll tell you about the head on yer wan when I saw her in the offy...


----------



## sabnazzy (Apr 29, 2021)

Tara_H said:


> I planted up these pots at the end of last year when I was having a really rough time.  It took me days just to plan which bulbs would go in which pot, and days more to get them planted up with my husband's help.
> 
> But it was so worth it, every time I go in or out of the house, I take a pause to admire them.  Because they're planted in layers with lots of different bulbs, there's always something new going on.
> 
> ...


i always loved the colour combo of yellow and purple even in my soaps


----------



## Zing (Apr 29, 2021)

Jumping worms!  Who knew it was a thing?!  Minnesota's 'jumping worm' invasion upends spring plant sales


----------



## amd (Apr 29, 2021)

Lovely!

We were happy to discover when we bought our house 4 years ago that the flower beds were all thoughtfully planted so we have something new flowering through spring summer and fall. It definitely does make me appreciate our yard so much more! Now if I could just appreciate it enough to do all the weeding...


----------



## AliOop (Apr 29, 2021)

Our new-to-us house also has bulbs and other succession plants in the beds. We are enjoying the last of the hyacinths and daffodils, as well as new-blooming lilies of some kinds, and other things that I can't identify. A friend brought over a lovely large hydrangea for a housewarming gift; not sure where it will go yet, but I'm excited because the blue-purple hydrangeas are a favorite of mine!


----------



## earlene (Apr 30, 2021)

I still have to move (dig up, separate, replant) several bulbs around my house.  I thought I got all of them in the past, but crops of daffodils came up in tight clumps in a couple of places that were formerly protected, but are now right in the pathway of the riding lawn mower & Hubby may mow them down when they stop blooming and I may not be able to find them again until next year.  And the crocuses are buried too deep, so I have to dig them up and re-plant them as well.  I haven't seen the tulips, day lilies or irises yet.  But the hostas just started unfurling their leaves this past week, so I hope the others are yet to come up.  I don't remember where I replanted them.  Perhaps they didn't survive.

I may need to replenish the irises, as I think they may have run their course. I was gone almost an entire year in 2019-2020 & don't know for sure that they are still viable. Hubby doesn't recall if any came up last Spring or Summer.

But with my dominant hand still in a cast going on a month now, I'm not sure when I will be able to do this!


----------



## Tara_H (Apr 30, 2021)

earlene said:


> crops of daffodils came up in tight clumps in a couple of places that were formerly protected, but are now right in the pathway of the riding lawn mower & Hubby may mow them down when they stop blooming and I may not be able to find them again until next year.


This is exactly how it goes in our garden too 
There are some lovely daffodils planted by a previous owner that have naturalised everywhere, and hunting them down and moving them to sensible places could be a full time job!  They also get mixed up in the compost, and in the roots of other plants, so for example there are some particularly nice specimens growing around the old tree stump that we put in the chicken run for them to play on  and some trying to establish themselves among the strawberries and asparagus...


----------



## Susie (May 1, 2021)

I have a front flowerbed that y'all can come work on anytime. I just am not interested in flowers. If we haven't come up with a different plan by next year, it will become my herb bed mixed in with some low care native plants. I thought a ginger plant mixed with some creeping thyme, regular and lemon thyme, sage, parsley, tickseed, Texas bluebonnet, and lemongrass would make an interesting front bed. And I can pull the obvious herbs when I go to re-sell and stick something else in their places.


----------



## Tara_H (May 1, 2021)

Susie said:


> I have a front flowerbed that y'all can come work on anytime. I just am not interested in flowers. If we haven't come up with a different plan by next year, it will become my herb bed mixed in with some low care native plants. I thought a ginger plant mixed with some creeping thyme, regular and lemon thyme, sage, parsley, tickseed, Texas bluebonnet, and lemongrass would make an interesting front bed. And I can pull the obvious herbs when I go to re-sell and stick something else in their places.


Sounds great - ideally all the plants here would have a purpose apart from just looking good, but sometimes I find I just want some pretty colours to look at! But herbs and other useful plants can be just as attractive with a bit of planning.

We're not planting the veg bed rotation this year since we want to work on the drainage and irrigation, so my plan is mostly to get a solid start on the dye garden and try to get a yield of fruit.


----------



## KimW (May 1, 2021)

My perennial flower garden...


----------



## Tara_H (May 1, 2021)

KimW said:


> My perennial flower garden...
> 
> View attachment 56781


Great source of dandelions by the looks of it! I've been making lots of infused oil lately for salves, I swear it helps when my hands are achy.



Husband is not so much a fan, he says the batch of infusing flowers looks like a jar of bees!


----------



## ResolvableOwl (May 1, 2021)

Bee-r 

I've seen dandelion blossoming on the meadows … those in the garden are not quite as far. Maybe I'll infuse some syrup with them, tastes so much like honey (to stay within apian metaphors)!

Our garden is full of crocus bulbs. Their time is long over by now, but it's the first dose of spring feelings to see drowsy bumblebees navigating through a sea of purplish-white flowers that stretch their bright orange heads into the low sun.


----------



## Tara_H (May 1, 2021)

Already there's new things happening!

I dead-headed the spent daffodils and there are some very elegant tulips coming through now.  The spiky ones are really coming into their own, and there are some anemones still going strong


----------



## Zing (May 1, 2021)

Wow.  Thanks for the updated photos!


KimW said:


> My perennial flower garden...
> 
> View attachment 56781


And, @KimW, I see you are going for a simple, rustic, natural look of just one perennial flower?  Many folks have made friends with dandelions.  Not I.  I swear by organic corn gluten -- it prevents seed germination.  I once owned a yard that was 100% dandelions.  It took 3 years of corn gluten application, but I did eradicate all of then.


----------



## KimW (May 1, 2021)

Zing said:


> And, @KimW, I see you are going for a simple, rustic, natural look of just one perennial flower? Many folks have made friends with dandelions. Not I. I swear by organic corn gluten -- it prevents seed germination. I once owned a yard that was 100% dandelions. It took 3 years of corn gluten application, but I did eradicate all of then.


Ahhhh yes...I'd forgotten about that trick we used so long ago at our city digs.  hmmmm.  I wonder if it would work out here.  Thanks, mister!


----------



## Tara_H (May 2, 2021)

KimW said:


> Ahhhh yes...I'd forgotten about that trick we used so long ago at our city digs.  hmmmm.  I wonder if it would work out here.  Thanks, mister!


Or there's always chickens... I can't remember if you keep any? But I've found them amazing for clearing everything but grass from an area.  If only we could figure out a way of putting them to work on the lawn


----------



## earlene (May 3, 2021)

I'm lucky I can manage 15 minutes of weeding (using only my non-dominant hand) daily right now.  The dandelions are trying to take over the lawn (and we have huge lawns in this town.)  The neighbor kitty corner to us has more dandelions than grass, so it's a never-ending battle, unfortunately.  But we are anti-weed killer, as apparently they are as well.  So it is what it is and Kitty Baby can safely eat the grass and that makes me happy.

I SO want to do some gardening!  My current cast should come off tomorrow. I sure hope I don't get yet another oen and that the bone is healed enough for the pin to be removed.


----------



## AliOop (May 3, 2021)

Tara_H said:


> Or there's always chickens... I can't remember if you keep any? But I've found them amazing for clearing everything but grass from an area.  If only we could figure out a way of putting them to work on the lawn


Mine loved eating fresh grass, but they preferred the bugs ON the grass when those were available.


----------



## Tara_H (May 16, 2021)

Slowing down on the changes now, but I'm loving these ones at the moment:






We ordered Chinese food the other day and when husband went to answer the door the delivery woman had wandered off around the corner admiring the flowers


----------



## KimW (May 17, 2021)

Tara_H said:


> We ordered Chinese food the other day and when husband went to answer the door the delivery woman had wandered off around the corner admiring the flowers


 



Tara_H said:


> Slowing down on the changes now, but I'm loving these ones at the moment:
> View attachment 57323
> 
> 
> ...


What are the red striped ones?  They're beautiful!


----------



## Tara_H (May 17, 2021)

KimW said:


> What are the red striped ones?  They're beautiful!











						Flaming Parrot
					

A flamboyant feathered beauty in red and yellow. One of the most fascinating of all tulip varieties – already for almost half a century. The tulip is also a magnificent pick and looks fabulous in a vase on the table.




					www.fluwel.com
				



!
A crazy name for such an elegant flower  

(Incidentally, that site is where I got pretty much all these bulbs! Shipping is not cheap but the bulbs themselves are very reasonably priced and the quality is like nothing I've seen before. Would highly recommend.)


----------



## KimW (May 17, 2021)

That name reminded me of Monty Python and gave me a good chuckle.


----------



## Zing (May 30, 2021)

Tara_H said:


> Slowing down on the changes now, but I'm loving these ones at the moment:
> View attachment 57323
> 
> 
> ...


Ha ha.  We have one particular pizza man who says he always looks forward to delivering to us so he can see our yard!


----------

