Think spring...

 With the weather still warm during the days it's hard to think of autumn coming let alone doing a fast-foward to spring.  If you are a gardener who likes to have the spring bulbs showing up when the snow melts, then now is the time to think spring.  Most of your bulbs or spring flowering perennials need to go in the ground in the fall or be lifted and divided at this time.  I pulled up my iris at the beginning of August to relocate them and eliminate the rhizomes that had iris borers in them.  I let them dry a bit and am ready to find a new spot for them in spring.  Remember when it comes to iris, shallow is best.  You should be able to see the rhizomes laying right at the soil surface.  If you plant them too deep you may be disappointed by the lack of flowers. 

  If this is the case, and you don't want to move or divide them, simply take a garden fork and slide it under the plant to raise them.  Add some soil underneath and then gently water them, washing the excess soil off the top as you go to expose the rhizomes.  If the center of your iris is a tangle of rhizomes with no foliage, it is time to divide them.  

Spring flowering perennials are best divided now.  My primrose bloomed beautifully this year until we removed a tree in the front of our house.  One clump was not happy with the extra sun it was getting and I had to move it then.  When that happens there is lots of TLC that goes into making sure these plants make it.  I was on constant water watch to make sure I did not lose this clump.  It is always best to move plants when they are putting on very little growth and not in bloom.

The spring flower bulbs are now starting to make their way into the stores.  Ordering from catalogs or on-line may still be possible but might be limited, whereas getting out to the store to purchase bulbs from the store is optimum earlier in the fall.  If the weather holds out with the warmer temperatures, it is best to wait for cooler days and nights, say mid to late October to start putting them in.  Picking up bulbs now just means storing them in a consistently cool, dry location until planting time.

 Selecting bulbs is the fun part.  Keep in mind bloom times for early, mid, and late spring.  The grape hyacinths that are in the photo above are different then most spring bulbs in that you will find their foliage at this time of the year also.  The are great indicators for the rest of your spring bulbs if you plant a few with your tulips or daffodils.  Speaking of tulips and daffodils, if you know where those groups are that need moving and have them marked, it is a good time to dig them up and separate them.  
Smaller bulbs will not bloom the first year, but may grow into a 

bulb worth keeping in the future.  Use bone meal or bulb fertilizer when planting to give them the extra boost they need when putting down new roots.
The blue squills in this photo started out as 20 bulbs and I now have them in several areas of my yard.  They are cute and small and they reproduce at a good pace, not overwhelmingly prolific.  They are small enough to have in areas where you have annuals or great for under a low ground cover to pop out between the leaves.  I just love the blue color that stands out even in the shadier parts of my yard.


Know your enemies.  If rabbits are prolific in your yard, tulips will be a buffet for them.  All parts of the bulb are edible, which is why during war food shortages, the Dutch were eating them.  Daffodils are great if you have the rabbit and deer issues as all parts are toxic and they won't touch them.  There are so many new varieties with different colors adding to the familiar yellows. Some of the new daffodils are multiple branched giving them a little different look.  Squirrels are also curious on lookers when you are planting bulbs.  If you have plenty in your neck of the woods, it is best to put down some deterrent to keep them from getting dug up.  You can use sprays and treat the bulbs before planting.  Another way to stop squirrels is to add some stone chips over the top of each bulb before covering them with dirt.  They may dig down for either of these but the bulb tends to stay where you put it.  You can also cover the area with chicken wire or hardware cloth to keep them from digging at all.  This does not have to stay down very long. Usually once the dirt settles they have lost interest in the planting bed.  


Remember that fall is also the time to get in your garlic.  Pick up some bulbs at the farm market now for planting later.  I will just refer you back to my previous blog on garlic instead of going into detail here.


Do a little research and then get out to the garden center to get your bulbs.  Look for good quality bulbs that are not damaged or have mold on them.  They should be firm and rounded.  Shriveled bulbs are not going to be a good choice.  When it comes to bulbs, size does matter.  Bigger bulbs (relative to their species) means bigger flowers.  Have fun and join those who know that sometimes patience is a virtue, especially when it pays off with the first flowers of spring.