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Tag: Bulbs

Chionodoxa Glory of the Snow

Chionodoxa Glory of the Snow

Get your bulbs planted asap, they like the autumn warmth and will reward you for years to come.

Chionodoxa forbesii 雪光花

An early bulb whose small flowers have an inner sparkle these Chionodoxa are also called Glory of the Snow. Judging by the current weather we are in for a good showing this spring. These bulbs can be planted under deciduous shrubs so they can catch early sun but like open positions. They can be grown in a lawn with crocus, in a container or a rock garden.
After flowering in February or March give the well drained soil a light sprinkle of bone meal to encourage offsets and build up the bulbs.
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Daffodil Divisions and top Twelve Tips

Daffodil Divisions and top Twelve Tips

Autumn is the time for thinking about more daffodils for next spring.

Daffodil Exhibition display
Now is the time to look closely at your Daffodil flowers and identify details of the parts you can see. Then learn to classify the flower into one of the Divisions experts use when showing or selling Daffodils. Finally remind yourself of the top tips for growing great Daffodils.


Detail Parts of a Daffodil Flower

The spathe is the protective green bract that covers the flower before opening time – cheers when it becomes papery.
The neck or pedicle is the section of stem that carries the flower whilst the main stem carries the chemicals from the bulb to the bloom.
The seedpod or ovary is close behind the developing flower, after pollination it begins to swell.
The petals, normally six in number, are the showy part of the flower also called the perianth.
The Corona is the central part of the daffodil flower. Also known as the trumpet or the tube it can be found in many shapes and colours.
The Stamen and stigma are the male and female organs that are surrounded by the corona.

Divisions of Daffodils

Division 1 – Trumpet Daffodils The cup is as long or longer than the petals. There is one bloom per stem.
Division 2 – Large-Cupped Daffodils The cup length measures more than 1/3 of, but less than or equal to, the length of the petals. There is one bloom per stem. …

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Miniature Daffodils and Narcissi Tips

Miniature Daffodils and Narcissi Tips

Good things come in small packages and that applies to Daffodils for house and rockery.
canaliculatus

Miniature daffodils grow from 4 inches to just short of a foot. Varieties Minnow, Toto and Canaliculatus have several flowers on the one stem and are particular favourites of mine. Try growing some in pots in the cold greenhouse as welcome additions to your alpine plants.

Tips on Minature Daffoldils

  • Look in spring for successful varieties that you may want to buy for planting this Autumn.
  • Buy pots in bloom this spring so you know what you are getting. Deadhead before the seedheads start to develop and feed the bulbs with a high phosphate feed.
  • One of the smaller varieties is Bulbocodium Conspicuous, yellow hooped petticoat at 4 inches tall with golden yellow flowers.

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Fritillaria Bulbs October

Fritillaria Bulbs October

October is a good month to buy and plant bulbs to flower next spring and Fritillaria is a species that you may want to try. There are over 60 species and varieties listed on the Pacific bulb society web site but only some of these will perform in your garden.

Fritillaria have elegant drooping bell shaped flowers and look good naturalised in grass or grown in a rockery. The most common colours are cream, purple, brown and purplish rose.

The Snakeshead Fritillaria above is comparatively cheap and easy to grow. The small species up to one foot tall include Assyriaca Uva Vulpis, Davisii and Elwesii.  The Imperial Fritilliaria on 3 foot stems with a cluster of drooping flowers often come in stronger colours of yellow, red and orange and are sold as Fritilliaria Lutea/Rubra/Aurora.
‘Snakes head fritillaries are a sight to behold when naturalised in damp woodlands or informal areas of grass. These charming wildflowers are protected in the wild and rarely seen in their native meadow habitats. ‘
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Tips Growing Decorative Alliums

Tips Growing Decorative Alliums

There was a sparkling show of long stemmed Alliums at our church flower festival this weekend.
Allium
This Allium christophii must be one of the most attractive flowers for garden or cutting. the leaves are a disappointment and I recommend growing some annuals as cover as they die back in an unsightly manner.

allium

Lolly pop like Alliums  look exceptional when in flower in May until you look at the leaves which tend towards the scruffy. The seedheads are also eye catching and worth leaving although seed production may drain strength. The leaves are the way a plant builds up strength for next year as they help sunlight convert nutrients into food. Fortunately they do not cause any problem and can be taken over by other plant leaves soon after flowering. Mulch to provide food and encourage leaf growth or your Alliums will be shorter lived.

Gardeners Tips for Alliums

  • Generally Alliums need a sunny position and good drainage. Given both they will reappear year after year but may deteriorate if the leaves do not get a chance to do there job.
  • Plant bulbs in the autumn at twice the depth of the bulb and top up your stock of Alliums for those lost or not performing well.
  • Congested clumps can be lifted and divided  straight after flowering.
  • Dead-head before the seeds disperse to preserve strength or if you want to avoid unwanted seedlings.

allium-4

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Indoor Daffodil and Narcissus Tips

Indoor Daffodil and Narcissus Tips

In some ways the Narcissus is easier to grow indoors than the Hyacinth.

There is nothing fresher than the scent of spring flowers that you have grown yourself and Narcissus and Daffodils can be ordered now then planted in September/October. Daffodils are available as Multifloras, Doubles (as above) and recommended miniatures: Jonquilla are a particular scented favourite of mine flowering 4″ to one foot high with names such as Pipit, Suzy, Sugar Bush, Baby Moon and Martinette, then there are Tete-a-tete which are dead easy if you leave them in the cool to develop good roots.

Growing Tips

  • Grow in pots of bulb fibre with a deep root run and the nose level with the surface or the roots may push up the bulbs. Buy new bulbs each year and plant old stock in the garden.
  • You need to mimic a three month winter’s nap in the cold for hardy daffodils to ripen their flower buds. Keep cool to allow roots to form and avoid excessive warmth as that inhibits flowering.
  • Look for prepared bulbs specially supplied for forcing but keep in the cold until ready too flower.
  • Water the pot when planting and keep moist when in flower.


Experiment with varieties available.
Daffodils requiring a shorter cold period are Monal, and Rijnveld’s Early Sensation.
Cyclamineus varieties are good for forcing.
Most of the early to mid-season miniatures are also good forcers.
Traditional favourites include Paperwhites and Cheerfulness.

Rip van Winkle and Miniature Daffodils

Rip van Winkle and Miniature Daffodils

Start early tpo plan your miniature daffodils for next year. The best bulbs sell out early and there is definately more to miniature daffodils than Tete-a-Tete.

Rip Van Winkle

Rip van Winkle is a miniature Daffodils correctly called Narcissus minor pumilus ‘Plenus.’ It grows 6-8″ tall and the yellow spiky petals that are about half an inch wide.

Cultivation

  • Rip Van Winkle look particularly eye-catching when grown close together in drifts in borders.
  • They are particularly good for growing in pots in a cold greenhouse. This facilitates close inspection of the flowers which is well worthwhile due to the shredded ribbon nature of petals.
  • For houseplants pot in bulb fiber and water when necessary to keep the compost moist. As the growing shoots reach a height of 2” move the containers to a cool bright position indoors. Buy new bulbs each year.
  • When growing narcissus outdoors allow the foliage to die back naturally before removing it in June/ July to feed the bulb for the following year.
  • Rip van Winkle will bloom even in partial shade, though generally speaking the more sun the better.

Miniatures have the same descriptive divisions as the standard daffodil, only with smaller blooms.
Read more about Miniature Daffodils on Gardeners tips.

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Seed Suppliers and Specialties

Seed Suppliers and Specialties

Membership of a garden society can be a good source of good value seeds.
Not all seed companies are the same and many have distinctive specialties.
The big well known brands generally have a full range of annuals, perennials and odd selections. Most now offer higher value items including plugs and kinder or pot plants.

Many brands are now owned by the same company and the niche suppliers often offer more seed or better products in a narrower focused  range.

Choice Seed Companies

  • Thompson & Morgan wildflowers and  thousands of varieties of seeds with useful germination  guide available online.
  • Boston Seeds – Online seed shop offers grass seed mixtures for lawns, paddocks, sport, plus agricultural seed and wildflower seed. Volume orders
  • The Chilli Company – Sells a variety of hot chilli seeds including ‘Brain strain’ and collections to take advantage of a current trend for growing Hot Chillies
  • Chiltern seed  new web site but the old catalogue has flowery descriptions and an excellent range – no photos but great mail order catalogues
  • D. T. Brown and Co. Ltd. – Offers a range of flower and vegetable seeds, including organics. Order catalogue online.

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Collection of Thoughts on Small Wild Bulbs

Collection of Thoughts on Small Wild Bulbs

If you can’t visit these bulbs in their natural wild habitat read the wild stories from a Latvian bulb collector Janis Ruskans.
Small Iris bulbs should be replanted and thinned every 2-3 years to retain flower power.

Iris reticulata

If you like Iris reticulata and a good travel yarn then you could do a lot worse than read ‘Buried Treasures: Finding and Growing the World’s Choicest Bulbs’ by Janis Ruksans

Book Cover
I think of Janis as the wild ‘ iris bulb man’ for the work he performs on breeding the various varieties in his Latvian nursery.

Janis Ruksans has been growing bulbs since age twelve and from 1991 has operated his own bulb nursery in his native Latvia. Janis is an expert specializing in rare and unusual bulbs. This book includes stories of his travels on several expeditions searching for new bulbs throughout Europe and Central Asia. He has also written a respected work on ‘Crocuses A complete guide to the genus’.

June garden 038 Iris reticulata

Unusually late these Iris reticulata normally bloom in the wild as soon as the snow melts on the mountain side.
Normally in the wild they remain dry during summer.
The bulbs should be replanted and thinned every 2-3 years to retain flower power.

Other Links
Look Forward to Winter and Iris Reticulata
Iris Reticulata and Histroides Species
Growing Iris From Bulbs
Tips for Growing Spring Iris from Bulbs

Grow ‘Crocus sativus’ for Saffron

Grow ‘Crocus sativus’ for Saffron

Saffron crocus

The expensive spice Saffron is made from the stamen of Crocus sativus.

What is Crocus sativus

  • Crocus sativas is an autumn flowering corm from the Iridaceae and crocus family.
  • The flowers are deep blue and the stigmas dark red or saffron coloured.
  • Crocus sativus throws up a spear of green leaves only after flowering.
  • Corms are cheap to buy and reproduction is by corm division. This crocus is infertile.
  • There are only 3 stigma to a flower so it takes 100,000 blooms to make a pound of saffron. This accounts for Saffron being worth more than gold weight for weight.

How to Grow Crocus sativus

  • Crocus sativus grow best in full sunlight.
  • I have just planted some corms in deep pots with good drainage and a bit of rotted bark to keep the compost open.
  • Raised beds would be another way of growing Saffron so harvesting and drainage problems are minimised.
  • Growing ‘Crocus sativus’ for a Saffron crop you need to collect the threads in the morning and dry the saffron.

You can buy Crocus sativus from Thompson & Morgan

Saffron whole close up

How to Use Saffron

  • Saffron from Crocus sativus has been used for centuries to flavour and colour food.
  • It has been cultivated by Greeks, Romans and Chinese for 3500 years and is now a cash crop in Afghanistan, Kashmir and Spain.
  • The Chinese use it as a medicine, in food and as a dye.
  • Crocus sativus is a brightly coloured but short lived flower in the rockery at the end of summer or early autumn

For other Autumn crocus


Photo Credits
Saffron crocus by kightp CC BY-NC 2.0 ‘Crocus sativus. The red stigmas seen on the left bloom are the more-precious-than-gold ….. Stigmas have already been plucked from the bloom on the right. The half-dozen corms planted in my front garden bed three years ago have multiplied to the point where I’ve harvested nearly a tablespoon of threads this year – enough for several risottos, paellas and other dishes in the months ahead.’
Saffron whole close up by notafish CC BY-SA 2.0