October 2010

My naturalized bulbs have been popping up all over the front yard.

These bulbs worked hard to be here!

These hardy paperwhites came up through the gravel so I decided to try to replicate the effect in another corner of my garden.

The clean look of bulbs eventually popping through the gravel will be striking.

The rest of the bulbs went into various containers for my holiday blooms. I will place these containers in a dark, cool corner for another few weeks, then add water to get them started.

I found most of these containers at garage sales.

I like the look of this container with the different layers of rocks and glass.

Executing a little design adds a nice touch to forcing bulbs.

Sunset’s blog, Fresh Dirt, ran a nice article about forcing paperwhites for Christmas. Except for the bulbs I planted under the gravel, all my bulbs are being grown in water. The Sunset article focuses on planting in soil. Either way is fine but when the bulbs grown in water have finished their cycle they will be thrown away, having completely depleted themselves during the process. It’s a small price to pay! If you plant your bulbs in containers with dirt you can plant them in a corner of the garden for next year. I would probably throw a little bone meal into the hole to provide a little sustenance while they are resting in their new home. Then next year, some new little surprises popping up in the yard. In the meantime, we still have this year’s bulbs to look forward to!

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