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northerner_on

OT - Anyone see Martha Stewart yesterday (March 18)?

northerner_on
14 years ago

Hello all, yesterday while looking for Tennis coverage I stumbled on a Martha Stewart Show. Her guest was Anna Pavord, a renowned bulb/tulip expert showing how to plant spring bulbs, etc. Anyway, I was called away and got back in time to see her saying something to the effect that 'you can pinch the sprout of a daffodil and it will re-sprout and produce more blooms'!! Now I know if you knock off that little sprout of a tulip it's game over for that year. Did anyone see this and can you clarify what she said? I can't find it on the Martha Stewart Site. This is not major but it's bugging me.

Northerner.

Comments (9)

  • brit5467
    14 years ago

    Missed it, but you know....maybe her website has some snippet of the presentation, or else a written synopsis of it. I found info my mom missed from "The Doctors" that way.

    Also, you might try calling Brent & Becky's (don't know number) a very large bulb growing co. in Matthews VA (think it's Matthews...I should know, I live 34 mins. away. Ask for someone knowledgable, tho. You don't want a cashier who may know nothing. They may be kind enough to help.

    Good Luck!

    Good luck

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    14 years ago

    I didn't see the show but I'd have a hard time accepting that's what was said - I can't imagine any 'bulb authority' making such a statement :-) Most true bulbs - tulips, narcissus, hyacinths, lilies, etc. - produce one flowering stem ber bulb per season. If that is damaged or removed, another is not produced until the following season and only if all other growing conditions are met. There are a few species of tulips that produce multi stemmed flowers, but most are just a single stem per season. Multi stemmed daffs or those that look like they have multiple stems are really just large bulbs with multiple noses or in essence, multiple bulbs.

  • Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana
    14 years ago

    her saying something to the effect that 'you can pinch the sprout of a daffodil and it will re-sprout and produce more blooms'!!
    Possibly pinch the faded bloom and yada, yada, yada, and it will happily produce more blooms for you next (spring) season.

    No amount of pinching a daffodil at any time would cause it to resprout and produce more blooms.

    Sue

  • flora_uk
    14 years ago

    Is this the clip you saw? If so there is no mention of pinching daffodils out. She says daffodils are resilient but doesn't advocate pinching.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Anna Pavord on bulbs

  • Nancy
    14 years ago

    Don't you hate seeing snippets & not getting the full info? Years ago I was watching a wonderful PBS gardening program that is no longer on. The woman explained how to plant a certain bulb, taking a knife & cutting the center out of it, & it would shoot up 2 or 3 shoots instead of 1. I've never heard or read of that since, & can't remember what the bulb was. Probably gladiolus, I know the bulb looked similar. I need to check out the link flora listed to see, I'm like everyone else, I can't imagine anything causing a daff to produce more blooms.

  • flora_uk
    14 years ago

    ngraham - do you think the woman on PBS was referring to the practice of 'scooping' which is a method of propagating bulbs.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Scooping bulbs

  • Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana
    14 years ago

    Years ago I was watching a wonderful PBS gardening program that is no longer on. The woman explained how to plant a certain bulb, taking a knife & cutting the center out of it, & it would shoot up 2 or 3 shoots instead of 1. I've never heard or read of that since, & can't remember what the bulb was.

    I imagine it could be done with numerous bulbs that have a basal plate on the bottom, like daffodils and Hyacinths.

    The link below has good explanations about scooping, scoring, coring, and sectioning to propagate additional daff bulbs, along with some good pics.

    I've been interested in trying one or more of those methods ever since seeing the article below. Maybe I'll try it this year with something I have a lot of, like Ice Follies, before I try any other 'more special' cultivars.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Propagation of Daffodils--scroll down for pics and explanations

  • Nancy
    14 years ago

    You two are right on it :) Scooping does seem like the term she used, & you are probably right, it was to propagate more bulbs rather than blooms. I was new to gardening when this show was on, I was thinking it was done to a spring flowering bulb to produce more blooming stalks that season. That may be why I've never heard of it since!

  • northerner_on
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Please do not think that I said she said that pinching daffodils will produce more blooms. She would certainly not say that and I would not accuse her of saying so. But she did say something like that and I think it was with reference to daffodils.
    All of you have echoed exactly what I know and what I said in my post, but this statement was an 'aside'. It was not a part of her presentation. She said it as she was leaving the set and it was sort of '...by the way, I didn't know this but when I was at ***some Botanical Garden, I discovered that they did "whatever it was"...' and she motioned with her hands the pinching and flowering or leafing out motion. But I did not hear it and it driving me crazy like ngraham said. It is not on the clip because the clip only has the 'actual' bulb planting info. Perhaps it will come again.