I came across this article on bulbs and thought I would post on here incase if any of you want to read it. I think it sounds like good information
"Planting and Caring for Flower Bulbs"
by Michael J. McGroarty
There is nothing quite as welcome as those beautiful spring
flowers that seem to emerge from nowhere to welcome the arrival
of spring. Bulb type flowers are really unique plants, because
they spend most of their days resting quietly beneath the
surface of the soil. Then right on schedule, up they come,
full of bloom and vigor, and then almost as fast as they came,
they go.
Except for the green leafy part of the plant that tends to
linger longer than we would like them to. Despite their short
bloom time and unattractive foliage after the blooms are gone,
they are still a wonderful addition to any landscape. But how
should you care for them?
First let's talk about how to use bulbs in your landscape.
Flowers of all kinds are best when planted in groupings. Many
people buy 25 or 50 bulbs and just go around the yard planting
helter skelter. That's fine if that's what you want, but when
planted that way they tend to blend in with the landscape and
really don't show up well at all. When you plant them in large
groups they are a breathtaking showpiece.
In the early spring start thinking about where you would like
to create a bed for flower bulbs. Prepare the bed by raising
it with good rich topsoil, and if at all possible add some well
composted cow manure. Do this in the spring while you are in
the gardening mood, you may not be in the fall. Over the
summer fill the bed with annual flowers to keep the weeds down,
and to pretty up your yard for the summer.
Come fall all you have to do is pull out the annuals and plant
your bulbs to the depth recommended on the package. If you
think you could have a problem with squirrels digging up the
bulbs and eating them, there are a couple of things you can
do.
You can wrap the bulbs in steel wool, leaving just the tip of
the bulb exposed so it can grow out of the little wire cage
you've created. Or you can just plant the bulbs and then
cover the bed with chicken wire or plastic fencing until the
bulbs start to grow in the spring.
When the bulbs come up in the spring and start blooming, you
should clip off the blooms as they start to wither. This keeps
the bulb from producing seeds, which requires a lot of energy,
and you want the bulb to use all of its available energy to
store food in preparation for the bulb's resting period.
Once the bulbs are completely done blooming you don't want to
cut off the tops until they are withered and die back. The
million dollar question is how to treat the tops until that
happens. Many people bend them over and slip a rubber band
over them, or in the case of bulbs like Daffodils tie them with
one of the long leaves. This seems to work because it is a
very common practice among many experienced gardeners.
However, Mike is about to rain on the parade. I strongly
disagree with this theory because back about 6th grade we
learned about photosynthesis in science class. To recap what
we learned, and without going into the boring details,
photosynthesis is the process of the plant using the sun's rays
to make food for itself. The rays from the sun are absorbed
by the foliage and the food making process begins. In the case
of a flower bulb this food is transported to the bulb beneath
the ground and stored for later use.
So basically the leaves of the plant are like little solar
panels. Their job is to absorb the rays from the sun to begin
the process known as photosynthesis. If we fold them over and
handcuff them with their hands behind their back, they are not
going to be able to do their job. It's like throwing a
tarpaulin over 80% of a solar panel. In order for the leaves
to absorb the rays from the sun, the surface of the foliage has
to be exposed to the sun.
On top of that, when you bend the foliage over, you are
restricting the flow of nutrients to the bulb. The veins in
the leaves and the stem are a lot like our blood vessels. If
you restrict them the flow stops.
You decide. I've presented my case. Bending them over seems
to work, but I've spent a lot of money on my bulbs. I want
them running at full speed.
What I do is clip the blooms off once they are spent, and just
leave the tops alone until they are yellow and wilted. If they
are still not wilted when it's time to plant my annual flowers,
I just plant the annuals in between the bulbs. As the bulbs
die back the annuals tend to grow and conceal them. If one
shows through I clip it off. It seems to work well for me.
Anyone else agree?
Matt
vetivert8
flower_up
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