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I cannot imagine having too many bulbs in the spring garden, and there is still time to put them in. I like clumping them with 10 or more in the same spot. |
FEW TIMES of the year are
Bulbs, pansies and carnations seem to be available wherever one stops, whether the garden center, the grocery store or the farmers market. Carnations are among the showiest plants for fall, but far too many being marketed have already seen their best days, with most, or almost all, buds already opened.
One wants a plant that is full and well-shaped, and one on which most buds have not yet opened. It is important that enough blossoms show so that you can ensure you are getting the color you want, but long life and beauty are guaranteed only if one buys plants that are not yet exhausted by blooming.
Most carnations can be set into the ground after blooming and will come again next year, for they are basically hardy as can be. Be careful, though, where you place one when you move it from container to garden, for it will spread.
Pansies will produce new blossoms readily, so it is not as crucial to pick plants that do not yet have open flowers. If one is picking for color, the opposite is desirable, for one can never be certain exactly what one is getting unless one buys plants that already are in blossom, or that have buds ready to open.
Pansies seem unfazed by cold weather, though if weather is severe they may rest for a while. Never fear, though. If grown in an area where they get sun, and if they have moisture, they will survive the winter.
If winter is mild, they may give one month of blossom, but one will still get both fall and spring blossoms even if winter interrupts with weather that wilts plants and kills blossoms. I deadhead both pansies and mums, but whether one does or does not is more a matter of choice than of necessity. With either, be careful not to dislodge roots while deadheading.
Several bulb catalogs give one welcome information about plants deer may leave alone, with a number of plants labeled "deer proof." Among these are the Narcissi, including both the daffodil and narcissus, Hyacinthoides, the bluebells, Cordalis solida, or fumeworts, Eranthis hyemalis, or winter aconite, Erytrhronium the dog-tooth violet, Ixolirion and Puschkinia the striped squill. There are a number of other bulbs that deer do not usually bother, including crocus, Hyacinthus orientalis, Muscari or grape hyacinth, Fritillaria, including the crown imperials and Guinea-hen flowers, Scilla, and Dutch iris. The ornamental onions or Allium, are normally as unattractive to deer as they are attractive to the gardener. Still, the hungry deer will taste anything and eat even plants that deer normally overlook.
Van Engelen Inc. (Box 638, Bantam, Conn. 06750; 860/567-8734; vanengelen.com, the wholesale branch of John Scheepers Inc., which shares its address (860/567-0838; johnscheepers.com) offers two deer-proof collections, both of which are quite reasonable considering the number of bulbs and varieties included. Only the Scheepers "Beauty from Bulbs" catalog is illustrated, and is the one from which one orders in smaller quantities, while the Van Engelen catalog offers quality bulbs in large quantities at reasonable prices.
Check with nearby gardening friends, and with your favorite garden supplier. Anyone who has been gardening in the Fredericksburg area for some time, and has a garden that deer visit, will know plants that are not deer favorites. Since I garden in town and deer do not visit my garden, I have absolutely no firsthand knowledge about their dining habits. If anyone is willing to share, and doesn't mind if I pass along what they tell me, then I will include lists and suggestions in future columns.
If you pass along a gardening secret but don't want me to tell anyone else about it, let me know, so I don't pass along something you don't want me to. It is always possible, though, that I may have already tried something you tell me about and, in passing it along, am not betraying a confidence, but reporting what has worked, or failed, when I tried it. To me, half the fun of gardening is talking about gardening. Sharing is one of the things that has always made writing this column a pleasant activity.
One reader recently asked about plants to grow under black walnut, Juglans nigra, trees. Azalea and rhododendron are not choices, for neither will grow under black walnut trees, and "under" is probably too restrictive a word. These trees cover the ground with their toxins to at least their drip line, with a kind of gray zone beyond. I have no black walnuts in my garden here, but did have a giant in a previous garden in Alexandria.
You know what a nut I am about using leaves in the garden, but I always made certain that leaves from the black walnut went out with the garbage. It is entirely possible that, composted, or ground for use as mulch, they might hurt nothing, but I didn't want to take the chance.
Even if they killed nothing, they still might make plants around which they were used uncomfortable, and I did not want to take that chance.
I suspect that ground covers might work under walnuts, for nothing seems to deter English ivy, vinca, Virginia creeper and the like from vigorous wandering.
Advice that comes my way indicates that September and October are the best months for planting bulbs, but, if you have bulbs unplanted, don't worry. As long as the ground is not frozen, they should be fine.
TONY P. WRENN of Fredericksburg is a lifelong gardener. He welcomes questions from readers and will try to answer them in his column. Contact him by mail at The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401; by fax at 373-8455; or by e-mail to his attention at
Email: gwoolf@freelancestar.com.
| I noted in a previous column that straw packed around a tender plant might carry it through the winter. Oak leaves or pine needles would serve equally well, for neither will get soggy, mat and freeze--just what you want to keep from happening around and near the tender plant. Maple leaves are the worst for matting, but they, like other leaves, can be immediately used for mulch if shredded. Packed in black plastic bags, moistened a bit, and placed in a sunny area, any leaves, shredded or not, will have made a good beginning on composting before time to use them next year. |
