My Helper Girl!
There
are going to be a few sunny days here in the next couple weeks per the forecast, so
take the opportunity to plant your bulbs! Perennials usually prefer to
be planted in the late fall so that they have 8 weeks of cold before
it's really time to sprout into lovely flowers, and right now Fred
Meyer is having a buy-one-get-one FREE deal, so you can have 60 bulbs
for the low price of $7! Boo yeah! The economical way to “plant a
tree,” so to speak...
Kaylee Digs the Hole
A
couple of options for making your economical flower garden even more
thrifty is to plant perennials that spread. Lillies are an excellent
example of a plant that reseeds and multiplies. I had one orange
lily, then the next year I had 3! Other options are Allium, Bleeding Heart and Crocus.
Drops the Seed In
What
I do is plant bulbs one year, let them play out their cycle, add a
couple bushes in the corners of the bed; I have Hydrangea, Lilac,
Nightshade, Dogwood, and Lavender all at different corners of my
beds.
And Covers it up Again!
As
the bulbs come back the next year, I see how many they've become to
gauge how fast they will multiply, because each zone is different,
each plant's hardiness and vigor is different, and the soil
conditions are different as well. So when I see that my bulbs triple,
I plan accordingly! I split them so that they occur in splotches,
then add a different, spreading bulb. Eventually, the whole space
will be a wildflower show, but you have to play with your options,
because a market is not likely to say outright that a bulb will
spread, when the fact is they just don't know, and neither will you
until you plant it! Even if your intent is for the bulb to spread,
sometimes they don't, and at least you have a plant that will come
back yearly! For example, supposedly Tulips spread, slowly, but I've
yet to see that in action!
River Helps Too!
So
get outside and dig! It's good for you, and will be a welcome change
of scenery in the spring! A wonderful investment for years to come!
Don't pay another dime for wasteful annuals...
 |
| ...But Momma Does Most of the Digging! |
No comments:
Post a Comment