by Christie Purifoy | Apr 29, 2020
It may seem strange at first, but the best time to order the bulbs we plant in fall–bulbs like daffodils and tulips–is in spring.
Why would that be?
Two reasons:
- It is easiest to see which spring flowers you want and where you want them while they are blooming. Spotted an especially beautiful parrot tulip on Instagram? Noticed a bare spot in your yard where daffodils would be ideal? You probably won’t remember that parrot tulip variety or that bare spot when it’s time to plant in fall but order them now and make a note of where you plan to put them, and you’ll have just want you want next spring.
- Bulbs ordered from mail-order nurseries in spring will be shipped to you at just the right time for planting in fall. It can be difficult to remember spring flowers when the leaves are falling and the garden needs cleaning. There is no better reminder to plant spring bulbs than a box of them showing up on your front porch.
Here are some bulbs to consider ordering this spring:
- Daffodils: These are deer and pest-resistant and grow up well even through grass. The trick is to leave the foliage alone until it yellows. Those green leaves feed the bulbs for next year’s display.
- Tulips: I plant these close to the house to deter deer. I also like to plant them in a fenced-in raised bed. By the time I have cut all the tulips for the house, I can put tomatoes in the bed.
- Scilla: These are tiny bulbs that flower in blue or white. I love planting a bunch underneath a spring-flowering tree to make a delicate blue or white carpet.
- Crocus: I love planting the larger varieties in my flower beds, but I plant the small tommasinianus variety in splashes across the lawn.
- Allium: One of my absolute favorites. Individual bulbs are more expensive than other spring flowers because of the size of the bulbs, but they make a huge impact in the garden with their enormous globes of purple, pink, or white. Even the dried seed-heads look great all summer.
Bonus:
- Peony: Though it isn’t a bulb, peonies do best planted in the fall. Order in spring for fall delivery.
by Christie Purifoy | Apr 28, 2020
Gardeners may begin gardening because of a love for flowers or fresh vegetables, but most of us progress toward an even greater love for shrubs.
Shrubs? Really?!
I might be painting with too broad a brush here, but I sincerely doubt that an intense longing for viburnum or holly serves as the gateway into gardening for most of us. And yet, if my own gardening journey is anything to go by, the longer we garden, the more we come to appreciate the shrubs we once overlooked.
Shrubs used to speak to me of boring foundation plants, like a green caterpillar circling the base of every house. Now they speak to me of a beauty and a generosity that persists for four seasons.
Shrubs need very little care. A little pruning is all some of them ask and most don’t even ask for that.
Shrubs give our spaces structure. They define garden rooms, mark boundaries, and tie together the tall trees and the ground far below.
Shrubs give scent and blossom in spring, lush green growth in summer, autumn color and sometimes fruit, and in winter they are the garden’s strong bones revealed by a dusting of snow.
Here are a few you might consider adding to your garden:
Ninebark: Common ninebark (physocarpus) is a great, all-around shrub, but there are wonderful varieties to seek out. I love “Summer Wine,” a large cascading shrub with beautiful wine-colored leaves and small pink flowers in spring.
Japanese Snowball (viburnum plicatum): A very large shrub with snowballs of white flowers in spring and deep red autumn foliage. No special care needed at all.
Oakleaf hydrangea: Hydrangea quercifolia is one of the few hydrangeas native to the U.S. There are many varieties, and most have beautiful fall color.
Boxwood: Again, there are many varieties to choose from. You can have tall, treelike box or prune dwarf varieties into beautiful small shapes. Look for varieties that fit your winter weather and need for disease resistance. There’s nothing like a freshly-pruned boxwood ball to set off roses and other flowers.
‘Mohawk’ viburnum: There are many beautiful viburnums to choose from and most will benefit wildlife in your garden. The spring flowers of Mohawk are a lovely pink.
by Christie Purifoy | Apr 27, 2020
I’m writing this during the long days of quarantine and isolation.
It is late April, and we are still very much in the midst of “The Great Pause” caused by the global pandemic.
I had to turn off the radio today in irritation. The story wasn’t at fault. Two reporters were encouraging their isolated listeners to shift their mindset from “loneliness” to “solitude.”
And it hit me: solitude is what I miss the most.
With two work-from-home parents and four school-from-home children, there is no such thing as solitude. Or is there?
I used to think solitude as necessary as food, water, and sleep. I didn’t think I could live without it. How have I lived six weeks without it?
The garden, that’s how.
Every garden has a bit of Eden in it.
When I step into my garden, it almost doesn’t matter that my children are only a few yards away (playing, fighting). The burden of my to-do list or my upcoming zoom call both feel a little lighter. Whether I’m weeding or pruning or simply sitting “for a spell,” as my grandmother used to say, it’s as if I’ve stepped into a pool of solitude.
The quiet strength of sunshine penetrates, quite literally, deep into our bones.
When a breeze blows, the trees and their murmuring leaves impart peace.
The astonishing beauty of a flower is like a cup that overflows.
The ancient words of a shepherd’s song still hold true:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
by Christie Purifoy | Apr 24, 2020
I’d never grown lilies until I moved to Maplehurst in Pennsylvania, but I first began to love them at a farmer’s market in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.
There was a flower grower there who sold the strongly scented Stargazer lilies in summer. I was a graduate student on a tight budget, but I learned that for the price of one small bunch of lilies I could fill our apartment with perfume for a week.
Lily bulbs were almost the first thing I planted in the flower garden here. I have always planted mine in spring, but I hear that they do even better planted in fall. B&D Lilies is a great source for online ordering.
There are Asiatic lilies, Oriental lilies, various species lilies, and hybrid mixes. I have my favorites, but I also like planting a variety in order to have a long season of lily flowers. The Asiatic lilies bloom first and are usually without scent.
Eyeliner: I often find the Asiatic lilies are too brash and artificial looking for my taste, but ‘Eyeliner’ is a fun hybrid. It’s a pure white flower with a dark brown “eyeliner” edge on each petal.
Casa Blanca: A much-admired white, strongly scented Oriental lily.
Scheherazade: Tall, rich pink-red color, and dozens of blooms on a single stem. I love the petals that curl back so delicately.
Lilium species regale: Beautiful streaks of pink and white, lots of perfume, and it blooms between the Asiatics and the Orientals.
by Christie Purifoy | Apr 23, 2020
Peonies are easy to grow and among the longest lasting perennials we can plant in our gardens. It is wonderful to anticipate their late spring flowers all year long.
Here are some of my favorite varieties:
- Sarah Bernhardt: My sentimental favorite. Scented, double pink blooms. An especially romantic peony.
- Bowl of Beauty: Ruffly pink perfection.
- Kansas: Gorgeous deep, pinkish red.
- Duchesse De Nemours: an elegant white peony. I have several of these in my flower garden.
- Bartzella: This pale yellow peony is a special intersectional hybrid, which means it’s an especially garden-worthy plant. These hybrids are a cross between regular herbaceous peonies like those listed above and tree peonies. They die back just like ordinary peonies, but their stems are strong and never need staking.
