Plant bulbs in fall for spring blooms

　　Planting bulbs is an act of faith. Who'd think such beautiful blooms could spring from such lumpy, homely things?


But each fall, I bury more of these treasures because bulbs give me great bang for my buck. Heirlooms such as leucojum, grape hyacinth (Musacari neglectum) and bletilla reward a gardener with a lifetime of spring blooms. And 'Golden Dawn' and 'Grand Primo' are just two of the many narcissus that naturalize in a Texas garden.
Some must-haves require a bit more care. But given a 6- to 8-week "winter" in your refrigerator before planting, Dutch tulips and hyacinths will make your spring garden sing. Store the bulbs in mesh bags on the shelf; avoid storing them in the refrigerator bin as the ethylene gas emitted by certain fruits and vegetables can destroy the bulbs. Store other bulbs in a cool, dry area until it's time to plant.

Cluster spring-flowering bulbs among evergreen shrubs and with cool-season annuals such as petunias, pansies and snapdragons. Group potted bulbs on the front porch.

Three more options for spring 2012:
1 Color greens with tulips
Plant bright or pastel tulips among lettuce, mustard and turnips in a winter/early spring vegetable patch. Remove chilled bulbs from the fridge and plant from late December through mid-January. Partial shade and watering during warm spells helps ensure success.
Work the soil well, adding bone meal or superphosphate if dogs or squirrels tend to dig in your garden. Create a large hole about 6 inches deep with a fairly level bottom to plant a cluster of bulbs that will produce blooms at about the same height. Cover the bottom of the hole with a 1-inch layer of sharp sand, then space the bulbs about 4 inches apart on the sand. If you're digging smaller holes for single bulbs, place sand in the bottom of each hole.
Plant the bulbs with the pointed end up and the flat side of the bulb facing the front of the bed. Cover the bulbs with 3 to 4 inches of soil, then water. Also water as the tulips grow.

2 A mellow meadow
Yellow and blue provide a perfect spring balance of cool and warm. Grape hyacinths (Muscari spp.), are intense blue, slightly fragrant urn-shaped blooms packed in elongated clusters on 6- to 8-inch stems. What better partners in a front-lawn spring dance than cheerful yellow daffodils (Narcissus spp.)?
Select firm bulbs and store them until planting time in paper or mesh bags or open flats in a well-ventilated place.
Water the lawn, if necessary, to soften the ground before planting time - around Thanksgiving or in December. Gather your bulbs, a bulb digger and a bucket of clean, sharp sand. Stand in the vicinity of where you'd like to see yellow and blue blooms next spring. Toss the bulbs, and let them fall where they may. Using the bulb digger, take a plug out of the lawn where each bulb has landed. Place a tablespoon of sand in each hole, then set the daffodils bulbs so their bottoms sit about 3 inches deep, the grape hyacinths about 1 inch deep.
Drop the plugs back in the holes, on top of the bulbs. Water to encourage the bulbs to begin root growth.

Grape hyacinths will often naturalize. A number of daffodils return each spring. 'Carlton,' a vanilla-scented, heirloom with soft yellow petals and deep yellow cups, is great for lawn planting, beds and containers. So are 'Fortune,' 'Dutch Master,' 'Ice Follies,' 'Italicus' and 'Texas Star.'
Avoid mowing after the foliage tips emerge in the lawn. St. Augustine is dormant in November, so there's no need to mow. But if you overseed your lawn with winter-growing rye, plant daffodils in beds and containers.
There's no need to fertilize bulbs when you plant them, but you can do so the following year. After the daffodil bulbs have bloomed, leave the foliage until it yellows and withers, then cut it back. Grape hyacinth's grasslike foliage precedes the flowers and disappears during dormancy.
3Heavenly scent
With its heady fragrance and formal looks, the pre-chilled Dutch hyacinth is excellent for forcing over water into winter bloom - or, if you can wait for spring blooms, planting outside in masses in November or December. We also like them in clustered pots near the front door.
Each bulb produces one flower spike, 6-10 inches long and loaded with waxy blooms in blue, violet, red, pink, salmon, yellow or white. Heavy spikes may need staking.
Hyacinth bulbs can cause skin rashes, so wear gloves while handling. Use a well-draining potting soil; some gardeners add 1 teaspooon of bone meal per 6 inches of pot. Plant the bulbs bottoms down and so there's about 3 inches of potting soil above the tips.
Plant three plump bulbs in a 6-inch pot, or for more drama, double the number of bulbs in a 12-inch pot. Bulb expert Margaret Cherry prefers using large containers so bulbs stay cooler during warm spells.

Water well. Place the potted bulbs outside and keep the medium moist but not too wet. If necessary, turn the container every few days to encourage straight stalks.

Wake up and smell the flowers: Train carriage transformed into a lush garden to relax city commmmuters.

This is one way for commuters to relax on their hectic early morning trip to work - by sitting back and relaxing in a garden built in an underground train carriage.
The bizarre mobile garden was created by Joseph Baldwin and a team of 10 volunteers, who painstakingly laid over 400 sods of grass throughout the train in Chicago.
Every inch of floor and seat space is covered in lush green plants and grass - making the normally stressful commuter carrier into a tranquil idyll.


　　From the city to the jungle: Chicago commuters relax in the garden-themed train carriage, created by Joseph Baldwin and 10 volunteers
And after spending a backbreaking eight hours solid decking out the normally bland train carriage in an explosion of greenery, the group then sent the train around the cities downtown loop.
For one day only thousands of stressed out city workers in Chicago were able to relax in the relatively peaceful mobile garden.
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The group - who spent just $250 on the project - squeezed in everything from houseplants to spider plants during the scheme carried out on September 17.
Artist Joseph, 35, from Illinois, USA, carried out the remarkable transformation through his not for profit art organisation, Noisivelvet.


　　Time to relax? A commuter takes a break by lying down on the green grass in the train carriage
The project dubbed Art on Track was aimed at raising awareness amongst commuters of using responsible materials in urban areas.
Joseph said: "We rented an L train carriage for one night only and kitted it out with all sorts.
"We managed to plant annual perrenials, natives, houseplants, tropicals, ivy, spider plants, and other vegetables inside the carriage.
"It cost us less than $250 to get everything as we had a lot of substantial donations of plants, volunteer labour and printing.


　　Inspired by nature: Every inch of floor and seat space was covered in lush green plants and grass
"Then from five to 10pm on September 17 we circled the downtown loop as a special charter allowing people to come on board and enjoy a peaceful commute.
"Most people loved the visual impact and made friends they were with take their picture in the installation.
"Others commented on the fresh smell, while some laid down in the grass.
"There was plenty of smiles and chatter with strangers - which is not something you normally get on a downtown subway train.
"It really broke the normal gaze of being on a train in the city."


　　Happy travellers: Passengers seemed to enjoy the commute in the peaceful surroundings

Fuchsias are a graceful

Fuchsias are a graceful shrub requiring shade but some have been known to do just as well in full sun.

They are long flowering and can last from late spring and into winter in some cases. These flowers are a beautiful addition to any backyard design and can be used in a variety of different ways.

Different species have different growth habits so you can have standards, bushed, espaliers and hanging baskets either over the edge of a container or rising above one in a pyramid. These garden plants will add that something special to any backyard landscape or patio.

If growing in the garden the soil should be light, medium not acid loam. Enrich it with bone meal and compost and if too sandy, add moistened peatmoss. In a pot any good potting mix will keep them happy.

In a hanging basket more peatmoss needs to be added because baskets dry out quicker than pots. Line the basket with plastic which has a few holes in to let the water drain out before a layer of sphagnum moss.

This will help keep the moisture in. Charcoal in the bottom of the basket helps keep the soil sweet. Don’t allow a fuchsia to dry out.

The elegant, pendulous flowers come as double, single and frilled. The color ranges from white, pink, red, purple and any combination of the above.
With careful pruning you can train a fuchsia into any shape you desire depending on the habit of your particular choice.

If their needs are met they hold well and give a lengthy display. Find a place in your garden for these wonderful plants and enjoy their dance in the sun.
When landscaping my yard I ignored advice from plant specialists and decided to try my hand at growing azaleas and camelias that I love in Perth.

I love azaleas and camelias and really wanted to have a backyard design full of each. I live in Perth, Australia which has very dry, hot weather and we can have weeks of 40 deg c with it not getting below 20 deg c at night.

We can also get quite cold weather also sometimes getting to 0 deg c but no snow.
Because of this I didn’t know how an azalea garden would go but when we moved into our new house I decided to give it a go.

My front garden faces west which is the fiercest heat in the day so I decided to choose a claret ash, a deciduous tree, to plant to give shade to these bushes as well as let the sun through in winter.

I chose to make a garden on the north west side of my house and included a couple of camelias too.

I prepared the bed and planted a row of deep pink azaleas along the fence and a row of white azaleas in the front and place a deep pink camelia in the middle and a light pink camelia at the top. I mulched and kept the water up to them and they did very well.

I had planted the tree in the actual garden to give as much shade to the plants as possible and this stunted the growth of the camelia in the middle of the garden but both azaleas and camelias continue to give good flower and colour through the seasons.

I have lost a couple of the azaleas this year because of water restrictions but the rest seem to be very well established and have weathered about 15 years of our dry hot weather as well as a few frosts.

I realise this is not the most ideal situation for these plants but as I really loved them I thought it was worth it to try my hand at keeping them alive. I have tried in other parts of my garden also but have always lost the camelias by the end of the season.

Popular Flower Garden Plants

Flower gardening has become widely famous in recent years. Flower gardening is simple and reasonably low-priced. It can be done for different purposes as a hobby, for decorative purposes, or even as a profession.

For better flower garden, you should follow the flower gardening tips that will guide you right from choosing the flower garden plants for your garden to the final outcome. The gardening tips will assist you in taking proper care of your garden and designing it beautifully.

Popular Flower Garden Plants:

You cannot just plant any flower in your garden. You should select the flower plants that can grow in the climatic conditions of your area.

The most popular flower garden plants are morning-glory, zinnia, cosmos, marigolds and sunflowers. You can also see for the flower plants that are in great demand if you are choosing flower gardening as a profession
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Flower Gardening Tips:

There are many vital factors that should be considered before planting your flower garden. You should choose appropriate location for your garden with good water sources. The garden should have good quality soil. The most important factor for flower gardens is selecting the plants.

Choosing the Garden Location:

The flower garden can be planted in your backyard, balcony or window. The only condition is that the place you select for garden should receive sunlight for maximum time of the day.

Different plants require different amount of sunlight. The plant nurseries will provide you with the light requirements of the plants you purchase. Choose the location keeping in mind the plant you choose for your garden.

Removing the Weeds:

Remove the existing grass and weeds from the location chosen for flower garden. The more carefully you do this job, the better results you will see later. Dig out the weeds by hand or use a sod cutter. You can also make use of herbicides for killing the weeds. When using herbicides for killing weeds read the instructions carefully provided on the label.

Soil:

The soil chosen for your flower garden must be rich in nutrients. Prepare the soil by removing the weeds, rocks, and trash from the garden area. Add compost to the soil to increase the nutrient content. Layer the soil with 2-3 inches of natural mulch to increase water retention and prevent the growth of weeds.

Selecting Flower Plants:

Select the flower garden plants based on the average, minimum and maximum temperatures in your area. Select the plants with varied blooming period to make the flowers available throughout the year.

Apart from these flower gardening tips, it is also important to harvest the plants on time. Keep gap in between planting the flower plants in your garden or all the plants will yield flowers at the same time. The flower gardens will add beauty to your backyard or balcony.