Fine Gardening

Archive for December, 2009

The winter bulbs are small packages of power which fill an aficionado’s heart with satisfaction. The winter bulbs will reward you with color and aura beyond imagination. The bulbs are dormant just before they are planted and after that they bloom, they store enough food, and become dormant once again. Most of the gardeners are aware about the spring variety of bulbs, but there is some summer and winter bulbs variety which will make your garden look more colorful. You can easily take care of them. Some of the bulbs have excellent foliage which improves your garden looks even before they start blooming.  If the bulb foliage appears early above the ground, do not get disturbed as they can withstand harsh winter.

Even though the winter bulbs are awesome, you should know how to plant them. There are many ways of planting, but for the best appearance you must plant a bunch of flower bulbs together. This is because if you plant them separately they will blend with the surrounding landscape, but if you will plant them in groups they will stand out. For planting winter bulbs you need raised beds which have good quality top soil.

In case the winters are too harsh, you can force the winter bulbs to grow indoors. If you plant amaryllis or paper white narcissus in the fall season, you will be able to get fresh flowers during Christmas holidays. You can add different types of winter bulbs in a cluster for added color and fragrance. These bulbs usually takes 4-8 weeks to bloom and can be reused once blooming is over. They should be planted and watered well but make sure that the water is enough to keep them from drying out. Also the temperature should stay above freezing point.

For good plantation choose a pot 2 times the height of the bulb and fill ¾ of the pot with a potting soil. Plant the bulb with the pointed side upwards. Now water it carefully and add a little more soil around the bulb. When you notice that the shoot has grown 2 inches, bring the plant into sunlight and let it stay there for 10-12 days. You can move the plant to sunny location later. The flowers will bloom in about 3-4 weeks. If you keep the plant in an idea temperature of 55-60 F, then they will bloom for a longer time. Once the bloom is finished, ensure that seed pods are not formed at the end of the stems.

The winter bulbs which are forced indoors cannot be reused but paperwhites and amaryllis bulbs can be reused. The bulbs of daffodils and crocuses have to be divided after every few years. You have to take care that they don’t get damaged or cut. To avoid them from freezing during winters, add lots of mulch around them.

Flowers in your winter garden look beautiful and create tranquility apart from giving fragrances. Additionally, it is very easy to pot winter bulbs. You will love the colorful produce and merriment the flowers that will give you during winter time.

Christmas is the time when you want your house to look the best. Friends and family come and you want your house to be adorable and garden is where they usually enter your house from. So, you cannot ignore it. The warmth of the Christmas garden attracts Santa Claus too! So you can put in some creativity and make your garden appear at its best for this Christmas. There are many tips available on how to make your Christmas garden the best. Read on for more tips on how to decorate your Christmas garden this time.

You can start with the Christmas tree. Instead of taking the tree inside the house, you can decorate your pine tree in the garden and make it appear beautiful. You can use serial lights, decorative papers, and other Christmas decorations to make the tree look nice and adorable. You can decorate one or two more trees for a more striking look. Put down some gifts around the tree and make it a real welcoming sight for the friends and family visiting.

For your Christmas garden you can try themes as well. You can put a crèche, snowman, and other Christmas related themes into your garden. This will make the celebration bigger and more real. If you put a crèche in the garden, you can use the dried up twigs and branches for the purpose. May be you can make the whole of your garden as the crèche itself. Make life size dolls of different characters like Snow white, and Cinderella and hang them on the Christmas tree or place them at relevant places. If not dolls, you can make people dress up as the characters and make a real crèche. This will be more interesting than the artificial small crèches you put indoors.

You can hold parties for Christmas in your garden with the tree, crèche, and decorations around. This will be more interesting than celebrating indoors. May be you can give a small roofing or tent to protect the people from the cold climate. Somebody can dress up as a Santa and roam around in the Christmas garden to make the evening more interesting. Holding parties in your Christmas garden will ensure that your house stays clean and there is less work afterwards to clean up the mess after the guests leave.

Apart from the Christmas tree you can use the traditional Christmas plants to decorate your Christmas garden. The Christmas plants like Poinsettia, Cyclamen, and Christmas cactus can be used for the purpose. You can either start growing them well before Christmas or plant the grown up ones when Christmas is round the corners. Chrysanthemums, Kalanchoes and lilies are other plants which can be used to decorate your Christmas garden. Plant them in order or patterns to make it look neat and perfect for the occasion.

Decorate your Christmas garden with lights, Christmas flags, candles, wreaths, and many more creative ways to make your Christmas a more memorable one this time.

A winter garden doesn’t have to be boring or bare. If you plant the right mixture of trees and shrubs, you will be able to enjoy the beauty of the garden for the whole year. Many people tend to ignore their garden during winter because of snow and then nothing interests them. But then a few winter garden flowers will generate enough interest in you.

If you are experiencing light frost, you can choose pansies and mums as they tend to thrive through this climate. If you want to keep them alive longer, wrap them with a newspaper or an old sheet, just when you expect frost. Other winter garden flowers like crocus, snowdrops and some early blooming spring bulbs will bloom even if there is some snow on the ground. If you want them to bloom early, before severe winter sets in, you can feed them with lots of organic manure around the soil, during autumn.

Additionally, the organic matter adds a layer of insulation on the soil preventing it to get frosted during winter. Lenten Rose and Ivory Prince are yet another great winter garden flowers, which are actually not roses, but have lovely flowers. If you can plant it in an area that is shielded, like against your house or the fence, then you can expect some flowers at Christmas too! Along with Christmas rose, all these sprinkle colors ranging from creamy ivory and burgundy to pale green in your winter garden.

If you want flowers to bloom right from October to March, then opt for Pink Dawn Vibernum winter garden flowers, as they add vibrancy to your otherwise white looking garden. This flower has a typical almond scent. The easiest way to get started for your winter garden is to plant a few shrubs like Witch hazel. The berries of this plant bloom during December and January. They are quite hardy and will keep their flowers blooming throughout the cold season.

Heath is perhaps the hardiest of all the winter garden flowers as they can survive temperatures like 25 F also. Heath is an evergreen plant which has bell shaped flowers in hues ranging from light pink, purple, magenta and blue. They bloom right from Fall to Spring.
Now that you know about the winter garden flowers it is time to prepare your garden for the ensuing winter months. The winter garden flowers should be grown in containers, pots or raised pots. This lets the soil absorb heat faster, thereby ensuring that the roots do not get frosted. In case you are planting the winter garden flowers in a greenhouse, ensure that you have watered them properly.

However, if you have planted them on a garden bed, they won’t need so much watering. Also, if your winter garden flowers are in containers make sure that their drainage is adequate and they are not sitting in waterlogged soil. Mulch your plants well in order to protect them from soil erosion. Mulching should be done after the first frost has passed.