Planting Spring-Blooming Bulbs in the Pergola Garden

November 4, 2017

Planting Spring-Blooming Bulbs in the Pergola Garden

It’s time to start planting all those spring-blooming bulbs!

As many of you know, every autumn, we plant thousands and thousands of bulbs at my Bedford, New York farm - more than 20-thousand arrived here over the last few weeks. They are from one of my favorite sources, Van Engelen Inc., a wholesale flower bulb business located in Bantam, Connecticut. This week, we started planting in my beautiful pergola garden - it's one of the first areas I see when I drive into my property. Planting these bulbs can be a very labor intensive task, but I love this process. I always find it exciting to plant bulbs in the fall that you won't see for many months to come - it's such a wonderful surprise of color when they bloom in spring. Here are some photos of our first phase of fall-bulb planting, enjoy.

And don’t forget, Daylight Saving Time ends tomorrow morning, November 5th, so set your clocks back one-hour before going to bed tonight. Those living in participating states across the US will get an extra hour of sleep. Daylight Saving Time occurs in many states and territories except Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Island.

: Here is Ryan sorting through thousands of bulbs. They’ve all been stored in the garden library. I order the bulbs not only for my farm in Bedford, but also for my homes in East Hampton and Maine.

: All these bulbs came from Van Engelen Inc., Wholesale Flower Bulbs. I’ve been ordering from Van Engelen for years. The bulbs arrived in boxes, bags, and sacs. Ryan sorted them all by color, type and height, noting their varieties and amounts. https://www.vanengelen.com

: I buy bulbs in amounts of 20, 100, 500, and 1,000. Each box is properly labeled and grouped depending on where they will be planted.

: Some bulbs come specially packed. They must be kept moist without being wet, and planted as soon as possible after arrival. If they can’t, keep them in a cool, dark place until they are put in the ground.

: Some bulbs are very small and are easier to plant. Every bulb needs food and good soil to thrive and multiply.

: This wheelbarrow is filled with allium bulbs, crocus bulbs and camassia bulbs.

: The first thing to do is prepare the bed with the proper bulb food.

: After Ryan sprinkled an even layer of bulb food along the entire pergola garden, he sprinkled the area with bone meal. Bone meal fertilizer is a meal or powder made from ground up animal bones. It is used to increase phosphorus in the garden, which is essential for plants to flower.

: There are several different tools used for planting bulbs depending on the size of the bulb. These are traditional bulb planters. In general, holes should be three times deeper than the bulb’s length.

: This tool is a dibber, used to create a narrow deep hole for smaller bulbs.

: And here, Wilmer uses a narrow shovel for very large bulbs.

: Larger bulbs are more difficult to plant because they require larger, deeper holes. These fritillaria ‘Red Crown Imperial’ bulbs are quite big.

: Each bulb is planted in a hole at least six-inches deep. There are already many lily bulbs planted here also, so the crew is very careful when planting additional bulbs in this space.

: Next, allium bulbs are strategically placed along the bed.

: Camassia bulbs are added next. Camassia is a genus of plants in the asparagus family native to Canada and the United States. Common names include camas, quamash, Indian hyacinth, camash, and wild hyacinth. They grow to a height of 12 to 50 inches and vary in color from pale lilac or white to deep purple or blue-violet.

: Using the bulb planter, Phurba makes the hole wherever the bulb is positioned.

: And one by one, each bulb is carefully put into a hole, with the pointed end faced up, or root end faced down. This is very important, so the plant grows properly from the bulb.

: Phurba and Wilmer work quickly through the bed, side by side, planting each and every bulb. They are both excellent planters, and work in an efficient assembly line process when panting.

: The pergola garden is long – they have quite a way to go.

: These crocus bulbs are a lot smaller.

: It is very easy to see which end should be faced up on these bulbs.

: In front of the boxwood, I wanted the bulbs to be planted quickly and neatly, so all the bulbs were dropped and pressed into the soil about an inch deep.

: Once the area was filled with bulbs, they were covered with reserved earth and more fresh compost.

: On the other side of the pergola garden, Ryan added more bulbs, and instead of placing them down in a more formal manner, these bulbs were tossed, so they would grow in a more natural pattern.

: Where they landed, they were planted – one by one.

: For planting small bulbs, the dibber is the prefect tool – fast and efficient. Ryan made several holes, and then carefully dropped one bulb into each hole.

: Each bulb was placed in a hole about three to five inches deep, always pointed end or sprouted end faced up.

: Finally, Wilmer raked the entire area, so it looks neat and tidy. Wilmer also made sure every bulb was planted – we don’t want to miss a single one.