If you haven’t yet planted all your spring-blooming bulbs, try to get it done soon!
Planting bulbs can be a a very labor intensive task. Every autumn, I plant thousands and thousands of bulbs around my farm. This year, I selected bulbs from two of my favorite sources in Connecticut - Van Engelen Inc., a wholesale family-run flower bulb business located in Bantam and Colorblends Flowerbulbs, a third generation wholesale flower merchant in Bridgeport. I always find it exciting to plant bulbs in the fall that you won't see for many months - it's such a wonderful surprise of color when they bloom in spring.
Here are some photos.
It’s that time of year again, when gardeners rush to get all their spring-blooming bulbs in the ground before it gets too hard. Spring-blooming bulbs are planted in fall, grow roots during the winter, and then bloom in spring.
I order lots of bulbs, not only for my farm in Bedford, but also for my gardens at Skylands, my home in Maine.
Here’s my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, sorting all the bulbs in my garden library where it is cool, dry, and protected from direct sunlight and frost. Ryan organizes them by type and then by planting location.
There are several different tools used for planting bulbs depending on the size of the bulb. My gardeners use T-handled dibbers, which are pressed into the soil to make holes, and traditional bulb planters with six inch barrels for removing soil and then dropping it back into the hole over the bulb.
There are also garden auger drill bits which are very helpful for making bigger holes or for working in hard soil.
Nearly every garden bed is planted with new bulbs each fall. This area is behind my Tenant House. The beds are bare and cleaned for winter, but they’re ready to be planted with hundreds of scilla bulbs.
We always add Bulb-tone to our nutrient-rich soil. The food should be a balanced fertilizer that has a good amount of phosphorous. Fertilizing spring-blooming bulbs also helps them fight off diseases and pests.
The fertilizer can be sprinkled over and worked into the top few inches of soil.
Bulbs need to be packaged very carefully to ensure they are kept in the best conditions during transport. They are packaged in netted sacs, paper bags, boxes, and plastic pouches depending on the bulbs’ humidity needs. They must be kept moist without being wet.
These bulbs are Scilla Siberica Spring Beauty. These plants produce produce three to four thin scapes with one to three drooping, bell-like, deep blue flowers with blue anthers per scape. The flowers appear in early spring just after Galanthus, the white snowdrops.
Each bulb is placed in a hole about three to five inches deep. The dibber is perfect for planting these bulbs.
Josh makes a series of holes in the space first, being very careful not to poke any bulbs previously planted in the area.
One by one, each bulb is carefully placed in 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.
Here is a bulb positioned correctly in its hole. If it is planted upside down, the flower will still grow, but it will likely take longer.
Josh plants an entire section before backfilling, so he knows what holes he has planted.
Then he goes over the area with a rake, making sure every bulb is covered. The ground is wet and more rain was expected, so the bulbs also get well-watered.
Close by, Ryan uses the auger attachment to make holes. The ground is a bit hard from the recent cold, but it’s still workable.
This hole is at least six inches deep for larger bulbs. Holes should be about three times the bulb’s width and depth.
Once again, it is easy to see that the pointed end of the bulb is faced up. This is an allium bulb. Alliums are members of the onion family. The shape of this flower cluster can be round, oval or cascading, and the flower color may be white, yellow, pink, purple, or blue.
Ryan backfills the hole to completely bury the bulb.
And then the area is raked and tidied.
These beds will look so pretty come spring. I hope this inspires you to start planting some beautiful bulbs in your garden – there’s still time!
I just love how my home looks this time of year - filled with cheerful holiday decorations.
Whether I am home or away for Christmas, I always like to decorate several rooms with festive trees, wreaths, and pretty plants from the greenhouse. This year, some of my decorations include gold, silver, and green tabletop trees glistening with ornaments, coordinating wreaths on the windows, colorful orchids, and other lush green potted plants.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I try to vary the holiday decorations in my home. I always use lots of trees – silver, green or gold in every room. And I always try to display them differently each time. In my Brown Room, silver trees decorate the dining table with ornaments and glass icicles on every branch.
On my mantel, large silver balls sit atop candleholders. Decorations can be subtle and still so festive.
Charming woodland owls sit on this table near the door. I like to include a mix of old favorites as well as new.
Indoors I always hang wreaths on every window. Do you know… Before the wreath became associated with Christmas, it was used as a token of victory and power in ancient Greece and Rome? Wreaths first appeared as holiday decorations in connection with Yule, which marked the winter solstice for early Germanic Pagans. The wreaths were a symbol of spring and a promise of its return.
Here is a green tabletop tree in my sitting room. The ornaments include different shades of green and gold.
Here’s another wreath hung on a window looking out onto my courtyard.
Green, silver, and copper bottlebrush trees adorn the table in my Green Parlor. If you recall, I developed these for my own holiday collection on QVC.
And this tree in a planter is one of two flanking the fireplace in this room. One can never have too many trees during the holidays.
Not far, these bottlebrush trees are placed around the giant falcon in my entrance hall.
And here is a potted orchid in the corner. Houseplants are an inexpensive way to decorate a room. They complement any décor and work to filter out toxins and increase oxygen levels.
Here’s a green tree – one of two – at the entrance to my enclosed porch.
Here’s a wreath on another window – using different kinds adds texture and interest to the rooms.
This wreath is on the door to my courtyard, where display lots of tropical plants during summer.
When plants are in bloom, I love to bring them inside my home from the greenhouse. Look at this lovely orchid flower. Orchids grow on every continent except Antarctica. They are native to the tropical regions of Asia, Australia, the Himalayas, and the Philippines. The orchid forms one of the largest families in the plant kingdom, with more than 25,000 species worldwide. The size of orchids depends on the species. They can be quite small or very large. However, every orchid flower is bilaterally symmetrical, which means it can be divided into two equal parts.
I also decorate with interesting and unusual potted plants. This is Euphorbia lactea, also known as a “Coral Cactus.” It is a species native to tropical Asia, mainly in India. The showy part of the plant, the section that resembles coral, is called the crest. The ridges are spiny, with short spines.
This is a potted rhipsalis, native to the rainforests of South America, the Caribbean and Central America. Rhipsalis is a cacti genus with approximately 35 distinct species. I have many types of rhipsalis growing in my greenhouse. Rhipsalis specimens have long, trailing stems making them perfect choices as indoor plants on pedestals or tall tables.
This is a Hurricane Bird’s Nest Fern, also known as Asplenium antiquum, a tropical fern with distinctive, twisted fronds that resemble the eye of a hurricane.
Here is another fern. Many ferns make wonderful, low-maintenance, undemanding houseplants that are well loved for their beautiful foliage.
And outside, I take out several shooting stars and hang them on some of the outbuildings here at the farm. Here’s a tip: if one needs to use extension cords to connect outdoor decorations, use supplies that match the exterior of the building. I use grayish-tan extension cords, so they are not seen against the siding. Also be sure any electrical supplies are safe to use outside.
This shooting star is hung above the sliding doors of my Equipment Barn. By night fall, the lights look so beautiful. Do you know what a true shooting star is? A shooting star is actually a small piece of rock or dust that hits Earth’s atmosphere from space. It moves so fast that it heats up and glows as it moves through the skies. Astronomers call them meteors. Most meteors burn up before they even reach the ground. Happy holiday decorating!
The season's burlap project at my Bedford, New York farm continues in front of and around my Winter House.
It's a race to get all the "burlapping" done around the boxwood and the ornamental urns - winter officially begins in a little more than a week and the days and nights are getting much colder. I've been covering the shrubs and hedges with burlap for many years to protect the branches from splaying and even breaking from the snow and ice. I also feel it is important to protect the planters that are out in the elements all season long. A winter freeze, alternating with thaws, could crack or crumble any kind of stone or cement, especially if it is antique. My outdoor grounds crew is working hard to get everything well-wrapped.
Enjoy these photos.
Most of the ornamental urns around my home are left in their respected locations and enveloped in burlap for the cold season. First, the planter is carefully covered in plastic.
Fernando cuts the burlap pieces to fit the containers. When we can, we reuse burlap from seasons past; however, it is also available in giant rolls of 40-inches or 60-inches wide. Also called hessian, burlap is made in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India from jute, a tall, grass-like plant grown for its strong fibrous stalks.
To complete all the burlap projects, the tools are simple – we use five-inch and eight-inch long craft needles specifically made for working with jute. These needles have large eyes and bent tips. Every member of my outdoor grounds crew has a needle.
We also use jute twine. It is all natural and the same color as the burlap.
The burlap is wrapped around the entire piece. Burlap is so useful for many gardening projects – it is inexpensive, biodegradable, and the color and texture of burlap is so pretty to use.
And then Pete sews the edge closed. The burlap should be sewn tightly, but with some space for air circulation. Because the burlap is exposed to the elements for several months, Pete does this task very carefully.
Lastly, Pete sews the top closed, tucking the excess burlap in and pulling taut.
Because stone, cement, and clay-based materials can crack from exposure to the winter elements, it’s important to protect them. Here are the two planters in my kitchen courtyard all wrapped and protected.
Pete and Fernando also wrapped the big stone birdbath in the same courtyard.
This is my terrace parterre. I have pairs of stone urns flanking each entrance to the area. These containers are covered in black plastic garbage bags.
This piece of burlap is being reused from last year. Our burlap covers can be used for two to three seasons depending on the weather.
Pete wraps each urn with burlap and starts with small stitches and knots at the top and the bottom just to keep the fabric in place.
Then he sews the burlap along the open edge at the top.
The burlap is pulled taut and all the opening is closed.
Here is the planter covered. It will stay here for the duration of the season until it is in uncovered and planted again in spring.
And here they are all covered. Depending on the size of the vessel, it takes about 20-minutes to cover one of these ornamental containers.
This is one of two magnificent Kenneth Lynch and Sons pots I purchased years ago at an auction when Kenneth was still in operation in Wilton, Connecticut. The urns are cast concrete, a formula which no one has figured out. For winter, the first thing we do is cover the large opening with a piece of plywood. The crew cuts any spare plywood into rounds to fit over various pieces.
Then the urn is covered in plastic sheeting. Doing this always lengthens the process, but it’s worth it. These planters are in great condition and are planted with tender perennials every spring. with
Pete knots this piece at the bottom to keep it in place.
A second piece is used to wrap the lower half of the planter.
There is a lot of tucking involved, and a lot of stitching and knotting, but my crew has been covering these containers with burlap every year for quite some time – they are all excellent burlap sewers.
And then Pete starts sewing. I remind the crew to wrap them like they would gifts – make the folds tight and even as possible.
Here is a finished side – all snug and secure.
Then Pete works from the bottom and sews the open edge closed.
All these urns look like artistic sculptures when wrapped.
All done here, but there is still so much “burlapping” to do around the farm.
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