Easter Plants and Floral Arrangements! Triple Oaks Nursery and Herb Garden in Franklinville, New Jersey

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Easter Plants and Floral Arrangements!
posted on: March 25 2010
Spring Bulbs
   Bulbs are popping up everywhere all of a sudden. Seems they push right through the leaves now that they got a spring shower and the temperatures have moderated a bit. Although it has been cold, the old Easter bulbs we have planted over the years are faithfully popping up everywhere to remind us Mother Nature is very consistent. The leaves that snuggle around our bulbs and perennials protected them all winter. Most stay in the beds, as a much needed mulch for out sandy soils. Wild flowers push through. If some areas have too many Ted pulls them out and runs over them several times with an old mower and then wheels them into the vegetable garden where they feed the soil.
        Tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths are commonly given at Easter time. Just think what a wonderful spring greeting they create. With just minimal care these plants will live on in the garden for many springs to come.
Because bulb plants sometimes look unsightly when they finish blooming folks tend to toss the pots aside and forget to plant them. It is important to allow the foliage of these bulbs to continue to grow because the leaves are little food factories for the bulb. In fact, fertilizer, water, and sunshine will insure that they make a good food supply, which in turn will create the bloom for next year. If you cannot plant the bulb plant when it starts to look unsightly at least care for the foliage so it will continue to grow. But remember, it is always best to get those bulbs in the ground now. If you really have to you may store the bulbs in a garage or basement until fall, but in October the dormant bulb should be planted in the garden. I prefer to plant them in the spring so that I can see where other bulbs are planted   and also so I don't forget to plant them. Why not tuck them in at a friend or family member’s garden to surprise them next spring!
      I have always been interested in plant    geography and history. Spring bulb plants are no exception. Many have had a long and interesting route from the Middle East through Europe to America.
Tulips came to Europe from Turkey in the mid-1500s and zoomed to celebrity status during the Dutch Tulipomania of the 1630s. They are very beautiful and certainly have become associated with Holland.
They can be a bit troublesome to grow   where the soil has poor drainage or where voles and other rodents can dine on them. Since tulip bulbs rot in damp soil during their dormant summer period, you can help keep the bulbs dry by planting them at the base of a thirsty shrub or tree   whose roots will suck up excess moisture. If tulips are in a flower border, make sure that the soil is well drained, even sandy where they are planted. Sprinkle an inch of stony grit into the bottom of the planting hole.
As for the vole problem, a barrier helps protect tulips. It can be something as simple as a burlap sack or chicken wire laid over a freshly planted bed for a couple of weeks. Pests seem to bother newly planted beds more than established ones.   Planting baskets made of wire or of plastic can also protect bulbs from underground bandits.
Or you can plant daffodils instead since mice, voles and squirrels don’t like them. The Romans brought daffodils to Britain, but it was Greek mythology that gives us the term narcissus. These sunny favorites are often synonymous with spring and will grow anywhere. I love to pick them for the kitchen table the entire time they are out.
Hyacinths came to Europe from Turkey. By the early 1700s hyacinths were very popular and there were many kinds available. For centuries ever since, romantic hyacinths have filled the spring air with sweet perfume, and are beloved by poets and gardeners alike.
I love the hyacinths best of all the spring bulbs because of their fragrance. It is said that in the mid-18th century, Madame de Pompadour, mistress of France's King Louis XV, ordered the gardens of Versailles filled with Dutch Hyacinths and also had them   forced   inside the palace in winter. She was a    trendsetter, so her passion for these richly scented Dutch bulb flowers sparked a national frenzy among the French.
Even today, the hyacinth remains a symbol of style and elegance, as seen in both the Philadelphia flower show and the displays each spring at Longwood Gardens. This grand tradition of large formal beds planted with hyacinths is used by many of the world's great public gardens.
The earliest Greeks and Romans loved hyacinths, as we know from literature in which Homer and Virgil described the plant's fragrance. This hyacinth known to these men would have been Hyacinthus orientalis, a native of Turkey and the Middle East and the genetic ancestor of our modern cultivars. It was smaller and had fewer   pale blue flowers valued mainly for their scent. We are not sure why, but it seems that the cultivation of hyacinths faded from Europe about the same time as the Romans did.   The plant reentered European gardens in the 1560's, reintroduced from Turkey and Iran. In Holland it experienced a centuries-long "fashion make-over," as skillful Dutch hybridizers transformed it into a full-flowered garden gem, earning the plant its popular name, the Dutch Hyacinth.
    They bloom in March and April and flower colors include rose, white, pink, light salmon, yellow, purple and blue. After a few years, when naturalized, even the most hefty hybrids shed much of their thick coat of flowers. This process makes them more like their humble ancestor Hyacinthus orientalis, a style that fits with many gardening tastes today.
   So if you admire pretty bulb beds in neighboring gardens, don’t wait for fall, but gather up some pots of bulbs and plant them for a show now and a promise of spring next year.