Patsy's Planting

If you want to fill your winter-weary home with sensational fragrance and the delightful blooms of spring, there are no better bulbs to force than Paperwhites, also known as Narcissus papyraceus. The thing that makes these bulbs unique is that they will bloom dependably without any chilling period. Just plant them up and set them in a sunny windowsill, and within a few weeks, the bulbs will produce multiple stems crowned with clusters of deliciously scented blooms.

The easiest way to plant paperwhites is in shallow containers (3-4” deep) half filled with polished stones, colorful marbles, recycled glass chips or even plain old gravel. Place the bulbs, pointed side up, on top of a layer of stones. Push them down and settle them in, crowding them together in the container.  Add more stones, covering up about 2/3 of the bulb, leaving the top 1/3 above the stones. Add water to the container, just to the base of the bulbs. You want the bulbs touching the water to stimulate root development, but if they’re submerged in water the bulbs can rot. Check water level daily, adding more as needed.

Once you see root development, move the container to a sunny windowsill. Ideally, the temperature should be about 65°F. When flowers appear, take them out of direct sunlight and they’ll last longer.

Because winter sun in unreliable in many areas, the stems tend to get leggy and top-heavy, and often topple over. But I saw an interesting tidbit the other day: You can enjoy all the benefits of paperwhites on shorter stems by stunting their growth.

My mother always warned me that alcohol would stunt my growth. I think she was just trying to steer me clear of it. But guess what? It definitely works for paperwhites. Plants grown in a solution containing 4-6% alcohol will grow only 1/3 to ½ their normal height, yet the flower quality is unaffected.

You can raid the liquor cabinet for vodka, tequila or whiskey, or the medicine cabinet for ordinary rubbing alcohol; just don’t use beer or wine, because they contain too much sugar. You may have to dust off your math skills like I did, but I found this example:

Say you have 80-proof vodka. That is 40% alcohol. In order to make a 5% solution, divide the percentage alcohol by 5 and subtract 1. The percent alcohol is 40, divided by 5 is 8; minus 1 is 7. So you would use 7 parts water to 1 part alcohol.

When top growth is about 2” high, drain the water in your container and replace it with the alcohol solution. Use this solution for the rest of the growing cycle.

Keep the blooms coming all winter long by starting a new crop of bulbs every few weeks and you’ll enjoy a continuous display of perfumed blossoms for months!

Dirt’s dirt, right? Well, kind of …

There are a few things you should check as far as your soil is concerned. Many soil test kits are available that can give you clues how to improve the chances your plants will flourish.

Late October or early November is usually the best time to test. Don’t take samples when the soil is very wet, or if has been recently fertilized.

Most do-it-yourself soil testing kits will measure the most important plant nutrients – nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). (Remember those letters from the post on fertilizing?) A soil test can help save the money you might have spent on fertilizers your plants don’t need, and it also helps protect the environment from the overuse of fertilizers.

You should also test soil acidity (pH). Soil pH controls many chemical processes in the plant’s growing cycle, including the ability to absorb nutrients. The pH range for most plants is between 6 and 7.5, but many plants can thrive outside this range.

If you have alkaline soil, you can lower the pH (make it more acidic) by adding peat and organic mulches, as well as aluminum or iron sulfate.

If your soil is acidic, you can increase the pH by mixing in lime (sometimes called “sweetening” the soil).
You don’t need a test kit to determine the texture of your soil. Grab a handful of dirt and try to make a ball. Whether it holds together gives a good indication of the type you have. Most soil types fall into one of three categories: Sand, silt or clay. More often than not, it’s a combination of all three. It’s the particle size – or combination of sizes – that determines a soil’s texture.
• Sand is what you find at the beach – it feels rough when you rub it in your hands because it has sharp edges. Water can drain through it very easily, which is good – but so can nutrients, before the plant has time to absorb them. It is the lightest soil, and the largest particle. It will fall apart easily when you try to make a ball.
• Clay is heavy soil – rock hard when dry and sticky when wet. Clay makes drainage difficult, and will not allow aeration. It is the smallest size particle. It clumps together easily.
• Silt is smooth – think of the sediment at the mouth of a river, where rock and soil have been tumbled for miles. Powdery when dry, it feels slick when wet, and water drains easily. This particle size is right in the middle.

No matter what kind of soil you have, it can always be improved by adding compost and other organic materials. I’ll be sure to talk more about amending soil for optimum plant growth in a future post. In the meantime, get those beds ready for fall planting!

I realize it’s not quite as racy as the Girls, but I did see several gorgeous stands of Naked Ladies, also known as Amaryllis belladonna L., blooming on the California coast last weekend. These are true Amaryllis, not the Hippeastrum  varieties commonly sold as Amaryllis. They are called Naked Ladies because their gorgeous porcelain pink blooms are carried on tall straight stems, but the stems are not clothed with foliage – that comes later, after the blooms have finished.

Those stands I saw were a good example of how bulbs can naturalize, or increase in numbers, as the years go by. Many popular spring bulbs will naturalize easily, including daffodils, crocus, galanthus, scillas, most species of tulips, and several others. Large drifts of sunny daffodils bloom along highways here, thanks to some thoughtful gardener. Try planting anemones along a walkway, or add some hyacinths and scillas to wooded areas. Crocus are often naturalized in lawns – they provide a bright burst of color in spring, showcased by the rich green grass.

Many gardeners will tell you to just toss the bulbs and plant them where they land. This gives a random appearance, as if the flowers just popped up there all by themselves. Be sure you leave ample space between the bulbs – after all, you’re counting on them to increase and they’ll need room to do it.

If you have a problem with rodents in your garden, you’ll want to plant varieties that don’t appeal to them. They love crocus, muscari, hyacinths and tulips, but they find daffodils, alliums and scillas distasteful. Woody groundcovers can provide a shelter for bulbs, discouraging small animals. Companion planting can also help discourage pests. For example, tulips are good paired with Crown Imperial Fritillaria, which will repel many animals, from mice and squirrels to deer.

Most bulbs are so carefree, you can just plant them and forget them until they provide their beautiful display next year. When you’re ordering your bulbs for fall planting this year, consider adding a casual charm to your garden and surrounding areas with bulbs that will naturalize easily, for increased beauty season after season.

P.S. BloomingBulb.com starts shipping this week, and they have some great collections of bulbs for naturalizing – some even on sale!

These are the words immortalized by Audrey II, the bloodthirsty plant in the cult classic Little Shop of Horrors. She went from a plaintiff plea to ever more menacing when Seymour couldn’t keep up with her demands.

Fortunately, most of us don’t have plants like Audrey II in our garden. But perhaps if our plants could speak – or we could hear them – they would be saying the same thing.

Fertilizers supply three basic nutrients that are needed for optimum plant health: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K). Fertilizer labels always list the numbers indicating the percentages, by weight, of NPK – in that order. Nitrogen helps produce new, green growth; phosphorous encourages root development, flower production and photosynthesis; potassium will strengthen the plant and increase winter hardiness. A good balanced fertilizer might be 5-10-10 or 10-20-20 – you can experiment with the combination. If you want your flowering plants to produce more blooms, there are fertilizers that contain no nitrogen, since nitrogen stimulates foliar growth rather than floral. Annuals should get some nitrogen though, since new green growth keeps the plant looking fresh throughout the season.

Fertilizing is an extra bonus for plants if you’ve already provided them with nutrient-rich soil. But too much of a good thing is not necessarily a good thing. And it’s a sticky wicket, especially at this time of year. Most structural garden plants – trees and shrubs, for instance – begin their active growth phase in early spring, and it continues through June. After the equinox on June 21, plant growth starts to slow down in preparation for winter. Vegetative growth late in summer will not have a chance to “harden-off” and is susceptible to frost damage, exposing the whole plant to winter kill.

Another thing to consider: Plants can only absorb so much nitrogen and phosphorus, and the excess may be washed into groundwater supplies, causing overgrowth of algae and other problems.

Compost can be applied anytime, to all your plants: Top-dress landscape plants with 2-3” of composted material to help retain water and suppress weeds. You can eventually turn this in to help condition the soil.

This is a great time to start getting your beds ready for fall planting. Dig them to a depth of about a foot and add in a generous measure of compost. Then head to BloomingBulb.com to pick the plants you’ll be enjoying next spring!