Bulbs

Learn how to overwinter common garden bulbs such as gladiolus and dahlias. Listen to podcast: With our warm, dry summer and fall the subtropical bulbs have been putting on a show. Canna lilies, dahlias, gladiolus, 4 O clocks and other tender bulbs have been growing strong. But with the first frosts of the season rolling through the area, it's time to dig and store them. These bulbs are not hardy in our area, so it's either dig and store now, or do like my neighbor is doing. She has so many cannas that she's going to just let nature take...

Scilla siberica   Other Name scilla   Sun Requirements full sun, part sun   Bloom Period and Seasonal Color Early spring in colors of blue, white and pink   Mature Height x Spread 4 to 6 inches x 4 to 6 inches   Added Benefits attracts beneficials, deer resistant   Siberian squill is a hardy bulb that is most noted for naturalizing in lawns and gardens turning the ground a carpet of blue, pink or white in early spring. I often see this bulb naturalized around old farmhouses in Vermont where it has taken over the landscape in...

Galanthus nivalis   Other Name common snowdrop   Sun Requirements part sun   Bloom Period and Seasonal Color Early spring in white or white and green colors   Mature Height x Spread 4 to 6 inches x 6 to 8 inches   Added Benefits deer resistant   Snowdrops are so named because they are one of the earliest bulbs to grow and flower in the landscape. They often are growing and flowering beneath or through banks of snow in late winter. I've been known to shovel snow off areas where I planted snowdrops to reveal flowering bulbs....

Learn about species tulips, including varieties and how to plant and grow them. Listen to Podcast: These flowers were gathered in the wilds of Turkey by Ottoman sultans and were depicted on paintings, wall covering and in decorative arts throughout the 1500s. Later on hybrid versions of these blooms spurred a whole flower industry in Europe, including a market crash. But the species versions have gathered less attention. I love species tulips. Not only for the variety of plant forms, leaf colors and dainty flowers, but mostly because they...