January / February 2007

Got Spring? Plant Bulbs Plant Fruit Plant Wildflowers What To Do With Borage Plant Choices Local Garden Clubs Opportunities Books Herbs Dining In Resources Bits & Pieces Editor's Gleanings Gardening with Kids Herb of the Year Notes from the Brazos Beck on Nature (greyed articles available in printed version - subscribe now!)	Plant Bulbs Now    This is the time of year when you can often find bargains at the nursery on spring blooming bulbs. Although many of them should have been planted already, you can still put them in the ground and have a decent showing, If you want to plant tulips, be sure that the bulbs have been pre-chilled. You don’t have time to do that. On the other hand, most of us are just beginning to have some cold weather, so the bulbs haven’t missed much yet! You will find narcissus and paperwhites showing up about now at your local nursery. These can be enjoyed both indoors and outdoors. Plant the bulbs into the ground after enjoying them in side and they’ll come again next year. There are many spring bulbs that really prefer colder weather than Texas has to offer — tulips, ranunculas and hyacinths among them. But you can still grow and enjoy these flowers as annuals. Just don’t count on their coming back year after year. Grow them, cut them, enjoy their bright cheerful flowers and intoxicating scents. Bulbs are among the easiest plants in the world to plant. They can easily be added to existing beds because they combine well with plants that grow later in the season. The annuals or perennials that come on with late spring will hide the fading foliage of spring bulbs and fill in any empty spots they leave. Bulbs are also good to plant under trees that lose their leaves in the winter. While the trees are bare, the sun encourages bulb growth. Once the tree has leaves, the bulbs have gotten all the sunshine they need. Many gardeners just toss out handsful of bulbs and plant them where they land. The result is a natural drift of flowers in the early spring. Addition of bone meal or other rock minerals will encourage blooming of bulbs. Work the minerals into the planting bed before planting, or sprinkle on top and water in well to existing beds. Although not strictly speaking bulbs, iris are wonderful flowers that make dramatic showings early in the season. Iris are as tough as any plant can be. You can plant them in rotten soil, in the middle of the summer or the middle of the winter, give them very little attention and they will still bloom their little hearts out. We have all seen abandoned homesteads and roadside washes where iris bloom cheerfully forgotten and ignored every spring. Pass-along iris are wonderful for every garden. The old basic yellow, purple and white flowers are easy to grow and a pleasure to bring indoors. If you want something more exotic, there are plenty of hybrid varieties of iris available. The German bearded iris do well all over the state, and Louisiana iris and Dutch iris do well where there is a little more moisture. There are native iris that will survive desert conditions and ones that live in the marsh. These plants are varied, versatile and beautiful. And all are easy to grow. Other not-strictly-bulb plants that you can add to the garden at any time are daylilies. These also come in basic, common yellow and orange varieties available from almost anywhere, but they also are available in fancy hybrid varieties with multiple colors and forms. Doubles, semi-doubles, ruffles, multi-colors, short, medium and tall are all options when adding daylilies to the garden. They are also easily added to existing gardens and will fade gracefully into the background once they finish blooming.