Archive for April 11th, 2009

Spring Bulbs

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These pictures show some of the spring bulbs that have been blooming in our garden in the past few weeks. The hyacinths in the top picture were stunning at their peak about two weeks ago when I took this picture, especially the blue ones. Right now, the multicolored tulips in the second and third pictures are in full bloom.

Spring bulbs such as tulips, hyacinths, dutch irises, and daffodils are so beautiful and fun to grow. They make a wonderful landscape display for a few weeks in the springtime, because they tend to bloom at the same time and have such vibrant colors. I have gotten rave reviews from the neighbors about the color display.

Our climate doesn’t seem to get enough cold weather in the wintertime to stimulate tulips and hyacinths to continue blooming year after year. Freezes here are infrequent. Some sources say that one should dig up these bulbs and put them in the refrigerator for a month. Instead, I have been growing them as annuals, replanting them each fall and discarding some of the old ones. Our hyacinths usually bloom again more than one year, but they produce less flowers each year.

The fourth picture above showing the purple tulips and daffodils was taken in March 2008 of the same flower bed. I decided to diversify the color range of tulips I planted for this year’s display.

The same daffodils bloomed again back in February this year and have already faded away. Daffodils don’t seem to need much winter chill. They will bloom again year after year without any special care in our climate. I have seen them blooming along roads and highways in our area, obviously growing wild.

April 11 2009 | Daffodils and Hyacinths and Tulips | Comments Off on Spring Bulbs

Second Hand Orchid Blooming

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Last summer, my sister gave us an orchid plant that she had purchased some time ago. It had flowers on it when she bought it, but it had not bloomed again in the years since then. She gave it to us to see if we could get it to bloom again.

We soaked the orchid in a water bath with orchid fertilizer every 7-14 days, along with our other orchid plant, as described in my Nov. 4, 2008 post. After about two months, her orchid began to generate a new stem of flowers. That flower stem has been growing for about six months. It is now in full bloom. All 10 of the white and pink flowers on the stem are open at the same time right now. The first flower on the stem opened over a month ago.

I don’t often see orchids being sold in stores that have many flowers on a single stem all opened at the same time and all looking so perfect. I used to think it was difficult, if not impossible, to get orchids to bloom again and again indoors. But now that we have figured out the trick, it seems easy. Our other orchid featured in my posts on Sept. 28 and Nov. 4, 2008 is already generating another flower stem.

April 11 2009 | Orchids | Comments Off on Second Hand Orchid Blooming