Here in Florida where I live, the weather has been absolutely beautiful and my roses, vincas, pentas, hibiscus and other plants are still in bloom. Unlike last year where we had a cold winter and all my annuals died, this year I still have some and producing flowers. Winter months in some southern states can get very chilly weather and tropical plants and annuals sometimes don’t survive. When spring arrives, there is usually lots of cleaning up to do and new plants to buy.

But not this winter! Actually, I think I will save some money because some of my annuals still look beautiful. Let’s hope that the mild weather continues until spring. Right now, I have been able to clean up my backyard, trim some trees, turn the mulch on my gardens and even have fresh cut roses in the house.

So if you live in an area where the weather is mild, go outside and start gardening. If you can’t plant new flowers yet, start trimming some trees and maybe doing some yard clean up. I have lots of pine trees and pine cones come down in buckets. Before mowing the lawn, all pine cones must be picked up from the yard.

For some reason, those pine trees produced more pine cones this year than ever and I found myself filling up bags of pine cones to bring to a local craft store. Not sure if the mild weather has something to do with the trees producing more pine cones, but I am really loving this weather!

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When the weather changes in the spring and temperatures begin to rise, shoot growth starts again and this pattern continues until the bulbs flower. Once the foliage starts to die back, the bulbs return to a dormant state. So what does this mean? In simple words, by forcing bulbs to bloom indoors means that you basically manipulate their normal cycle.

You can basically choose any type of bulb to bloom indoors but the most popular ones are tulips, narcissus, crocuses and hyacinths. And don’t think that you need special containers to force bulbs to bloom. Just about any container is adequate for most bulbs and some garden stores do sell specially designed vases for forcing individual hyacinths. Bulbs like paperwhite narcissus can be forced to bloom in a simple shallow container of water and adding pebbles for support. It is that easy!

Choosing the best type of soil mix for forcing bulbs is very important. It is best if the mix contains equal parts of moss, perlite and spaghnum. Do not use regular potting soil that you buy in the store as that type of soil mostly contain just peat moss. Once you have your soil mix ready, fill about three quarters of a container with the mix. Place bulbs closely together on top of the soil and once this is done, add more soil mix around them. Be careful not to fill the container to the top as some bulbs like narcissus and tulips don’t need to be completely covered. Water your newly planted bulbs but don’t drown them. Watch the video below (courtesy of youtube) for more information.

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If you are new to planting bulbs, here is a list of some of my favorites and some of the most beloved bulbs that you can plant. Fist, watch this quick video, courtesy of youtube:

Gladiolus

This type of bulb you can plant in mid-spring and continue planting more until about mid-July. And yes, you will get flowers all summer long. Bulbs that are planted in the spring require that you lift them up in the fall and store for protection. But you can also get hardy gladiolus and you can plant these in the fall for late spring to early summer blooming. With hardy gladiolus, there is no need to lift them in the fall but you will need to mulch over the winter months for protection.

Crocus

There are many species of crocus so do some research before buying some. These are known for being one of first spring flower to appear in your garden even when snow is still in the ground. Plant crocus in the fall in an area that gets some sun and part shade.

Alliums

These are very easy to grow and adapt well to any type of soil. Alliums are great because they continue giving you color in your garden way after the spring flowering bulbs begin to fade. Keep them in your garden while waiting for summer flowers to appear. By the way, alliums also make great dried flower arrangements.

Iris

This is one of my favorite bulbs and the Dutch iris should be planted in early fall. The bearded iris should be planted from July through September in order to allow enough time for the flowers to become established before the winter months arrive. The Japanese iris likes sunny locations and also high soil moisture so be sure to feed it throughout the growth period.

Hyacinths

Another favorite of mine and it belongs to the lily family. Hyacinths are very fragrant and easy to grow. For an awesome look in your garden, plant hyacinths near tulips, pansies, primroses and daffodils. These are also very easy to grow in pots and you can force them to grow and bloom indoors. Once you get flowers from your hyacinths indoors, be sure to transplant it into your garden.

Daffodils

Love these! Daffodils are known for being easy to grow and blooming for many years with little care and maintenance. These can be planted anywhere like hillsides, near trees, and empty fields. Just throw a whole bunch of daffodil bulbs in an area and wherever they land, plant them. They will come back every year and bloom beautifully.

Tulips

Everyone’s favorite! Perennial tulips are very special because they will come back every year. So when buying tulip bulbs, do look for the perennial ones and not a hybrid so you can have them for years to come. This is another bulb that can be grown in containers indoors. Just follow the instructions that come with your bulb purchase. Many gardeners plant their tulip bulbs in November in full sun but do follow instructions for best results.

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Nutrient rich soil is essential for your bulbs to thrive but make sure there is good drainage also. Although bulbs, like any other perennial, need lots of water it is necessary for the soil to drain properly. Take a good look at the soil in your garden and if you see water that just sits there add some more soil to the area. You can also put in a layer of gravel below the surface of the soil to promote good drainage. All of this can be done for your spring flowering bulbs but summer blooming ones are not really fussy about the soil as long as the soil is loose and has enough nutrients to help the bulbs thrive.

One of the questions most people ask when planting bulbs for the first time is which end of the bulb goes up. If the bulbs you ordered have pointed tips, or sprouts on the upper sides, (tulips, daffodils, tubers and rhizomes are included here) be sure to plant them with the tips or sprouts on top facing upward. It is through those tips or sprouts that the plants begin to grow. If you purchased bulbs like anemones or poppy, you will notice that the bulbs are much smaller and don’t really have a tip or sprout. These bulbs can be planted in any direction. Watch this youtube video to see how easy it is to plant bulbs.

Many gardeners believe that planting bulbs in masses is the best method for outstanding results. I do agree with that theory because planting them in masses gives you a gorgeous display of flowers when in full bloom. Survey your garden area and space bulbs according to their size. For example, tulips and daffodils are considered large bulbs and should be spaced at least 3 to 6 inches apart. If you have small bulbs like snowdrops or crocus, space them 1 to 2 inches apart. If you are trying mass planting for an entire bed, you can spade the whole area and then dig out at least 8” of soil from the bed.

Once your bulbs are planted, be sure to water them as this will help the soil to settle and provide moisture. One thing to remember is that bulbs that are planted in the fall must root before cold weather hits your area. It is recommended that you plant your bulbs when the soil temperature is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit at a depth of about 6 inches. Place the bulbs on top of the bed and cover them with soil. You can also plant small groups of bulbs by simply using a garden tool like a trowel and digging a hole a bit larger than the bulb and covering it with soil. For best results, do read the instructions that come with your bulbs!

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Daffodils, hyacinths, snowdrops and crocus are spring flowering bulbs that are considered hardy and do need cold periods during the winter months to start their growing cycle. These types of bulbs can be planted now and as late as the first frost appears in the area where you live. Don’t wait until snow is in the ground to plant them, do it now and the bulbs should be fine. You should see these bulbs flowering in February when usually snowdrops appear first in your garden. As a general rule of thumb, spring flowering bulbs grow best in zones 4-8.

Anemones, begonias and dahlias are considered summer flowering bulbs and somewhat fall in the tender category, but lilies are hardy. These types of bulbs can be planted in late spring when the weather is milder and there is no chance of snow or frost. They normally bloom in a couple of months and will thrive in most climates but they are not winter hardy at all. If you live in a cold climate, lift your summer bulbs in the fall and store them so you can re-plant them the following year.

The best advise I can give you is the spend some time planning your bulb garden carefully before you buy them. Take a good look at your landscape and do a simple sketch outlining where you want your bulbs planted depending on how you want your garden to look and what color scheme you want. Remember that spring flowering bulbs will be the first to die in early summer so be sure to keep a record of where these are planted just in case you want to add other plants to your garden. Here is a partial list of various bulbs and blooming times to help you in the planning process.

These bulbs bloom very early in the spring:

Snowdrops

Early Daffodils

Snow Crocus

Dwarf Irises

These bulbs bloom early spring:

Hyacinths

Tulips (some varieties of early tulips)

Crocus (a variety called giant crocus)

Trumpet Daffodils

These bulbs bloom mid-spring:

Blue grape Hyacinths

Daffodils

Tulips

These bulbs bloom late spring:

Tulips (some varieties of late season tulips)

Bluebells

These bulbs bloom early summer:

Anemone

Dutch Iris

Asiatic Lily

Gladiolus

Alliums

Madonna Lilies

These bulbs bloom mid-summer:

Begonias

Iris

Cana Lilies

Gladiolus

Lilies

Dahlias

These bulbs bloom late summer:

Dahlia

Begonias

Cana Lilies

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Keep in mind that although bulbs are considered to be perennials, they also must have a period of dormancy where they die back at the end of each growing season. The end of growing season for spring flowering bulbs is late spring or early summer. The bulbs will go into the dormancy stage but will start to grow again in the fall and flower the following growing season. This is why planting bulbs is a great investment for money spent because you will have gorgeous flowers and color for years to come. Watch this short video courtesy of youtube:

Another thing to remember is that bulbs of all varieties do come in various shapes and heights and a well planned garden area will allow you to have an array of colorful flowers for months. Fall is the time to plant hardy bulbs for spring flowering and most can be planted until the ground starts to freeze. My advice here is to not wait until the real cold weather hits your area to plant the bulbs. Do it now and get over with! As long as you follow the instructions that are included when you receive your order of bulbs, you should be okay.

When planning your bulb garden area, be sure that it is a sunny location and there is no grass or ground cover in the area. The beauty of a bulb flower bed is to plant lots of bulbs. It is not advisable to plant just one straight row of bulbs as this will look sparse and will not give your garden the definition it deserves. So what you want to do is plant lots of them and be sure to not follow a linear design. If you are dealing with a small area, plant them in clumps of five or more. This will give you an attractive garden especially when planting tulips, daffodils or hyacinths.

Stay tuned for my next article where we will talk about the various types of bulbs that flower at different times so you can have color in your garden at all times.

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Instead of thinking that your garden has had it, start thinking fall flowers. This is the time of year that you can find gorgeous chrysanthemums in an array of beautiful colors. Replace any dead annuals with chrysanthemums which are available in most nurseries and garden stores. Try and find some perennials and plant them in between your annuals. Remember, perennials are hardy and do come back every year.

You can also plant bulbs instead of perennial plants in your garden. Most places that sell bulbs do encourage gardeners to get their spring flowering bulbs now. So maybe you are thinking spring flowers and if so, go ahead and get those bulbs planted. If you do get some bulbs, make sure you plant them at the correct depth. Read the instructions that are included with the bulbs and follow them carefully for best results.

If you still have plenty of flowers in you garden, prune them a bit to encourage more blossoms. By simply snipping the flower head after it is wilted, it will make the plant produce more flowers. A word of caution here, collect all flower heads and get rid of them. The reason for this is that you don’t want mildew or other plant diseases to infect your thriving plants.

If you are a rose lover like me and have some in your garden, you should still have roses that look healthy. Roses are very hardy and can go on blooming through the fall season with no problem. Cut off any wilted or dead roses from the plants, add some nutrient rich soil to each rose bush, water them regularly and you should keep them looking beautiful for months to come.

So don’t neglect your flower garden just yet. The possibilities are endless when it comes to having gorgeous flowers through the fall season. And most important, enjoy every bit of it!

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Do people plant flower gardens just for the sake of having an area that looks nice? What are the benefits of having a bunch of flowers in your yard? Well, I have a couple of theories on this subject. For me, the love of gardens means a deep love for nature and a way for much needed relaxation. It is a way for me to get closer to nature, to express who I am and a place where I can create and dream big.

It is a place where I feel pride in knowing that humans and nature can create beautiful things. It is a place where my dreams can grow as big as flowers leaving behind all the hustle and bustle that life places on us. Flower gardens to me are small outlets of nature and it allows me to regress to an earlier stage of humanity where I am happy and comfortable. This is why gardens are so relaxing and give us a calming feeling!

Gardening is not only good for the soul but also a healthy habit that gives us lots of physical exercise. It is also good for the environment we live in as we try to give nature back some of its beauty by planting flowers, shrubs and trees. So no matter what the underlying psychological reason is for creating gardens, it is a hobby that is good for all of us. Although I am not a psychologist, I often wonder why I love to go outside and play with dirt. And the thought that comes to mind is that I am helping nature to reclaim its beauty by planting flowers that normally grow naturally on their own.

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When I got married and had my first home, I decided that it was time to start my own gardens. Well, I went to the nursery and bought some flowers and planted them all over the front yard mixed in with the grass. Big mistake! You should have seen my husband’s face when he went to mow the lawn. He was not a happy camper to say the least and explained to me that it was almost impossible for him to mow the lawn with plants all over the place. Mind you that I didn’t even check the soil or anything, I just planted them. Laughing out loud now but it wasn’t funny back then!!

It didn’t take long for me to realize that I had two options:

1. Remove all the plants from the lawn and create a garden area right in front of the house and away from the grass.

2. If I didn’t want to do this, for sure my husband would mow over the plants destroying everything I planted.

You guessed it I removed all the plants from the lawn and put them in large buckets of water until I could figure out what needed to be done. Next was a phone call to mother for advice on how to set up a flower garden area and she basically told me what to do which meant that I needed to:

1. Determine how big the area would be for the garden

2. Clear out the area thoroughly by removing weeds and grass

3. Till the soil and fertilize the soil with proper nutrients

4. Find out how much sun or shade the garden area gets during the day

5. Figure out the types of plants to buy that would compliment the house

6. Buy the plants and plant them

Needless to say, this was a lot more than what I envisioned on creating a flower garden but I was determined to get it done. So with some help from my husband we began clearing out the area in front of the house and doing all the necessary tasks that were required. Since I already had the plants that I removed from the lawn, I planted those and bought some more to fill in some bare spots.

All in all, the garden turned out to be just fine and looking good. My advice to you is that if you are new to gardening, don’t make the same mistakes I made and follow the ideas listed above. Also remember that when in doubt, a good gardening manual is your best bet on creating a healthy flower garden.

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