It is a beautiful day here on the west coast. It has been spectacular weather for fall color and feeling. Nippy in the morning with a tinge of wood smoke and fallen leaves in the air. Afternoons are sunny and you can see the sun on the horizon moving away to the south of the garden. Sunrises are coming up later and later with more awesome colors than I can describe.
These days I spend about 1 day a week prepping for the Northwest Flower and Garden show. I’m ordering plant material, picking it up and nestling it into the greenhouses that will hold our plant material until February. I have already ordered many flats of bulbs for the show that will be forced at their location and brought to the show blooming (hopefully). It is not an exact science so we do our best and have a plan B.
I always like to feature different types of plants in my show gardens. That is one of the reasons I first started coming to the flower and garden show all those years ago. I wanted to see something new and learn about what others were growing. Many times I saw something I had never seen before and I learned about it at the show. Now I guess I am a little jaded since entering the horticultural world. As a designer I get to see a lot of new plants and now say ‘I have one of those’ instead of ‘I want one of those’ and sometimes I have to say “Yep, I’ve killed one of those’.
- White Bouquet, Candy Club
iris reticulata natascha, fritillaria meleagris alba
As I prepare for the show I know I want some different types of bulbs. So on to the Van Engelen site I go and order some bulbs. I found these great (I hope) things called bunching tulips. They have multiple stems coming from the bulb with multiple flowers on them. I had never seen them before so I called my grower and asked about them. He said they had been around for several years and didn’t really sell well so they stopped growing them. Hmmm… Of course that means I have to try them. I ordered candy club and white bouquet.
Last year I forced Allium shubertii. It was difficult because they are a summer blooming bulb but I had about a 50% success rate. If the bulb blooms early in the year it is easier to force. If you plan on forcing bulbs you can count on at least a 12-14 week chill factor. That means you would place the bulbs into a dark 40-45 degree place in moist soil. Then add the actual blooming time and you will have a fairly good idea when to expect them. The folks at Van Engelen can help you with guesstimating if you are unsure. I received the order and put them into the shop refrigerator that has drinks and snacks for the crew. They had to put up with the boxes of bulbs for a couple of weeks… small price to pay, right?
Today I mixed up a fast draining soil mixture and added some bulb food. I placed the several bulbs in containers with the soil. I pack them together because I want the pot to be full and bursting with color. I don’t usually do that in the ground especially if they are naturalizing bulbs.
I also potted up some iris reticulata natascha, and some white blooming fritillaria meleagris alba.
I think maybe you can guess what color scheme I’m going for the show. I’m excited to do a more formal limited color palette this year.
I also could not resist adding some Christmas color into the forcing planting. I potted up some Amaryllis ‘nymph’ and amaryllis ‘white nymph’ for the Christmas season. I soak the bulbs overnight if the roots are dried out at all. Then I put them into the same bulb mixture as the tulips with fast draining soil and bulb food. I like planting the amaryllis in a soil mixture instead of plain water because I think water can stagnate sometimes and the bulb will rot. These are in my greenhouse now and not chilled. They will stay here until they start to bud. If it is close to Christmas they will go into the house. If they start too early I will move them to a cool frost free place to save the blooms until closer to Christmas.
I’m excited to see how these work into the Christmas scheme. Let me know if you have tried forcing bulbs before and how they turned out.
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I always look forward to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, I appreciate that it takes a lot to get ready for the show, and it is conceivable that if you put that much work in to it that it is conceivable that you could become jaded; I am saying it is conceivable I am not saying I could imagine that. For those of us who attend (without having to do all the work) it is pretty amazing. The colors, the new ideas, the possibility of plants that have not been seen before, it is all pretty amazing…you have our absolute gratitude.
I am always ready for a little spring in the middle of winter. The planning and installing is inspiring and fun. Thanks for the great comments