Queen Wilhelmina Garden

 I had a lovely walk a few weeks ago in this small garden at Golden Gate Park. And yes, that is a windmill in the background! Located near the Great Highway, Ocean Beach and The Beach Chalet in San Francisco, this is an easy stop in Spring and less crowded than summer months.

 Nice combination of Yellow Pansies and Red Tulips! Best to Refrigerate Tulip bulbs in fall for 4-6 weeks before planting in late October or early winter. This gives them the winter chill they need.
Grow in pots or in ground. They don't always grow back or bloom in following years but they are a
fun project anyway. They tend to rot out in the heavy clay soil in most of the bay area and the climate is pretty warm for them. You can try digging them up and repeating chill in the fridge- especially if they are in pots.

 Iceland Poppies- a great spring annual and good companion to bulbs.

Super use of contrasting colors here! Pansies were always my daughter's favorites and now my Granddaughters! They are right at the height to be child friendly. They are edible too plus gorgeous colors.

Late Spring Flowering Bulbs

At the end of the spring flowering bulb season the Dutch Iris, Tulips and Watsonia take the stage for a last burst of vibrant color. It is magnificent and sad at the same time knowing that these will be the last of the spring bulbs until next year. The summer flowering bulbs do their thing but are not quite as much fun as the easy and joyous blossoms of spring. The summer heat also gives the flowers of summer a hard time and shortens the petal life of many flowers.

Next comes the big Rose bloom which is always the best with the first cycle in spring. Some of our Roses are already in full throttle especially the vines that I didn't prune back very far.

The Roses take the heat of Los Gatos very well except in the extreme hot weather. It will be exciting to see them all open in the next month or more.

The big wedding is finally here and I go next week to help out and enjoy the activities. Will post some photos of the ceremony in the Rose Garden- weren't we just talking about Roses?!- should be fun and exhausting!

Happy Spring and I hope that you all have a chance to be out in the garden. It is lovely out there!

Time to plant summer bulbs

I was out at the nurseries this week checking out stock and getting some plants to fill in gaps in my garden. I was happy to see the summer flowering bulbs for sale and now is a good time to get those in.

Lilies, Gladiolas, Tuberous Begonias, Dahlias and Peony are available in tuber form and can go into pots with annuals or perennials or into loamy soil.

This year I made a small plateau in the garden with sand, potting soil and garden soil about 6" high so that the bulbs could drain quickly and have some nice loose, fertile earth to root into.

The tuberous begonias I plant in pots in the shade and they last for quite awhile that way.

Add some slow release fertilizer to the planting areas and remember to stake the tall flowers as they tend to fall over.

Most of these are good cut flowers and the Lilies smell good (remove the anthers as the red pollen dust falls off onto your tablecloth!). My goal is to have flowering bulbs blooming all year and I am almost there!

Garden Jewels

Tiny bulbs make shining jewels in the gloomy winter cold. Pictured are golden crocus, a miniature daffodil and super dwarf iris. All under 4" tall! So small they are easily hidden by fallen leaves.

The first Crocus!

It is always a great treat to see the first spring flowering bulb bloom, in this case a Crocus, a tiny harbinger of what is to come. Contrary to their title many of these spring flowering bulbs bloom in the dead of winter. These little crocus' are among the first and I had a lovely mini rock garden iris pop up the other day too.

This weekend was spent carefully clearing away leaves and weeds so that we would not miss out on any of these lovely jewels.

Also hidden in all those fallen leaves were a bunch of snail eggs, slugs and snails who feast on my lovely flowers so getting rid of as many of those as possible is definitely called for.

If you would like to grow crosus' or other spring flowering bulbs, they are planted here in the late fall (early November) and can be stored in the fridge in paper bags until you are ready to plant them.

I will publish more photos of our bulb garden next month as they come into full bloom.

Spring Flowering Bulbs!

You may see spring flowering bulbs for sale now in the grocery or nursery outlets and think its time to plant them now but wait! Before you dig down into our heavy clay soil in 90 degree weather, give your bulbs a little chill in the fridge. It is too hot to plant them now anyway.

Because we live in a temperate climate it benefits those bulbs from Holland to have more chill.

Refrigerate bulbs in a paper bag for 6-8 weeks and plant them in the early part of November

when the heat has passed. Just don't forget they are in there!

Use a bit of bonemeal or bulb food in the holes or trenches when you plant them and mix in food with the soil. Be sure and put them pointy end up. Bulbs should come with instructions for planting depth.

Spring Flowering Bulbs are watered by the rain so do not need irrigation and the Deer don't eat a lot of them. I don't think Gophers like them that much either. I love bulbs because they are a great surprise in the spring. I may have forgotten all about planting them and then they pop-up.

If you already have bulbs in the ground dont worry about digging them up for chilling in the fridge- that is too much work! In our clay soil some may rot out over time but they usually last very well except for Tulips which don't come back very well. I have had good luck with species tulips which can be found through a bulb grower i.e. Van Engelen (great prices too!).

In the spring leave the leaves on until they wither to replenish the bulbs for the next year.The best repeat bloomers for our area are: Grape Hyacinth, Daffodils, Freesias, Ipheon, Leucojum and regular Hyacinths. Hyacinths and some Daffodils are fragrant too. Don't be afraid to use lots. Plant in groups between low plants and enjoy winter and spring color for many years.