Vermont Weathervane -- Planting Spring Bulbs

At Least as Bright as a 40-Watt Bulb
by Daryle Thomas

People often ask me where I get the ideas for the articles I write. Usually they start with a phone call from the editor of this newspaper.
   "Got an article?"
   "When do you need one?"
   "Take your time, how about two or three days?"
   "Whoa! Gimme a 'last resort.'"
   "Publish your own paper."
   I love to work under a deadline. Not that I procrastinate. I got to thinking the other day that the primary reason for the lack of spring crocuses, hyacinths, daffodils, tulips, irises, lilies, gladiolus and others is the failure to plant bulbs during the previous fall.
   Yesterday, which by the time you are reading this could have been anytime, CVPS sent a contractor to replace some of the power-sucking incandescent lighting devices that guide me in the dark. He screwed in a variety of oddly shaped tubes and ballasts that would free up several watts of expensive Canadian hydro power.
   As I watched the contractor work, I could feel the bulbar region just north of my brain stem spring into action. "It's time to think about planting hardy bulbs for next year," came that mysterious voice outta nowhere.
   Like the various designs of electric bulbs, that which we call bulbs are actually various versions thereof. True bulbs have food-storing scales. You probably have some in your kitchen in the form of onions or garlic. While both flower, daffodils, lilies, hyacinths and tulips are true bulbs, and the flowers are prettier.
A Bulb By Any Other Name...
   Looking a lot like true bulbs with a thin outer skin called a tunic are the corms. Unlike bulbs, corms are solid with a bud on top that will produce the leaves and flowers we call crocuses and gladioli among others.
   A third type of "bulb" are the tubers. While not particularly noted for their flowers, the Irish, Maine and Idaho potatoes are tubers. Caladiums and tuberous begonias are tubers that appear more like corms. The primary difference is that a tuber can sprout roots from the sides and top, just like that potato you found behind the microwave the other day. Other tubers, like the anemones, are woody. They share the rooting characteristics of true tubers.
   Depending on whom you ask, tuberous roots are either lumped in with tubers, or are a separate variety. Dahlias have tuberous roots, as do the sweet potatoes. Typically, tuberous roots have a pointed bud at the top and root more toward the bottom. How could anyone confuse these critters with tubers?
   The final version of bulbs is not a bulb or root at all. Rhizomes are really thickened stems that run horizontally. Rhizomes grow leaves and flowers from the top and, rather expectedly, roots from the bottom. Common rhizomes include the calla lilies, cannas and bearded irises.
Fall is Ideal Planting Time
   Most of us reading this newspaper reside in the third or fourth hardiness zones. It depends on the map you consult and to a lesser degree where Canada is located as you view the chart. Suffice it to say the optimum time to plant hardy bulbs is from mid-September into early October. Anytime the average soil temperature drops below 60 degrees F. Try to get them in before the ground freezes solid, hence the cutoff time of early October.
   Bulbs bloom throughout the year, with crocuses popping up through the snow followed by irises, hyacinths, tulips, and so on. Crocuses end the season, too, with the saffron variety. The point--and I am going to make one--is that you aren't likely to remember what's where without at least a rough sketch of the garden. So make one. It only has to be an idea of where bulbs are planted, but can be a very accurate document. As the bed matures, you will be able to determine which bulbs need to be replaced each fall. It has to be better than running around thinking, "Didn't a daffodil grow there last year?"
   Planning your planting is too extensive a subject to be covered here. Several excellent books cover the subject well, but "free" advice can be had from one or more of the many bulb catalogs which started arriving again during August. I emphasize free only because you might be enticed into spending a small fortune to duplicate the color pages in the catalog.
   The primary concept to remember is although bulbs are usually planted in the fall, they bloom at various times throughout the following year. Each season has not only its varieties, each variety may have many different colors to work into your garden plan. With a modest amount of planning, you will have one of those envied gardens that is in bloom during the entire season.
   Daryle Thomas, proprietor of the Hearth and Cricket Stove Shop in East Wallingford, Vt. is a certified Master Gardener who relishes the fall--when folks start seriously thinking of those cold winter days ahead.