Fall is the most wonderful time for planting annual flowers and bulbs in the garden. Grubs and Daffodils will set up new root systems and reproduce themselves. If you notice the small black wiggly creatures that are hiding in the dirt, this means they are preparing to be active again. Depending on their food source, landscapers plant bulbs in the fall to get maximum production the following summer. The plants need to be firm and heavy.
Annual flowers can be planted in the fall and then dug in up to the winter months. Dig them in deep and put them between 5 and 8 inches deep. Incorporate organic material such as compost, peat moss, manure or plant food. Substitute natural fertilizer or improve the soil by amending it with compost. Planting in the fall does not allow the plants the chance to over winter, a very important step in survival for snails and slugs during cold winters.
If you live in a cold area, however, you may be in a position to plant bulbs in the warmer months. The yard I live in extends into lots of woods. On the weekends, I’ll walk my dog, find a dormant snout in the ground and remove it. I count the snouts there and hope for a drawer full of roots. If I do, plants are tucked up and ready to plant next spring. I know that spring is here because the snouts are bright red buds at the base of my annual flowers plants.
One spring I found a large Asimina fan, a type of Lilies, with protruding stems and multiple buds on each stem. All of the buds were intact, even ones that had been grazed during the winter. I guessed that it had been hiding during the winter. A large bulb such as the Asimina aren’t planted in the spring but are often forgotten about. I am pleased to report that these dormant bulbs survived and will now bring pleasure to my flowering plants throughout summer.
These cultivars can be planted late in the month of March or early April and then dug in at the end of the month. Spring annuals are planted in well prepared ground in the spring. So they will fade in the hot summer months well into fall. Grade the ground that you have dug the filling so as to compact it. Dig a planting hole about 5 to 6 inches deep, set the bulb in with a little of the dirt squeezed between the back of your hand and the bulb. Lightly backfill the hole with additional dirt.
Make sure the bulb is standing by the hole’s edge. audiences lesson inmitted
You need to fill in loose soil around the bulb and water it. Continue to backfill 1 foot deep with dirt, scrape off loose dirt and water lightly. Do not water the soil that is submerged in the open ground. When you fill the space enclosing the bulb, give the soil at the lower portion a backfill in anticipation that it will settle down over the bulb and arrive in the fall.
If you time your planting right, you’ll be able to enjoy this little plant all summer long. They love dry conditions and carefully lack the watering table when that, too, will be dear in late June. Their roots are so large that they don’t need to have water every day. You can also remove the bulb’s larger, upper portion to judge the depth of moisture when it has reached a foot below ground level.
Don’t expect that the bulbs will produce as avidly again next summer. They are intenselyaraohs. They wait, lugging root-yards deep in the night and steamrolling their way through the landscape. Even in our sophisticated gardeners there are still surprises in the winter plantings and covering techniques.
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