Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Bloomin' Tuesday

On Monday I said "Good Bye" to my five beautiful ferns. They were loaded in the truck and made a journey to the Career and Technology Center. The students in the horticulture/florticulture program will keep them alive over the winter. How sad, the only flowers that are still blooming are the baskets of mums on the front porch.



I think "flowers" all year round. Now I am preparing to plant tulip bulbs for beautiful blooms in the spring. Why don't you join me and plant tulip bulbs in your garden?
About Tulips
Once you have decided on a location for your tulip bed, prepare the soil well. If possible, spade the area to several inches below the depth of the bulb. Bone meal and wood ashes are the usual fertilizers and are adequate. Use three to four pounds of each per 100 square feet of soil. Use two to three pounds of a 5-10-10 fertilizer per 100 square feet. The depth of the planting will vary with the bulb you are planting. A general guide is two to three times the length or width of the bulbs. If in doubt, go deeper. Plant the bulbs slightly further apart than they are deep. When digging a hole for the bulb, be certain the hole has a flat bottom. Put your fertilizer in the bottom of the hole first and stir it in well. After the ground is frozen in the fall, mulch your bulbs with evergreen boughs or coarse straw. This is to prevent freezing, thawing, and premature growth in the spring. Follow these instructions and you'll have beautiful tulips in the spring.
Happy Planting!
Thank you, Jean of http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/ for hosting Bloomin' Tuesday. To see some beautiful blooms, visit Jean. She's a wonderful hostess!!

17 comments:

Margie said...

Wow! Those ferns are gorgeous and HUGE! It's nice that you have a place for them to go over the winter, and I'm sure it helps the students out too, to learn to care for those beautiful plants!

I pulled out most of my plants on Sunday. I was sad to see my little marigolds go, they were really hanging in there, and my impatiens, that's about all I had left! I'd like to plant some tulips and daffodils, too, before it's too late!

Have a lovely day!
Margie :)

Creations by Marie Antoinette and Edie Marie said...

Those ferns are gorgeous ,but not as gorgeous as your daughters.You have a beautiful famil.God has really blessed you.Thank you for stoping by my blog.I appreciate your most lovely coments.You did not leave a name for the angel so I'll just write down Sweetie.If you want to come up with a different name I'll replace it.Hugs Marie Antionette

Unknown said...

Nice ferns!! You took really good care of them they look so healthy. Tulips I think about sometimes, something I should try.

Anonymous said...

Those ferns were so beautiful, I wish I could grow them. Once, when I was in the hospital for awhile, my husband bought tulips and planted them in a planter bin for me as a surprise for when I returned home. I loved that.

Hugs,
Chris

Nancy said...

Sweetie:
I have to tell you a little story about tulips. As you know, Heidi, my daughter, lives in Holland. When she came home for Fawn's funeral, she brought bulbs, several kinds. She and her brothers and husband planted them in my back yard. They still come up every year and I never do a thing to them. Your ferns are beautiful. Great that they will be kept alive.
Nancy

Carla said...

I have some tulips in a pot, that I hope will come back for us. Tulips are expensive annuals here. How cool you have someone to overwinter your ferns!!! I hope you post your tulips in their glory!

Bo said...

Hi Sweetie...Just last night we had to put my HUGE fern in the garage because of frost...my other 2 just had to endure it...lucky you to have a place to over winter them. I LOVE tulips! ;-) Bo

Anne Fannie said...

Hi Sweetie, Its so nice your gorgeous ferns have a winter home! We don't have that problem here with the snow so I wouldn't know what it would be like to say goodbye to my plants for the winter! I love tulips but unfortunally so does the gophers. I do have alot planted around the yard and what ever the gophers do not eat, they survive and pop up in spring. Love, Ann

Grammy said...

Hi Sweetie.
How sad to see the ferns go. Will you get them back next spring?
We just got cold enough to hurt the foliage on the elephant ear. I did not pull it out yet.

Jean said...

Thank you for your kind words Sweetie! I planted a few tulips years ago and only a cpouple still come up. I did plant lots of daffodiles this year tho. Happy planting! Jean

Suzanne said...

Oh, those ferns are so lush and beautiful. I'm glad someone will be enjoying them over the winter. I just love it when the tulips come up in Spring...so pretty!

Anonymous said...

Sweetie, You might enjoy coming here to Stephen Foster Culture Center, there is way more here than I posted. They also have cabins for rent here. It is a beautiful place. Peaceful and quite.

Hugs,
Chris

Anonymous said...

Your ferns are beautiful. How ever did you have them grow so large...oh my. YOu obviously have a real green thumb.
Thats so neat that the school will keep them over the winter like that. Thats a great idea instead of them dying in the winter to keep them going...I wonder whether they will be able to keep them as beautiful as yours.

Thank you for sharing the tulip tips too!
Judi

Aiyana said...

It's hard to remember it's definitely getting cold in other parts of the country when we are having our best Weather here! I've planted Tulip bulbs once in my life--enjoyed them in the spring even though they were very small. I never remember to buy the bulbs in time to put them in the fridge for chilling for the required length of time. I guess you don't have to do that where you live.
Aiyana

Laurie and Chris said...

How neat is that that you have a place that will use your frens that is a great idea.I don't have much luck with planting bulbs.

kesslerdee said...

Amazing ferns! I have a couple that are way overgrown too- been thinking about splitting them up into different pots.

Margaret Cloud said...

It is nice to have a place to keep your ferns, we have a college that takes a couple palm trees for the winter, they belong to a business down town. Our town is next to Holland, Michigan, they host the tulip festival in May, this draws people from all over the world.