Selecting Summer Blooming Bulbs

 

Bulbs planted in spring will produce some of the most dramatic colors in your summer and fall garden. You can tuck these bulbs among your perennials to create a fuller looking bed or create a special summer bulb garden of your own. Many summer and fall blooming bulbs are ideal in containers and will liven up your porch or deck.  Dahlias, gladiolus, begonias, cannas and a broad selection of lilium, including Asiatic and Oriental lilies are available now.  

Lilies are a great choice for your perennial garden. There are many varieties of lilium to choose from and they are semi-hardy to hardy in our planting zone, meaning they will typically come back season after season. If you planted some lilies last year, you may see them poking through the ground already. Once they are established in your garden, they'll produce showy blooms for many years.

Asiatic lilies are popular because they tend to spread quickly. Other varieties won't spread as rapidly as Asiatic lilies, but they tend to be more fragrant. Lilies are planted from bulbs. Before planting, amend the soil with organic material, add some Bone Meal or Dutch Bulb Food and plant the bulbs 5" to 6" deep.  

Canna lilies feature attractive green, bronze or variegated foliage, in addition to their flowers.  Cannas do well in garden beds and containers. The canna “bulb” is called a rhizome. Plant cannas about 6" deep and about 18" apart, in well-amended soil, with Bone Meal added to the planting site. 

 

Of all the summer bulbs, Dahlias offer the greatest variety including dinnerplate, decorative, cactus, and powder puff. Dahlias are grown from tubers and come in a wide variety of colors.

Plant dahlias only as deep as the crown, in well-amended soil. Dahlias will bring a wide range of color and texture to your garden in late summer and early fall.  

For more late summer and fall color, plant Gladiolus. Gladiolus “bulbs” are called corms. Plant your corms about 3" deep and 4" to 5" apart, in soil that has been amended with compost.  

Tuberous begonias make incredible displays of color in a shady spot on your patio. They can be planted in containers, hanging baskets and directly in the garden.  

Except for the lilium, bulbs planted now are considered tender and will not survive our winter weather. They need to be dug and stored if you want to save them for next year.  

Summer bulbs tend to sell out early, so it’s best to shop now to get the best selection. 

 

 

How to Choose the Best Roses for Your Garden

When the subject of growing roses in Colorado comes up, many gardeners shy away, convinced roses are a finicky bunch that won’t do well here. Truth is, if you provide the right culture roses are no more difficult to care for than other flowering shrubs. Start with the basics. Roses need a minimum of six hours of full sun in order to grow and bloom properly. Roses need a bed of their own, away from trees, shrubs and perennials that compete for sunlight, space and nutrients. Roses need space. They don’t do well when crowded together.  Roses need well-amended soils in order to establish strong root systems and achieve vigorous growth and bloom potential.  

With these factors in mind, selecting a rose bush becomes a question of purpose. Are you looking to augment your current rose collection; start a rose garden; replace a lost or damaged rose bush; add color and fragrance to your garden; build support for local pollinators? There is a variety of rose bush that will fill some, if not all these goals including hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, climbers, shrubs and even tree roses. 

When we think of roses, it’s the hybrid tea variety that most often comes to mind. Hybrid tea roses represent an amazing pallet of color and fragrance, such as the rose pictured here: Chris Evert.  Depend on hybrid tea roses to bloom consistently throughout the summer season.

Grandiflora roses are very similar to hybrid teas. They tend to be taller and bloom in clusters rather than one rose per stem. Like all roses, grandifloras will attract pollinators. This is Twilight Zone.

Floribunda roses such as Hot Cocoa, are valued for their ability to bloom continuously.

If you want to cover an arbor or trellis, choose a climbing rose. Fourth of July is an excellent choice.

Thanks to The Flower Bin Perennials Manager Billie Jo’s knowledge and expertise, all our roses are well-established and following a brief acclimation period, ready to plant. With their beautiful color and pleasant scent, roses can transform a garden and we’re here to help you make it happen.  

For a list of roses available for this year visit our webpage:  Rose-List-2022.pdf (theflowerbin.net) 

  

 

April Lawn Care Advice

Winter can take its toll on your lawn. As your grass begins to break dormancy, you may notice brown spots or bare patches in places where the lawn was healthy last fall. Many of these problems can be traced back to poor soil conditions including compacted, heavy clay content, poor water penetration and shallow root systems. One of the best ways to fix these issues is to aerate. Aeration helps break up heavy clay soils and allows water, air and nutrients to get down to the roots, which in turn helps build stronger root systems and makes your lawn more disease resistant and better able to take up the fertilizers you apply.    Core aeration or “plugging” as it’s often called, uses a machine to extract a plug from your lawn, leaving the remains on top of the grass as it goes. You can leave these cores in place. They will break down over time. If they bother you, rake them up and toss them in the compost pile.  

Core aeration should not be confused with power raking. Sometimes called dethatching, power raking removes the material that builds up on top of the soil. It does nothing to help build the soil your grass is growing in. Power raking can be destructive and should not be employed; aerate instead. Once the lawn has been aerated, the next step is to work on improving the soil your grass is growing in.  

You can do this by adding a humate-based soil conditioner. Humates improve soil structure and strengthen fertilizer utilization.    In addition, top dressing your lawn with Earth Essentials Sheep, Peat and Compost and earth worm castings two to three times a season will add organic material and build soil quality.  

 

Animals, both domestic and wild can cause considerable damage during the winter. Applying Dog Spot Treatment or liquid Revive will often restore the damaged turf. If after a couple of treatments, the turf has not started to green up, then it’s time to consider reseeding the area.

When it comes to seeding your lawn, there are two important factors to consider. First, you need to know the type of grass you have, so you can select the right seed. Second, you need to know when’s the best time to apply your grass seed. Turf grasses are divided into two categories: cool season grasses and warm season grasses. Cool season grasses include Kentucky Blue Grass, Perennial Rye Grass and Turf Type Tall Fescue.  Cool season grass seed can be sown now and will begin to germinate as soon as the soil temperature reaches 50 degrees Fahrenheit.  While Kentucky Blue grass is the predominate turf grass in our area, many lawns are combinations of blue grass, Perennial Rye grass and Turf Type Tall Fescue. Choosing the right grass seed is the first step to getting your lawn in shape for the coming season. We carry a variety of turf grass seed, and we can help you select the right seed for your lawn situation. 

Crabgrass and other annual weeds can be controlled by applying a pre-emergent at this time. Annual weeds typically sprout in the spring, grow quickly, flower, set seed and die before winter. A pre-emergent works by suppressing seed germination.  Pre-emergent and lawn fertilizer can be combined to feed and control seed germination, or you may apply them separately. Note: Don’t use a pre-emergent if you’re planning to seed your lawn.