A Wonderful Book About Bulbs

I thought I'd share with you a little about a wonderful book that I received for Christmas from my mother-in-law, Fleurette.  As a fellow gardener Fleurette has a flare for picking out the best gardening-related gifts for me (lucky me!).  The book is called Bulb and it's by British author Anna Pavord's whose best-selling book the The Tulip is equally as beautiful. 

 

Bulb is filled with Pavord's first-hand knowledge of all the bulbs presented in this gorgeous book.  Photographed by Andrew Lawson and Torie Chugg each page is a visual delight married with informative, lush descriptions and the horticultural history of each bulb Pavord carefully selected for this publication.  Pavord tells you not only how to grow each bulb, but also what to pair them with for the most impact in the garden (invaluable information for any newbie like me).  

 

  

A large, heavy book at 544 pages I've savored it many times over on a cold winter day.  Opening a page and leaving it out the table often brings a warm smile to my face.  But don't let the sheer size of this book intimidate you.  It's so well written that both a novice gardener as well as an expert will enjoy it.  The book is not meant to be an encyclopedia of bulbs, but covers enough species from all over the world that it will keep the interest of any level of gardener.

 

 

  

  

   

  

  

  

Another Snow Draped Landscape

Another storm made it's way up the coast and hit us last night in Massachusetts.  We didn't get as much snow as expected but it was more than enough for me. 

The raised beds and perennials have been made snowy white yet again as the frozen ground is not anywhere near being ready to till for spring.

 

  

The trees hung low and heavy with cold, wet, snow.

 

 

  

The bright red holly berries stood out proudly against the white veil.

 

 

The birds dug through the snow to grab a bite to eat.

 

 

 

Nesting birds are still over a month away, but the snow topped bird house still looks like a cozy shelter.

 

Our house is snow drapped and laced with icicles.

 

But I'm still dreaming of spring and flipping through a wonderful bulb book to add some warm color to my day.

Indoor Bulb Beauty

One of the joys of winter indoor gardening is watching forced bulbs bloom. I love all the different unique containers that can be used and how beautifully you can decorate with them. While I'm still waiting for my amaryllis to bloom I did some poking around cyberspace to get some inspiration. I hope you enjoy these beautiful pictures and get some ideas too.

Photo credit: Country Living

Photo credit: Country Living

Photo credit: Jackson and Perkins

Photo credit: Good Housekeeping

Photo credit: Country Living

I Went a Bit Overboard!

It seems I just can't resist a good sale - especially if gardening is involved. The other day while shopping at Lowes I saw a display for spring bulbs. I wasn't planning on planting any bulbs this fall, but when my eye caught the 50% off sign I was hooked!

Andy knew when I saw the sale sign that I was a goner so he left me standing there blurry eyed in a "sale stupor" while he roamed around the store to do more manly things (whatever that means). 30 minutes later he comes back to see me standing in the same spot. "What on earth are you still doing here?" he says annoyingly. He then looks down at my cart and sees what must be 30 packages of bulbs. "You're not planning on buying all of these are you?" "Of course not," I say as I cross my fingers behind my back. "Well then why are all those packages in the cart?" I then say to him confidently, "I'm planning the spring bed in my head and trying to figure out a planting scheme." ...Actually I'm just confused at that point. "Well just make a selection and let's get out of here before you buy the entire display!" "Maybe I will -- After all it's a darn great sale!"

The rational thing to do would have been to buy maybe one or 2 packages, but obviously I'm not rational so I ended up buying a total of 200 bulbs! Here are my purchases spread out on my kitchen table (along with the 2 packages of amaryllis bulbs and 1 package of paperwhites that I intend to force indoors this winter).

Looking at them all spread out like that makes me want to procrastinate - something I'm really good it! I have no idea where I'm going to put them all, but this spring should be full of color. Now I've got to hope for a few days of nice weather so I can get them in the ground before it freezes. Some how the actual planting part wasn't in my head when I was standing at the 50% off sign dreaming about spring - UGH!


Before I sign off on this post I'd like to mention a some things I've been thankful for these past few days:

• Thankful that Andy was able to rent a leave vacuum and shredder to get up most of our leaves. Boy if we had to rake them all by hand we'd be out there for a week straight!
• Thankful that Andy's eye was not seriously injured while using the shredder. He usually wears goggles but had forgotten to put them on. Thankfully no long term damage was done.
  
• Thankful we were able to find Ellie after she decided to chase after a squirrel and wander the neighborhood for an hour... jeez she's so little and it was so cold outside that if we didn't find her she would have never survived - I shudder to think.