Planting Daffodils, Tulips and Pondering Amaryllis Bulbs

I planted the remaining boxed bulbs I got from our local store this past weekend. The daffodils and tulips ended up in the long flower bed in the back yard. The original home owner planted pink tulips and pink hyacinths in this flower bed. The hyacinths have established themselves well in the bed while the tulips are blooming but obviously have been in the flower bed too many years and are showing their years in terms of color and size of the flowers they produce.

I tried digging up and moving the hyacinths but they are buried deep down at the bottom of the flower bed. The tulips I've kept in place because they seemed to belong there. Recently I found some white daffodils with pink trumpets at the store and some dark purple tulips. I thought that they would be a good combination to add in with the established spring bulbs already in place in the long flower bed. I added in some purple dutch iris with yellow markings into the long flower bed last year and they are doing very well in their new home.

Saturday I decided to plant the bulbs and went out into the yard an hour earlier than usual since showers were predicted and its a good thing I did. It started to sprinkle enough that by the time I finished planting the bulbs I was feeling fairly damp. I surrounded the pink heather plant and the tall purple fuchsia planted behind the heather with white and pink daffodils on either side. I added the purple tulips a short distance on either side of the pink daffodils to expand the bulbs surrounding the center of the flower bed. I'm looking forward to the spring display, it will be good to see new flowers and flower colors mixed in with the original bulbs in the flower bed.

My mother-in-law gave me another red amaryllis bulb kit for my birthday. I still have last year's amaryllis pot on my work desk. I think I will take the older of the bulbs and plant it outside in a sheltered location. I've always wanted to try this and since I have two of the same bulbs it seems like a good opportunity to experiment. I have planted paperwhites outdoors before after growing them indoors and they seemed to work fine there. The obelisk outside the dining room window currently is supporting a vine of sweet peas. I think having a red amaryllis on either side of the metal obelisk would be really beautiful during the holidays. I'm going to give it a try and will see how things progress with the amaryllis bulb planted next to the obelisk.

Geraniums in the Coastal Garden

I have to say in the past I have never been a big fan of the old fashioned lipstick colored geraniums you see planted in gardens. I've learned over the past few years what a workhorse geraniums really are in the garden. I admit we removed some of the old fashioned geranium plants when we first moved here, the orange red color really was not appealing at all and the plants didn't look very good. I did keep three of the geraniums originally planted in the garden and I'm very glad I did. The first geranium shown in the photo is a scented geranium, it has pale pink flowers and lived in a pot for quite a while until I planted it near the arbor under the holly tree. Its doing great so far and is twice as big now as in the photo and full of pink flowers.

The geranium in this photo was a plant that lived in a plastic pot for the first two years we were here. I think this is closer to the old fashioned variety of geranium and I did wonder if I should keep it. The flowers on this plant are very pretty, a deep pink with darker coloring inside the flower. This particular plant flowered profusely in its abusive plastic pot in the shaded spot where it was left by its previous owner. I moved it to a brighter area and finally decided since I'd planted the other pink geranium under the holly tree why not plant this one on the other side under the other holly tree. The geranium started flowering right away after planting and the flowers have turned a deeper shade of pink. Plants under the holly trees do not always do well but both of the pink geraniums have flourished in their new partial shade locations.

This photo shows the re-planting of the dark purple geranium, another original plant in the garden. This geranium was in the white pot in the photo; planted with the geranium the huge naked lady bulbs had cracked the pot open after years of growing too big for the pot. This purple geranium has very similar leaves compared to the Johnson's Blue geranium but has a smaller flower that is distinctly purple and produces flowers all year long. After removing the naked lady bulbs from the cracked pot we added dirt and replanted the plant, watering it in well. A few weeks has gone by and today I saw one lone flower appearing amid the weary leaves and stems of the plant. I think it will recover and be very happy for its new private planter space.

Since moving to the house I've added two Johnson's Blue geraniums and they have been a great addition to the garden along with the original geraniums. I like scented geraniums and the sculpted leaved of the Johnson Blue geraniums, they add scent and shape to the garden and are extremely hardy and reliable. I had a few ivy leaf geraniums in Petaluma in a planter box because nothing else would grow there. They turned out to be good plants with beautiful flowers and leaves. Geraniums do just fine in our cool coastal weather and can tolerate some shade as well. So I'm turning into a fan of geraniums, at least some varieties of them and am glad they are part of my cool weather garden after all.

Planting Heather and Crocus Bulbs

I spent time this weekend planting the remaining three heather plants and planting crocus bulbs. I purchased three boxes of crocus bulbs and planted them in the long flower bed under the tall jasmine vines growing up the wall surrounding the hot tub on our deck. The three remaining heather plants were planted at the base of this structure as well. The heathers look great in their new place and the variety of bigger crocus in whites, yellows and purples should provide a nice show in the early spring. The smaller crocus were planted beneath the ferns and calla lilies near the gate. I already have some primrose, violets and two cyclamen planted under this area but it still looks sparse so crocus were added to liven up the spring display.

I received some tiny sized pruners from my husband for my birthday recently. I used the new pruners to trim the two summer blooming heathers in the back yard; they are located in the flower bed that needs to be torn down and rebuilt. I planted these two plants as my first heathers in place here a few years ago. The plants have grown quite tall and wide. I used the curved pruners to trim off the old flowers from the plants and the pruner worked perfectly for trimming heathers. The curve of the pruners helped to shape the plant while pruning. Since both plants bloomed quite a bit it took a while to trim off all the old flowers but I finished it up and they look pretty good overall. Most of my heaths and heathers are fall or winter blooming shrubs so I'll have lots of trimming to do by early spring.

I used the new curved pruners to trim up my small carnation plants in the large flower border in the back yard. Lots of clipping of old flowers from the tops of the plants, they have a nicer curved shape now thanks to the new pruners. The list of garden work is still long but lucky for me my husband trimmed back the runners on the pink jasmine vines and the few spurts of growth on the hedges while I was working on heather and crocus planting, giving me two less tasks to do as the garden year nears its close.

Planting Brodiaea and Grape Hyacinth Bulbs

I picked up some new bulbs to add to the garden this past weekend. I had planted brodiaea (starflower) in the barrel in the back yard last year and they bloomed beautifully in early summer. I purchased two boxes of the bulbs, 24 in all and planted them in the long border in the backyard. The blue/mauve flowers should look stunning with the pink two toned fuchsias in the border. Speaking of the pink fuchsia, I was able to root two more pieces of the fuchsia this summer and planted them in a hanging basket so they can get established before next summer season.

I was able to find some grape hyacinth bulbs (muscari) to add to the front yard under the climbing pink roses. In Petaluma our backyard was full of grape hyacinth bulbs. Unfortunately I didn't think to dig some up to bring with me and it has taken me a while to find these bulbs for sale in our area. The grape hyacinth bulbs should multiply quickly once established. They work great as a ground cover and are a bright spot in the spring garden. Besides the brilliant colored grape cluster style flowers they have grass like leaves that look attractive surrounding the flowers, and the bulbs seem to be very hardy. The bulbs I planted already had a number of small bulblets attached to each of the main bulbs. Once the lavenders under the pink roses grow larger the low growing blue grape hyacinth flowers should naturalize in swaths underneath the lavender shrubs, accenting the tall stems of purple lavender flowers.

After a few seasons in the ground the cotoneaster shrub is finally taking off. The branches are a good foot long now and they are filling up with orange berries. The cotoneaster shrub is low growing and grows horizontally, spreading its branches in an arch from the center of the shrub. The cotoneaster is planted between two of the pink climbing roses that are growing against either side of the fences that form a corner. I am hoping the cotoneaster will spread outward and back into the empty corner between the two rose bushes to fill in the gap between them. Cotoneaster is often used as a ground cover and this is what I am using it for. Birds like the berries so there will be another food source in the garden, although our holly trees provide plenty of berries for robins and sparrows in winter and early spring. In spring the cotoneaster sports small white flowers. I didn't see any flowers on the cotoneaster this past spring so I am looking forward to seeing some flowers on the shrub next spring.

Fall in the North Coast Garden

As fall continues on the north coast I'm still finding growth happening with new and established plants. The sword fern I planted next to the front porch is sending up a new curled white fern shoot from the base of the fern I planted in spring. I originally dug up from the main fern plant from under the holly trees, one of two sword ferns I brought with me from Petaluma. When first planted this fern it had a rhiazome with two frond stems and some roots; now a third frond is curling up from the soil. Having had good success in dividing and planting this particular fern this tells me that the new fern is now established in its porch corner and will eventually grow up to be a hardy specimen.

The sweet peas I grew in the pot on my deck were planted out and are starting to grow up the obelisk structure. It may be late in the season for the new sweet pea plant but you'd never know it since it is sports new blooms ready to open. I'm hoping the sweet peas do well over the next month so I can gather some seeds for next year's garden.

The passionflower vines on the fence have done great this year. After the hard cut back of the vines in early spring and the weekly watering regime for the vines the extra work has paid off this season. A few weeks ago I counted 34 purple and green flowers on the vines; this past weekend the count was up to 50 flowers! The foliage is so lush it can be difficult to see the pale green and purple flowers as they fade into the green leaves. Still it is exciting to see so much flowering on the once bare vines.

The passionflower vines in the trellis boxes need a top dressing of time released fertilizer and new dirt to help the two new vines I planted get a good start for next season. I replanted my small blue hydrangea plant in the front yard where the crocosmias were crowding out the area until we dug them up. After digging up the overbearing crocosmias we found two beautiful specialty grass plants hidden in in the corner. So far it looks a little bare with the specialty grass on one side and the small hydrangea in the center but soon enough the hydrangea will grow bigger and fill the space. I'm hoping to find some nepeta in the garden center to sit next to the hydrangea next spring, the local kitties should enjoy the nepeta as much as I do.

Planting Heaths and Heathers

Saturday was spent planting heaths and heathers in the garden. My husband and I were out in the yard by noon, an hour earlier than usual. The forecast was for rain so I did my best to plant four gallon pots of heaths and heathers in the front yard. I had one spot open in the walkway border to the right of the house and planted a pink flowering heather there. The remaining plants were planted in the big border to the left of the house, two heathers and one heath planted there. It was busy work and I was moving as fast as I could. The heath was another large bell flowering plant with pink bells, matching in color the other heath planted there already. The other two heather plants both have pink/lavender flowers and are fairly tall and wide, they should go well with the other heathers planted in the flower bed.

As soon as I finished the fourth planting the rain started, first a light drizzle turning into a heavy drizzle, which made us head indoors quickly. I have three more heaths and heathers to plant. I've decided to plant them beneath the pink jasmine in the back yard. I have naked lady bulbs in the beds below the jasmine plants so not much is in the beds so far. I can see the three plants doing well there in the back yard. One of the heathers is "Silver King", I had this plant in the back yard in Petaluma and it grew to a huge size, it is a beautiful plant with silver foliage and lavender flowers.

The photos in this post are of two heathers in place in flower beds planted last fall. The larger pink heather is in the main flowerbed in the back yard with a new purple fuchsia cutting planted behind it in the center of the flower bed. The other plant is a low growing heather planted near the rhododendron in the front yard, it is surrounded by a ground cover of blue flowering lithodora. My goal is to add as many heaths and heathers to my garden as I can fit in. They are beautiful, hardy plants that need minimal upkeep once they are in the ground for a year. A good weekly watering for the first year, making sure the roots are not waterlogged and the soil drains well, then a yearly trim after blooming will keep them happy and looking good.

Annual Heath and Heather Farm Sale

October 4th was the annual heath and heather farm sale in a nearby town outside of where we live. I always look forward to the sale, anticipating the variety of heaths and heathers they have available. Last year I was able to purchase a number of heaths (erica) plants with large bells and I've been very pleased with the growth and flowering results of these new heaths over the last year. This year there were almost no heath plants available, unfortunate but I did manage to get two this year. The rest of the plants were heathers with their delicate leaves and flowers. Any heath and heather is wonderful as far as I'm concerned so I was happy to buy as many as possible. This year my husband and I decided we'd get more plants than usual, our purchase added up to twelve plants in all!

As in the past the farm owner is available to answer questions about the plants from buyers and holds short seminars while you visit. They always have treats of sweets, appetizers, coffee and tea spread out on a table in the backyard valley setting so you can munch and shop at your leisure. The old apple tree has a bench built around the base with tiny chirping birds flitting around in the branches. This year a small squirrel was hopping around in the branches and making squeeks at all the excitement down below him, unwilling to come down while the farm owners border collies wandered around the visitors in the pasture. It really is lovely there and feels like a mini vacation whenever we go to the farm for the sale.

I was able to purchase 5 inch pots and 1 gallon pots all at $3.25 each, a great price for such big heath and heather plants. I have a number of larger sized heather plants and one heath plant to add to the garden, probably in the front yard to add to the family of heaths and heathers already in place.

My plan was to plant up the barrel in the back yard with four or five heather plants, digging up the bulbs from the planter and replanting them elsewhere. We did just that this past Saturday, I replanted the brodiaea bulbs and daffodils around the obelisk with sweet peas climbing up the structure. We moved the barrel over into a sunny location and I planted four heathers and one heath in the barrel. One of the heathers has an open expansive growth pattern with pink lavender flowers. Two of the heathers are erect varieties, one with multiple cream orange colors on the leaves while the other has lime green and brown marking on the leaves. Two of the smaller plants found a home in the barrel. One has a lavender flower paired with deep green leaves while the smallest sized plant is a heath with deep green leaves tipped all year long with bright cream and peach colors. It is really pretty already even though it is only a 2 inch pot size plant.

I'm most excited about adding heathers and a heath to the barrel in the backyard. You can see the barrel from the dining room window, it should be really beautiful once the plants grow out and reach a year or two in the barrel. I can't wait to see the end result a few years from now.