THIS IS A SPONSORED POST BY FLOWERBULBS.COM

Finally, this weekend the weather has turned to fall. This was a long, dry summer, and I hope that the turn of the weather also brings some rain with the cooler temps. This weekend I was back in the garden after an inspirational trip to Maine, and with it I have a long list of projects I need and want to complete at home.

 

One of the on-going projects I am working on is extending the early color in garden beds and within the woodland areas. The perennial bed that runs along the back of the house has great color that starts first with alliums and then progresses throughout the summer until the last push in September. What this bed is missing is that very early color and food for the pollinators before the May alliums.  Since we have a vast collection off daffodils in the woodlands, in this area I want to add something different and that will be enjoyed at a closer vantage point. To fill that hole, I have chosen a collection of muscari  (hyacinth) bulbs in shades of purples and blues, Muscari latifolium and Muscari armeniacum to place along the edge of the bed.

 

Since muscari are smaller spring blooms (6-10 inches), I like to place in areas with heavy foot traffic so you can appreciate the bulbs up close. Once the bulbs have finished blooming, the other perennials will cover the spent foliage. Another benefit, the muscari are deer and rodent safe, they will survive in our chipmunk ridden garden.

 

 

Since planting bulbs inside an existing bed, it is an easy weekend project, it was a great project to have my daughter Charlotte help. She very quickly mastered planting with the tip pointing up and carefully covering back with the soil. We got a few different groupings planted, but since we needed to leave for James’ Hockey game, we will continue planting into the next few evenings.

 

 

Since I selected two different varieties, Chuck and I limited our groupings to singular variety of 12-15 bulbs. Since I have not started cutting back the perennials, we are able to find good open pockets we can fill and keeping a rhythm of the variety placement.  Overall, I expect for us to plant about 200 bulbs. This may seem like a lot, but since we only need to dig about ten different areas and are planting in mass groupings it goes very quickly.

 

 

For finding and selecting a variety of muscari, you can still find a lot of varieties at local garden centers and online. You will want to plant before your first major frost, which for us is well into Mid-November. This gives you plenty of time to do some online ordering.  The colors range from white, blues, purples and pinks. You can get some varieties with a solid color and others that have a gradation.

 

 

If you are looking for any additional information planting and using muscari, along with different varieties of bulbs, FlowerBulbs.com is a great resource. Their are many bulbs you plant during the fall, including alliums, daffodils, tulips, crocus and irises. FlowerBulbs.com has information on planting all varieties.

 

I know I have been missing on the blog, but from my trip in July to Seattle, September to Maine and McCullough’s summer work, I have a long list of posts I have been working to edit photos. Not sure I will ever get to a calendar, but look for a blast of posts over the coming weeks.