By Candy Venning
Unless you planted them or inherited them, there’s no excuse for 1970’s style ‘red soldiers’ and ‘Yellow sentinels’- aka boring tulips. Mix it up! Plant every colour of everything; whatever is on sale, especially if they’re Alliums. Remember, what may seem gaudy at the end of a bright colourful summer will be balm to your snow blasted eyeballs come spring. Trust me – spring colours cannot clash.
Sure, sure, you say – but WHAT ABOUT THE SQUIRRELS??? Yes, the squirrels have more time than you do and a much keener sense of smell but we are (usually) smarter so I recommend…
- Plant lots; More is more. I believe one of the very best ways to stump a squirrel is to plant a few hundred bulbs rather than 10 or 15 (if squirrels eat 5 out of 10 tulips it will be very frustrating, if they eat 5 out of 50 or 100 it will not be noticed)
- Go deep or stay home – following the instructions on the packaging is nice but not accurate as the bulbs are packaged in Holland which has a milder climate and apparently milder squirrels. I know we all cheat a little just to get the job over with, and just who takes a measuring stick out into the garden anyway? Squirrels will only dig in loose soil so stomp it down after. Squirrels won’t dig very deep (they worry about being eaten while they have their heads buried in your bulbs) so dig deeper.
- Get sneaky – cover your tracks; leaving a trail of papery bulb casings is a map to your buried treasure, combine it with freshly turned soil and it’s a flashing scent beacon to furry fiends. Tromp the soil down with your Wellies. (prevents frost from heaving them up to the surface too) Watering afterwards also helps to dilute scent signals.
- Alternate bulbs; Fritillarias, Alliums, Species tulips & Daffodils (so many colours, so many sizes and some are fragrant!) Avoid Muscari, Star of Bethlehem and Eranthis as they are considered invasive species in our zone – sadly.
- Blood, Bone & Hen – it’s fertilizer, not voodoo – Bloodmeal or Bonemeal is a good idea for the health of your soil overall, also rumoured to be somewhat effective at ‘cloaking’ your bulbs’ scent. Acti-sol is my favourite organic hen manure but there are plenty of other options. Leaf mulch is great for adding fibre/humus to soil that is dusty and looks great as mulch on top of beds (it will break down and bulbs will push up through it)
The biggest problem with planting bulbs is the time of year. Generally, we’re feeling done with the garden and ready to curl up with a good book in front of a fire, carve pumpkins, drink spiced cider; anything but planting something that is completely invisible – BUT – your delayed gratification is repaid with compound interest come spring when each fresh bloom confirms that life, in colour, will again come to the garden.