Bulbs for All Seasons - Softcover

Gingras, Pierre

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1552095878 ISBN 13: 9781552095874

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2001

Synopsis

Experienced gardeners will know that bulbs are one of the most important garden elements. In this highly useful guide, more than 200 bulbs currently available on the market are presented by season, from the relatively unknown and exotic to the reliable and indispensable.

For every season there are outstanding bulbs: spring brings snowdrops, crocuses, tulips and decorative garlic and in summer dahlias, lilies and gladioli; in fall autumn crocuses and precious saffron. Finally, in winter, amaryllis, cyclamen, oxalis and clivias plants brighten homes in the darker winter months and throughout a good portion of the early year. For those in warmer climates, many of these winter bulbs are just one more season of garden color.
Pierre Gingras also discusses:

the characteristics of true bulbs, corms, tuberous roots and rhizomes
gardening in microclimates
tips on buying bulbs
mulching and hardiness
growing basics, fertilizing, and forcing
propagating and naturalizing.

Bulbs for all Seasons features more than 70 different species, including Amorphophallus titanum, an arum species that produces the biggest flower in the world. There is also a glossary of terms as well as a bibliography and detailed index. Easy to read yet comprehensive, this book is the ideal reference source for all gardeners.

About this title

About the Author:

Pierre Gingras is the gardening columnist for a major daily newspaper. In addition to gardening, he has a passion for ornithology and is the author of a publication on North American birds.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Sample entry from the "Spring" section

Leucojum
Snowflake

Snowflakes pop up early every spring.

They produce small, bell-shaped, delicate white flowers. At the tip of each petal is an elegant green or yellow dab of color, as if a painter had added it at the very last moment. They flower for a considerable period.

In addition to being tolerably hardy, leucojum -- unusually for bulbous plants -- thrive in wet, even waterlogged soil. A favorite habitat is the edge of a pond. Long dry periods are unwelcome.

Leaves emerge from a case
Leucojum comes from a Greek word defining the white color of the flower. Only two of the four species are used in Canadian gardens, L. ęstivum and L. vernum. All are close relatives of the snowdrop (Galanthus).

Members of the amaryllis family, snowflakes have 6-10 basal leaves that emerge from a kind of case or sheath when they start to grow. They appear before or while, the plant is flowering and can be as long as 20" (50 cm).

Leucojum multiply by seed or by transplanting the offsets after the leaves fade. Snowflakes are not disease prone, but now and again they will attract the unwelcome attentions of slugs.

Leucojum ęstivum
Gravetye Giant
Origin: Europe, from Great Britain to Iran, by way of Ukraine and the Caucasus.
Flowering period: late April, early May.
Description: long basal leaves up to 20" (50 cm). Stalk: triangular, up to 24" (60 cm). Flowers: 2-8 pendent, attached to the stalk on a 2 1/2" (6 cm) peduncle. Color: white, with a green spot at the tip of the petals.
Cultivation: rich clayey soil, moist slightly water-resistant. The plant will tolerate stagnant water. Sun or partial shade. Plant bulbs thickly together, 3-4" (8-10 cm) deep. The "Gravetye" or "Gravetye Giant" variety has white flowers, is robust and hardy and reaches a height of 30-35" (75-90 cm).
Hardiness: Zone 4

Leucojum vernum
Spring Snowflake
Origin: France, eastern and southern Europe.
Flowering period: May
Description: waxy linear leaves, 8" (20 cm) long and 3/4" (2 cm) wide. Stalk: sometimes in pairs, flattened, 8-12" (20-30 cm). Flowers: usuall solitary, sometimes in pairs. Color: white with a green spot at the tip of the petals.
Cultivation: rich, moist soil, in partial shade, in wooded areas or under trees. Plant bulb 3-4" (8-10 cm) deep. The sub-species L. vernum carpathicum has a yellow spot at the tip of the petals. This species is sometimes called a snowdrop, thus confusing it with the real snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis. The stalk of the vagneri variety always bears two flowers. Height: 8" (20 cm).
Hardiness: Zone 4.

About this edition

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1552095878
• ISBN 13: 9781552095874
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272