As the year wears on and cut flowers become expensive, bulbs which bloom during autumn are particularly useful around the house. There are several varieties of Lily and Crocus which flower in the autumn, as well as Hyacinths and Tulips. Some specially forced to bloom during the coldest weather give a wonderful glow of colour during the winter.
Autumn is also the time when Cyclamens come into their own, along with Colchicums (sometimes called Naked Boys because their crocus-like flowers first appear without any leaves), Liriopes (small spires of deep purple flowers followed by blue-black berries), little Sternbergias (golden star-like flowers that grow in groups), Zephryanthes candida (white and crocus-like) and the strange Sauromatum guttata (Monarch-of-the-East), which, without eithersoil or water, soon produces on a stem nearly 2 feet tall a green and purple-spotted leaf-like flower with a rather unpleasant smell.
Winter's most enchanting flower is perhaps the Galanthus (Snowdrop), its drooping white head delicately touched with green. There are doubles, giants and some with outward-curving petals. The Nerine, by contrast, is a brilliant and spectacular plant: on 18-inch stems large round heads of lily-like pink flowers, sometimes gold-flecked, appear.
In winter, slender multi-coloured Freesias give a touch of gaiety and Convallaria (Lilies-of-the-Valley) their sweet perfume. Eranthis hyemalis (Winter Aconites), similar to Buttercups, or Lachenalia (Cape Cowslips) can be planted in a clump to give a sunny splash of colour. There is a pendulous variety of the latter, (L. pendula), which would be ideal for a hanging basket. Its flowers are red, edged with green and purple.
Bulbs, in short, can be found for any month of the year and for any purpose: to fill a large alcove with one tall and striking splash of colour, to hang gracefully from a basket or wall-container, or to decorate the corner of a desk with a cluster of miniature blooms near eye-level. Chain-stores offer a good choice of bulbs these days, and there are many specialists whose mail-order catalogues offer a feast of all that is best or rarest. Bulbs are, perhaps, the easiest kind of plant for the indoor gardener to obtain  and to grow. |
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Hanging Basket Plants -
Plants which trail naturally are best: Ivies, Lobelias, pendant Begonias, Petunias, Zebrinas, Chlorophytum (Spider Plant) and Geraniums (particularly the ivy-leaved varieties), with Nasturtiums sown among them to roar away at the end of the summer. , Herbs and Pests Trai...
Home Improvement - Windows -
As always time spent researching to make correct choices will pay dividends to owner builders and renovators. This is particularly important when making window , Feature Walls and door , Growing Flowers choices. The impact of well informed choices will deliver better outcomes to the pro...
Propagating Roses -
Propagation by cuttings is generally not as successful as by budding. Commercially the method is quite impracticable since a shoot which provides several buds , Rose Pests and Diseases yields only one cutting, and budding is much quicker. Even if the cutting should root, , Spring Bulbs it may su...
Rose Pests and Diseases -
Major diseases , Hydroponic Systems - Continuous Flow are black spot, mildew and rust. Black spot may appear at first as yellowish areas on leaves, darkening later. Lower leaves are infected first. Mildew often starts to show on young new foliage as a whitish coating. The leaves curl or become...
Feeding Roses -
The main elements of plant , Soil for Groundcovers growth are nitrogen, phosphorus, potash and, to a lesser extent, minor or trace elements such as magnesium. Roses , Pruning s rarely suffer from nitrogen deficiency, which can be recognized by pale green , Bulb & Spring Flower Combinations leaves and weak growth. , Growing Melons from Seed Typical sign...
Propagating Plants by Cuttings -
For many plants , Types of Japanese Gardens this is the quickest, easiest and cheapest method of propagation; one that provides a sure way of perpetuating a kind or variety in the exact likeness of the parent plant. , How To Trans Seedlings For this reason, cuttings are in common use, especially for the rai...
Propagating by Budding -
Budding, like grafting, is carried out on woody shrubs , Growing Passion Fruit and trees, , Spring Bulbs though herbaceous plants , Bonsai Gardens can also be treated in the same way; Tomato, , Link Index Footer for example, can be successfully grafted on to a Potato plant. , The Vine Leaf Blister Mite ...
Flowering Shrubs and Trees -
Blossom should always be cut when the buds , Low Maintenance House Plants are tight, and either early in the morning or in the evening. If it is cut early in the spring , Hanging Basket Plants before there is much sign of life at all the buds , The Vine Leaf Blister Mite will open in the warmth of the house. , Temperature and Humidity It is particularly important...
Soil for Groundcovers -
Ground covers which grow , Propagating Roses well create their own humus in time and so continue to flourish, but, if the plants , How to Grow Roses appear to be suffering from malnutrition, sprinkle a little general garden , Plants for Japanese s fertiliser on the soil , Light and House Plants between the plants , Flowers and Colour and water , Peony it in. Poor growth...
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