Bulb, Glorious Bulbs

I know we are entering that crazy time in CO where it is still the heat of the summer but fall jumps out every night.  It reminds us that just around the corner is one of the busiest times for gardeners.  Fall is my second favorite times of year.  It is the time for preparation and planning.  We all know that it is time to purge the garden of all of those dead annuals that pile up, but we sometimes forget that now is the time to go to the garden centers, or Costco if there is one close and stock up on BULBS.  

There I said it, they are not sexy right now or trendy or fun to plant since there is not immediate satisfaction but trust me you will not regret them.  No one will know you planted them until... Next spring when your neighbor's garden still looks like Armageddon and yours looks like a story book, you will thank me.  Bulbs are those poor creatures that everyone forgets about, because they are more focused on what they are taking out of the garden than what they can put in it at this time of year.  Please please please take pity on these amazing plants, they give quite a show for not much of your time.

So the question now becomes what to plant, and the options are virtually unlimited.  Some of my favorites are (in no particular order): tulips, anemones, alliums, daffodils, crocus, and hyacinths.  This year marks the first anemones to hit the CO garden.  I used to plant them in KS with mixed results but from what I have heard and seen from my fellow gardeners here.  They are great in our horrible hot dry, with cold nights climate.  So here it goes, well maybe not just yet but by the time that September rolls around, I will be ready.  

September and October mark the best times of year to plant fall bulbs here.  So get your kids and round up any neighbors you can find, maybe really good friends will help to and get to planting.  My kids love to help plant bulbs for some reason, and as long as they understand which end is up they can help.  Or in my case follow one of them around righting the bulbs that are upside down.  Plant as many as you can afford or stand to plant.  You will not regret it.  So get out there, find, plant and enjoy those bulbs.

A Few of My Favorite (Garden) Things

So this last weekend I went to my 10 year reunion and realized that I have been blessed.  Between my family and house, I have so many things to be thankful for.  It was good to see everybody but I am ready to get back to my life.  I went out into the garden and found some things that make me happy too.  

So although I love a zucchini just as much as the next guy, my favorite find of the year is the patty pan squash.  Say goodbye to the three thousand gigantic zucchini and say hello to something a little smaller and a little easier to contain.  The patty pan seeds I planted about May 20 or so and the vines are now taking over everything.  The squashes are kind of a mix in flavor between the yellow squash and a zucchini.  You can use them about the same way but you are not stuck with soo many extras.  Plus if you do get a lot of them people are more willing to take one of these than they would a giant zucchini.  Next year you should definitely try one of these.  

This year I also tried to stick to more of the prairie themed gardens.  The plants seem to work and play a lot better with the dry, hot days and cool nights.  I planted some perennial grass that was just as cheap as the boring spike plants that everyone uses in the pots and I think they tend to fill in a little better than the other grasses.  I also planted a penstemmon which is definitely a plant I like to use in my plantings here.  I swear this one has bloomed on and off for about three months.  Then I fell into my usual sunny plantings portulaca and petunias.  This is one of my favorite sunny pots.  It sits by my driveway and one of my favorite things to greet me when I come home.  Definitely try out some of these flowers for something new.

So I know that everyone wants to use sweet potato vines, but I challenge you to use them in places that make sense.  One thing I have found is that it helps to plant them in large pots or at least ones that are a minimum of about three gallons. Otherwise they just are gangly.  I also love nicotiana, they are perfect for sunny spots and do really well when they get plenty of sun and soil.  They even do well if you don't remember to water everyday.  

Although it appears that all of my plants are doing well, not all of them do, but this year I used some plant food.  Some of the kind that is slow release has seemed to work the best.  This year my plants are definitely looking better than in the years past.  I think using plant food has helped.  I usually try to keep anything that we eat as natural fertilizers or organic but if they are just plants, I say use the fake stuff if you want them to look better.  

Well I hope this post finds you all busy in the gardens and with your family feeling as blessed as I do.  Until next time, may you have dirty fingernails and good times.