Mailorder Flower Bulb Source

-
Before I leave for the International Master Gardener's Conference in Little Rock, I want to give you a heads up about Touch of Nature. There are hundreds of mail order sources for flower bulbs. Some companies consistently disappoint and some always deliver bulbs that grow and bloom.

Everything I have bought so far from Touch of Nature has survived, grown and bloomed. They have sales that are worth watching for. (Right now daylilies are on sale.) The Dutch iris in these photos are ones I bought at the end of the season last fall - 25 in a bag for $7.50 plus shipping. As you can see they are all blooming or in bud. The dark one is Purple Moon; the light blue one is called Hildegarde.

The owners, Bert and Ingrid Leek, encourage customers to send photos so there are many to browse. Information about how to enter their photo contest is online, too.

If you want to be notified of sales send an email to specials@touchofnature.com and put your email address on their list.

While I was planting Woodland Phlox from Wild Things Nursery this morning, I was weeding. Under the weeds I found this little guy. Our yard is a shelter for the turtles injured by over-excited neighborhood dogs. Most of the adults have teeth marks in their shells. Lots of babies are born in and around the trees and beds.

The Master Gardener conference should be exciting and I'll pass on what I learn. Happy gardening.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I just read your article on Blogger: All the Dirt on Gardening - Post a Comment and want to thank you for it.
October 27, 2012 at 3:32 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Moldy Tulip Bulbs

-
Image
Moldy tulip bulbs are a big disappointment when you are hoping to fill a bed or some pots. It is not that unusual for their skins to have a bit of penicillin mold but these are beyond that tad bit stage. Mold penetrating tulip bulb  Mold on emerging tulip bulb growth  So, what to do? The plant references say to throw them out and buy new ones but I already spent $22 for 50 of these white tulip beauties. First, they got a soak in 1% bleach solution in the kitchen sink in the hope that the bleach would stop the mold from continuing to grow without killing the life force in the bulb itself. After a good slosh around, I wiped them off to see how much damage was beneath the blue and black.  This tulip bulb is soft to the touch and there is little chance it will thrive in the soil. This basal root on these have been ruined by mold. The final step I took to try to salvage part of them  was to spray them thoroughly with fungicide.  They are all planted in the
Read more

Propagate Begonia Stem Cuttings in water - Cane-like Angel Wing Begonia

-
Image
Propagating by stem cuttings is just about the easiest way to make more begonias for next summer's garden. During the fall, I regularly trim off 3-node long cuttings and put them into the growing pots where they take root. Now that cold weather has arrived, I root the stem cuttings in a vase of water. It's a great way to produce more pots of Begonias for next summer's garden. Water the plant well the day before. Take a cutting about 4-inches long, with 3 nodes, from a healthy stem. Use a perfectly clean container. Rinse the container with a drop of bleach if you are uncertain about its spotlessness. Remove all but the top leaf or two. There should be no leaves in the water. The cutting should  have a healthy leaf node at the bottom. Don't leave a stub below the node. Place the cutting into the water, and place the container out of the sun. In a couple of weeks, you will see new roots beginning to form. Check the water periodically to make sure it is still f
Read more

Create Nesting Areas for Birds and Wildlife

-
Image
From the website, Choose Natives , this lovely and instructive article helped remind me to continue to increase the amount of habitat and nesting that we provide in our garden. Many, though not all, are native or considered to be native in Oklahoma. So, I did a little research on each recommended plant and provided a link to more information. You'll see the plant name in italics - those are my links for your edification. Here's the post Derek Stoner, Project Coordinator for the Delaware Nature Society, helped restore the 860-acre Middle Run Natural Area by “intensive habitat management”, including planting 12,000 trees and shrubs.  His lecture, ‘ Native Plants for Nesting Birds: Connecting Flora and Fauna’,  given to a group of enthusiasts at the Millersville Native Plant Conference   in Pennsylvania, focused on his observations. Here are Derek’s landscaping recommendations for attracting birds: Plant shrubs in clusters (“habitat circles”) that will create the dense
Read more