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I hate writing the annual column about getting ready for the first frost and this is the usual week for it. However, I saw spring flowering bulbs for sale the other day, early for hereabouts, and it seemed to me to be a perfect excuse to break with tradition and write about something else.
As with anything worth having in your Alaskan gardens, good spring flowering bulbs come in limited supply. And, as with the best perennials and trees and shrubs, the early bird gets the worm when it comes to bulbs, as well. Since you are reading this column, you clearly have a head start. But you'd better hurry and get your hands on what you need before the good stuff is gone. I break with tradition on the frost column for another good reason. The earlier you can get spring flowering bulbs into the ground, the easier it is for them to establish themselves, develop roots and start accumulating the kinds of microbiology they will need to obtain nitrogen in the spring to help them flower. So, the first step is to get ye some bulbs. Surely you don't need me to ramble on about tulips and daffodils. You know what they look like, so buy what you like. There is a tremendous amount of variety out there, so consider buying from different venues to take advantage of this. Crocus might need an extra word or two; they may not be hardy, especially if we don't get a constant snow cover. I have had them come through in some years and fail in others. Likewise, you don't need instructions on planting from me. They are available where you buy the bulbs or on the package. The only thing I would add here is the use of a good green mulch over bulbs and bulb beds. This will not only provide the proper kind of nitrogen to the area but will prevent rain from soaking the soil anymore and causing bulbs to rot. Surely, this year in particular, you do not have to water bulbs. So go forth and plant millions of tulips and daffodils. More is always better with spring flowers. You know that too. You may need some encouragement, however, in planting what have become known as "minor" or "lesser" bulbs. I am not sure why. It surely can't be because of their flowering capabilities, which are prodigious, but rather must have something to do with their diminutive size. There are three of these minor" bulbs that are stone hardy here and belong in everyone's yard -- perhaps in a garden up close enough so you can see them from the kitchen window or living room couch -- but surely some place you will see every day as spring approaches. Once they flower, you won't be able to keep your eyes off them. The first of these bulbs are known as "snow drops," actually more properly Galanthus. Either way, these produce diminutive, 3- to 5-inch plants, each bearing several downward-facing, teardrop-sized flowers. All are white, but there are different shapes on different varieties. Similarly, most folks have never heard of Scilla, another lovely, tiny plant grown from bulbs, that produces a spring flowering bouquet. These are either in white or deep blue hues. In our garden, Scilla are always the first flowers to appear, often even as the snow is melting. When I see a Scilla in bloom, I know it is spring for real. Completing the triumvirate, Mascari, often called "grape hyacinth" because the flowers look like an upside down cluster of small, blue grapes (though there are some white and pink bearing varieties. Again, these are very early bloomers and harbingers of spring. The neat thing about the last three possibilities, in addition to their usefulness in pots which can be dug up in the spring and brought indoors, is that you can plant them now using nothing more than a screwdriver. No shovel, post hole or bulb diggers. No work. They are small bulbs. Talk about easy to plant. The big problem, again to keep with a theme, is that you have to grab them when you see them because they go fast. Really fast, if you can find them locally in the first instance. Local nurseries are the first place to look. And, they may carry other lesser bulbs, which should surely be tried. This is, again, a time when it pays to visit more than one and not to put off the trip. The other person who reads this column may be buying them all up as you drink your coffee. Lately some of the large chain stores have brought in limited selections of these minors. Do check them, as well. There is one other way to obtain these terrific spring flowering bulbs, and that is mail order. It sounds so antiquated and slow, but now that doing so involves the convenience of the Internet, it well suits the Alaskan gardener to order hard-to-get spring flowering bulbs from catalogs. As far as I am concerned, however, the only place you need to look is Brent and Becky's Bulbs, www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com. They have a very easy-to-use spring bulb catalog full of these and other bulbs. Garlic, anyone? You can put that in now, as well.