Talkback: Look at your bulbs - Talkback

29/04/2009 at 14:08

Following a trip to Amsterdam my fiance and I returned with nemerous bulbs but being novice gardeners got over excited with bargin mixed bags of tulips. Last year however, she she took multiple photos of all our tulips, which we deliberatly planted in tubs, and with the aid of some electrical tape markers on the tubs (so we could get the tubs round the right way and match up the photos) we were able to seperate out all the different colours. this year with only a couple of wayward exceptions we've managed to get the right colours in the right places. We'll by sets of colours next trip, but the photos worked a treat.

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29/04/2009 at 15:48

I have already done it as the new toy -a digital camera - I bought myself last Sept. is just the right tool. I put on some music and run through a slide show of "April in the garden" and when anything strikes a jarring note I asterisk it. But sometimes serendipity takes over and I have an unplanned for delightful surprise.

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30/04/2009 at 17:03

I would not be without my camera in the garden. It gives hours of pleasure but is also a really good tool to remind me what plant is where because as you rightly say, the garden changes so rapidly I never remember a month down the line! My garden is not large but it does help to take shots from the same position throughout the seasons to compare.

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30/04/2009 at 18:35

if bulbs planted late did not flower will they be ok for next year or should I bin them Ta muchly

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30/04/2009 at 20:56

Not exactly bulbs, but I'm desperately trying to find a source of what I remember as begonia islandii; a floriferous small orange begonia that I grew as a houseplant, sadly lost all my tubers over winter and would love some more. Have seen it growing in gardens in Cornwall. Help!!

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30/04/2009 at 20:59

I have three tulips in my front garden. 'Jan Reus' is a sheeny sort of ribena colour, 'Princes Irene' orange washed with purple and 'Cairo' another orangey-red. They look fantastic with the slightly bronzey green foliage of emerging Aruncus 'Johanifest' (I think), new leaves of Photinia and the slightly red tinged buds of a Viburnum carcocephalum. Looks better in the spring light than it sounds!

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30/04/2009 at 21:43

Dee, I think you might mean Begonia sutherlandii. You may find your tubers are just dormant so, if you haven't binned them, repot them (the right way-hollow side up!) and they may well grow. For future reference, as they start to die down in autumn, stop watering and keep them dry in their pot til spring. You may also find they produce little bulblets in the leaf axils - keep these safe and pot in spring. I may have some spare but I'm not sure yet. I've just moved house and I'm not sure where everything is!

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01/05/2009 at 10:27

Hi, I have made a very small (3' x 3') bed for my lettuces and spring onions, and last week my lettuces started to disappear, so I put a fence around it (about 3'high) and held it down with bricks. This morning, all but one of my lettuces have disappeared. I have ruled out rabbits, hedgehogs, etc., but wonder if there are any birds, pigeons for example, who would take them. Comments welcome. sonia.e.howard@marsh.com

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03/05/2009 at 22:55

sonia maybe it is thieves of a more human kind taking your lettuces

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03/05/2009 at 23:09

Sonia, is anything at all left? Have they been nibbled, cut or pulled up? A little forensic investigation may be called for. How big were they? Birds are unlikely to take large ones, but smaller growing plants can be decimated by pigeons.

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04/05/2009 at 20:15

I have some Freesia bulbs and I would like to know if they can be planted in pots then placed in greenhouse. I realise it's getting late for them but it may be a good thing as they will hopefully flower later in summer and into early autumn. Does this make sense? !

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04/05/2009 at 20:22

Re the member writing about Begonia Sutherlandii, I know of a reliable source where young growing tubers can be purchased along with many other types of Begonia. I can provide details if you wish. I bought some from them in the past.

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05/05/2009 at 10:49

Sonia: almost certainly beastly pigeons.

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05/05/2009 at 12:45

Sonia, grow cut and come again lettuce etc on your windowsills - much safer and so convenient. Replace the ones you lost with spinach seed. Young spinach leaves are great in salad and on sandwiches and a great alternative to lettuce. In three days you could be eating your own mung bean sprouts, also grown indoors. Put the lettuce disaster behind you -someone with your enthusiasm will soon be growing all sorts of salad veg.

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07/05/2009 at 20:41

I bought some tulips to match a pot that they would live in. They looked incredible and I photographed them, such was my pride in the result. However, they have since turned sick: one year growing curly and with striped leaves then the next, when I threw them out into the main garden to the mercy of the clay, they came up much larger, a different colour and with renewed vigour. Have they reverted to type or something?

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17/05/2009 at 09:19

Thaks Jude,no wonder I couldn't track them down!Gorgeous little plant, so glad I'll be able to find them again.If you do have any spare,let me know what seed packet I could send you in return for your inconvenience. Thanks Netizen also; at least I can google them now. From my experience, your freesias will likely grow, but flowering might be trickier. Worth hanging on til next year?

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18/05/2009 at 21:42

I am a beginner in gardening. This year I planted many tulips and they all had beautiful flowers, red, deep dark red, and whites. I've found some very interesting points in your writing. But can you advise me if I can store my bulbs in the green house or the garden shed until November to be planted again?

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22/05/2009 at 11:50

Vida: You can. Wait for the flowers to fall and the leaves to wither then did them up and store (without soil) in the shed until November.

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21/07/2009 at 20:35

I've only been in a new house for 6 months and decided just to have a few pots out for my first year as i've not done any gardening before. I have a couple of pots with freesias and was just wondering if i'm supposed to let all the plant die down and leave the bulbs till next year or do i need to take them out of the pot and store then somewhere? They flowered quite well but they are all dying off now, what shall i do with them!? thanks

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15/03/2011 at 23:04

which is better blue or white..