Growing New Gardeners
How do we grow gardeners? We start them young. We intrigue them with our questions about what they’re seeing, what they’re hearing. We let their imaginations run rampant. We celebrate their dirty hands and knees and when they grow up they already love their favorite garden spots.
My grandson CJ taking a break from chasing dinosaurs in our woodland garden on April 26, 2006.
We pass on what our elders taught us that captured our fascination with the world around us. How did we come to appreciate the complexity of leaf edges and the critters crawling under our stumps and stones? We talked with them, we enjoyed the experience of learning and sharing. We made the garden the center of their invented stories, their imagined dinosaurs, the strolling around the paths that led to nowhere but really everywhere.
My Uncle Teddy passed down to me the mysterious and exciting world of nature and the gift he gave me keeps giving. As my grandson CJ completes his Eagle Scout project of creating a woodland path through a nature preserve dedicated to native plant species with the eradication invasive species, we see how we generationally share our knowledge and continue to contemplate our universe.
My grandson CJ Ahern sitting at one of his favorite spots in our woodland garden on April 29, 2018 just before he started his Eagle project to restore a neglected woodland area at an animal sanctuary in Seaford NY.
Trimming Hellebores. My First Gardening Task of the Spring
That first sunny warm day in February seduces me into my garden to begin my spring gardening tasks before the last snowstorms of winter reappear for a brief visit. It is a happy day for me each year when I reach for my Felco’s, put on my gardening gloves, pick up my rake and head out to reunite with my garden.
Hellebores remain evergreen and provide winter interest in my winter garden.
I always start by trimming the hellebores since the longer I wait the more complicated the job becomes. Those stalwart evergreen leaves that have decorated my garden all winter are by this time raggy, spotted and brownish. Hiding beneath them are the brand new buds of the Hellebore flowers just waiting to burst through heralding spring. I love uncovering their light deprived lime green growth and freeing them to bask in the sunshine.
Cutting the old leaves at this very early stage makes it less likely that I’ll damage the new growth. The old stems are long and thick at this time and easy to differentiate between the short almost stemless new growth. On the years that for one reason or another I wasn’t quick enough to do this early trimming, the job took twice as long as I had to carefully select between the old and new growth leaves. Not easy to do without accidentally cutting off a few buds. Full disclosure: When I do cut or damage a plant in my garden I reflexively find myself apologizing to it out loud…sigh…
Not to worry about uncovering the hellebores when inevitably another bout of winter arrives since these are very hardy plants in my zone 6 garden. When the weather turns cold again for the next few weeks of winter I enjoy watching spring emerge through the windows in my home. Those hellebores burst through with so much optimism.
After trimming the old leaves, the emerging flowers of the Hellebore are a great glimpse of optimism for the upcoming spring season.
What is the difference between Hardy Bulbs and Tender Bulbs?
Hardy bulbs are planted in the fall and will come up in the spring. The reason they are called hardy is that they can survive and actually need a period of cold in order to bloom in the spring or summer. Given a period of 2-4 months of chilling, (perhaps in the refrigerator?!?) many of these bulbs can be forced into blooming early for a nice break in the dark of winter.
Examples of Hardy Bulbs: Tulips, Narcissus & Daffodils, Lilium, Allium, Leucojum, Galanthus, Arisaema, Mertensia, Dicentra, Crocus, Iris, Colchicum, Erythronium, Fritillaria, Hemerocallis, Hyacinthoides, Muscari, Ornithogalum, Scilla, Anemone blanda
Tender bulbs are planted in the spring for summer blooming. They cannot withstand the winter and must be dug up and stored in a cool dry place. They’re not as easy to force. These bulbs respond more to daylight and to warmth to start their growth cycle. To give them a headstart I usually start my spring and summer bulbs indoors in the late winter so by the spring the plants will be more substantial in size.
Examples of Tender Bulbs: Amaryllis, Dahlias, Begonias, Colocasia, Alocasia, Canna, Ipomoea, Gladiolus, Hedychium
Interested in having these flowers all year long? Visit my online Art Shop and select from an assortment of flowers and gardens.
These double daffodils bloom in mid-spring in my garden. It wasn’t until I began to create this Artwork did I realize that these particular flowers are quite fragrant unlike many of the spring blooming varieties. This made for a nice addition to my enjoyment of creation!
My Garden My Muse My Inspiration
My muse is my garden. Other gardens as well, but my garden in particular. I move in it, feel it, and hear the breezes whisper through it. I watch the lighting during the day as it slides over and around the textured surfaces.
This azalea and tree peony combination bloom in my garden together every year. Their colors match perfectly and are so inspiring to me!
Lighting is so different on days with sun and with clouds. Lighting in the spring with the bright yellow-greens of optimistic new growth and lighting by the fall with ambers & tans of a lived life. Morning light offers tender ambiance while afternoon colors not only light the scene from a different direction, the colors are deeper and warmer.
My garden brings consciousness and meaning to me. It keeps me grounded. The ephemeral beauty of an unfertilized blossom studied up close with magnifiers and macro lenses is a representation of a miracle. The world of possibility. The beginning of a story I represent in my Art. I walk through my garden gathering ideas. Stories I want to tell. Suggested ideas I want to convey.
In my garden I spend time designing the landscape or I spend time closely and intimately with a singular specimen at a particular stage of growth. In my studio I may paint a vignette or a full landscape view of a part of the garden I’ve designed, or I may choose to paint a small portion of one flower that has moved me. The minute miracle. This is my work. Outdoors and indoors. These are the stories I tell. This is my Art. You can see more of my work in my online Art Shop.
These Fire Flame Peonies bloom in my garden each year in May at the same time as the color matching azalea.This and other pieces of my Art can be purchased in various sizes on canvas, fine art paper, metal and acrylic in my online Art Shop.
Planting Combinations – Peonies and Azaleas
There are some plants in my garden that just demand to be viewed together. In my front garden bed is a Fire Flame Tree Peony that for years has bloomed at the same time as a perfectly color matched azalea. Together they light up their niche in the world for a week or two each year if I’m lucky.
These Fire Flame Peonies blooming in my May garden along with the azalea inspired my original painting.
Keep the rain away from the peonies and the heat away from the azalea & I’ve got a perfect vignette. I love the way the focal points shift around my garden all year when either color takes prominence or form, as it does in winter.
I think of my garden as a theater production where spotlights guide your eyes around the action on stage.
If you want to extend the season of the colorful joy of these planting combinations you should consider buying one of my pieces of Art. Visit my Art Store to see your options. You won’t be disappointed!
Fire Flame Peony – Available in the Mary Ahern Art Store
What is a Corm and How Is It Propagated?
CORMS
Corms look a lot like bulbs on the outside but they are quite different. They have the same type of protective covering and a basal plate like the bulb does, but do not grow in layers.
Instead, the corm is the actual base for the flower stem and has a solid texture. As the flower grows, the corm actually shrivels as the nutrients are used up. Essentially the corm dies, but it does produce new corms right next to or above the dead corm. It has contractile roots that bring down the corms as they rise up to the surface of the soil which is why the flowers come back year after year. Depending on the type of flower, it may take a couple years to reach blooming size.
A corm does not have visible storage rings when cut in half. This distinguishes it from a true bulb.
Corms of a dormant colocasia (Elephant Ears) and a crocus in bloom.
CORM ROOTS
Many corms produce two different types of roots. Those growing from the bottom of the corm are normal fibrous roots, they are formed as the shoots grow, and are produced from the basal area at the bottom of the corm. The second type of roots are thicker layered roots that form as the new corms are growing, they are called contractile roots and they pull the corm deeper into the soil. They are produced in response to fluctuating soil temperatures and light levels. Once the corm is deep enough within the soil where the temperature is more uniform and there is no light, the contractile roots no longer grow and the corm is no longer pulled deeper into the soil.
PROPAGATING CORMS
The newly dug corms will have cormels that are pea size formed around the top of the old corm. The remains of the old corm will be directly beneath the newly formed corms. When the corm is cleaned up and the old stem removed, the growing point of the corm will be evident. The cormels can be saved and replanted in the back of the garden until they reach flowering size.
Examples of Hardy Corms – Crocus. Arisaema, Crocosmia, Liatris
Examples of Tender Corms: Gladiolus, Colocasia, Alocasia, Bananas (Musa), Ensete, Taro, Xanthosoma
Tunicate Bulbs
Tunicate bulbs are some of the most familiar bulbs we come in contact with both in and out of our gardens.
Many underground plant structures are generally named bulbs. A definition of a bulb is a plant that incorporates its entire life cycle in an underground storage unit. Technically true bulbs are compressed stems surrounded by fleshy leaves acting as food storage organs. They are in the Monocot family of plants.
Graphite Drawing of Onion and Garlic bulbs
Bulbs can be further classified by looking at their various growth habits. Some of these “bulbs” are actually further classified as “true” bulbs, corms, tubers and rhizomes. Examples of these bulbs respectively are: narcissus, crocus, dahlia and canna.
True bulbs are represented by two classifications, tunicate and imbricate as represented by onions and lilies in that order.
Tunicate bulbs have a dry thin paperlike sheath surrounding them which helps to prevent them from drying and improves their storage capability. The basal base plate along with the tunicate sheath hold the bulb together. Roots emerge at the bottom of the basal plate.
We enjoy these bulbs both in the kitchen and in our gardens. Our cooking is enhanced by the addition of the tunicate bulbs of onions, garlic and shallots. The joyous colors in our early spring gardens are presented by our daffodils, tulips and hyacinths.
What are bulbs and how do they differ from corms, tubers and rhizomes?
The term “bulb” is used by most people to refer to plants that have underground, fleshy storage structures. Only some of the plants commonly called bulbs actually are bulbs. The general definition of a bulb is any plant that stores its complete life cycle in an underground storage structure. These underground storage structures store nutrient reserves to ensure the plants’ survival.
Tubers, rhizomes, corms, and bulbs actually all serve the same purpose, just in a different way. They are each a storage unit for food that gives the plant the energy it needs to grow, bloom and complete its lifecycle each and every year.
The energy is created and stored by the foliage’s photosynthesis. You’ve probably heard that it’s important not to cut back the foliage after the bloom has died. That is because the leaves need to have time to absorb energy for next year’s bloom. Each storage system takes differing amounts of time to perform this task. Examples would be Alliums and Daffodils.
Bulbs or bulb-like plants are usually perennials. They have a period of growth and flowering. This is followed by a period of dormancy where they die back to ground level at the end of each growing season.
As with perennials, there are bulbs that are hardy in our climate and others that must be overwintered as house plants or placed in dormant storage.
Bulbs can be broken down into five types of storage structures. These include: true bulbs, corms, (stem) tubers, tuberous roots and rhizomes.
“Leeks and Pearl Onions” a graphite drawing by the Artist Mary Ahern
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Daffodil Divisions and Classifications
Daffodils are classified using two parts of the flower. For the purpose of this description, the daffodil is divided into two regions, the perianth (petals) and corona (cup).
In further classifying daffodils the perianth (petals) is described by identifying first the outside edge of the petal, then the middle, and lastly the inside part next to the corona.
The information I am providing in this article is gleaned from two sources, The American Daffodil Society and Brent and Becky’s Bulbs. Both of these websites offer untold amounts of information and make enjoying the spring displays even more rich.
The Daffodil Society even has downloadable & printable coloring books for those individuals who work with children’s groups. Brent and Becky’s information filled Fall Bulb catalog arrived just in time for Spring so that we can go out to view daffodils in other gardens and make a list for next year’s display.
All daffodils are classified into one of the thirteen divisions described below:
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One flower to a stem, corona (trumpet or cup) as long or longer than the perianth segments (petals).Trumpets usually produce larger bulbs than other divisions. Most have gray/green foliage ½” – 1” wide |
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One flower to a stem, corona (cup) more than one third but less than equal to the length of the perianth segments (petals).The group that you see the most often used in gardens; perfect for perennializing, picking, forcing and showing; some of the showiest daffodils are in this division and are the ones that give you more ‘bang for your landscape buck’. |
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One flower to a stem, corona (cup) not more than one third the height of the perianth segments (petals).These are long term perennializers, show flowers and late season picked flowers, often with a spicy fragrance. |
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Daffodils have a clustered cup, petals or both. There can be one or more flowers per stem.Camellia or roselike flowers; with single of multiple blooms; good for shows, showy gardens, picking and bedding. |
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Usually more than one flower to a stem, head drooping, perianth segments often reflexed and of silky texture.Fuchia-like blooms often with a fruity fragrance; great in containers. |
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One flower to a stem, perianth significantly reflexed and corona straight and narrow. Some exceptions exist.With their faces looking like they are standing in front of a fan, they look & perform wonderfully in pots & are terrific for forcing; seem to be more tolerant to partial shade moisture as a group. |
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Usually several flower heads to a stem, flowers usually fragrant, stem is round in cross-section and foliage is often rush like.Foliage is often reed-like or at least very narrow & dark green. Most like the hot baking summer sun. Better in southern gardens but some are adaptable in cooler climates. Sweetly fragrant. Most are great in pots. |
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Usually three to twenty flowers to a stout stem, sweet scented and very short cupped. Perianth segments rounded and often somewhat crinkled.Excellent perennialzers with a musky, sweet fragrance; good for Southern gardens & forcing. |
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Usually one flower to a stem. White petals sometimes stained with the corona color at the base, small flat cup edged with red.Excellent perennials with a spicy fragrance, dogwood-like blooms; good for picking. |
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Usually one flower to a stem. Perianth segments insignificant compared with Corona.Cultivars in this division are offspring of the species bulbocodium conspicuus, often referred to as ‘Hoop Petticoat’. |
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Corona split – usually more than half its length.A division where the cup of the daffodil is split into segments & spreads back against the petals. Sometimes the cup is smooth, often it’s frilly & many other times it’s in between.11a) Collar Daffodils Split-corona daffodils with the corona segments opposite the perianth segments; the corona segments usually in two whorls of three11b) Papillon DaffodilsSplit-corona daffodils with the corona segments alternate to the perianth segments; the corona segments usually in a single whorl of sixColoration of the corona often appears in sunburst-like streaks. |
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Daffodils not falling into any of the previous categories. |
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Ones that are referred to as species daffodils & most of which are Heirloom & suitable for restoration gardening from 1700 on. |
Division 1 – Trumpet
Division 2 – Large Cup
Division 3 – Short Cup
Division 4 – Double
Division 5 – Triandrus
Division 6 – Cyclamineus
Division 7 – Jonquilla
Division 8 – Tazetta
Division 9 – Poeticus
Division 10 – Bulbocodium Hybrids
Division 11 – Split Corona
Division 12 – Other Cultivars
Division 13 – Species All species and reputedly wild forms.All photos are from the Brent and Becky’s 2013 Fall Catalog.
Disclosure: We receive NO financial or other consideration from either of these organizations for linking to their websites.
Brent and Becky’s Bulbs.. Either read their print catalog or view their digital catalog online.
American Daffodil Society. Visit and learn from their information filled website.
Anatomy and Propagation of a True Bulb
BULBS Bulbs (which are referred to as “true bulbs”) grow in layers, much like an onion. At the very center of the bulb is a miniature version of the flower itself. It is composed of a shortened stem covered with modified leaves called scales. Helping the bulb to stay together is something called a basal plate, which is a round, flat area that are the beginnings of the roots on the bottom of the bulb. … Continue reading →
A Regal Hosta – The Krossa Regal
This large vase-shaped hosta emerges slightly behind some of my other hostas such as ‘Blue Cadet’. This slug-resistant architectural specimen is a commanding presence in my perennial garden. Though planted in full sun with absolutely no sunburn effects, I plan to divide it in the fall and put a portion of it in the woodland near the Hamamelis. I think their V-shaped structure will echo each other offering a nice rhythmic change of scale and … Continue reading →
Heralding Hostas
There are so many stages of hostas that I enjoy seeing. None of them include slugs by the way. Having a shade garden I naturally grow many different cultivars of hostas. This particular one is named ‘Blue Cadet’ and was given to me years ago by my son Chris for Mother’s Day. Two Cadets and a Phlox subulata, I made out like a bandit! Each year I try to catch the hostas as they emerge … Continue reading →
Anemone coronaria in the Garden and in Art
My Garden and my Art go side by side. Both require me to make aesthetic judgments about composition, scale, color, texture and style. When I’m deciding where to plant the flowers I’ve hauled home on my endless trips to the nurseries it doesn’t seem that much different to me then when I’m deciding how to compose them on a two-dimensional surface. I think about what style I’m looking for, what colors will work together, whether … Continue reading →
Looking closely at Grape Muscari
Grape muscari, otherwise known as Grape Hyacinths live close to the ground. For years I never took much notice of them except for the little spots of brilliant purple that bounced so nicely against the bright yellow daffodils they bloomed along with in April. Then I got down. Hands and knees down. What a surprise! How intricate the little flowers are. Little bells dance around a central stem forming a small pyramid. This inflorescence changes … Continue reading →