Date: Fri 17-Oct-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: SHIRLE

Quick Words:

Gardener-bulbs-Bleach

Full Text:

SUBURBAN GARDENER: A BEAUTIFUL SYMPHONY OF BULBS

"Gardening, reading about gardening and writing about gardening are all one;

no one can garden alone."

--Elizabeth Lawrence

By Anthony C. Bleach

My copy of The Little Bulbs by Elizabeth Laurence has an introduction by Allen

Lacy, who is not only a gardener and writer but a professor of philosophy. He

writes, "To garden means to be connected -- connected to the earth, to all

that grows here, and to the seasons and to the years. To garden means to be

indebted."

I thought of this as I planted some unusual bulbs I was given recently and as

I researched this piece about them. John E. Bryan, sharing his 30 or so years

love for plants; Jan S. Ohms, writing in the John Scheepers catalog this year;

and Elizabeth Lawrence, writing 40 years ago from her garden in Charlotte,

North Carolina, all helped with my reading.

My son built us a planter behind a dry rock wall on the hottest Sunday of last

summer. It took him about three hours. It would have taken us three weeks. The

first bulb we planted was Iris histrioides ("George"). This has a flower sixto

nine inches, purple with white spots. It blooms very early with the crocuses.

Appropriately, the second was Crocus sieberi ("Tricolor") -- lilac-blue, white

and purple flowers in March to April. Bryan writes: "Add orange stamens and

scarlet stigmata, and it is no wonder that it is regarded as one of the most

beautiful of the species." It is fragrant, too.

Dickcissel is a sparrow-like bird with a chestnut patch on its wings. It is

perky and jaunty and is also an improved version of the jonquil, Pipit. You

remember that they are fragrant, with slender foliage bearing two to six

flowers with small cups. Dickcissel is a bicolor which opens primrose yellow

and turns white towards its base as the flower matures. The cup also whitens

to give it an alluring grace, toward the end of April.

In May comes the Poet's Narcissus, N.`Actaea. This is 16 inches, the same

height as Dickcissel, but has a large white perianth with reflexing petals and

a small yellow cup edged with scarlet-red.

No bulb collection would be complete without the powerful presence of tulips.

"Fire Queen" is a single early, six inches, with red and yellow flowers.

"Big Smile," at 26 inches, is rated by Scheepers as the best yellow tulip now

available. It is also heralded as an improvement over "Golden Delicious." But

remember with tulips like these, like college romances, they won't last longer

than two years before they wane.

I hope Fritillaria assyriaca waxes in my garden. This robust species has

glaucous (gray-green) foliage with purple flowers, with gold inside. It

flowers in April to May, stands 14 inches and naturalizes well. It is also

known as F. uva-vulpis ("Fox grape").

Some bulbs are invasive. Apparently Nectaroscordum siculum (Allium siculum) is

one such. It likes the sun and is very hardy. The flowers are green with

purple and white markings, bell shaped, and summer flowering at 26 inches.

Bryan has a feeling it won't win any popularity polls.

"Still if you have a large area you wish to see covered, this may be the

species for you," he writes.

Corydalis solida may be invasive too. C. lutea is in my garden and we don't

mind at all. Corydalis is Greek for lark. It is probably as blithe as lutea

too. It likes semi-shade, flowers in April, has grayish foliage and light

purple flowers.

The collection, more like symphony, was completed with Camassia caerulea, a

relation of the English Bluebell. It flowers in June, with heavenly blue at

about 2 feet. If winter comes, can spring be far behind?

(Anthony C. Bleach coordinates the landscape and horticulture programs at

Naugatuck Valley Community-Technical College in Waterbury.)