The Rural Voice, 1989-11, Page 46NOW YOU CAN
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HANOVER MALL
519-364-1011
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519-291-4670
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<4 THE RURAL VOICE
RURAL LIVING
B
U
L
B
S
We all have a person on our
Christmas list who is hard
to buy for. You know the
one — walls full of paintings, every
surface covered with sentimental
mementos, a kitchen and workshop
equipped with every device. So to
those people, and to anyone else on
the list, why not give a breath of
spring for Christmas? You can start
pots of bulbs at this time of year and
they will be ready to shoot up by the
holiday season.
There are two main points to
remember. One is to make sure the
roots of the bulbs develop and, two,
that they receive adequate moisture.
You don't have to start your bulbs
in a pot. A box or can will do, and the
the whole unit can be popped into a
planter box or a decorated container.
Make sure that the container that
you decide on has adequate drainage
and that the holes are covered to allow
moisture out, but not the soil.
Bulbs do not require fertilizer,
but they do need a porous mixture to
allow for good root development and
a slow release of moisture to the roots.
A good planting medium can be as
simple as gravel, or more complicated.
A good mixture for the average gar-
dener is one part sand, one part soil,
and one part vermiculite or a combi-
nation of these (eg. one part sand, one
part soil).
Fill the pots with enough soil so
that the tops of the bulbs will be even
with the top of the pot.
A breath of spring
for Christmas
Rhea Hamilton -Seeger, in addition
to working as advertising production
manager for The Rural Voice, serving
as deputy reeve of West Wawanosh
Township (Huron County), and
raising two children, is a skilled cook
and gardener.
When you plant, nestle the bulbs in
to avoid injury to the root bottom. Set
the bulbs about a quarter of an inch to
one inch apart, depending upon the
number of bulbs and the size of the
pot.
Bulbs that have a flat side like
tulips should be placed with the flat
side facing the outside of the pot. The
large leaf will grow over the side of
the pot and make for a more attractive
bloom.
Sift the soil in around the bulbs
until the level is a half inch from the
top of the pot, leaving the tops of the
bulbs exposed. Thoroughly soak the
container and store the bulbs.
Storage has to be one of the key
elements in forcing bulbs. The sim-
plest way is in a trench outdoors,
where the plant will develop almost
as it would under normal growing
conditions. The trench should be six
inches deeper than the pot. Set the
pots in and cover with four inches of
sand or other porous material. To
avoid mice nibbling on your bulbs,
cover the pit with a screen, or dust
with rodenticide. Then fill in the
trench with a mulch of leaves, hay,
and pine bark, and weigh the covering
down with some branches.
But not everyone can store bulbs
outside, so a cold room or beer fridge
is the next best. The only drawback is
that you have to keep an eye on the
moisture of the bulbs. If they dry out,
you could lose your blossoms or have
very small ones. (cont'd)