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Time to think spring, as in bulbs



Yellow jonquils
These mini jonquils smell as good as they look. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)


Order Dutch favorites now for fall planting




Daffodils
Bulb houses specialize in unusual varieties
as well as old-fashioned favorites.

Every July, my garden calendar has the same reminder: Order bulbs.

Mail order nurseries that specialize in Dutch-grown favorites traditionally offer midsummer price breaks for early-bird requests. Also, with the recent boon in gardening interest, many of the most popular varieties are likely to sell out.

Ordered now, bulbs will arrive in late September -- perfect time for fall planting.

It's a great opportunity to buy bulbs in bulk at a discount. Create your own mini Daffodil Hill or Tulipmania.

Some suppliers offer hundreds of unusual varieties not found in retail nurseries. Plant a Dutch-inspired spring extravaganza with blooms from February through April.

Where to start? Here are a few of my favorites:

-- Breck's (
brecks.com ): The go-to source for Dutch bulbs since 1818. Breck's now offers 190 varieties of daffodils, 210 different tulips, 25 hyacinth varieties and a lot more. Enough to fill any Dutch masterpiece.

-- John Scheepers ( johnscheepers.com ): This Connecticut-based nursery has been in the bulb business since 1908. It offers scores of species tulips and other unusual tulips and daffodils in bulk with great price breaks. Get naturalizing narcissuses by the hundred.

-- K. van Bourgondien ( Dutchbulbs.com ): Another longtime supplier, this company specializes in mixes and collections. Get more variety for less money.

-- Michigan Bulb Co. ( Michiganbulb.com ): This specialty house offers big discounts through July 31 with readymade mixes for a long season of bloom, such as Three Months of Daffodils.

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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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