Big Impact with the ‘Tiny Padhye’ Lily
The ‘Tiny Padhye’ lily is a prolific yet compact variety with maroon and white flowers that was originally developed for container growing. Click through for more info and photos of this gorgeous lily…
Bulbs
Stories that are specifically about flowering bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and more. You know, the ones we plant one season and forget about until they magically appear months later.
In Bloom: Amaryllis ‘Chico’
Just as I was once again pulled under by winter’s worst, the ‘Chico’ amaryllis that I received as a Holiday gift delivered its bright and cheerful promise, proving once again that anything that blooms in the drab winter months is worth having around. The best amaryllis flowers have a painterly quality about them, as if …
Amaryllis ‘Chico’
My heart fluttered when I peeled back the holiday wrapping and revealed its contents. I have been coveting this particular amaryllis variety — ‘Chico’ (Hippeastrum cybister) — for years. I saw it once in person at a spring bulb show and it is every bit as cool as it looks in photos. The flowers are …
End of the Season Drama
The first real snow is on the ground. I say “real snow” to differentiate it from the first threatening flakes of the season that fall and quickly evaporate on contact. That snow is a precursor to the real snow and doesn’t count. It is more or less a warning to say, We are coming. Be …
On Growing Garlic and Breaking the Rules
All of the books will tell you (even my own), that you should not allow your garlic plants to produce full flowers. Cut them off when they’re still closed (called scapes). And it’s true. If you want to grow big, juicy garlic bulbs you’ll need to cut off the scapes as they emerge in early …
First Flower of Spring
I usually avoid republishing images that were recently posted to one of my social media accounts, but when you consider how hard won this spring feels and the fact that this little flower was trapped underneath a deep lake of ice less than a week ago… I think it begs repeating here. And now, we …
Amaryllis ‘Graffiti’
The smaller African amaryllis ‘Graffiti’ I mentioned last week has produced a second set of blooms. Only two of the three bulbs put out a second stem, and they’re not quite as colourful as the first set was, but as you can see they’re still pretty fabulous. More photos after the jump…
Amaryllis ‘Rio Negro’
Just in time to bring some colour into a painfully cold and white world, the amaryllis ‘Rio Negro’ bulb that I potted up in late November is now in full bloom. As predicted, it reminds me of the Butterfly amaryllis aka Hippeastrum papillio. It presents the same thin red veining and a shaded green interior, …
Growing Amaryllis with Dugald Cameron
Each Autumn, big, beautiful Amaryllis bulbs show up in stores alongside spring blooming bulbs. And every year I hesitate, full of guilt about the indulgence at a time when I have so many houseplants to shift indoors for the winter. However, once the snow is settled over the garden and the world has lost its …
Beautiful and Wretched Voodoo Lily
The voodoo lily’s (Amorphophallus bulbifer) reputation as a real stinker precedes it, and I have to admit that I have always been a bit hesitant about introducing something that smells badly to my home. Still, as the bulb drew closer to blooming, it was curiosity, and the worry that I would miss the event that …
Growing Summer Bulbs in Containers with Dugald Cameron
I believe it started with a small pot of Albuca shawii, a diminutive yellow flower that dances on thin stems in the breeze. It’s delicate leaves and stems are slightly rough to the touch and they have an unexpectedly nice, somewhat herbal scent. As a garden plant, it serves no real purpose except that it …
All About Planting Onion and Shallot Sets
The other day I wrote about hardening off onion and leek seedlings. This week I am planting out onion and shallot “sets”. Planting sets may seem redundant since I already have seedlings on the go, but I assure you there is a method to this madness. In my house, we cook with shallots and onions …