By Bev Johnson

Master Gardener

Two years ago, Bunkey bought one of those “super saver” packs of spring flowering bulbs guaranteed hardy, from a magazine ad. This spring he discovered why buying locally or from a well-established nursery is actually cheaper in the long run.

Last spring, every bulb blossomed, and his garden was beautiful. This year, there were bare areas where last year there were tulips. Some of the daffodils returned as did the scillia, grape hyacinths and some of the crocus. Only a few tulips survived. Not all tulip varieties are reliably hardy here. The most reliable are the Darwins. They are tall, strong stemmed and come in very vivid colors. Species tulips, often called wild tulips will usually return. Two others that are usually hardy here are the Kaufmanniannas and the Fostorianas. They may or may not be identified this way so look for words that indicate that the bulb will bloom and multiply next year. The fringed tulips have been reliably hardy for a few years in Bunkey’s gardens, but he found that parrot and double tulips are often annuals. A few will surprise you and return for several years before they give up the ghost, especially if we have heavy snow and they are well mulched.

Get your spring blooming bulbs now as they need to be planted no later than October so they can get well established before the soil freezes. Do water, an inch a week until the first frost, then mulch. Leaves are an excellent mulch as they have only tree seeds in them. Straw or grass bales can have weed seeds that you will be fighting for years.    

If you have a perennial that hasn’t done well for several years, it may just need a change of scene. Move it to a different spot. If next year it is still sickly, chuck it and give the space to a prettier plant.  If a rose bush didn’t have many flowers, or they were different from before, it probably was grafted to a different rose root and the shoots are coming from below the graft. If you like the new flower, fine, keep it. if not, right to the garbage. It’s too prickly for the compost. Roses need special care to survive the winter. If they are “climbers” that is, they grow very long branches that you can tie to a trellis, either cut them back or dig a trench and bury the stems and cover with leaves.  To winterize other roses, surround them with a fence and pile leaves to cover them up. never use foam cones. They heat on sunny days and can cook your baby. 

If you notice small branches and twigs with leaves still on them on your lawn, blame the squirrels. They cut them for their winter nest and don’t always clean up after themselves. If they are thirsty, they will steal apples, chew into tomatoes and chomp into any vegetable that has even a bit of moisture.    

Trees are dropping leaves early this fall. They do this when they are stressed; get rid of some leaves to preserve moisture. This is a good indication that, if you want those trees hale and hardy next spring, get out and water the snot out of them until a hard frost.

Leave the flower garden messy. Hollow stems are winter homes for many pollinators. Seed heads feed birds in the winter and reseed for spring surprises.