The Cosmos and the Tithonia were planted late, put into a bed at the corner of the driveway that I didn't get around to renovating until the middle of summer. There was a ton of stuff to take out of there including several mulberry trees. I have learned that as soon as I see a mulberry tree seedling I have to yank it. Because if I leave it for later, I will come back to a sapling as big around as my wrist with a taproot taller than me and I will bust a gut trying to dig the damn thing out. This has happened in the span of a week. And I never fully get all of the root and will watch it for months waiting for any sign of the mulberry tree sending up new little mulberry trees. But apparently I don't watch close enough, because next thing you know, there they are, back in force, and nearly impossible to eradicate. I am not a fan of mulberry trees.
Anyway, the tithonia and cosmos were planted late and took awhile to really get going. Now they are blooming like crazy and I'm wishing the frost would hold back for a little longer. Next year I will have to get them started really early. With two more months of growth, I can't even imagine how much fuller they will be.
Over the weekend, I got about 30 bulbs planted but there are 50 more in the garage and 150 on their way from Brent and Becky's Bulbs. I ordered 50 orange tulips, 50 grape hyacinth, and 50 more winter aconite. Still in the garage are about 20 red tulips and 30 more poet's daffodils. The orange tulips and grape hyacinth will go in a huge swath in the bed at the end of the driveway, which currently holds no bulbs. The winter aconite will be scattered under the silver maples in the front and side yard. The red tulips will be used to fill in where I already have many red tulips and the poet's daffodils will go here and there. I've written about these before (also called Pheasant's eye daffodils) and if you can get your hands on them you will not be disappointed. They are extremely fragrant and make a cut flower. They are a late bloomer but are really worth adding to your landscape.
posted by meresy_g at Tuesday, October 10, 2006
10 Comments:
That makes a nice combination. I love cosmos, but haven't grown it much in the past few years. Have you ever grown that orange dwarf variety? I can't think of the name.
I love those colors together!
This is only the second time I've grown Cosmos. The one I grew last year was that Seashells mix and it really didn't turn out well. These were much heartier.
i'll look for the poet's daffodils. last year we grew a whole bunch of tulips in pots and used them as cut flowers. might do that for the poet's daffodils.
your whole house will smell like them. They have a spicy fragrance that you'll like.
I'm not a fan of mulberry trees, either. The saplings are bad enough, but once they get big enough for berries they're an awful mess. We had one in our yard growing up and the best use we found for the berries is throwing them at each other. There, that's my mulberry recipe.
My goldfish plant won first place in its category in the Manheim Farm show! I'm so excited to be the recipient of a genuine blue ribbon! Eeeeee! I posted a picture of it (among other things) on my Cooties Cards blog.
The poets daffodils are my absolute favorite.
I am so intimidated by the sheer number of bulbs you've got to plant. Whew!
I am so homesick for Tithonia. I usually grow it every year. It is such a fabulous annual. I grew the sea shell cosmos for the first time this year, but I like what you show here better--heartier, yes. As for yanking seedling trees--it's all I do as I garden in the woods. It is amazing how fast they grow. I ordered bulbs and they haven't arrived yet--they better hurry up. I want to plant the poet's daffodils you recommend!
Poet's daffodils are my favorites!
I also am intimidated by the number of bulbs I have to plant. The weekends are filling up and there is only an hour of sunlight by the time I get home from work. I will be digging trenches and dumping bulbs in a few weeks I'm afraid.
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