The smell of fresh bulbs....

Here in our business, www.tonsoftulips.com the busy season is at our doorstep. The first shipment of flowerbulbs from Holland arrived and our warehouse has that unmistakable smell of fresh bulbs, a bit earthy, a bit sweet, very hard to describe but if you open a bag of bulbs at home and sniff you will notice.
It's always an exciting time full of anticipation. First there is the check-up, how is the quality this year? How do they look, how big are the bulbs?
Well, this year some of the tulip bulbs are so big that the usual number does not fit in one crate, that promises some big tulip flowers.
And although it still is late summer weather, the time for planting your spring bulbs is approaching rapidly. Late September and early October is the perfect time for the northern part of the country. Think about mixing some beautiful colored tulips into your perennial beds,late tulips and early perennials make a great combo.
Planting groups of Crocus in your lawn will excite you with bright color specks in Spring, wrap them in chickenwire if you have a lot of bunnies or squirrels.
One of my favorites still is the Scilla Siberica with it's bright blue flowers, easy to naturalize and they don't get eaten by critters.
get in the mood fro planting and take a look on tonsoftulips.com

Flower bulbs, natural habitat versus cultivated

As a gardener I prefer a natural looking garden, where the plants look like they belong there and are allowed to multiply (if they want to) yet I have to say there is something mesmerizing about a straight lined intensely colored field of flower bulbs like you see them in Holland.

To illustrate these contrasts here are some pictures. Throughout the country side you'll be able to see an abundance of Snowdrops (Galanthus Nivalis) growing in wooded areas, around farms or just by the side of a ditch. I'm trying this in my American backyard but it will take some more years before it will look anything like this. For some reason my Snowdrops are not multiplying as fast as the Dutch Snowdrops are...
I have fond memories of early childhood when you knew spring had arrived because the florists were selling little bouquets of Snowdrops, their heads tightly held together by a big Ivy leaf.

And then there are the flower bulb fields where all kinds of bulbs are grown in well organized and modernized fashion. During our last trip to Holland, the fields of Crocus and miniature Daffodils (the early bloomers) were only just starting to color but by the time we left they were in full bloom and really, there is nothing like an intensely purple field of flowers against one of those famous Dutch cloudy skies!

As you can see in the pictures, the soil in the bulb region is light and sandy, traditionally most bulbs were grown on grounds directly behind the dunes.In winter the fields are covered with straw to prevent the flower bulbs from freezing and the pale color of the straw provides a beautiful contrast to the flowering bulbs.