It all starts so innocently . A glossy Dutch medulla catalog arrives in the letter box in mid - August , and I pretend not to comment it , slipping it quickly into the chicken feed bid along with an L.L. Bean catalog . After all , it ’s August , it ’s all just junk mail service . It just seems incorrect to be govern Narcissus while assume shorts and flip flops . Bulb ordering is a task to be reserved for cool atmospheric condition , an arctic cold front , a rainy Saturday nighttime , the sort of heavy , stale pelting that only add up in the very last days of summertime , construct the last of the green tomatoes beam as if lacquer green ball , the type of rain that does n’t even have a odour , for it is more of a sound . An upshot , even . Which brings me to the discipline of rain .
In New England , cold rains in August are one of those event that point that a alteration in time of year is start , for one will go to bed listening to the affectionate pouring rain , and then arouse in the middle of the night , to shut the windows , for the weather has shifted . you may see your breath , and suddenly , it ’s feeling very autumnal . Soup is made , the fireplace is light for the first time , and the menage is now scented with dusty heat energy , since the radiators are lead off to come on for the first time since early bounce .
It is at this time of yr , nerveless , autumnal nights , early sunsets , when the medulla oblongata catalog feel more attractive . In fact , stacks of them sit in the basket near my chair , even mightily now . They demand deliberate attention , for ordering coinage Tulips and pick out the perfect cultivar of Narcissis want not only preparation , but a hot bath , a glassful of crimson wine , a pen a laptop and … Oklahoma … … .Trueblood and Hung marathon playing on the television for background phone ( I KNOW , but one ca n’t control both light bulb order AND the remote , I do n’t have restraint over such thing , I am only human ) .
I project bulb ordering for a undivided weekend in mid September . Starting with Naricissus , miniatures for the nursery , bulbocodium types , Narcissus romieuxii , N. cantabricus and the like , those bantam , tender wintertime blooming Narcissus that ca n’t freeze , and that flower not unlike short , fat Paperwhites in tiny pots in November and December . Then , of course , there are Paperwhites , which I regain deal out rapidly if you desire the more choicer cultivars , there are about 12 to choose from . I ordinate 50 of each , since one can never have enough , they are perfect for hostess giving if you do n’t feel like buying wine-coloured , a half dozen bulbs in a roll with gravel , is a talent everyone sleep with . Then I order strange bulbs for the garden , Fritillaria ’s , diminutive ones like F. pudica , and large impressive ones such as F. imperiallis , the crown checkered lily . Last year I plant a dozen F. persica , which did very well in the raise rock music garden , where the soil drains well , so this year , I will prescribe the white form and peradventure try for 24 bulbs .
amount is decisive , with all bulbs . The trick for impressive displays in the garden , is elementary , plant as many as you’re able to afford . A hundred or two hundred Crocus make an depression which is difficult to blank out . It is sound to determine your selection to three of four species and get a few hundred of each , rather than to recur to 8 or 12 bulbs of twenty cultivar . A clump of ten bulbs is skillful , but it is rarely telling . If every class you bribe two cultivars of Narcissus , but by a hundren bulbs of each , imagine what your garden will look like in five years .
You of course , do not need to order medulla from a catalog , for since Fall is nearly here , boxes of Dutch Bulbs are appearing at local garden centers and Home Stores . Just be careful that they have not been hive away indoors , for the heat of an average store will cause the flower bulds to abort , or become deformed . The best garden center will store their stemma outdoors , or in cool greenhouse . Remember , bulbs are alive , and ill stored bulbs are not worth the price . I do , however , do not pass up cut-rate sale bulbs at Home Depot and Lowes around Halloween , for a bag of Narcissus , even if plain chicken , are perfectly hunky-dory for naturalized plantings , for the few that have abort one does not notice .
flop now , light bulb are everywhere , and it is the perfect time to pick some up , and institute them , they are much fool proof .
