Yes, I know you’re thinking I’ve lost my calendar, but trust me on this one!
The last few weeks my mailbox has been stuffed full of catalogs from seed and bulb companies. It’s all wonderful, yet I am being restrained this year, saving my money for spring. But this time last year, I did a very good thing.
This is the time of year to buy your bulbs for tulips, crocus, hyacinth, alium, and almost all the other pretty things that bloom in spring. If you have a few extra bucks and want to spend it on a great show – buy a bulk bag of crocus! Then when they arrive (and the catalogs I list below will send them to you at just the right time), plant them randomly throughout your lawn. This is called naturalizing. In the spring your crocus will come up and make your whole yard look gorgeous, and because they are early bloomers, their leaves will die back before you need to mow the grass. If you buy good bulbs, you should get a repeat show year after year.
A couple notes: You need to live in a part of the county that gets at least some cold weather; you can can look at the zone chart in the catalog to see what zone you live in. To plant the crocus, Handsome and I worked as a team. He walked around the yard, shovel in hand; he would sink the shovel and wiggle it a bit to make an open space. I followed behind with the giant bag of crocus, putting one or two in each shovel hole, then smooshing the dirt around the bulb. It was very easy, quick, and you couldn’t tell that we’d messed with the lawn at all when we were done.
One final note: I’ve had great luck with Michigan Bulb and Brecks. I’m sure there are other great companies out there (and I’d love for you to share if you have a great source), but from these I’ve gotten great quality flowers, good deals (and we all know it’s really about the deal), and good customer service. And no, they aren’t paying me to say any of this.
And really, the final note: I added a picture from last spring, early March. And as you can see, the crocus have bloomed well before the grass has revived enough to do any growing – looks I have a lawn of straw . . . come to think of it that’s about what it looks like right now too!
Aw! I wish there were pictures of them blooming! Hey, I wanted to mention another toy recall for you, since you posted the other one – the Magnetix sets. I haven’t gotten the full details but Al called and told me this morning, since we have a set for Buddy. Hugs – M
That’s a neat idea…I really like it! We don’t get too cold here, but I’ll check the chart and see if we can do that…my kids would LOVE that.