Choosing spring bulbs

Want your garden to look awesome in spring? Plant spring bulbs now.

In fact you could plant them right through to December, but the longer you wait the colder it is to go out there and start digging in cold soil.  Also, the earlier you buy your bulbs the better selection you will find in the garden centres.

When you look at bulbs you’ll find some loose, to be bought in bulk and some ready packaged. Which should you buy? Personally I buy from the bulk bin so I can check each bulb individually for quality. In packages you can’t see what you’re getting and it might not be top quality.

Choosing bulbs look for one that is at least as large as the others and preferably a little larger. If the bulb seems to be double, that’s great – you get two plants for the price of one. You want the bulb to be firm, with no sign of mould, cuts or bits nicked out of it.

What kinds of bulbs to buy? The most common types are crocus, snowdrop, daffodil and tulip. Crocus and snowdrop bloom earlier and are smaller than daffodils and tulips.

Snowdrops are always white, sometimes with a touch of green. They have delicate white bell-like flowers and grow three or four inches tall. Because they are pale and delicate it’s a good idea to plant them to the front of your beds, somewhere you can easily see them and enjoy them.

Crocuses grow to about three inches in height with thin, spear-like leaves. They have goblet-shaped flowers in white, purple or orange. Plant them in clumps for a dramatic effect.

Miniature daffodils flower before their larger cousins, but they have the same distinctive trumpet shaped blooms. Most daffodils are yellow, but you’ll also find shades of cream or white, pink or orange. Colour variations tend to be more expensive than the yellow.

Tulips come in almost every colour imaginable, some with striped petals or shading from one colour to another. The flowers, while all basically cup-shaped, can vary widely in shape and form. These are flowers that can demonstrate your imagination and your feeling for your garden. All pale delicate whites? Blends of reds and purples? Your choice.

You’ll also find scilla and muscari, smaller flowers whose bulbs can be planted between the larger daffodils and tulips for colour contrast. You’ll find a very small early iris too that looks particularly effective in a window box or planter. There is also a later, taller iris that blooms when all the other bulbs have died down.

Hyacinths bloom at the same time as the early daffodils and have a heavenly aroma. Plant them close to the house or the path where you can enjoy them.

For something truly spectacular plant a crown imperial (Fritillaria imperialis). It will grow to two or three feet tall , with a cluster of orange bell-like flowers hanging from the top of the stem. A show stopper.

You can plant different types of bulbs together for contrast and a display that lasts all spring, or just enjoy your favourites. But the choices you make now and the time you spend planting will give you your bright display of spring flowers.

Salmonberries

Salmonberries are one of the watchdogs of spring. When you are looking for signs of awakening these bright flowers stand out boldly – they bloom before the canes are covered with leaves.

They are common in the lower Fraser valley and the fruits are among the first to ripen in early summer. The canes and fruits are very similar to those of the raspberry, and they were called raspberries in parts of Alaska. Both raspberry and salmonberry are part of the rose family.

The ripe fruits are orange or even yellow, and to my taste are quite sour and seedy. I’m told they make good jam, either alone or with huckleberries. The name salmonberry comes from either the fact that the fruit cluster resembles salmon roe or because the berries ripen at the same time as the first salmon run of the summer. How native people must have looked forward to those first salmon and those first fresh berries of the year. (Also the salmonberries were a good medicine for those who over-ate the first salmon.)

The first green shoots were eaten by native people in early spring and a tea made from the leaves in summer. Berries that were not eaten right away were dried for later use. Robins love to eat the berries too. They disappear into the leaves and all you can see is the bushes shaking as they pull the berries off and swallow them.

Salmonberries grow at the forest edges or in clearings beside streams and rivers. Native families had clear rules throughout generations about just which families had the rights to pick salmonberries (and other berries) in a certain area. Berries were very much part of a healthy coastal diet.

Magnolias

The magnolias along our street are bursting into flower. These are the small magnolias (Magnolia stellata) and the flowers are white, shading subtly into pink. They are not as showy as their sisters, Magnolia soulangeana, with the big tulip-like flowers but they have a delicate beauty of their own.

In my side garden the hyacinths are blooming pink and giving off their magnificent fragrance and the narcissi are just opening among the miniature daffodils. A bergenia cluster is thrusting out and showing color

I want to put all of this on hold – to keep it like this for ever.

Dandelions

Suddenly the gold of dandelions covers the steep bank beside the street. Not many days ago there were one or two, reluctantly early half-blooming. Now they are countless and there will be many more, wide open and golden ,brightening the whole street.

Above them flowering currents droop and an occasional horse tail pushes through.  A few catkins have dropped into the thickening grass. The sun shines hazily and encourages all the growth.

Late March at Deas Island

The tide was low today as I drove to Deas Island Park.  Mudbanks in the river were exposed and three juvenile bald eagles high in the cottonwoods eyed the muck for signs of anything edible.

Two of the young baldies seemd to have paired off; the other was not allowed too close. eventually he left to lazily circle the wake of a tug and barge – they have been know to stir up interesting delicacies.

It must have been  a week since I was at the park last and new signs of spring were all around. The first sign was pale daisies in the grass. Not showy as yet, but another of my favourites.

further along I spotted the first salmonberry flower, magenta agains the dull cane. no leaves yet.

Then, in the slough, I noticed the skunk cabbages had pushed their way through the thick layer of dead leaves. I had not expected to see them yet with the weather still being unseasonably cold but there they were, vivid green agianst the dead brown leaves.

The hawk, probably a red tail, was in his usual area.  Silence fell as he flew in. Other birds and tiny creatures made themselves scarce. All I could hear was the distant roar of traffic and an airplane high overhead. Then a kamikaze chickadee began to chitter away noisily as he flitted from branch to branch right below the hawk.  Was he too close to be prey? Could the hawk not see immediately below himself?

As I left the park the lone young sentry bald eagle on duty watched me drive away, turning his head momentarily from studying the mud bank cafeteria.