{"id":3224,"date":"2020-11-02T11:27:01","date_gmt":"2020-11-02T19:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=3224"},"modified":"2020-11-02T11:27:01","modified_gmt":"2020-11-02T19:27:01","slug":"unpacking-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/unpacking-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"Unpacking Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Crocus--King<\/a>Right now it is gray, drippy and chilly outside my window.\u00a0 Even though the last roses are still shivering on the bushes, I feel starved for color. Grabbing at emotional straws, I peer hopefully through the mist for the\u00a0 new growth on the scarlet willow or\u00a0 Salix alba var. vitellina \u2018Britzensis\u2019\u2014but the little tree does not seem to have its usual bright red coloring.\u00a0 I need something cheerful to look at and think about while I consider the gnawed remains of the large, colorful ornamental cabbage that I put out in front of the house.\u00a0 Either I raise my spirits now or I will go on a search and destroy mission for the groundhog that gorged on the frilly leaves.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the necessary spirit-raisers are already here, perched on a shelf in my foyer.\u00a0 They are tucked inside the boxes of spring bulbs that have been delivered over the past week.\u00a0 Though not colorful by themselves, the little brown orbs hold the promise of spring fireworks.\u00a0 I can\u2019t plant them during today\u2019s installment of the fall monsoon, but just looking at the packages and reading the descriptions is enough to give me at needed boost.<\/p>\n

The first bags hold a daffodil called \u2018Feu de Joie\u2019 or \u2018Fire of Joy\u2019 in English.\u00a0 The variety has a fancy French name, but was actually bred in England in the 1920\u2019s.\u00a0 It is everything that is bright and frivolous, with pale yellow, frilly petals around a vibrant orange cup.\u00a0 It is the antithesis of the more formal, upright daffodils that are everywhere in the spring.\u00a0 In fact, it seems to have the free-spirited nature that most of us have had to put on hold in the time of COVID.<\/p>\n

Continuing with the sunny theme, I pull out the bag of \u2018Sun Disc\u2019 daffodils.\u00a0 These bulbs grow into relatively small plants, reaching only eight to 12 inches tall\u2014perfect for planting around the bases of trees, in containers or in the fronts of sunny beds.\u00a0 \u2018Sun Disc\u2019 lives up to its name, with the flowers formed in perfect circles of rounded yellow petals and darker golden cups.\u00a0 My Zoom-wearied eyes can see them now, possibly around one of my standard rose-of-Sharon tress, which will be doing nothing in the spring except creating a center for the daffodil circle.<\/p>\n

I cannot ignore the voracious animals that populate my property, so I will grow tulips in pots again next spring.\u00a0 That restriction has not prevented me from ordering the most cheerful varieties I could think of.\u00a0 \u2018Willem van Oranje\u2019 or \u2018William of Orange\u2019 is an absolutely gorgeous orange-peach tulip with a flashy array of double petals.\u00a0 It blooms early in the tulip season and might even appear along with the late daffodils.\u00a0 The containers of tulips will spend the winter in my unheated garage, but will reappear in spring to open in glory on my back porch.\u00a0 \u2018Willem\u2019s petals will glow like flames just outside the back door.<\/p>\n

\"Daffodil<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Parrot-type tulips feature frilled petals that are striped, flamed or otherwise marked with contrasting colors.\u00a0 They sing in the garden like operatic divas, making it impossible not to notice them.\u00a0 \u2018Estella Rijnveld\u2019, which I included in my bulb order, is a delirious combination of bold red and white stripes on frilled, double petals.\u00a0 It borders on the blowsy, but I don\u2019t care and I don\u2019t think I will care next spring either.\u00a0 Subtlety is not for people who have been living indoors under restrictions.<\/p>\n

I always order hyacinths.\u00a0 Even if they looked like nothing at all, they smell divine.\u00a0 My bulb shipment includes three: yellow-flowered \u2018City of Haarlem\u2019; soft pink \u2018Chestnut Flower\u2019, with double petals; and another double, blue-flowered \u2018General Kohler\u2019.\u00a0 I always pull out a few hyacinths to put in the fridge and force for end-of-winter color and scent.\u00a0 In my present frame of mind, I think \u2018City of Haarlem\u2019 will do the job nicely.<\/p>\n

Of course, I still have time to get down to the garden center and buy a few more packages of bulbs before they are moved to the extreme rear of the greenhouse to make way for the holiday decorations.\u00a0 Often the most outrageous varieties are among the leftovers.\u00a0 If so, they will go directly into my basket.<\/p>\n

Normally I like to wear tasteful, neutral colors that express my cautious personality and uneventful day-to-day life, but today I found myself reaching into the sweater drawer for a bright red number to brighten up the here and now.\u00a0 If I wrap myself in color and surround myself with bulbs that promise a brilliant spring, I can get through another soggy fall day.\u00a0 Every little bit helps.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right now it is gray, drippy and chilly outside my window.\u00a0 Even though the last roses are still shivering on the bushes, I feel starved for color. Grabbing at emotional straws, I peer hopefully through the mist for the\u00a0 new growth on the scarlet willow or\u00a0 Salix alba var. vitellina \u2018Britzensis\u2019\u2014but the little tree does … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,1],"tags":[372,276,267,350,1782,369,272,275],"class_list":["post-3224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-uncategorized","tag-crocus","tag-daffodils","tag-fall-gardening","tag-fall-planting","tag-hyacinth","tag-narcissus","tag-spring-flowering-bulbs","tag-tulips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3224"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3225,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3224\/revisions\/3225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}