Flowers from the store are always nice. Flowers from your garden are so much better. Several florist favorites come from bulbs. Planting bulbs is new territory for me; I've never tried bulbs because I've always thought they would only grow anywhere north of Central Texas. While I've known that the Dallas Arboretum has a very showy Tulip display every spring, I always thought I couldn't be successful in southern and central Texas.
This year, after much reading and research about flowers I've finally decided that bulbs could work. I'm trying my hand at some classic cut flowers: Ranunculus and Anemones. In addition to that I've purchased Tulips and Alliums to hopefully add some early spring life and color to my normally rather sad flower bed, with plans to plant in November.
Over the past few months I've been placing orders. In September I got my Tulips, but it was way to early to plant, plus they needed to be chilled, so they are currently chilling in my deli draw of my refrigerator. In early October I started receiving my remaining shipments. Below are the flowers I've planted in mid-to-late October for a spring cut flower garden.
What Varieties Am I Planting?
Remember my post on Fall Gardening To Dos? No? Well click on the link and check it out. In the post I referenced my planting plan. I have a long narrow bed along my house. This year I'm going all out and creating a spring cut flower garden. Last year I had it chocked full of Rocket Larkspur, but I've got a new location for that this year. So what is the plan again?
This bed is only about 28 inches wide and 25 feet long. I've packed it full with 5 plant varieties listed here:
Louisiana Iris anchoring each end of the bed (transplants from my grandmother's house)
Sweet Pea - Old Spice Mix vines on wire trellises next to the Limestone wall
Purple Tomer and Picotee Ranunculus in mass in front of the vines
Black and White Anemones in mass in the center surrounding a
Peggy Martin Climbing Rose at the center of my wire trellises
Let's get to know a little more about each of these plants!
Louisiana Iris
Why is it called Louisiana Iris? I've always known it because of its classic yellow, purple and green color scheme. These are classic Louisiana colors, often represented on the traditional King Cakes seen during Mardi Gras. But it also has other common names, like Walking Iris. Walking? Yup. This plant spreads - hence "walking" through your garden beds. Every couple years you should thin and transplant. Its a very tolerant plant, and if I haven't killed it moving it year after year, I don't think you can.
Bloom time for this plant is April/May. My grandmother had such a dense patch of them, when cut and placed in a vase, they were so stunning in bunches on their own.
After they bloom you just have the foliage, and when the heat of summer starts setting in in July and August they will start to look pretty sad. Don't worry. All is well. In the early Fall you will want to start thinning and transplanting. Of if you don't need to do that, its time to cut the leaves off about 6-8 inches from the ground. This will have force energy down to the rhizome to start putting out new leaves about the time Central Texas is getting cooler weather - October. This new growth is a sign that Fall has arrived.
Sweet Peas - Old Spice Variety
Last year was my first time growing this plant. I wasn't very successful. I followed all the expert tips (see the guide here from Floret Flower Farm). I had planted probably 20 seeds across two different locations. I only ended up with about 4 vines - that's only a 20% success rate, eek! And while the vines bloomed, it certainly wasn't show stopping, but know that their smell certainly is - its heavenly!
Earlier this year I began discovering local flower farmers and following them on social media. Their posts help validate my plans I create getting my schedule set when I am going to put seeds in the ground. I feel much more confident this year!
While Sweet Peas are not bulbs, they are favorites for cut flowers, therefore a perfect choice for my cut flower garden. Sweet Peas will need sturdy supports to climb, so I purchased wire livestock panels to use as a trellis. Each wire trellis I put up, in a temporary format, is 4' tall by 8' wide. I installed two giving me roughly 16' full of Sweet Pea vines. Fingers crossed that I have better results this year than the last. Stay tuned!
Purple Tomer and Picotee Ranunculus
Ranunculus are classic flowers, loved by many, and often found in bridal bouquets. They are known to have impeccable vase life and are multi-bloomers. This is my first time planting these. While they are not bulbs, like a Tulip bulb, they are often found in the bulb category when shopping online. Ranunculus are actually corms. Corms are short, vertical tubers. Ranunculus corms look like tiny dried up spiders. I didn't remember to take a picture before I planted them, but take my word for it. Its hard to imagine something that small could produce something so pretty.
I followed planting recommendations of Floret Flower. You can find out more here about things to do, such as soaking your corms, before planting or pre-sprouting (if your conditions are conducive for that).
I purchased around 25 corms of each variety. Each trellis has about 25 corms, mixed between the varieties that will form a border in front of the Sweet Pea vines. I dug my trench to plant my corms and mixed the two varieties within the trench looking to have a nice see of deep dark purple blooms along with white and blush contrasting blooms. I tend to gravitate to bold, but not flashy color pallets. I'm betting a lot on these so I hope at least half sprout and survive. More to follow!
Black and White Anemones
Anemones are another classic florist option and often seen in bridal bouquets. Again, this is my first time trying these plants. While researching varieties I was drawn to blue and white varieties. When it came time to place an order in early October I lucked out getting this Black and White variety from Floret Flower. What I like about it is the clean white petals with a bold black center; not a feature often seen in nature.
Anemones and Ranunculus have very similar pre-planting needs. Learn more about how to set yourself, and your bulbs, up for success when its time to plant Anemones by checking out Floret's tips here. Again, this is my first time planting these flowers, and I trust the growing tips from Floret to help lead me to a successful crop.
My order contained 20 bulbs. I planted these in mass in front of a newly planted Peggy Martin Climbing rose covering roughly a 1' x 3' area. I thought the texture and color of the flower would be a nice contrast to the small dark green leaves of the rose. Also, the rose will be covered with pink to dark pink blooms from spring to fall, so my choice to plant directly in front of the plant was another contrast decision. Stay tuned for updates on my vision!
Peggy Martin Climbing Rose
While this isn't a bulb, and not ideal for use as a cut flower, it is simply a striking plant that will solve my problem of a very vast, and tall, Limestone wall. Sure, I could have planted some foundation shrubs verses creating a cut flower garden, but I like the space as a trial bed, trying new things, seeing what I'm really good at, or what really does well for the space and climate.
I first learned of this plant from my subscription to Southern Living magazine (see the link provided above). What really stuck with me was that this plant was growing in the Austin area! That was so exciting to read. But my dilemma was I didn't know where this would fit in with my landscape at the time. As I continued to build out my raised bed garden this opened up this area I've used as a trial bed. As I keep furthering my knowledge of plants and design trends I thought of this rose and how it would help fill up vertical space and complement and contrast the beauty of my white Limestone exterior on my house.
Much to my surprise, making a random stop and one of my favorite garden centers after work one day this summer I saw one pot available, which already impressive branches. It was a really really good looking plant. I didn't grab it right away, but paused for a bit thinking "should I buy this?". I finished browsing the plants and went straight back to it, and I am so happy that I purchased it. This plant will weather anything - hurricane Katrina in fact. I'm looking forward to seeing it expand over the coming years.
I can't wait to see what my spring will hold. Fingers crossed my long, but narrow bed will be chocked full of plants, color, and most of all flowers to fill my home.
Thank you for reading! I hope you found my recommendations useful. We'd love to hear from you!
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