Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Pumpkins and More Bulbs

There's only two days left in September! Oh my. My Botanus (from British Columbia) order came in the mail last Friday and my first opportunity to plant them was today. I rushed out into the great windstorm, wearing several layers of clothing, and planted 75 daffodils, including Barrett Browning, Dutch Master, and Ice Follies. My palms are starting to blister from twisting my bulb planter around, but at least I didn't get rained on. Tomorrow I'll plant the tiny bulbs and hope for weather that's no worse than this.

I have found, by trial and error, that the daffodils only do well in the sandy soil (probably because it has better drainage) rather than the highly-organic mix of peat moss and compost. I had many bulbs that rotted last fall because they were planted in mostly peat moss. My daffodils are all planted in full sun to part (afternoon) shade.
Planted and labeled!

Mountain ash tree loaded down with berries:

Aster dumosus "Alert", blooming nicely this year:

Aren't these beautiful? I'm very proud of my two pumpkins, the first ones I have ever grown! I'm still figuring out how I'm going to eat them. It had better be sweet and delicious! They are a small sugar variety. I started them indoors a couple of months before planting out (in June), so that they could have a longer season than our weather allows.

4 comments:

Northern Beauty Seeker said...

Those pumpkins are the cutest! I have been thinking I would like to try them so my little toddler can enjoy watching them grow.

Pumpkin cake?

Chloe m said...

I was thinking about what you said about the sandy soil for daff. and I am now pretty sure that is what I did wrong last fall .Too much compost etc. Thanks for the tip!
Rosey

CanadianGardenJoy said...

You are going to have such a beautiful show in the Spring girl !
I am excited about my bulb circle because I have never done anything quite like it before .. I don't have a lot of space .. which I would love .. like your gardens !! LOL
Pumpkin time is a happy time of the year .. you gotta' love those orange globes of happiness ? : )
Joy

Lona said...

Your Mountain Ash tree is so beautiful. Look at those hanging branches.
Thanks for the tip about the sandy soil for daffodils.