Just drop the little bag o' bulbs in a pot partially filled with potting soil, cover and wait.
Ready. Set. Grow! In only a few months, you'll enjoy a bumper crop of silk flowers.
A slave to the Goddess Flora shares his garden adventures.
-
Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.
Friday, December 4, 2015
Speaking of Bulbs...
While shopping at Molbak's last month, I saw this new to me twist on bulb planting in pots.
Ready. Set. Grow! In only a few months, you'll enjoy a bumper crop of silk flowers.
These remind me a bit of the pre-measured coffee bags that hotels supply for their coffee makers. For me, a big part of the fun of planting bulbs, other than procrastinating until the last minute, is touching the bulbs. Handling these little packages of life and promise thrills me every time. The smell of bulbs and noticing the differences in the various corms/bulbs is one of the joys of autumn. Needless to say these didn't particularly appeal to me but it's a clever packaging idea. What do you think?
Ready. Set. Grow! In only a few months, you'll enjoy a bumper crop of silk flowers.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I saw a local nursery advertising these too, and felt the same way you did: I like touching the bulbs and corms! Also if you want to spread these out a bit you're out of luck. Still, not a bad idea I guess -- like seeds in paper.
ReplyDeleteI suppose if one really didn't like to garden and wanted a quick way to have a pot of flowers in the spring.
DeleteThanks for the nudge. Chilled Hyacinth bulbs here are 4 days overdue for planting in pots, one at a time, right sides up, evenly spaced. Enthusiasm waned since I bought 75 bulbs 10 weeks ago. I would be no more likely to plant a pad of bulbs than individual ones.
ReplyDeleteWow! That's a lot of bulbs, Jean! I got about 20 earlier in the fall, put them in pots with dirt and stuck them outside. I'll bring the pots in one at a time later to enjoy their fragrance.
DeleteWell, I have to admit, I do like seed tapes or papers, but trying this with bulbs is silly. I like to handle them too, and like you, I am interested in seeing what the corms and bulbs look like.
ReplyDeleteSeed tapes make sense to me but these-not so much.
DeleteGood thing I finished my tea before getting to the silk daffs! Let me guess, those packs are not cheaper than a bag-o-bulbs. Let's see, flat side out and pointy end up, it's fun and easy.
ReplyDeleteNope, not cheaper at all. Yes, kids, it is fun and easy!
DeleteBoo! Another gimmick to make gardening appealing to the timid.
ReplyDeleteBut there is still all that messy dirt - perhaps these should be wax coated like the amaryllis bulbs.
DeleteHmm. I guess the dig-drop campaign of a few years ago didn't work. The bulb sellers must be getting desperate. I haven't seen these but then so many bulbs here must be chilled before planting - of course, I guess the neat little boxes would stack nicely in the fridge...
ReplyDeleteLook at you finding the positive side!
DeleteI'm with you, Peter, on enjoying the physical touch of the bulbs themselves. I wonder if this new packaged kit is to present bulb-planting as more special than it actually is, or if it is to make it less "dirty work" for our increasingly sanitized and anti-bacterial, detached from nature - population... Hard to tell - I mean, what can possibly be simpler than planting a bulb? I can see getting frustrated with seeds, but it would be really difficult to fail with bulbs. In fact, I think planting a bulb would be the perfect way to introduce kids to gardening - and hopefully get them hooked on it too.
ReplyDeleteI agree. What could be easier? A nice bunch of silk flowers cemented into a ceramic pot with fake moss where the soil surface would be. Spray a little air freshener and voila!
DeleteWe'll never buy those for ourselves, but the none gardeners among us, looking for gift for an avid gardener, one they can wrap and put under the tree... this may be the best idea ever...
ReplyDeleteThe packaging would be easier to wrap than a bag o bulbs for sure.
DeleteReal gardeners get their hands dirty, or at least their gloves.
ReplyDeleteNever trust a gardener with clean fingernails!
DeleteVery apt comparison with the hotel coffee packets (known here as 'In-Room Swill') which do serve a purpose--time zone sleep deprivation with a looming business meeting calls for the dreaded packet. I think these are good for peeps who are in a hurry and otherwise might plant no bulbs at all. I'm way to controlling for this-my bulbs need to be planted 'just-so ' !
ReplyDeleteI can see where they would to appeal to peeps in a hurry& folks who only want a pot of pretty. I tend to buy big bags of things and throw them in willy-nilly and forget where they were planted until spring. It's always a fun surprise.
DeleteI do not buy these packs, I like planting by myself, Peter. By the way these pots with bulbs are difficult stored in winter, where to put/dig up them in frost days?
ReplyDeleteVery true, Nadezda, in cold-winter areas, these are not practical at all but where I live now the pots can stay outside above the ground all winter.
DeleteNot for us, but maybe for someone you are hoping to encourage into gardening?
ReplyDeleteGood point, Pauline!
DeleteThe perfect gift for the flowering-loving, non-gardener.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. So, you're saying that there are people who don't like to garden?
DeleteNice idea, and a great gift but I hope no one thinks to give it to me. I would just end up taking them out of the bag anyway.
ReplyDelete... but then again more bulbs is always a good thing :)
You're right, more bulbs is always a good thing!
DeleteWhat Grace said. ;-) My thought is that these are probably more expensive than bulk bulbs? And I also agree with katob427: I would open the bags and arrange the bulbs myself. I have several pots with bulbs this year. Some will go in the garage until spring. And I'm experimenting with two on the front porch near the house. It may be too cold for them...we'll find out. Thanks for the giggles...re: "bumper crop of silk flowers."
ReplyDeleteThey were more expensive than bulk bulbs. For the package it was something like nine dollars. For that, one could buy lots more bulbs but I see the point that some people don't want to plant a few hundred loose bulbs each fall. Apartment dwellers with a small balcony might only want a pot or two & these make sense then.
DeleteWell phooey...if you're going to go this route, why not just buy a pot of the flowers in bloom when the time comes?
ReplyDeleteIf it gets more people interested in bulbs, fine ... but I'll pass.
ReplyDelete