webworker
April 2nd, 2006, 01:47 AM
A friend used to grow Amaryllis in containers, but are there any other bulbs that can be used for patio gardening, or that will do OK in pots or planters?
Any Bulbs for Container and Patio Gardening?
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Leader
April 3rd, 2006, 08:24 PM
Amaryllis are the only bulbs I know of that *really* do well that way. Others can be "forced" for a season, but the ones I know of actually don't like to grow in pots.
A lot of bulbs (tulips, hyacinths, etc.) will bloom for one season in a container, if they're cooled properly beforehand. Paperwhites are grown in containers in N. America, without cooling being needed, but they also only last for one season (and, I won't be getting those back in).
Even if those types of bulbs are precooled and forced to grow in pots, they don't like it (it's too crowded and the temp changes are usually too extreme) and will show it by going dormant early, and if left in the pots beyond one season, they usually will die and not come back the next year at all. If transplanted to the garden after the first season, they'll take a year off from blooming as they recover from the stress of being forced before.
There may be some other kinds that'll grow like Amaryllis, that I just don't know of/can't remember. But of the ones I can think of, that's how it goes...
A lot of bulbs (tulips, hyacinths, etc.) will bloom for one season in a container, if they're cooled properly beforehand. Paperwhites are grown in containers in N. America, without cooling being needed, but they also only last for one season (and, I won't be getting those back in).
Even if those types of bulbs are precooled and forced to grow in pots, they don't like it (it's too crowded and the temp changes are usually too extreme) and will show it by going dormant early, and if left in the pots beyond one season, they usually will die and not come back the next year at all. If transplanted to the garden after the first season, they'll take a year off from blooming as they recover from the stress of being forced before.
There may be some other kinds that'll grow like Amaryllis, that I just don't know of/can't remember. But of the ones I can think of, that's how it goes...
thecool
April 6th, 2006, 01:58 AM
Leader,
Webworker asked if any other bulbs could be used for container gardening. Since many of the hybrid bulbs are good for only one good season, growing them in containers works just fine. Perhaps depending on your specific climate will determine how well they will do. Some of the tulips do indeed perform well when crowded into a container. Clivia miniata will do quite well in containers. I have had very good displays from crocus, dwarf dahlia, hyacinth, Dutch iris, daffodils, ranunculus, amaryllis, as well as tulips. One has to use the proper potting mixture for best results. Most should be treated as annuals and unless you have garden space to move them to, dispose of them at end of season. The bulbs contain most of the food they need but you should feed them lightly with a complete fertilizer after blooms fade until the foliage dies back if you plan to try to re-use the bulbs. Please don't sell the various bulbs short. BTW, many of the lily family do really well crowded in containers. Some even do better in containers than in the open garden.
Gene life long gardener from the tender age of 6
TCS
Webworker asked if any other bulbs could be used for container gardening. Since many of the hybrid bulbs are good for only one good season, growing them in containers works just fine. Perhaps depending on your specific climate will determine how well they will do. Some of the tulips do indeed perform well when crowded into a container. Clivia miniata will do quite well in containers. I have had very good displays from crocus, dwarf dahlia, hyacinth, Dutch iris, daffodils, ranunculus, amaryllis, as well as tulips. One has to use the proper potting mixture for best results. Most should be treated as annuals and unless you have garden space to move them to, dispose of them at end of season. The bulbs contain most of the food they need but you should feed them lightly with a complete fertilizer after blooms fade until the foliage dies back if you plan to try to re-use the bulbs. Please don't sell the various bulbs short. BTW, many of the lily family do really well crowded in containers. Some even do better in containers than in the open garden.
Gene life long gardener from the tender age of 6
TCS
Leader
April 6th, 2006, 05:11 AM
Gene,
Oh no, you're one of those who pitches out plants yearly. Poor things :( :cry:
Growing until the energy is used up, and then being thrown out, is NOT doing "ok" in a container. It's being killed in a container!
Webworker asked if any other bulbs could be used for container gardening.No, she asked if any other bulbs DO OKAY in a container. Not, which plants can put out a good display before they are killed by being in a container.
Sure a lot of plants will grow great for a year in a container and then die. Florists do that to bulbs all the time. And to mums, too. And I think they are plant-killing greed mongers for it! All those plants would live for years, in the right conditions!
many of the hybrid bulbs are good for only one good season,Aack! Not if the growing conditions are right! How do you think the bulb propagation farms get more bulbs to sell? It's not by having them do worse after one measly season! Rather, they have to have them do *better* as the years go by, so they and their offspring will not only get up to saleable size, but keep the cycle going as well!
I'M not the one selling bulbs short here. It's whoever started that propaganda that bulbs are only good for a year. IMO they just want to sell more no matter what, and if they can CONvince people into whacking last year's stock, all the better, in their eyes.
Personally I think plants deserve better treatment. I really cannot advocate doing anything that turns a multi-year perennial into an annual, no matter how pretty the short-term results. If the plant (that's really a perennial) ends up dead after one season, the conditions were NOT OKAY!
Holland, the Netherlands, likes to make out like it's their Special Climate that's responsible for continued bulb production. It's 'larkey. There are bulb farms in the States, too (but unfortunately, the ones I know of belong to the competition, so I still get the Holland ones). Eventually I'll probably branch into propagating my own, too.
Gene life long gardener from the tender age of 6I'm no noob gardener either. I only *guarantee* the first year, because I don't know what conditions they'll end up in--but in proper conditions and with appropriate w*rk (meaning, more than the average Joe wants to do) they really should last 5-10 yrs (depending on variety), and do a great display for about 1/2 that time (2-5 years). That's based on what I've observed in my own garden.
Oh no, you're one of those who pitches out plants yearly. Poor things :( :cry:
Growing until the energy is used up, and then being thrown out, is NOT doing "ok" in a container. It's being killed in a container!
Webworker asked if any other bulbs could be used for container gardening.No, she asked if any other bulbs DO OKAY in a container. Not, which plants can put out a good display before they are killed by being in a container.
Sure a lot of plants will grow great for a year in a container and then die. Florists do that to bulbs all the time. And to mums, too. And I think they are plant-killing greed mongers for it! All those plants would live for years, in the right conditions!
many of the hybrid bulbs are good for only one good season,Aack! Not if the growing conditions are right! How do you think the bulb propagation farms get more bulbs to sell? It's not by having them do worse after one measly season! Rather, they have to have them do *better* as the years go by, so they and their offspring will not only get up to saleable size, but keep the cycle going as well!
I'M not the one selling bulbs short here. It's whoever started that propaganda that bulbs are only good for a year. IMO they just want to sell more no matter what, and if they can CONvince people into whacking last year's stock, all the better, in their eyes.
Personally I think plants deserve better treatment. I really cannot advocate doing anything that turns a multi-year perennial into an annual, no matter how pretty the short-term results. If the plant (that's really a perennial) ends up dead after one season, the conditions were NOT OKAY!
Holland, the Netherlands, likes to make out like it's their Special Climate that's responsible for continued bulb production. It's 'larkey. There are bulb farms in the States, too (but unfortunately, the ones I know of belong to the competition, so I still get the Holland ones). Eventually I'll probably branch into propagating my own, too.
Gene life long gardener from the tender age of 6I'm no noob gardener either. I only *guarantee* the first year, because I don't know what conditions they'll end up in--but in proper conditions and with appropriate w*rk (meaning, more than the average Joe wants to do) they really should last 5-10 yrs (depending on variety), and do a great display for about 1/2 that time (2-5 years). That's based on what I've observed in my own garden.
thecool
April 6th, 2006, 11:24 AM
Leader,
You have me all wrong. I never kill any plants. I don't often buy any new bulbs because I keep mine going year after year. I will even get dying plants that stores and nurseries are discarding in order to try and save them. Many do survive and produce really nice plants. When my plants become over crowded, I simply expand my growing areas and split them up. The containers that I use will grow the bulbs quite comfortably year after year with refreshed growing medium. I only said what I said about treating them as annuals because many people don't want to take the necessary care to continue the same bulbs more than one year.
Hybrid bulbs do not naturalize well in some climates. You have even said that yourself in a previous post. Also, I do not believe in forcing any plant to bloom.
Patience and tender loving care is what produces beautiful long lasting plants.
I'm really sorry if I hit a sore spot.
Gene
TCS
You have me all wrong. I never kill any plants. I don't often buy any new bulbs because I keep mine going year after year. I will even get dying plants that stores and nurseries are discarding in order to try and save them. Many do survive and produce really nice plants. When my plants become over crowded, I simply expand my growing areas and split them up. The containers that I use will grow the bulbs quite comfortably year after year with refreshed growing medium. I only said what I said about treating them as annuals because many people don't want to take the necessary care to continue the same bulbs more than one year.
Hybrid bulbs do not naturalize well in some climates. You have even said that yourself in a previous post. Also, I do not believe in forcing any plant to bloom.
Patience and tender loving care is what produces beautiful long lasting plants.
I'm really sorry if I hit a sore spot.
Gene
TCS
Leader
April 7th, 2006, 07:45 AM
Gene,
As you found out (the hard way, sorry...), I'm fairly fanatical about plants, like some are about animals. Florists and other companies which set up plants in such a way as to ensure their demise have always been a raw spot of mine. And when you mentioned containers along with 1-year, that's what came to mind.
But you also had the bad luck of being the second post I saw right after an unrelated offline argument I had. So, my flamethrower was already lit. My sentiments would have been the same even if that hadn't happened , but I probably would have been more diplomatic about it...
You have me all wrong. I never kill any plants.Oh good! I'm glad to hear it. Before I read your post, I hadn't figured you for a plant-killer, but I thought, if you were saying 1 year was fine, then... :uhoh:
The containers that I use will grow the bulbs quite comfortably year after year with refreshed growing medium.Great! In *proper* containers, sure, they'll grow. But I suspect a lot of people would try to do it florist-style, because that's all they've seen--where the bulbs are practically touching each other (or actually doing so)...with predictable and short-lived results.
Hybrid bulbs do not naturalize well in some climates. You have even said that yourself in a previous post.True. And I get a few pangs of guilt sending them off to c*l*forn*a, too [can't let that get SEO'd too well ;) ] The hot states don't count as "proper growing conditions". Unless you're trying to grow "Leaders!" "Leaders" grow great in the heat, but "Leaders" are mammals, not plants :biggrin: But I think tulips should do fine for several years in the Northern Tiers, which is where they ought to be anyway...
Anyway, *IF* the person has a suitably large container, and it's in the right conditions, sure they should grow. But it's so unlikely to happen that way, that I don't dare say "yeah it's fine" when talking about the general public's results.
As you found out (the hard way, sorry...), I'm fairly fanatical about plants, like some are about animals. Florists and other companies which set up plants in such a way as to ensure their demise have always been a raw spot of mine. And when you mentioned containers along with 1-year, that's what came to mind.
But you also had the bad luck of being the second post I saw right after an unrelated offline argument I had. So, my flamethrower was already lit. My sentiments would have been the same even if that hadn't happened , but I probably would have been more diplomatic about it...
You have me all wrong. I never kill any plants.Oh good! I'm glad to hear it. Before I read your post, I hadn't figured you for a plant-killer, but I thought, if you were saying 1 year was fine, then... :uhoh:
The containers that I use will grow the bulbs quite comfortably year after year with refreshed growing medium.Great! In *proper* containers, sure, they'll grow. But I suspect a lot of people would try to do it florist-style, because that's all they've seen--where the bulbs are practically touching each other (or actually doing so)...with predictable and short-lived results.
Hybrid bulbs do not naturalize well in some climates. You have even said that yourself in a previous post.True. And I get a few pangs of guilt sending them off to c*l*forn*a, too [can't let that get SEO'd too well ;) ] The hot states don't count as "proper growing conditions". Unless you're trying to grow "Leaders!" "Leaders" grow great in the heat, but "Leaders" are mammals, not plants :biggrin: But I think tulips should do fine for several years in the Northern Tiers, which is where they ought to be anyway...
Anyway, *IF* the person has a suitably large container, and it's in the right conditions, sure they should grow. But it's so unlikely to happen that way, that I don't dare say "yeah it's fine" when talking about the general public's results.
thecool
April 7th, 2006, 12:53 PM
Leader,
The bulbs you sell may indeed be more suitable to the northern tier states, but bulbs can grow well in most climates when using bulbs that are naturalized and or native to the particular climate.
I have lived and grown bulb plants in south Texas, Arkansas, southern California, Hawaii, Washington, and now the high desert area of Arizona. There are bulb farms in southeastern Texas, southern California, Oregon, and Washington. One farm in southeast Texas was established originally as a school project where students collected antique and rare flower bulbs from old home sites to be reintroduced into the mass market. All these bulbs are well suited to the warmer climates. Some of these bulbs will even naturalize from seeds as well as bulb expansion.
BTW, calla lilies, amarylis, canna lilies, dutch iris, and others that don't require a lot of humidity grow quite well in Phoenix, Arizona.
I found a dwarf black bearded iris growing in the wild in southern California back in 1966. I introduced it into my flower beds and when I left California in 1968, I had quite a few of these plants throughout my yard. Bulbs, rizhones, corms and other similar plants can indeed do well in the warmer climates. Those that are grown by farms of the colder regions may not be so suited.
When your business grows strong enough, try expanding your horizons. Could be lucrative.
Gene
TCS
The bulbs you sell may indeed be more suitable to the northern tier states, but bulbs can grow well in most climates when using bulbs that are naturalized and or native to the particular climate.
I have lived and grown bulb plants in south Texas, Arkansas, southern California, Hawaii, Washington, and now the high desert area of Arizona. There are bulb farms in southeastern Texas, southern California, Oregon, and Washington. One farm in southeast Texas was established originally as a school project where students collected antique and rare flower bulbs from old home sites to be reintroduced into the mass market. All these bulbs are well suited to the warmer climates. Some of these bulbs will even naturalize from seeds as well as bulb expansion.
BTW, calla lilies, amarylis, canna lilies, dutch iris, and others that don't require a lot of humidity grow quite well in Phoenix, Arizona.
I found a dwarf black bearded iris growing in the wild in southern California back in 1966. I introduced it into my flower beds and when I left California in 1968, I had quite a few of these plants throughout my yard. Bulbs, rizhones, corms and other similar plants can indeed do well in the warmer climates. Those that are grown by farms of the colder regions may not be so suited.
When your business grows strong enough, try expanding your horizons. Could be lucrative.
Gene
TCS
Leader
April 7th, 2006, 09:12 PM
It's probably not so much where the farm is, but what kinds are involved.
calla lilies, amaryllis, canna lilies, dutch iris, and others
Those probably would do well. And I'll keep them in mind when I get out of this freezer and have to decide what to put in the garden. But as for offering them on the site, see below.
When your business grows strong enough, try expanding your horizons. Could be lucrative.
What people have been buying, regardless of where they live, is tulips. So far there hasn't been much interest in the other kinds I've offered. I think a lot more people will have to know about GoodBulbs before it's worthwile to "expand my horizons..."
calla lilies, amaryllis, canna lilies, dutch iris, and others
Those probably would do well. And I'll keep them in mind when I get out of this freezer and have to decide what to put in the garden. But as for offering them on the site, see below.
When your business grows strong enough, try expanding your horizons. Could be lucrative.
What people have been buying, regardless of where they live, is tulips. So far there hasn't been much interest in the other kinds I've offered. I think a lot more people will have to know about GoodBulbs before it's worthwile to "expand my horizons..."
Amy Peters' Studio
May 8th, 2006, 10:29 AM
Hey...I'm in California...
Not all bulbs come here to die.
I'm kinda a bulb fanatic...I planted over 30,000 in my parents front yard years ago while I was living with them...instead of paying rent. I think rent would have been cheaper!
My mom has had the same tulip bed planted for 14 years! I REALLY don't know what that women does, but they love her. She hasn't even thinned them. After this season, I think I finally need to thin them out for her, but I'm scaird to touch them for fear of ruining her mojo.
Depending on the size of the container (minimum 2 feet across) I have done very well for multiple years with daffodils. Especially the dwarf varities. I make sure to feed them really well during the first season and every one after that. And I always co-plant with grape hyacinths and they do great in containers as well.
As far as Califonia goes. Other basic varieties that do well here are:
Calla Lilies, Bearded Irises, Irises, grape hyacinth, Canna lilies (weeds here!), daffodils, hyacnith, crocus.
Not all bulbs come here to die.
I'm kinda a bulb fanatic...I planted over 30,000 in my parents front yard years ago while I was living with them...instead of paying rent. I think rent would have been cheaper!
My mom has had the same tulip bed planted for 14 years! I REALLY don't know what that women does, but they love her. She hasn't even thinned them. After this season, I think I finally need to thin them out for her, but I'm scaird to touch them for fear of ruining her mojo.
Depending on the size of the container (minimum 2 feet across) I have done very well for multiple years with daffodils. Especially the dwarf varities. I make sure to feed them really well during the first season and every one after that. And I always co-plant with grape hyacinths and they do great in containers as well.
As far as Califonia goes. Other basic varieties that do well here are:
Calla Lilies, Bearded Irises, Irises, grape hyacinth, Canna lilies (weeds here!), daffodils, hyacnith, crocus.
Leader
May 11th, 2006, 08:42 AM
Cool! I'm so glad to see a post showing a great lifespan on CA tulip plantings.
30,000??
If you ever want to do it again, remember, you can click through your link ;)
As for thinning them, I can imagine it's driving you nuts to see them unthinned. But after 14 years, I wouldn't want to mess with them either...
30,000??
If you ever want to do it again, remember, you can click through your link ;)
As for thinning them, I can imagine it's driving you nuts to see them unthinned. But after 14 years, I wouldn't want to mess with them either...
Amy Peters' Studio
May 11th, 2006, 10:57 AM
I already have you bookmarked for the fall planting season. I'm a merchant, not an affiliate.
I don't have even close to that many in my own garden. I'm in central California now. But, I have a stand of tulips that have been here for 4 years. And come to think of it I do NOTHING to those! No feeding even...poor tulips...but they seem to love their location.
I don't have even close to that many in my own garden. I'm in central California now. But, I have a stand of tulips that have been here for 4 years. And come to think of it I do NOTHING to those! No feeding even...poor tulips...but they seem to love their location.
webworker
May 12th, 2006, 02:55 AM
Amy, you're in central California, but...
Avila Beach, Ca is that mid-state where it's fairly dry, or near (or closer to) the coast, where there would be more moisture in the air year 'round than most of California, some of which is VERY dry?
I'm wondering if it's only a temperature thing, or possibly if humidity conditions might also be a factor to some degree. Come to think of it, I remember studying about Holland in the third grade, and if I remember right at all, the whole country is at or below sea level - hence the dikes.
I'm a merchant, not an affiliate.It would take very little to put up a small affiliate site selling bulbs and such, you would certainly have enough c*ntent (LOL - sorry 'bout that ;) ) to turn into sales copy, as well as probably some good photos of plantings you've done. It might also be interesting to see affiliate marketing from the other side of the fence, and having to promote a site from scratch could be a learning experience with SEO, too.
Avila Beach, Ca is that mid-state where it's fairly dry, or near (or closer to) the coast, where there would be more moisture in the air year 'round than most of California, some of which is VERY dry?
I'm wondering if it's only a temperature thing, or possibly if humidity conditions might also be a factor to some degree. Come to think of it, I remember studying about Holland in the third grade, and if I remember right at all, the whole country is at or below sea level - hence the dikes.
I'm a merchant, not an affiliate.It would take very little to put up a small affiliate site selling bulbs and such, you would certainly have enough c*ntent (LOL - sorry 'bout that ;) ) to turn into sales copy, as well as probably some good photos of plantings you've done. It might also be interesting to see affiliate marketing from the other side of the fence, and having to promote a site from scratch could be a learning experience with SEO, too.
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