Every year in September our fall planting, spring blooming flower bulbs arrive. Colourful tulips, delightful daffodils, fragrant hyacinths and dainty crocus are unpacked and made available for purchase. The best part of this task is discovering what the new varieties are for this year. So far, we've seen a nice selection of new tulips, a new daffodil, a handful of interesting crocus and even two new varieties of garlic. So without further ado, here are the new flower bulbs at Arts Nursery for 2014.
New Crocus Varieties
Orange Monarch Snow Crocus
This super popular flaming orange crocus was originally available last year in limited quantities and is back again in larger numbers. Black streaks accent the orange flower colour. As a Snow Crocus, it is slightly smaller, growing to only 4 inches in height and flowers in early spring. Narrow green leaves have a silver stripe down the middle. Grow Orange Monarch in full sun and space the bulbs about 2 inches apart.
Yalta Crocus
Yalta is a new variety of naturalizing crocus with flowers that are both white and purple. It sports some of the biggest crocus blooms available. Narrow green leaves have a slivery strip down the middle for added interest. Grows to 4 inches in height and should be planted in full sun. Blooms in early spring.
Sieberi Spring Beauty Snow Crocus
This hard to find variety of Snow Crocus is bi-coloured in shades of white, purple and even a hint of lavender. It is a variety that is good for naturalizing and like many of the others, features green narrow foliage with a silver stripe down the middle. Grow it in full sun and space the bulbs 2 inches apart. Grows to a height of 4 inches
New Tulip Varieties
Tender Whisper Triumph Tulip
Although it is a Triumph Tulip variety, Tender Whisper looks almost like a lily-flowered tulip. Flowers are unusually shaped and feature a white base blending towards pinkish red near the top. Strong stems make it an excellent cut flower too! Tender Whisper blooms in mid-spring and grows to a height of 18 inches. Plant in full sun and space bulbs 4 inches apart.
Delight Series Single Early Tulips
These four Single Early Tulips are available in 4 distinct varieties: Apricot Delight, Candy Apple Delight, Cherry Delight and Rosy Delight. Apricot Delight has flowers that are pink blushed to white. Cherry Delight has mid to dark shades of red. Rosy Delight is mostly pink while Candy Apple featured red, pink and creamy coloured margins. All four varieties are good cut flowers and will grow to a height of 14 inches. They bloom in mid-spring. Grow in full sun and space bulbs 4 inches apart.
Siesta Fringed Tulips
Purple and pink petals edged white with lace-like fringes make Siesta a show stopper. Blooming in late spring, Siesta is a good cut flower reaching to 16 inches in height. Grow it in full sun and space bulbs 4 inches apart.
Boston Triumph Tulips
Boston is a new, attention grabbing two-toned red and yellow tulip that grows to 18 inches in height. An excellent cut flower, it blooms in mid-spring and will also attract bees and hummingbirds with its light fragrance. Like the other tulips, grow it in full sun and space bulbs 4 inches apart.
Prins Willem Alexander Triumph Tulips
This attractive, orange-coloured Triumph Tulip is named to honour the new King of the Netherlands, Willem Alexander. Growing to 20 inches in height on strong stems also makes it suitable as a cut flower variety. Blooms in mid-spring and like the others should be planted in the full sun.
Miami Sunset
Miami Sunset is a gorgeous fringed tulip variety with vivid tropical colours ranging from red, through pink and orange and even a hint of yellow near the base. Distinctive fringed edges add even more interest. Miami Sunset blooms in late spring and will reach a height of 18 inches. Grow in full sun and space bulbs 4 inches apart.
Humilis Tete a Tete Multiflowering Tulip
Tete a Tete is the first ever double-petalled, multi-flowering tulip. They bloom in mid-spring and very short stems that will only reach 4 inches in height. Flowers are red in colour and can be used as a short cut flower. Each stem will produce 4-6 full sized flowers! They will make quite a display in beds, containers and borders. Grow in full sun and space bulbs 4 inches apart.
Praestans Shogun Mini Botanical Tulip
This 10 inch high botanical tulip variety produces 3-4 brightly coloured yellow and orange blooms per stem in early to mid-spring. Praestans Shogun creates a woodland look and naturalizes well. It can even form a beautiful floral groundcover when planted close together. They are ideal for rock gardens, containers and borders. As an added bonus, their flowers are extremely long lasting, sometimes holding their flowers for several weeks! Plant in full to part sun and space bulbs 3 inches apart.
New Daffodil Varieties
Smiling Twin Novelty Narcissus
Smiling Twin is a split-corona Narcissus (or Daffodil) with colours ranging from creamy yellow to lemon yellow near the center. It blooms in mid-spring with a nice fragrance and grows to a height of about 16 inches. Grow in full sun to light shade and space bulbs 6 inches apart. As an added benefit, narcissus are also deer resistant, naturalizing and can attract bees and hummingbirds to your garden.
New Garlic Varieties
Music Garlic
This hardneck garlic variety has easily peeled cloves, a strong flavor and a luscious lasting after taste. Their cloves are often larger and have less of an outer wrapper. The flavour is pungent, sweet and good and can be quite hot if eaten raw, Like all garlics, Music should be grown in the full sun and spaced about 6 inches apart.
Siberian Garlic
Siberian Garlic is attractive, flavourful and offers plenty of heat if eaten raw. The bulb is white with streaks of reddish purple. This hardneck variety produces larger, but fewer cloves than do the softneck varieties. Garlic is also deer resistant and will also help keep insects and fungal diseases in check. Plant in full sun and space 6 inches apart.
Bulb Planting & Care
The best time to plant bulbs is in the late summer and early fall, just as the autumn rains begin. Choose bulbs that are strong and solid, not mushy. When planting bulbs, dig a hole 2-3 times the height of the bulb and add bonemeal. Drop the bulb into the hole with the pointy side up. Not all bulbs have a pointy side, so do your best to figure out which side is the top. Fill the hole back up with soil and add Bulb Fertilizer on top for extra growth. Space bulbs close together, but not touching. For best effect, create large drifts or swatches of colour instead of planting one here and one there.
You can also plant bulbs in layers in either containers or the garden. It is a good idea to put labels or tags into the area so you remember what you planted! Once bulbs have finished blooming, allow their foliage to die back and yellow naturally. This allows the plant to put energy back into the bulb for next years display. Wait as long as you can before cutting back the foliage.
For best selection, drop by Art’s Nursery this September and choose your bulbs when the selection is at its peak! If you have any questions about these spring blooming bulbs, feel free to visit us in person or give us a call at 604.882.1201