‘Wasp’ snowdrops were a wonderful garden gift and a remembrance of Len Lehman.
The pure white buds of snowdrops push up through cool soil during a January thaw in the corner of a raised bed in the vegetable garden.
The tiny bulbs were planted at the entryway to the garden for a reason.
The flowers were sited there as a remembrance of a gardening friend.
Len Lehman would come see me whenever I spoke north of the city, bringing along his friend Al Deurbrouck, both were members of the Allegheny Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society.
I often asked both why they continued to come see me as they were filled with a lifetime of garden knowledge and the guys responded with smiles, saying they learned something each time we connected.
During one presentation I revealed my obsession with snowdrops. Afterwards Len told me about an interesting variety he grew named ‘Wasp,’ and told me he would dig some and send them to me when the time was right.
Months later the bulbs arrived and were planted in a special spot, where they would always be remembered.
Six months later both Len and Al passed away, that winter the ‘Wasp’ bulbs began to bloom.
Every season since, these early blooming flowers remind me of Len and Al.
That’s one of the wonderful things about gardening and planting bulbs, many times these plants keep our friends or loved ones in our minds.
Planting bulbs is done in the fall, and although it’s not instant gratification, that comes in the spring (or maybe late winter).
Bulbs are planted three times as deep as the bulb itself. That makes small bulbs like snowdrops, glory of the snow, grape hyacinths, winter aconite, crocus and others easy to plant.
Regardless of the bulb’s size a bulb auger will make planting much easier. I use a 3”X7” Power Planter auger as I plant solo. If two people were planting a longer auger could be used with one drilling and the other planting.
When thinking about where bulbs should be planted, remember they like to dry out in the summer. Hillsides and the edges of woodlands work, but there are many good areas for planting. The mistake is to plant something on top of the bulbs that need water, the bulbs will not be happy there.
Instead of planting in rows of soldiers, bulbs look more natural arranged in drifts.
Most of the bulbs we plant in our gardens come from Europe and then are shipped to the U.S.
Flowerbulb.eu is a great resource to learn about planting bulbs. They don’t sell bulbs, but just like me, encourage gardeners to plant bulbs. Subscribe to their newsletter here. Go to Flowerbulb.eu for inspiration and education.
‘Jetfire’ is an early blooming variety that is a vigorous growing.
Doug’s Favorites
· Snowdrop ‘Flore Pleno’ and other varieties. ‘Flora Pleno’ has pretty double flowers, everyone should grow snowdrops.
· Winter Aconite is another early bloomer with lovely yellow/orange flowers set off by pure white snow.
· Glory of the snow is a spring bloomer often with blue flowers, but there are violet and pink varieties too. Like snowdrops they will form a nice colony after a few years.
· Crocus ‘Pickwick’ and many other cultivars. ‘Pickwick’ was released in 1923, has purple striped petals with a brilliant orange anther. A trick that works for crocus and tulips to keep the underground critters at bay is to soak them in an animal repellent like Bobbex for a few minutes before planting.
· Daffodils (all of them). Daffodils are the harbingers of spring, once they emerge there’s no turning back for gardeners. ‘Jetfire’ is a great early variety, ‘Sir Winston Churchill’ smells like gardenias and ‘Van Sion’ dates back to the 1500’s.
· Tulips are deer candy. The only place I can grow them is in a fenced vegetable garden, but I must have my tulips.
· Alliums are best known as a globular purple flower but can have many shapes and sizes.
· Every spring garden needs hyacinths for their beauty and fragrance.
The work done now planting these ephemeral beauties will make the spring garden spectacular. Many bulbs will bloom for decades or longer acting as a legacy for the gardener who planted them.
‘Sir Winston Churchill’ is a fragrant, late blooming daffodil.