Gardener News March 2016

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TAKE ONE March, 2016

Gardener News Serving the Agricultural, Gardening and Landscaping Communities GARDENERNEWS.COM

TAKE ONE No. 155

Providing the landscape with a welcome potpourri of color By Tom Castronovo Executive Editor

Dutch Grown/Photo

Double flowering tulips bordered by grape hyacinths in Keukenhof, Holland. Keukenhof is the international and independent showcase for the Dutch floricultural sector, with a special emphasis on flowering bulbs.

I had a very nice introduction to Ben Rotteveel recently. Ben, and his family, have been supplying and growing flowering bulbs for over 134 years. Right out of the gate, he said to me, “There’s nothing easier to grow or more rewarding to grow than beautiful flowering bulbs from Holland.” I liked this guy already. As an avid gardener myself and a former landscape professional by trade, I know that flowering bulbs require little garden area and can be planted in annual or perennial flower beds, among shrubs, under trees, and in practically every area of the landscape. And flowering bulbs offer a multitude of opportunities for brightening a home or an office building landscape. Most flowering bulbs prefer a well-drained, sandy loam soil, ideally with moderate amounts of organic matter. Nothing will cause flowering bulbs to deteriorate as quickly as poorly drained soil. The most important environmental factor to consider in locating flowering bulb plantings in the landscape is light level. Make sure you provide full sun or partial shade, as the particular species requires. Flowering bulbs can be typically planted in either formal or informal garden (Cont. on Page 16)


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