By: Nikki Phipps

By NicolasGrandjean via Wikimedia Commons Mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum), also known añu, is a tuber crop indigenous to the Andean highlands and is closely related to the garden Nasturtium. This plant produces masses of lush, rounded blue-green foliage and tubular orange-red flowers. The color of the flowers can range from dark yellow and orange to scarlet. The tubers vary in color as well from white to yellow with occasional variants that are purple or red. They are often striped or mottled with red or purple too. Mashua blooms from mid-summer throughout fall.

Tropaeolum is one of a large genus of over 80 species, all native to Central and South America. The genus derived its name from the imaginative Linnaeus, who in seeing how gardeners grew the plants up poles, was reminded the Greek and Roman ritual of hanging helmets on tree stumps as trophies.

As well as enjoying the bright flowers, gardeners were quick to realize its culinary qualities as well. The leaves and flowers could be used for salads and the seeds for making mustard.

Mashua has been cultivated since ancient times and is popular for its peppery tasting tubers, eaten raw, which are a major food source in its native region of the Andes.

This beautiful climbing plant is only somewhat hardy; therefore, care should be given during winter months to avoid permanent loss of the tubers. Container-grown plants should be taken indoors for over wintering. In mild winter areas, the tubers can be left in the ground with a light layer of mulch applied. In colder areas, however, they should be harvested and stored the same way as most other bulbs.

The cultivar Ken Aslett is probably the best form available in this country; it comes into flower earlier and produces larger tubers than the species type.

Mashua grows vigorously in nearly any type of garden soil, making this plant very easy to grow. The plant is also extremely pest-resistant and is often used as a companion plant for potatoes and other crops to aid in repelling insects.

Mashua needs support from canes or trellising and will grow to several feet over time. Grow against a sunny and warm wall in rich soil that does not dry out too much in summer, as it prefers a rather moist soil during its active growing period.

Lessen watering as winter approaches. Mashua enjoys a dry winter. When planting mashua out in the garden, place the tubers just beneath the soil surface in spring, after all danger of frost has passed, in a warm, bright location.

When growth shoots appear, use bamboo or similar material to support its growth. Mashua can also be successfully grown in containers, especially hanging baskets. If choosing to grow mashua in pots, select a deep, narrow container, as for growing clematis. Container-grown mashua can be placed outdoors or grown indoors with plenty of light.

Mashua is easily propagated from division of its tubers in spring.

Tubers, rhizomes, corms, and bulbs, OH MY! If you’re new to gardening then it’s a pretty safe bet that you’re feeling a little daunted by all of this terminology. Even some veteran gardeners may not be completely sure of the difference between tubers, rhizomes, corms, and bulbs.

Tubers, rhizomes, corms, and bulbs actually all serve the same purpose, just in a different way. They are each a storage unit for food that gives the plant the energy it needs to grow, bloom, and complete its lifecycle each and every year. The energy is created and stored by the foliage’s photosynthesis. You’ve probably heard that it’s important not to cut back the foliage after the bloom has died. Well, that’s because the leaves need to have time to absorb energy for next year’s bloom.

Basically tubers, rhizomes, corms, and bulbs are each a little package containing everything needed to become a beautiful flower. Now that we’re clear on that, let’s take a look at how they differ:

Bulbs

Bulbs (which are referred to as “true bulbs”) grow in layers, much like an onion. At the very center of the bulb is a miniature version of the flower itself. Helping the bulb to stay together is something called a basil plate, which is that round and flat hairy thing (those are the beginnings of roots) on the bottom of the bulb. Bulbs reproduce by creating offsets. These little bulbs are attached to the larger bulb.

Not to further complicate matters, but bulbs can be separated into two categories – scaly bulbs and tunicate bulbs. This is actually a quite simple distinction – tunicate bulbs have that papery, scale like skin, and scaly (or non-tunicate) bulbs do not.

Also, there are hardy bulbs and tender bulbs. Hardy bulbs, like tulips and daffodils, are planted in the fall and will come up in the spring. The reason they are called hardy is because they can survive the winter’s cold weather. Tender bulbs, like dahlias and begonias, are planted in the spring for summer blooming. They cannot withstand the winter and must be dug up and stored in a cool dry place.

Examples of Bulbs – Tulips, Daffodils, Lilies, Narcissus, Amaryllis

Corms

Corms look a lot like bulbs on the outside but they are quite different. They have the same type of protective covering and a basal plate like the bulb does, but do not grow in layers. Instead the corm is the actual base for the flower stem and has a solid texture. As the flower grows, the corm actually shrivels as the nutrients are used up. Essentially the corm dies, but it does produce new corms right next to or above the dead corm, which is why the flowers come back year after year. Depending on the type of flower, it may take a couple years to reach blooming size.

Examples of Corms – Crocus, Gladiolus, Tuberous Begonias

Tubers

The easiest thing to think of when you’re trying to understand a tuber is the potato. The potato is a tuber that I’m sure we’re all familiar with. A tuber has leathery skin and lots of eyes – no basal plate. All of those eyes are the growing points where the plants will emerge.

Examples of Tubers – Dahlias, Begonias, Caladiums, Anemones

Rhizomes

Rhizomes are simply underground stems. They grow horizontally just below the soil’s surface. They will continue to grow and creep along under the surface with lots and lots of growing points.

Examples of Rhizomes – Calla Liles, Cannas, Bearded Iris, Water Lilies

Although it may seem like a lot of information, I’ve shared just the basics about each of these unique storage systems. For such small things, tubers, rhizomes, corms, and bulbs are actually quite complex. They really weren’t kidding when they said that great things come from small packages!

Image by Le Do When shopping for bulbs (and their cousins, tubers, corms and rhizomes), knowing the botanical name of your bulb can make find the bulb you want a whole lot easier. A botanical name is the ‘official’ name given to a particular flower. It is universally used and will be the same no matter who you talk to or where you shop.

Many people know their favorite bulbs by their common name. The problem with this is that there may be several common names for any one flowering bulb or that several different types of bulbs may have the same common name. Also, if you are a collector or just someone looking for something a little different, you will need to know the species, variety and perhaps even the cultivar.

I will be the first to admit that looking at a botanical name can be a bit intimidating. The first thing you ill notice is that they are in Latin. If you are an average person, you have probably not had much experience with Latin. If you are an average former Catholic school student, you are probably cringing. But, never fear. Botanical names are easy to decipher if you know the pattern that all botanical names follow.

The first part of a botanical name is the genus, which is like the plant group that the flowering bulb belongs too. Because many English words are derived from Latin words, many times you will see that the genus looks very similar to the common name that you may know the bulb by. For example, the genus for tulips is tulipa. The genus for daffodils is Narcissus, and another common name for daffodils is a narcissus.

The second part of the botanical name will tell you the species. The species is the particular kind of bulb you are looking at from a genus. An Allium Giganteum (commonly called Giant Allium) looks very different from Allium Moly (commonly called Lily Leek). They are from the same plant group but look different.

Occasionally, between the first part of a plant name, the genus, and the second part of a plant name, the species, there will be an ‘X’. This indicates that the bulb is the result of a cross of other species from that genus.

Occasionally, a bulb’s botanical name will also have a third part. This third name will be either the variety or the cultivar. If the third name is in Latin, than it is the variety. If the third name is in English and surrounded by single quotes, this is the cultivar. A variety is normally a naturally found variation of that bulb, while a cultivar is a man made or cultivated variety of the bulb. Keep in mind while shopping though, most modern bulb companies use the words variety and cultivar interchangeably, so a flowering bulb description may say variety when in fact it is talking about a cultivar.

And that’s about it, in a nutshell or a bulb, as the case may be. Knowing the botanical name of the bulb you are looking for will make things much easier when you are shopping.

Image by motodraconis The multitude of flower bulbs available to the home gardener today is simply dizzying. It seems like every year, hundreds of new varieties hit the market, resulting in even more selections that a gardener has to make. With all of the types of bulbs available, it is no wonder that some people may get a little confused when it comes to some of the attributes that different species, even varieties have.

One very important attribute that a bulb gardener must pay attention to is whether a bulb is a hardy bulb or a tender bulb. A new gardener may even be wondering what hardy and tender means when talking about bulbs.

The difference between a hardy bulb and a tender bulb is actually quite simple. A hardy bulb is a bulb that you can leave in the ground year round and will not be killed off by frost or a ground freeze. A tender bulb, on the other hand is a bulb that can be damaged or killed by cold, frost or ground freeze.

What’s more important to the home gardener is what these distinctions mean in terms of their work in the garden. As has already been said, a hardy bulb has less work attached to it. You simply plant them in the ground during the proper season and enjoy them year after year with little effort. The only effort you really need to put into hardy bulbs is a little fertilizing every year and dividing the bulb clumps every few years. Some examples of hardy bulbs include daffodils, scilla (wood hyacinth), muscari (grape hyacinth) and crocus.

Tender bulbs require a bit more work. With tender blooming bulbs, a gardener must plant these bulbs each year and dig them up and store them before the winter cold sets in. While tender bulbs require more work, they are still very popular and some are even grown as indoor plants year round. Normally, tender bulbs tend to be summer or autumn blooming bulbs. This is due to the fact that summer blooming bulbs are planted in spring and autumn blooming bulbs are planted in late spring to summer. Some examples of tender bulbs include amaryllis, spider lily and wood sorrel.

New gardeners should not be scared off by tender bulbs. While they do require a little more work, the flowers they produce are well worth the extra effort.

So, as you can see, the difference between hardy bulbs and tender bulbs is quite easy to understand

Image by Laura Stone You can spend lots of money on the best bulbs in world, you can spend your time making sure that they have the right amount of light, water and fertilizer and you can keep a vigilant eye out for rodents that may eat your bulbs, but all of it will mean very little to the overall health of the flower bulbs in your garden if you do not have a good bed of soil to plant them in.

So, what makes a good bed of soil for a bulb flower garden? The best soil for bulbs should be a humus-rich, sandy loam soil. It should be neutral to slightly acidic (pH between 5.5 and 7.3). It should also be rich in nutrients.

The best place to start to get the best soil possible is to have your soil tested. If you are a do it yourself type person, your local garden center sells soil testing kits that can tell you the pH level of your soil. For a more thorough analysis that includes an analysis of soil pH, nutrient content and soil composition, your local garden center or extension service can analyze a sample of your soil from your bulb flower bed. Make sure you check your extension service, as frequently they will test your soil for free or at a discounted price.

Once you find out the quality of the soil in your bulb flower bed, you can take steps to amend the soil. If your soil is too acid, you can add some lime. If your soil is too alkaline, you can add sulphur. If your soil is too clay heavy, some sand mixed in will help break it up a bit. If your soil is too sandy, adding some humus, such as compost, leaf mold or well-rotted manure, will help it retain water better.

If you soil analysis comes back saying that your soil is low on nutrients, humus can help you there as well. You can also add some fertilizer in instead of humus, but be aware that when you use manufactured fertilizer, you run the risk of over fertilizing your bulbs and burning them.

Once you have added everything you need to create a good soil mix, till the area thoroughly to mix in all the ingredients. Once you have done this, your bulb flower bed is ready to be planted with all of your favorite bulbs.

Image by Audrey Nolte Planting flower bulbs is a rewarding task. There are few plants out there that will reward you the way bulbs will. Planting a flower bulb is easy, whether you are planting a Daffodil or a Crocosmia.

There are two basic rules to planting flower bulbs.

The first is that the pointy end always goes up. It doesn’t matter what kind of bulb you are planting, it has a pointy end. This is where the leaves of the plant will come up. While it is true that you can plant the pointy end down and the bulb will still grow, if you do this, you are unnecessarily stressing the plant. At best, this will result in a poor show of flowers. At worst, the extra effort will kill the plant.

The second rule is to plant the bulb 2 – 2 1/2 times deeper than the size of the bulb. So if your bulb is a small 1 inch bulb, you would plant the bulb 2 to 2 1/2 inches deep. If your bulb is a larger 3 inch bulb, you will want to plant the bulb 6 to 7 1/2 inches deep.

If you follow these two basic rules, you are guaranteed a show of flowers in the Spring. Of course there are things you can do to improve the display you will get.

One of these things is to add a bit of bulb food to the hole before putting your bulb in. This will give your bulb an extra boost come Spring. Just make sure that there is a thin layer of dirt between the bulb and the food, so that the bulb does not get fertilizer burn.

You may also want to cover the spot that you have planted a bulb with a few inches of leaves or mulch. This will help keep the bulb from being heaved out of the ground over the winter.

If you are planting bulbs in the Spring, make sure you water them thoroughly.

Most bulbs do best in a sunny location. Make sure the place you choose to do your planting gets plenty of sun.

Some people like a formal layout for their bulb plantings while others enjoy a naturalized look.

To acheve a formal look, lay your bulbs out before you dig. Choose the spots you would like and leave the bulb there to mark the spot while you dig the other holes.

For a more natural look, gently toss the bulbs onto the area that you would like to plant in and then plant the bulbs where ever they land.

Planting bulbs is perhaps one of the easiest and most satisfying tasks for a gardener. Anyone from a novice to an expert will enjoy planting bulbs.

Image by Alice Day I think it the majestic trumpets of an amaryllis that makes it one of the most popular bulbs for forcing indoors during the winter. Certainly, you can not ask for more bang for your buck than the massive cluster of blossoms that sit dramatically atop the amaryllis’s 3 foot stem. Who could ask for a better mid-winter spirit lifter than the glorious amaryllis?

Most people assume when they buy an amaryllis bulb, that they will only be able to coax a single bloom forth and that after that, it is too much work to make them bloom again. This is not true. Amaryllis are actually rather easy to get repeat blooms from, year after year.

Once your amaryllis bulb’s flowers have faded, you will most likely be left with long, strap like leaves. Keep watering your amaryllis and giving is regular light fertilizer. Keep the amaryllis in a sunny location. You may want to tie the leaves up so that they don’t break off. Like many bulbs, the amaryllis gathers its strength for next year through it leaves. Making sure that your amaryllis has its leaves and that the leaves are undamaged will help to bring about an even more spectacular bloom next year.

After all dangers for frost have passed, you can put your amaryllis outside. This step is not absolutely necessary if you have your amaryllis in a sunny location but keep in mind, the more sun the leaves of your amaryllis can be exposed to, the better the bloom will be next time. So, when the weather is warm enough, if you can put your amaryllis outside, you will be helping it store more energy.

Keep watering your amaryllis and giving it light fertilizer.

Near the end of summer, the long leaves will die back. Once the leaves have died back, cut them off and place the bulb in a cool (but not cold) dry place to rest. Basements and closets work well. The amaryllis bulb needs a short period of dormancy before they can bloom again. You can keep the bulb in the pot or take it out. If you keep the bulb in the pot, stop watering it while it there. If you remove the bulb from the pot, make sure that it remains free of moisture. Some people will wrap their bare amaryllis bulb in newspaper to help with this.

Let your amaryllis bulb rest for 4 to 8 weeks. Once it has rested, bring it out of it dormancy by placing it in a pot with soil, put it in a sunny location and give it a good watering. Remember, that amaryllis bulbs actually prefer a smaller pot when growing, so if you repot your bulb, keep the pot only slightly larger than the bulb itself.

In no time at all, your amaryllis bulb will send up a new and even more spectacular flower stem for you to enjoy.

Image by audreyjm529 Of all the pests that can plague a bulb garden, the most infuriating is by far squirrels and chipmunks. More than a few gardeners have toiled for days over a bed of bulbs, digging holes and lovingly placing bulbs in them, only to wake up one morning and find that every single bulb has been whisked away in the night by a furry thief.

As infuriating and wily as squirrels and chipmunks are, one of the first things you can do to help combat them is to understand why squirrels and chipmunks act like this and how your bulb garden looks from their 1 foot and under perspective.

Squirrels and chipmunks spend a large amount of the warmer seasons storing food for the colder seasons. The classic image we see is a squirrel storing food in a hollow tree, but the reality of squirrel behavior is that they are just as likely to bury their stores of food in several holes around their territory. On top of that, squirrels will often forget where they buried their stores of food and will have to rely on their sense of smell to help the re-locate food that they have stored away.

Chipmunks do not rely on several stores, but rather will search around for food to store in one location. What a better way to fill a nest with tasty treats for winter than to find a forgotten squirrel mind field of food.

So, keeping these facts in mind, what do you think your bulb garden looks like to them? If you put yourself at their level, you can quickly see that in their eyes, your bulbs garden is actually the squirrel and chipmunk equivalent of a Las Vegas all-you-can eat buffet.

Of course knowing this does not give them the right to empty out your bulb garden in the name of a tasty winter snack. There are quite a few things you can do to help deter a hungry squirrel or chipmunk.

One recommended method is to use bloodmeal in the bulb hole and over the bulb bed. They thought is that the smell of the bloodmeal (which is made with real blood) will scare the animals off. Unfortunately this method can backfire as squirrels and chipmunks can develop a taste for bloodmeal.

Another method that is frequently used is to use cayenne pepper in the bulb hole and around the bulb bed. This method does work better than the bloodmeal, but is only a short term solution. The cayenne pepper will lose strength and will get washed away over a pretty short period of time and will need to be reapplied.

Another method is to cage your bulbs. You can either cage your bulbs below the ground or above the ground.

To cage your bulbs below the ground, use either strawberry baskets or make small wire baskets out of chicken wire. Dig the hole for the bulb, put your bulbs in the hole and then turn the basket upside down over the bulbs and refill the hole. This method works best when used with smaller bulbs whose foliage and stems will not easily get stuck in-between the “bars” of the cage.

For larger bulbs, you can cage your bulbs above ground by simply laying down a piece of chicken wire over your newly planted bulbs and tacking down the edges. In the spring, you will need to remember to pull up the cage so it does not interfere with the leaves of the bulbs growing beneath it.

Interplanting daffodil bulbs among your tastier bulbs is another way to discourage squirrels and chipmunks. Rodents find the taste of daffodils to be quite offensive and will not eat them. If daffodils are planted among your tulips, the squirrels and chipmunks may miss the scent of the tastier bulbs when they smell the daffodil bulbs.

There are also several products on the market which advertise themselves as Squirrel and chipmunk repellent. One such product is Get Away Squirrel Repellent, which uses Capsaicin (the chemical in hot peppers that makes them hot) and other less than tasty vegetable products to keep squirrels and chipmunks away. Other repellents may use predator urine to frighten the pests away. The store bought squirrel and chipmunk repellents have the same problems as the bloodmeal and cayenne pepper in that they will need to be reapplied almost weekly in order to remain effective.

Of course, there is always the old fashioned use of a cat. Sometimes simply having a cat on the property is enough to keep squirrels and chipmunks at bay, but if not, you can always let nature take its course.

Image by Amanda Slater The iris is perhaps the most frequently grown flower in residential gardens. And many people would agree that the bearded iris is one of the most spectacular in the iris family.

The first thing to do even before you plant your bearded iris is to prepare the flower bed that you will be planting the iris in. And iris bed should have three elements, sun, sweet soil and good drainage. Without these your bearded iris will not grow as well as they could or worse, your bearded iris will not grow at all! Choose a sunny spot that drains well. Add some lime to the soil to “sweeten” it. After you have done this, you are ready to plant your bearded iris.

Ordering your bearded iris through a reputable internet company or through a mail order catalog is best. This way you can be sure that the bearded iris rhizomes that you will receive will be healthy and hale. You will also have the added benefit of having a larger selection of bearded iris to choose from.

When your bearded iris arrives in the mail, you will find that they are loosely packed, bare root and that the leaves have been cut. A quality bearded iris will have a large rhizome that is neither moldy nor damaged. Most likely the leaves will be cut in a triangle shape.

Your bearded iris will arrive in a dormant state. This is a good thing. The fact that the bearded iris is in a dormant state means that you do not have to plant them immediately. If you need to wait a week or two before you can get the bearded iris in the ground, you (and the iris) should be okay.

Once you are ready to plant your bearded iris in the iris bed, plan how you will plant them. A bearded iris will spread in the direction that the leaf end of the rhizome (where the leaves grow out of the rhizome) is pointing. For this reason, you want to make sure that you don’t plant bearded irises pointing towards each other. If you do, they will eventually grow into each other and crowd each other.

Plant your bearded iris at least 18 to 24 inches apart from each other. Dig a hole about 8 to 10 inches deep and about twice as wide as the rhizome you will be planting. Build a small mound in the hole and place the bearded iris rhizome on top of it with its roots trailing down the sides. Back fill the hole with soil. The top of the rhizome should be just above ground level and soil should be mounded up over it so that the bearded iris plant is sitting in a small hill.

After you have planted your bearded iris, water thoroughly. As long as you are getting a decent amount of rain, they will not need to be watered after this. In dry weather, water lightly. Enjoy your beautiful bearded iries!

Image by Brandon Blinkenberg There is a secret to having bulbs that produce spectacular flowers year after year, and luckily, it is a very simple one. It is called fertilizer.

Fertilizing is something that many gardeners do regularly in their gardens, whether it be with compost or with chemical fertilizers. But for some reason, poor bulbs do not get this kind of loving attention from their garden owners. Many of us just assume that because hardy bulbs come back for us year after year that they need no special attention. While it is true that bulbs can survive without fertilizer, they thrive when given this little bit of extra attention.

You should fertilize your bulbs twice a year for best results. Fertilize once at the beginning of spring, before the plant puts out its flower. Then fertilize again in fall, after the first frost has hit your area. Fertilizing in spring will help your bulbs start to store up food for over-wintering, while fertilizing in fall will help them produce better flowers in the spring. Does that seem a little backwards? The fertilizers take a little time to be taken up in the bulb. Fertilizing in the spring ensures that the fertilizer will be there after the bulb blooms and is ready to take up nutrients for the next year. Fertilizing in the fall allows the fertilizer to be available in the cold months when the bulb first starts to put up the small green shoots that will become your spring flower and foliage.

If you prefer using a chemical fertilizer, you can buy special bulb fertilizer. But, as it is a specialized fertilizer, bulb fertilizer can be expensive. If you have a large area or would prefer to save some money, you can just make sure that the fertilizer you buy has the nutrients that you bulbs need. Make sure that the fertilizer you purchase has these three nutrients, nitrogen, potash and phosphorus. The nitrogen helps to ensure that the bulbs put out healthy foliage, which in turn helps them to collect more energy from the sun. The potash will help the bulb fend of disease and help them live longer. The last, phosphorus, is the most important. The bulbs need this to help multiply and more importantly (at least to a gardener) produce bigger and more color vibrant flowers. Make sure that when you buy your fertilizer, its phosphorus number is the highest. The phosphorus number is the one in the middle on the fertilizer number (e.g. 5-10-5).

If you prefer to use compost, this will work just as well and will help to condition the soil too. You may want to consider adding some bone meal to your compost, to add an extra boost of the all important phosphorus.

By taking a little bit of time, twice a year, to add some fertilizer to your bulbs, your bulbs will reward you with a spectacular display of flowers, year after year after year.