Summer Bulbs

Does the thought of a bouquet of dahlias get your heart racing?  What about the lingering scent of summer lilies?  Or the fragile magnificence of a peony rose?  Whilst these packs of sawdust encrusted roots might not look like much when they arrive in bags, they are, albeit disguised, some of the most highly sort after flowers.

And don’t we all need some flowers now?  Flowers contribute to positive mental health and are the perfect way to communicate where words fail.  Whilst receiving a bunch is lovely, growing one and being able to gift bunches away to friends and bring in bouquets to your home as often as you like is a never-ending source of joy! 

Dahlias are one of the most diverse flowers known and one of this year IT flowers.  They come in all sorts of forms, with blooms ranging from enormous shaggy mops to petite pompoms, simple single blooms and cactus-like versions.  To grow Dahlias make sure you have a sheltered position with lots of sun.  Enrich the soil with compost and manure, stake them at planting time so you can support their numerous flowering stems, and sit back and watch this marvelous plant bloom.  We also stock tree dahlias, which grow to about 3m tall and have the most magnificent heads of flowers that bees adore.

Liliums have evocative and enticing perfumes which also are fabulous cut blooms.  Choose a sunny location with some shelter from hot afternoon sun for the best results, and again, create a humus rich soil by adding organic matter.  They take about 10-14 weeks to flower, depending on the weather, and look out for one called ‘Eyeliner’ which looks like the white petals each have had a fine outline of black drawn around them…very alluring.

Lastly, if you’re in one of our colder suburbs or like a challenge, peonies are the perfect choice.  Their fragrant flowers are prized in Asian cultures and florists nearly trample each other down to get at them! Many tree peonies are named after Greek God’s – and no wonder, they really are divine!

 

By: Meredith Kirton