It’s Bulb Planting Time, Learn From the Masters

Posted in Learning Experiences on November 9 2010, by Plant Talk

I love bulbs.  When we bought our house upstate a few summers ago, I couldn’t wait to see what would come up in our yard come spring. After several chilly gray months, my impatience … I mean patience, was rewarded with a dazzling display. It turns out our front garden is a perfect place for naturalizing not just daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses, but also tulips!

And so for the past two falls I have diligently supplemented the beautiful display entrusted to us by our old farm house’s previous owners.  But the thing I’m realizing now is that I don’t really know how to plant bulbs. I mean, sure, I can dig a little hole and stick the bulb in (and the plantings have become much more successful now that my husband knows which end of the bulb goes up), but I don’t know anything about designing my bulb plantings. And don’t even get me started on integrating bulbs with perennials!

So it is with great anticipation that I am looking forward to a class being offered here at the Garden on Tuesday, November 23 with acclaimed landscape architect Jacqueline van der Kloet and renowned Dutch bulb expert Frans Roozen.  I absolutely love the Seasonal Walk here at the Garden which was designed by Jacqueline and her collaborator Piet Oudolf (with whom she worked on Manhattan’s High Line). It is a gorgeous, long stretch of a garden that intermingles bulbs and tubers, perennials, flowering shrubs, trees, and amazing ornamental grasses. Jacqueline will offer insight into this wonderful technique while Frans will offer technical advice on planning, planting, and naturalizing bulbs.

The class is being held here at The New York Botanical Garden. It’s from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. and costs $28 for members, $31 for non-members. You can sign-up here.