FW: carefree garden bulbs

Crawford Neil Neil.Crawford@volvo.com
Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:48:46 PDT
 
We are North of Diane in Sweden, same sort of Northern climate I imagine though,
so starting from  her post, here's our report.  

Winter: Our season starts in February so we can more or less forget winter
 

Spring: March,April,May
Snowdrops , crocus, Scylla, Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis),  Hepatica nobilis (blue anemone)
Allium ursinum (wild garlic)
At this moment the garden is full of Daffodils, next up is tulips and narcissus.

Erythronium dens-canis, the purple ones do well, but the yellow
ones keep getting eaten (by deer?).

Anemone nemorosa - This is where we excel, the whole South of Sweden is covered
as I speak! Any slightly wooded place with a little sun will have them en masse,
our garden is no exception, we have a blue variety that does well too. We have
a lovely double white somewhere, but I seem to have lost it.

Trillium, we have one that is doing very poorly, I think they just don't like it here.  

Bluebells, we have Scylla non-scripta only, and they are spreading nicely

Ornithagalum, various kinds. And now some from South Africa that I'm trying to grow,
I don't expect to succeed.

Summer:  June to August

Hemerocallis, the easy Daylillys grow nicely, yellow and orange, but we've had little 
success with the fancy ones, I imagine it's just us, they have a magnificent collection 
in Gothenburgs botanical garden. 

Polygonatum multiflorum, not the hybrid, and I agree with Diane, such a nice plant.
This year we had enough to start moving them out into the wilder garden.
We also have Polygonatum verticillatum

Cypripedium calceous and C.regina, Lady slipper Orchids are doing well
this year we will probably have a dozen flowers. We also have a Dactylorhiza maculata
hybrid that grows nicely. We had some other orchids but they seem to have gone. 
Platanthera chlorantha, Greater Butterfly Orchid grows wild, and we've been pleased to
find that it's moved into our garden.

Convallaria majalis - seem to like growing under our Oak which I just chain sawed,
so we will have to see what that does to the Lily of the valley.

Around our pond we have Iris siberica and I. pseudacorus Yellow Iris (which spreads violently)


Summer to frost, which usually comes in September-October:

Dahlias - we have lots, in no particular order 


I'm sure we have piles of other things I forgot, but we have so much, it's a large untidy garden
where plants come and go.

Neil Crawford
Kungälv, Bohuslän on the West coast of Sweden
maritime zone for sure, but I don't know the number.
Cold rainy winters with some snow, mild rainy summers.


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