Flowering Bulbs: Nature’s Gift That Keeps Giving

from September 2021 Issue 154

September Forecasts

supporting ecosystem function. Generalist bees like mason bees, bumblebees or the non-native honey bee fare a little better, as they can make use of the pollen and nectar of some introduced plants. But along with most other insects all are doomed by pesticides and insecticides we liberally apply to our gardens for the sake of sterile prettiness and a perfect lawn.

Is it any wonder that a dreadful insect apocalypse is happening everywhere? And yet, we don’t have to despair. There are some powerful positives that can fuel a turnaround: We are lucky because insects, although gravely decimated, are still around. We control what grows in our gardens and can choose biodiversity over ecological destruction. We can replace parts of our lifeless lawns and ornamentals with native plants, including shrubs and trees that are the host plants for caterpillars, which are the indispensable food for baby birds. Introduced plants are essentially useless at supporting the caterpillars of our native moths and butterflies.

We can opt against chemical poisons and for a natural variety of insect life, without which, by the way, we humans would quickly be “toast”.

Oh, and did I mention that we have the most stunning native plants right here on the Island? They grow in my garden, but we hardly see them in nature anymore. When did you last notice such beauties as Woolly Sunflower, Farewell-to-Spring, Camas, Yellow Monkeyflower or Mountain Sneezeweed in the wild?

Let’s bring them back, and the wild bees, along with countless other insects, will find them. Let’s endow our native plants with the high status they truly deserve!

For free help with your garden or more information, please contact Sabine Almstrom at sabinealmstrom@gmail.com

Bernie Dinter, Horticulturist and owner of Dinter’s Nursery

Flowering bulbs herald the arrival of spring and complement the blooming season of many trees and shrubs, creating a colourful pallet in the garden at the end of the drab days of winter. Most naturalize easily and are drought tolerant and deer resistant. They fit into any size garden from small rockeries to large drifts in meadows. Once planted, most will multiply, giving larger shows of colour as the years pass by. With a little understanding of their habits, select and plant your bulbs by November. Here are some of the favourites that every garden should have.

Winter Aconites are one of the first to bloom in January with a low carpet of yellow that captures the winter sun. Plant a few of these odd shaped bulbs and in a few years, they become spreading clumps.

Snowdrops are familiar sight in most gardens. Start by planting a few groupings around the garden and in time they become lovely patches of colour to herald the arrival of spring.

Glory of the Snow (Chionodoxa) comes from the Mediterranean mountains and blooms behind the retreating snow line. In our climate it forms lovely carpets of star shaped flowers from February onwards.

Dwarf Narcissus make a striking show in small scale garden beds and rockeries where the larger varieties we are familiar with will overpower. These deer proof plants naturalize into drifts of colour over time.

Nerine is sometimes described as a ‘floral firework’ as the 16” stems explode out of the garden with a starburst of bright pink petals in September. Always a surprise to the gardener, these plants can grow in dry, well drained locations.

These are just a few of the many types suited to our area and will easily adapt to long dry summers in their dormant state underground.