Thursday, November 19, 2009

Good night to bulbs and moomins

Lily-flowered tulip bulbs ready to be planted into a brown-glazed pot.
K
Planting bulbs in containers and pots is one of my favorite things to do in the garden. It is almost impossible to fail if you start with a new bag of fresh, juicy bulbs, and they make me feel so rich when I admire their rounded forms within the golden skins: such a concentrated promise of expected beauty. In Saltsjöbaden I used to cover the pots with sheets of moss and leave them outside; they seemed to survive every year despite the cold. Once I even arranged beautiful, glazed ceramic eggs on the top of the moss, which looked wonderful until they were hacked to pieces by crows eager to eat up the contents...
K
This year, I planted only three pots: one with greenish-white lily flowered tulips, one with white, fragrant Narcissus 'Thalia' and one with Fritillaria meleagris. Nostalgic choices, as I grew all of these in my garden in Saltsjöbaden... but I thought that I could do with some old friends here.

Nothing up yet for a couple of months... but where can I find (or buy) some moss?
K
Otherwise, instead of getting to bed in late November like bulbs and Moomins do and sleeping soundly until the rays of sun get warmer again, I am getting ready for a trip to Saltsjöbaden and Turku. Despite the cold and dark season, I really look forward to meeting our families and friends, celebrating the opening of the Christmas season in the medieval town of Turku (I can almost smell the gingerbread and mulled wine from here...) and even doing some very interesting garden related research there. I'll be back in early December, hopefully full of new inspiration and with some good photos from the wintery Scandinavia. Until then, have a great Thanksgiving, Första Advent or whatever else you might be celebrating!

4 comments:

Ruben said...

You do exactly as I do, plant tulips in pots, but I put the pots in the cold garage during the winter. But, maybe that is unnecessary? I mean, to store the pots in the garage, but no gambling here! I also plant lilies in pots the same way.
Have a nice stay in Stockholm and Turku.
Oj, det gick av bara farten att det blev engelska, det var inte meningen att jag skulle misshandla det engelska språket.
Kippis! /Ruben

The Intercontinental Gardener said...

Hej du Ruben, och kippis till dig också... Jag chansade alltid i Saltis och lökarna klarade sig, och även krukorna. Där hade jag stora betongkrukor och sedan planterade jag också i stora lövkorgar. De finns kvar där, tyvärr, så nu har jag köpt nya, mörkglaserade och höga krukor. Det blir fint med en massa vitt och kungsängsliljor i dem!

nilla|utanpunkt said...

Mossa, vilken bra idé, då blir ju krukan inte bara skyddad, utan också vinterfin. Jag har inte riktigt kommit igång med lökplantering, det är som om jag inte riktigt vågar tro på att något ska komma upp! Ha det så trevligt i Norden, ska också till Sverige två svängar under december.

The Intercontinental Gardener said...

Hej Camellia, de kommer upp, de där små liven... och det är så härligt när man kan få hela stora krukor eller korgar med tulpaner, narcisser och kungsängsliljor! Tack för hälsningarna, snart ska vi till flygplatsen!