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Tulips – Hope and Trust in the Future of Spring

March 12, 2016 Cold-Hardy Spring Perennials, Spring Perennials

commercial mass planting of tulips

Fall planting of Tulips is a live-message of hope and trust in the future of spring so kudos to tulips for they keep us optimistic. Tulips with their intricate flowers that bloom in a full spectrum of colors (even a purple so dark it looks black) are loved by gardeners. Blessed are we who live in the northern hemisphere for tulips will not bloom in the warmer, southern gardens unless they are grown in a refrigerator. Tulips also prefer alkaline soils like soil around rocks,and their flowers are known to change colors when grown in acidic soils. Western gardens have exactly what tulips need, cold winters, up to ten-weeks for...

Bleeding Hearts – Dicentra Spectabilis – A Cool Weather Favorite

February 24, 2016 Cold-Hardy Spring Perennials, Gardening With Children, Spring Perennials

bleeding hearts dicentra dpectabilis

Bleeding Hearts For Spring Gardens Bleeding Heart, or Dicentra Spectabilis is one of the most popular spring blooming perennials in the west. Part of the reason is that Dicentra Spectabilis, (known for its low temperature, zone 2, hardiness) can survive winter at minus fifty-to-forty degree winter temperatures! This makes it an easy survivor in high Rocky Mountain gardens. But its popularity is more based on its heart shaped flowers that dangle from graceful arching stems, for the plant is easily recognized by everyone, even children. The delicate hearts are backed up by equally charming fern-like foliage of deeply divided blue-green foliage. Also, Bleeding Hearts are native to the United States and...