Gardening
Boost Your Indoor Garden's Beauty
A pot of tulips that were forced into bloom.
Photo courtesy of MelindaMyers.com
Brighten your indoor décor, patio, deck, or balcony by forcing a few spring flowering bulbs into bloom. Just plant, give them a chill and enjoy a few extra daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, crocus and grape hyacinths this winter and spring.
All you need is a suitable container, some well-drained potting mix, the bulbs and a place to give the bulbs the chill necessary to force them to bloom. Select a container with drainage holes that is deep enough to accommodate the largest bulbs. Cover the bottom few inches of the container with a well-drained potting mix. Place larger and taller bulbs like tulips, daffodils and hyacinths in the center surrounded by shorter varieties. They can be planted close together, about one half the bulb width apart with the neck of larger bulbs at or just below the soil surface. Set tulips with the flat side of the bulb facing the pot for a better display.
If you are using a deep container, plant layers of bulbs for a more robust and longer-lasting display. Set the largest bulbs on the potting mix near the bottom of the container. Cover these bulbs with soil and add the smaller bulbs like grape hyacinths and crocus on the next level. Plant these bulbs close to each other, covering the surface, for greater impact. Cover this layer with at least an inch of soil. Water thoroughly so the excess water drains out the bottom of the pot.
Move the bulb-filled container to a cool location where temperatures remain above freezing and between 35 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 to 15 weeks. A spare refrigerator works well for this. Just avoid storing the bulbs in a refrigerator with fruit like apples and pears that emit ethylene gas that can negatively impact flowering. If refrigerator space is limited, you can store the unplanted bulbs in a paper bag, so they take up less space in the fridge for the needed chill before planting.
Those gardening in colder climates can also store the pots in an unheated garage. Just water the containers whenever the soil is thawed and dry. Or sink the container into a vacant garden space in your landscape. Mulch the soil once the ground starts to freeze with evergreen boughs. The winter mulch makes retrieving the container easier in winter or spring.
Once the 12- to 15-week cold period is complete, you can begin moving the pots indoors. Remove a few pots every week to extend the bloom time and your enjoyment. Place the pot in a cool bright location to encourage more compact growth. Water thoroughly when the top few inches of soil begin to dry. Soon the leaves will begin to sprout and flowers will appear in about four weeks.
Provide ongoing care if you plan on moving the bulbs into the garden. Remove the faded flowers and place the leafy plants in a sunny window and water thoroughly whenever the top inch of soil is dry. Fertilize with a dilute solution of any flowering houseplant fertilizer.
When the danger of frost has passed, you can move these plants into the garden if they are suited to your growing conditions. These plants may not bloom the following spring but usually do the next year and for several beyond.
Or you can toss the forced bulbs into the compost pile so they can return to your garden as wonderful compost.
Investing time forcing a few spring flowering bulbs into bloom is sure to boost your spirits this winter. Consider planting a few extra pots of bulbs to do the same for friends and family.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including The Midwest Gardener's Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses "How to Grow Anything" DVD series and the nationally-syndicated Melinda's Garden Moment TV & radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. Her web site is www.MelindaMyers.com.
Antiques
Latest Antiques, Collectibles and Auction News
In my last antique news column, I noted that the art collection of Paul Allen (who founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975) was expected to bring $1 billion at auction. A photograph from Allen's estate now has the potential to break an auction record.
The photograph is called "the Flatiron" and was taken by Edward Steichen in 1904 and printed in 1905. According to the History Channel, the Flatiron Building was "designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham and built in 1902." The building's unique design "allowed it to fill the wedge-shaped property located at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway." The photograph depicts men on carriages during a foggy night in Manhattan with the Flatiron building partially obscured by the fog. Man Ray's 1924 photo "Le Violon d'Ingres" sold for $12.4 million in May and some art experts are predicting "the Flatiron" will surpass that figure.
Meanwhile across the pond, some 2019 home renovations literally paid off for an English couple. The couple from Ellerby, East Yorkshire found a pot the size of a soda can under concrete 18th century floorboards while they were renovating their kitchen. The pot contained more than 260 gold coins. The BBC reported that "the coins, dating from 1610-1727, belonged to the Fernley-Maisters, a Hull family involved in Baltic trading." They brought £754,000 (over $842,000 USD) with the most valuable one selling for £62,400 (nearly $70,000 USD). An auction house spokesperson described it as "one of the largest hoards of 18th Century English gold coins ever found in Britain."
If you're doing a closet cleanout this fall, the sale of a pair of old Levis might have you reconsidering donating your old jeans. UPI reports that a pair of 1880s jeans were found in an abandoned mineshaft in the Western United States. They were found by self-described "denim archeologist" Michael Harris. The jeans were sold at auction last week and purchased by Kyle Hautner and Zip Stevenson. Stevenson owns "Denim Doctors" repair shop in Los Angeles. Stevenson said Harris "has looked in at least 50 abandoned mines for five years and has not found a pair of equal quality." Stevenson added that there are only two other pairs that are the same age as the recently discovered Levis, and that those are both in museums. Stevenson also said that the pairs in museums are unwearable, but the pair he bought could be worn with minor repairs. They sold for $87,400. Stevenson and Hautner hope to sell the jeans to a museum and put some extra cash in their pants pockets.
Our online jewelry, coins and sterling auction opens for bidding this week along with our baseball cards and sports memorabilia auction. The next session with art, historical memorabilia, antiques and collectibles will begin in a couple of weeks. We have started cataloging a large collection of local memorabilia and will have a big announcement regarding that in my next column in two weeks. I'll be appraising items for the public at the Leicester Senior Center on November 5th to benefit the Leicester Historical Society. Please visit our website www.centralmassauctions.com for links to upcoming events.
Contact us at: www.centralmassauctions.com (508-612- 6111) info@centralmassauctions.com for antiques and collectibles auction services.