Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Hairstyles of the Fresh and Fragrant

Braiding. Cutting. Trim. Shave. Sure, sounds like a crash course at Supercuts. But this isn't about the latest styles of your coiffure. It's all about the foliage of your Spring bulbs. Or ANY bulb for that matter!

A certain "do-it-yourselfer" who shall remain nameless (only because we love Martha), use to teach and demonstrate on national TV how to braid your foliage. It was stylish, it was très chic, and for that reason people felt that they HAD to do the latest and greatest thing. When in fact, it's the second worst thing you can do to your foliage behind mowing it down too early. So, what do you do? Well, the answer to that can be found in a quick trip, back in time, to your middle school earth science class. Let's go, shall we? (Whooosh...)

Wow! So this is your old middle school, huh? Nice. It smells of canned vegetable medley and old sweat socks. And is this your earth science teacher? Holy beehive, Batman, how much hairspray did she use to get all of that hair to stay up that high? Apparently, she hasn't heard about the ozone layer yet. Ah, but it seems she does know about plant health and how they take care of themselves through photosynthesis. You remember, the synthesis of organic compounds from carbon dioxide and water, with the release of oxygen, using light energy absorbed by chlorophyll. See! After all these years, you thought you'd forgotten all of that stuff. On the way back we'll stop by 'Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader' and fill out an application for you. ANYWAY...in layman's terms, the plants photosynthesize to create food energy and this energy can be stored into the bulb for next years blooms. Uh, oh...speaking of "next year", we better get back. I think that's the principal and he's eyeballing us with that paddle in his hand. (Whoooosh....)

Ok, let's review what we've learned. By leaving the foliage alone, it allows the plant to do what it should do naturally. Don't braid or tie it, because that just decreases the amount of surface space that can absorb the sun's rays and help with photosynthesis. Don't bother with it at all. Let it do it's thing and let it feed itself. Yes, put away the sippy cups and wide handled forks, this plant is a big boy now and can feed itself! Without you! I know, it hurts to think that this plant doesn't need you, but I'll give your ego a boost in the next paragraph. When it starts turning yellow, the photosynthesizing is complete and then you can feed that odd desire to brutally mow it down. Or better yet, for Spring bulb foliage, plant Daylilies with them and the Daylily foliage will come up and hide the dying foliage.

 Ok, here's your ego boost. The bulb does need you! ("They like me, they REALLY like me!") Yep, every Fall your bulbs need to be fed to restore the nutrients they depleted in the Spring. A simple compost on top will work just fine or whatever you want to use. But, here's what that does. Because you let the bulb be a big bulb and feed itself last Spring without interference, it already has some stored energy in the bulb. Then, by feeding it in the Fall during its root production period, you've added even more energy. You've given it everything it needs to explode in the Spring, full of strength, confidence, and vigor, ready to be an even bigger bulb! Hey, who knows, maybe it might ask to borrow the car next year.

1 comment:

  1. I would add one small thing to your excellent post. Our main daffodil bed is actually 2 rows of 20 semi-raised beds each (40 beds, each with 2 rows of daffodils interplanted with peonies, usually 16 of each per bed.) I like to leave my daffodil foliage alone, but the exception I make is that when it starts to fall over, a couple of weeks before it is gone, I pull it away from the peonies - kind of lean it towards the center of the bed - to improve air flow and keep down the fungal problems to which peonies are prone in damp conditions. It's a little time consuming, but keeps the peonies healthier. I also pull the daffodil foliage away from other things if it seems like it is going to smother a smaller plant. Some of my clumps have been in place for almost 40 years and are enormous, so even though I'd like to just leave them alone, they sometimes need a little push to the side or the benefit of their neighbors.