Remember those beautiful tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and crocus that were blooming in the spring? Believe it or not, now is the time to plant the bulbs for next spring’s bloom. You’ll be glad you planted them. When those flowers emerge in the spring from their winter slumber, it is truly magical. Let me share with you a short history on tulip bulbs, and tell you about site, soil prep, selection (the fun part), planting and growing.

Tulip History --- The original tulip was a wild flower growing in Central Asia. The Turks cultivated it or tamed it around 1000 AD. It was introduced to Western Europe and the Netherlands in the 17th century. Its name comes from the Turkish word for turban. A true status symbol planted in palace gardens.

It soon gained popularity as a trading product, especially in Holland. The interest in the flower was huge, and bulbs sold for unbelievably high prices. Some hybrids and mutations of the flower were seen as rare and a sign of upper status. In early 1637, there was a complete ‘Tulipmania” in the Netherlands, where many rare bulbs would cost more than the average cost of a house at the time. The early growers and traders made huge amounts of money. Everyone wanted in on the action, but then, oversupply and lower demand caused major bankruptcies. This “Tulip Crash” caused their government to introduce special trading restrictions on the flower.

Today, that’s all in the past, the popularity of the tulip is ever present. Bold colors, shapes and sizes, dramatic flares, parrot-types, bunching varieties make this wonderful treasure both affordable and hugely desirable.

Choosing Where to Plant Bulbs  ---- Plant them in a highly visible bed where you, family and friends can see and enjoy them. Choose a spot with good sunlight and drainage so bulbs will not become waterlogged. Amend your soil with a well-decomposed compost or sphagnum peat moss, this will improve your soil texture, plus, help with aeration and drainage. Apply phosphorus fertilizer or bone meal at the time of planting so it is available to the roots. Tip: Plant a solid block of color because in bloom, it is truly impressive.

Selecting Bulbs and Planting Bulbs ---- Pick the largest ones because there is a direct correlation between the size of the bulb and size of the flower. Avoid those that show evidence of mold or mechanical damage.

Check the blooming times on the bulb package; some will say, very early, early, mid or late. These will allow you to have a full spring and early summer of color.

In my area of Colorado, the best time to plant is September-October. Be sure to ask your local garden center about when the best time to plant is in your area.

Bulbs should be planted to a depth of three to four times the height of the bulbs. If your bulb is 2″, plant it around 6″ to 8″ deep. Plant with the growing tip up. Water well after planting and during dry times when there is no moisture during the winter months.

Caring for Bulbs in Winter and in Spring
After the ground freezes, add a few inches of mulch to prevent alternate freezing and thawing. During spring, remove flowers as they wither, but don’t be afraid to cut some and enjoy them in vases in the home.

Plant Pansies, too
A great addition to your bulb beds are pansies. Planted on the top of the bulb garden, it will remind you to give needed water in dry times and reward you with blossoms through the snow and winter. Many colors, shapes and sizes are available in fall. It seems the blues/purples and yellows are most hardy and prolific.

So, early this fall, plant these gems around your “palace” and smile to yourself for being so smart, knowing they’ll reward you next spring.

Happy Gardening!

  In this day and age, there are so many of us that have downsized. Our "gardening area" has diminished to a deck, porch or small patio. The days of you coming home from work to a huge chore of back breaking weeding, dead heading, dragging the hose around and harvesting the fruits of our labor have been reduced to some nice planters on the deck. I personally am guilty and love it. I've had many homes with huge gardens, show gardens on tours and plantings of unusual and exotic flowers and plants that don't necessarily grow in our environment. I've learned of micro climates and techniques to help these plant survive. Now over 50, I've decided to scale it down. But, that certainly doesn't mean you can't have a blast gardening and have some very cool plants and flowers to work with, brag on and enjoy ! 

    It all starts with looking at your location. Is it full sun, shade, part sun, windy, and ease of watering.  Picking the right flowers for the right location is vital.  Make sure you are paying attention to this. Putting shade-loving double impatiens in full sun will just frustrate you and defeat your goal. Planting zinnias in shade will not work. Now that you know your conditions, I would go to the garden center and pick out some cool, colorful, maybe even funky pots. Today's selection of pottery is so much better than years ago. Sure , we all still stock clay pots and plastic containers, but what a great opportunity to jazz it up with some neat brightly colored pots of different shapes and sizes. Maybe, a lime colored strawberry pot with dark blue lobelias trailing out, with  purple gomphrenas as the focal point on top. The selections are only limited to your imagination.

 So now you have some cool pots, time to consider the soil. A nice mixture of Canadian sphagnum peat moss, compost, vermiculite, perilite, charcoal and a wetting agent is recommended. Good drainage is a must.  Don't get nervous, you don't have to mix this, it's already in bags at the greenhouse ready to go, some with a  fertilizer already mixed in.  Adding some polymers in the soil, those little crystals that reduce watering and labor, will be beneficial to your plants. Ask your local garden center Guru for their recommendations and advise.

    Now comes the fun part, picking out your plants. Bright colors, texture of foliage, bloom and growth sizes, trailing or upright, variegated, are just a few considerations. Mixed pots are as unique as the gardeners who plant them. You can match them or make them opposites, monochromatic or psychedelic. The choice is YOURS ! It's your deck, your the one that will be sitting back and relaxing with your margarita gazing on them and saying, "very nice, cool flowers and oh, by the way, I designed and planted them !" Have fun, experiment with new varieties and plants you've never used. Nice red geraniums, a spike in the middle, a few yellow marigolds and petunias and some trailing vinca vine in a brown pot is nice. Don't get me wrong, it's nice, safe and traditional. But, maybe, next time try a red banana in the middle, surrounded by hot lips salvia with some blue ageratum with fiery orange celosia and sun loving coleus of lime around the edge mixed with double purple calibrachoa. Did I mention, it's in a ceramic bright orange window box ??? Gardening shouldn't be rocket science and it shouldn't be hard or difficult, what I'd like it to be, for everyone is a kick, fun and funky with alot of individual style. 

   We live on a golf course now in a patio home, so small scale gardening is a hot topic for me. My two umbrella planters on the tables are small scale golf greens, planted with Irish and Scotch moss surrounded with smooth pebbles, a teed up Callaway finish the look. Like I've said, "you are only limited by your own imagination !" Enjoy, The Flower Guy ! 

WOW, that sounds really quite heavy, but oh, so true. We need to understand the relationship between us and the important role that flowers, plants, bees, birds, bats, insects and animals play in our well being and the health of our world. One such character is the amazing hummingbird and relationship with the plants they love.

Our friend, the hummingbird, can fly forward, hover and then fly backwards and is the only bird that can. They weigh less than a penny, fly 500 miles non-stop flights from Mexico and Central American and thousand more miles to reach their destinations. Their tiny hearts can reach 1,200 beats a minute. They have the highest metabolism of all animals and are always on the brink of starvation. Their daily search of nectar is vital and need to find and visit hundreds of flowers to feed. Placing out feeders certainly helps, but planting flowers is the best solution to helping our little friend. Hummingbirds revisit a route they follow year in and year out, this practice is called "traplining." If you can help establish a garden of beautiful plants they will be lured to you and return. Red is their favorite color. Orange and purple seem a close second and third. They will hang around all summer, raise a few eggs and leave in the late summer or early fall. So, plan your "hummer garden" carefully with some plants I'll suggest. The huge bonus is, butterflies are attracted to the same plants, who could ask for more? A side note, the use of pesticides around our tiny friends is not cool, be safe and natural.

Trees and shrubs they love...Azalea, butterfly bush, flowering quince, lantana, weigela and red buckeye. A nice group of vines, such as, honeysuckle, morning glory, trumpet creeper, scarlet runner bean are on the menu. Perennials they'll dig...bee balm, cannas, cardinal flower,coneflower, columbine (my State Flower), coral bells, four o'clocks, foxglove, agastache,lupine, penstemon and the yucca. They will be your new best friends if you supply the annuals of fuchsia, impatiens, petunias, salvias and shrimp plant.

Attracting hummingbirds to your garden can make for a very pleasant summer, share their story, relationships, and flight plans with your friends and family. What a great opportunity to educated and enjoy the rewards. Remember, we all share this big blue marble with some amazing flowers... and the animals who love them !!! Get more information at www.hummingbirds.net or with my friends at the Colorado State University at www.ext.coloradostate.edu fact sheet #5.504.

Have a wonderful gardening season, The Flower Guy

I'd like to introduce a new, up and coming, horticultural brand called, "Hort Couture". A unique collection of annuals, tropical's, succulents, grasses, herbs and vegetables. They're fashionable, sophisticated and easy to grow. A high fashion  series of plants that gives you a WOW and NOW excitement in the garden. Hort Couture has partnered with breeders, propagators, growers, independent retailers to bring you this never seen before group of plants. There is quite a buzz in our industry and we look forward to sharing it with you, our dedicated Lafayette Florist gardeners !!! There's Calibrachoas, Verbenas and Coleus. Herbs of Basil and eight new varieties of Tomatoes. Our Hort Couture plants will begin arriving in mid to late April, see you at the greenhouse, The Flower Guy

Below is New, up and coming, horticultural brand called, "Hort Couture"

A wonderful time when love is in the air and flowers are sent to the ones we care about. Flowers=Happiness !!!  Not only at holidays, but year around. Almost every month there is a day on the calendar which flowers are part of a celebration, a birthday, an anniversary, a  new birth, or even a tribute to a family member or friend that has passed on. Flowers touch our lives...throughout our lives. I fondly remember my youth, growing up in Central Illinois on the farm, all the flowers, the smell of fresh cut grass, iris and day lilies, blooming fruit trees, rhubarb patches, grape vines, Frisbees lost in the monster junipers, hedge-apple rows and my Mother's flower/vegetable garden. Weeding the strawberry patch and remember sights and smells of the harvesting and "canning" the fruits of her labor with paraffin and glass Ball jars in the kitchen. We had fresh veggies year around, how lucky we were and didn't realize it.  I now, as a young 50 year old, never knew how much those memories would mean to me. To this day, my family back home, is still stunned and shocked that I turned out to be, "The Flower Guy". I reminisce about how I walked beans, detassled corn and bucked hay, my connections to the plant world were being rooted and cultivated...and I never even knew it. I do remember though, I enjoyed the smell of the carnation pinned to my football jersey during pep rallies,  the fragrance and style of the rose boutonniere on the lapel of a yellow tux at prom and how excited the girls would get when they carried  their nosegays of fresh flowers at dances and Homecoming. Later in life, as a Sergeant in the Air Force, at my own wedding, how beautiful my bride looked as flowers invaded and adorned the Church and Reception.  I couldn't have imagined anything that spectacular.  I think we all have fond memories of flowers. How they have played a role in our lives. At this time of Valentine's Day and Spring, I'd love to hear your stories, memories and thoughts about your flowers and how they inspired and impacted your life. Drop in on Face Book to our page and share...it is very therapeutic...it was for me, thanks for listening and going on my journey down flower road. The Flower Guy

This year we will celebrate our 62ND year of flowers and gardening in Boulder County. I'd like to personally thank all of you for your support and loyalty to our family business and tell you how much your continued support means to us. The flower shop is already looking springy with new product arriving weekly. We are cleaning, pruning and sprucing up the garden center with fresh green plants and bloomers. Craig, our head grower, is getting in seed to start your tomatoes, herbs, and vegetables that will be ready, when you're ready, to get outside in the early spring. You are probably getting gardening catalogs and checking things out on the Web to make this years flower and vegetables gardens, not only beautiful, but bountiful !!!  I've got on board with Welby Gardens to bring you a fabulous new line of upscale and unusual and unique plants that will be available in our Garden Center called, "Horte Coutre". I'm always traveling and scouting out new plants and product to make your gardening experience, not only fun, but new and fresh with color, texture and style. We love that we are able to partner with you on our recycle program and cause gardening. One last note...I've designed a new fun product that combines my art and flowers called, " WALLFLOWER " , please stop in and tell me what you think !!!  Mid April , we'll have an educational weekend of classes, start jotting down your questions and concerns and we'll be there to give you solutions and answers !!! See you soon, The Flower Guy !!!

Hey there Garden Lovers....it has been a heck of a season !!!  Rain, cold temps, hail, dry hot winds, storms and alittle bit of everything. Our plants, lawns, veggies and flowers have certainly had to adapt to many different conditions....but that's gardening in Colorado. I believe there is going to be more of the same this summer. Dealing with all the different weather patterns and conditions is what makes us better farmers. Learning micro climates and where to plant and how to change the soil to achieve greater production is the learning curve in becoming gardeners in our environment. I would love to hear of your challenges and victories this season. Photos of what did well and what didn't. Stories of gardening in our Colorado. Maybe, old wives tales that worked and why. Join us at Facebook and tell your story.  I would also like to invite you to our 11th Annual Lafayette Peach Festival in Old Town, Aug 21st, 2010, 9am-4pm. Over 30,000 lbs. of scrumptious, fresh, freestone certified organic peaches !!! There will be great music, antiques, arts and crafts and food booths. Kids activities at the Festival Plaza and Farmer's Market. Bonfils Blood Drive and More !!! Free Admission !!!  The main stage will be located at Lafayette Florist...see you there !!! Thank you for supporting your hometown business !!! The Flower Guy.