of an award comparable to being chosen Miss America. The blooms
are a deep pink, even more so when the weather is a bit cool. It
is quick to bloom, easy to grow, and nicely fragrant.
‘Royal Carpet’--This one is only about two inches high. With
its purple flowers it fills in vacant spots most beautifully. A
single plant may spread out ten inches.
‘Violet King’--Somewhat shorter than ‘Violet Queen,’ but has a
deeper color and more compact shape.
‘Violet Queen’--Averages about five inches, and is as its name
says a rich violet color. Delightfully scented, it is wonderful
for edging, borders, and flower beds.
Alyssum has long been one of my garden favorites, whether for a ground
cover, for rock gardens, as an edging for walks and beds, or just for
its own sweet alyssum self.
=Balsam=
In my concept of miniature plants I had always thought of balsam as a
towering giant of at least two feet or more. Then one night while going
through seed catalogues I discovered an entire column listing ‘Tom
Thumb Double Flowered Dwarf,’ ‘Tom Thumb Purple,’ ‘Tom Thumb Scarlet,’
‘Tom Thumb Shell Pink,’ ‘Tom Thumb Pure White,’ ‘Tom Thumb Rose.’
According to growing directions, Balsam likes a rich soil, well-drained
but slightly moist, and full sun.
=Coreopsis=
It was love at first sight when I saw a clump of this delightful
annual. I was even more delighted to learn that the plant can be grown
as a miniature. In the smaller form the cute little fellows spread out
into low mounds of six or eight inches and cover themselves with blooms
that last all summer. As an edging, for rock gardens, and as a cover
for otherwise bare spots, they are truly charming.
‘Golden Ray’--Yellow with crimson touches.
‘Petite Purple’--Rich purple covering the small mounds.
‘Tiger Star’--Rich-crimson-striped and splashed with yellow.
Plants stay at about six to eight inches and become mounds of
color.
=Cornflowers=
Here is another of the taller plants which fortunately has some small
relatives. There are:
‘Jubilee Gem’--Has a vivid blue flower on a compact bush.
‘Lilac Lady’--Purplish blooms on a neat bush.
‘Little Snow Man’--Pure-white blooms.
‘Rose Gem’--Red blooms, double.
Most of these plants will stay under eight inches. They are ideal for
rock gardens.
=Marigolds=
Marigolds are very well represented in the gallery of miniatures.
Loving the large ones as I do, I love the tiny ones even more. In one
of my favorite catalogues I find an entire group with “Petite” as a
first name:
‘Petite Gold’--About seven inches tall and golden yellow.
‘Petite Harmony’--Mahogany in tone, with a gold crest.
‘Petite Orange’--About the same size, only tending to be more
orange in color.
‘Petite Yellow’--Another variation on the popular marigold
color. In another catalogue I find the small ones called
“Pygmies”; all of them are just a little short of nine inches in
height.
‘Fireglow’--Mahogany-scarlet with gold centers.
‘Helen Chapman’--Rich gold in color with flecks of red.
‘Primrose Pygmy’--Primrose-yellow flowers with a red base.
‘Yellow Pygmy’--Lemon-yellow pompon-type flowers.
There are other miniature marigolds, from the double dwarf French part
of the family, within my idea of how small a small one should be.
‘Brownie Scout’--Golden little flowers with a base flecked with
red.
‘Butterball’--Canary-yellow blooms and plenty of them until
frost time.
‘Fireball’--A few inches taller than some varieties, but with
flame-like markings flashing up through the otherwise orange
petals.
‘Gold Laced’--Basically mahogany in color but with each petal
edged in gold.
‘Rusty Red’--The brightest of red, extra-large flowers for a
small plant.
=Nasturtiums=
I love this plant so much I hate to leave it out of my listing even
though it might be a few inches taller than my other miniatures. I
always am careful to plant it toward the rear of flower beds where it
will not overpower the smaller plants. There are several dwarfs, but
the one I know best is ‘Cherry Rose.’
=Nemophila=
This is a very beautiful little dwarf, each plant spreading out into
a shapely clump, and covering itself with pretty cup-shaped blossoms.
When sown in the spring it blooms all summer. When sown in the autumn
it is an early spring-bloomer. It is at its best when used in a
semishaded spot for a ground cover, for a border, or in a rock garden.
Its more usual name is baby blue eyes.
‘Insignis Blue’--The best-known variety; covers itself with
lovely, cup-shaped, sky-blue flowers with white centers.
=Petunias=
Petunias, being favorite annuals, belong in just about every garden,
but it is difficult to find the small ones for the miniature garden.
But they are available despite the fact that most hybridizers try to
develop a larger and larger plant. Here is a list of smaller ones; few
of them are taller than eight inches.
‘Blue Star’--Velvety blue with a sharp white star.
‘Bright Eyes’--Rosy-pink blooms with white throats.
‘Heavenly Blue’--Light sky-blue, a heavenly color.
‘Igloo’--Compact and pure white.
‘Rosy Morn’--Brilliant rose with white throat.
‘Salmon Gem’--Bright salmon color.
‘Twinkles’--Brilliant rose-starred white.
=Phlox=
This is another garden favorite that may give you problems when you
try to find seed for the small ones. Again, the tall varieties are
being developed, but concessions have been made to those who like the
diminutive. I find five varieties listed as the ‘New Dwarf Compact.’
‘Cinnabar Red’--Scarlet vermilion.
‘Fireball’--Rich fiery crimson scarlet.
‘Isabellina’--Primrose yellow.
‘Pink’--Bright chamois-pink.
‘Snowball’--Flowers of purest white.
Another source lists:
‘Dwarf Globe’--A plump-shaped plant with flowers of various
colors.
_nana compacta_--Not six inches high and a constant bloomer
with large radiant flowers.
‘Twinkle’--Various colors with fluted, fringed petals.
=Portulaca=
Seemingly this is an insignificant little plant, though I don’t know
how one so charming could be classified as such. I had never raised it
until the editor of one of my favorite magazines asked me to make some
photographs of it. Of course, I had to grow it first. I planted a bed
and waited for results. They were not long in coming. Plants barely out
of the ground started blooming a few days later, and started spreading
about the same time. The blooms, when single, were cup-shaped; the
doubles looked like roses. The plants had a sunny exposure, a sandy
soil, not much nutriment, and an inordinate attraction for our dogs
(like catnip for cats). One day I took a photograph of my husband’s
Labrador-retriever pup looking over a short picket fence at my
portulaca. I promptly put in a higher fence, but the puppy grew
faster than the fence. Eventually, I got my photographs, but it was a
dog-gone struggle. If you do not have dogs, or if your dogs are not
portulaca-minded, I offer you a listing of a few varieties.
‘Alba’--Pure white.
‘Aurea’--Lovely yellow.
‘Coccinea’--Scarlet.
‘Red Foundling’--A little larger than some of the others, but
semidouble, carmine-red, and most lovely.
‘Rosea’--Rose.
‘Salmon’--Salmon-colored and delightful.
=Snapdragons=
I didn’t think it possible that the lovely tall snapdragons, the ones
that are waist high or taller, could be reduced to a mere six or eight
inches. But it is possible. I offer two varieties in substantiation.
‘Miniature Magic Carpet’--Four to six inches. Colors are mixed
and very dainty. As a carpet plant it is a creeper when given a
chance.
‘Tom Thumb’--A plant that varies from six to eight inches tall,
very free-flowering, good for window boxes, rock gardens, porch
boxes, and flower pots for the window. Colors are in all of the
brilliant shades.
=Sweet Peas=
One seed company came right to the point when listing the small
varieties of sweet peas, calling them ‘Little Sweethearts,’ which they
are. Eight varieties were listed in one booklet.
‘Boy Blue’--Clear mid-blue and delightful.
‘Caprice’--Red-maroon.
‘Coquette’--A rose-red variety.
‘Heidi’--Another red bloomer.
Those are varieties we have grown. Others which I hope to meet are
‘Fantasy-Face,’ ‘Pollyanna,’ ‘Sinbad,’ and ‘Snow-White.’
Another source lists ‘Cupid,’ ‘Little Sweetheart,’ and ‘Color Carpet.’
These three are bushy, not viny, make six-inch mounds of small-scale
pea-type leaves, are slightly fragrant, and are usually sold in
mixtures of colors.
=Verbena=
Actually this is a perennial, but it is usually grown as an annual. It
is rampant both as a bloomer and as a creeper. The flowers are tubular
with flat heads and show up in many colors--pink, lavender, scarlet,
white. Our sources list _Verbena bipinnatifida_, the most hardy;
and _V. hortensis_, many colors with white eyes, and a low compact
shape. Another, ‘Dwarf Compact’ is white.
=Zinnias=
In running down my alphabet of annuals, from alyssum to zinnias, I find
it a bit difficult to fit the latter into what I consider the miniature
category, eight inches or thereabout. But zinnias are so effective in
a garden I’ll forgive them if they are a few inches above eight. I’ll
plant them in the back rows of my beds and pinch out the tops if they
get too rambunctious. In the Lilliput class, those delightful little
plants which cover themselves with the pompon type of bloom, I offer
the following list.
‘Canary Yellow’--Clear yellow.
‘Peach Blossom’--Soft light pink.
‘Rose Gem’--Deep clear rose pink.
‘Scarlet Gem’--Bright fiery scarlet.
‘White Gem’--Pearl-like white.
Sorry I can’t offer more varieties, but all growers seem to be devoted
to growing giants in the zinnia class. I happen to love the little
ones, those cute pompons that look so charming in the buttonhole of a
man’s jacket.
_CHAPTER 17_
MINIATURE GARDEN BULBS
Ring-around-a-rosying at the foot of a gray birch, twenty
dazzling-white spring snowflakes nodding at the turn of a path, a
company of bright-eyed kaufmanniana tulips; perching lightly in a
rocky crevice, a flock of tiny canary daffodils that seem ready to
wing away.... There’s something about the miniature bulbs that’s more
fauna than flora, more fairy tale than real. Each one has its own elfin
character and a happy-go-lucky way of stamping your garden “personally
yours.”
In the rock garden, at the edge of a border, with evergreen ground
covers, clustered wherever there’s a stone or stump to back them up,
used by the hundreds as drifts in the lawn, miniature bulbs more
than anything else give you that spring feeling. Potted and forced
into flower indoors, they’re winsome window-garden items, delicate
decorations for coffee table or what-not, delightful dish-garden
inhabitants. They’re indispensable for sink gardens, precious in the
small greenhouse.
Perhaps part of their charm lies in their unfamiliarity. So few are
well known and widely grown. So many more are easy to find, easy to
grow, and especially easy to pay for. And they’re such beguiling
plants, I don’t see how any garden could be without them, miniature or
not.
All of the bulbs included here hold their flowers no more than six
inches high. They’re not small versions of better-known, larger
plants, but mostly completely different, with their own individual
characteristics--and with bulbs, foliage, and flowers in miniature
proportions. The word _bulb_ is used in its generalized sense, and
includes true bulbs, corms, and tubers. To be botanically accurate,
a few plants such as tuberous-rooted dahlias, rhizomatous iris, and
bulbous erythroniums should also be included; but to be consistent in
such matters as culture and decorative use, they’re grouped with plants
that grow similarly, in the chapters on annuals, perennials, and wild
flowers.
Some of these miniature bulbs are available from nurseries and other
local suppliers. But the majority, and particularly the most unusual,
are offered by mail by bulb importers and specialist growers. Reading
some of the catalogues is like taking a quick trip to exotic parts of
the world. And for me, ordering no more than I can find time to plant
and care for is a severe exercise in self-restraint. There are always
a few more that would look well in some special spot, others that are
intriguing simply because I’ve never grown or seen them.
Most bulb catalogues give specific cultural recommendations that are
helpful in selecting varieties that will adapt to your climate, and to
the sun, soil, and moisture in the spot where you want to plant them.
In general, bulbs are either hardy or not; they will survive a deep
winter freeze, or they must be lifted and stored before the ground
freezes at all. There are some natural borderline exceptions, like many
fascinating varieties native to the West that are not so touchy about
cold as they are about other climatic and cultural conditions.
GROWING MINIATURE BULBS OUTDOORS
Tender, summer-flowering bulbs are planted in late spring, when soil
is warm and danger of severe frost has passed. Hardy bulbs are usually
planted in late summer and early fall, when foilage has ripened and
died back and the plants are in deepest dormancy. This includes
fall-flowering types like the colchicums. The earlier bulbs can be
planted, the stronger the root systems they can develop before winter,
and the stronger their flowering during the first season.
Make sure the selected site has perfect drainage. Bulbs rot quickly
when water stands around their roots. Dig generously, to about eight
inches deep; enrich the soil with organic matter such as leaf mold or
compost; increase aeration and drainage in sticky, clay-like soils with
sharp sand; add a light sprinkling of bone meal or superphosphate, if
fertility is low. Since few bulbs like very acid soil, lime is a “must”
except where the soil tests so extremely alkaline that the addition of
organic matter does not make it acid.
An average measure for depth of planting is twice the diameter of the
bulb in cooler climates, an inch or so deeper in areas like southern
Virginia to provide protection against summer heat. For quick effect,
plant about a dozen bulbs in a group; six bulbs more widely spaced will
usually increase and give the same effect in several years.
_Watering_
Most bulbs need moisture before, during, and after flowering, when
foliage is green and growing or ripening. They’re better off on the dry
side during dormancy. This is a perfect setup for most hardy types,
because they need the least watering in summer, when droughts are most
common. But it does increase the urgency for perfect drainage for some
of the Western species that can’t bear moisture in winter.
_Fertilizing_
Except for an early-spring top-dressing of leaf-mold compost, we seldom
feed our little bulbs. Occasionally, some healthy specimens may get
a puny, undernourished look that calls for sprinkling bone meal or
superphosphate over the soil and scratching it in. Or we may water with
manure “tea” during or after flowering time.
If soil is properly prepared at planting time, supplemental feeding
should not be necessary for most types for several years. By that time
some bulbs have multiplied so enthusiastically they should be lifted,
separated, and reset in freshly mixed soil.
_Problems and Pests_
If you plant bulbs where they don’t stand in soggy mud or water, you’ll
have little loss from rot. But if you’re in a suburban or rural area
inhabited by cute chipmunks, squirrels, or mice, you won’t want to
plant juicy morsels such as tulips, crocus, and eranthis just to feed
the animals. I’ve never had the time or patience to plant bulbs in wire
cages. Poison baits can be dangerous when you have children or pets. An
effective safety measure is to put the bait inside a clean milk bottle
and cover it with a heap of straw or leaves, with evergreen branches to
hold the heap in place.
_Winter Protection_
Because the root systems may not be completely matured, newly planted
bulbs should be mulched with a light, airy covering of something like
salt hay during their first winter. After that, the necessity for
protection varies with hardiness and with climate. Sometimes these
mulches hold in more moisture than is good for bulbs. If alternate
freezing and thawing should heave the shallow roots up through cracks
in the soil, press them back gently but firmly and cover with soil
again.
PROPAGATING MINIATURE BULBS INDOORS
Whether they’re to be exhibited in competition at a flower show,
or displayed for close-up enjoyment in the living room, uniform
perfection is the objective. First, then, buy the finest-quality bulbs
available--the most plump, firm, healthy bulbs you can find. If the
catalogue listing includes “recommended for forcing” or “specially
treated for forcing,” so much the better.
Time for potting, and length of time required for rooting, vary with
the varieties. We’re usually potting up bulbs for forcing through most
of October, occasionally into the first week of November. Our favorites
are potted at two-week intervals, so we’ll have a continuous show of
flowers in winter and early spring.
We prefer clay pots because of their porosity, and shallow pots because
most miniature bulbs are shallow-rooted. A generous layer of pebbles
or broken crocks goes in the bottom of every pot. The potting soil is
a house-plant mixture with a teaspoon of lime mixed in for a six-inch
bulb pot. Bulbs are set so their tips are barely covered with soil;
then pots are set in water up to the rims to make sure both soil and
pots are thoroughly moist.
Before they can be forced into flower, bulbs need time to grow sound
root systems. They need to be stored cool, and in the dark so that
premature top growth won’t be encouraged.
Our potted bulbs are pre-rooted in the cold frame, the pots sunk in the
soil, each pot covered by another pot turned upside down over it. Soil
is added to cover the top pots; and after severe weather sets in, we
top with at least six inches of salt hay.
In lieu of a cold frame, a fairly deep trench, with a layer of pebbles
or sand for drainage, can be used in the same way, with twice as much
salt hay on top or even more. Some growers set the pots on shelves in
cool, dark corners of the basement, but our cellars have always been
much too warm. Soil should be kept moist, but not wet, during the
rooting period.
When the pot is completely filled with roots, and a few stick out the
drainage hole in the bottom, the potted bulbs are moved to a cool,
shady spot in the house or greenhouse for just a few days. Then they
are brought into the sun for growth and flowering. For the best and
most lasting flowers, try to provide temperatures between 55 and 60
degrees by day, five degrees or more cooler by night.
The window of an unheated bedroom or attic, or an enclosed porch, may
be the only place where temperatures are low enough for healthiest
growth. These are good places to grow the plants until they open their
flowers, then they can be brought into warmer quarters for a flowering
display.
If you are trying to force bulbs into flower at some specific time, and
if the buds aren’t swelling as fast as they should, warmer temperatures
and a booster feeding of liquid manure should speed up the process.
Cooler temperatures will help retard flowering.
Keep the soil always moist before, during, and after flowering. When
the leaves begin to yellow, gradually hold back on watering and keep
it barely moist until time to set the bulbs out in the garden. Forcing
bulbs two years in succession is not usually successful.
MINIATURE BULB PLANTS
=Chionodoxa= _Liliaceae_ Glory-of-the-Snow
Early April flowers that disregard unfavorable weather. Leaves are
narrow and grassy and disappear after the flowering period. Flowers are
open-faced with short tubes.
_gigantea_--Largest flowers, pastel lavender-blue. Strong
stems that don’t fall over in bad weather.
_luciliae_--Five or more flowers per five-inch stem, bright
sky-blue with white centers. The variety alba is white; rosea,
pink.
_sardensis_--Like luciliae, but deeper blue without the
white eye.
CARE. Gritty soil. Moisture. Mulch with manure in the fall. Light and
sun. Hardy and easy to grow. Makes a ground carpet.
PROPAGATION. Seeds (seeds itself except for some varieties which
increase below ground), offshoots.
SPECIAL USES. Ground cover, rock gardens, forcing.
=Colchicum= _Liliaceae_ Autumn Crocus, Meadow Saffron
Usually called crocus, this fall bloomer actually is a lily.
_autumnale_--Crocus-like flowers four inches across from
September to frost. Leaves two inches wide in spring. Usually
has purple flowers. There are several varieties: album, white;
roseum, pink and often double; ‘The Giant,’ large, late, lilac
and white (best-known variety).
_bornmuelleri_--Generally considered the finest species
with five-inch-wide flowers, rosy-lilac turning to purple and
the tube white.
_luteum_--Rare spring-flowering species, flowers yellow and
smaller, leaves slim and less conspicuous.
_speciosum_--Large leaves, and flowers with pink or white
throats. The white variety album is also large and is often
considered the most beautiful of hardy bulbous plants.
CARE. Soil loamy, slightly acid. Sun or partial shade. Plant in
colonies in August, two to three inches deep. Let leaves mature.
PROPAGATION. Separate bulbs. Division of corms. Seeds.
SPECIAL USES. Borders, rock gardens, forcing.
=Crocus= _Iridaceae_
There are three general kinds of these grassy-leaved plants with
flaring flowers of several colors. The large flowering “Dutch” hybrids
flower in the spring; the usual spring-flowering varieties come earlier
and last longer; other species flower in the fall.
_biflorous_--Spring. Bright-purple flowers with darker
stripes, yellowish throat.
_medius_--Fall. Bright-orchid flowers with very pale throat.
_sativus_--Fall. Pastel-lilac flowers accented with scarlet
stamens.
_seiberi_--Spring. Yellow-throated lavender flowers.
_speciosus_--Fall. Light blue with fiery orange stigmas.
_tomasinianus_--Spring. Palest pinkish-blue.
_versicolor_--Spring. Lilac with purple streaks, or, in the
variety picturatus, white with purple feathering.
_zonatus_--Fall. Rosy lavender with orange inside.
CARE. Soil, sandy and drained. Not much fertilizer. Full sun. Hardy,
but winter mulch is often helpful. Divide seldom and replant at once.
Be on alert for rodents.
PROPAGATION. Offsets, seeds.
SPECIAL USES. Forcing, rock gardens, colonization.
=Cyclamen= _Primulaceae_
These are the country cousins of the florist’s cyclamen but smaller
in size. Their substantial, heart-shaped leaves are often beautifully
marked in marbled patterns and are in a circle near the ground.
Generally they are evergreen through the winter but drop before the
flowers appear. Each blossom hangs from its own stem with turned-back
tubes. Some varieties blossom in summer and fall, some (indoors or in
suitable climates) flower In winter or very early spring. A number of
varieties are available.
_atkinsi_--Crimson flowers in January, foliage marbled. The
variety album has white flowers; roseum is pink.
_cilicicum_--Purple-throated pale-pink flowers on five-inch
stems (in September), small marbled leaves.
_coum_--Blooms in February and March; choice of red, white,
or pink. Dark-green foliage.
_europaeum_--Fragrant red flowers in late summer. Leaves
marbled.
_libanoticum_--Large flowers with dainty pink blending into
white, in early spring. Foliage marbled.
_neapolitanum_--Exquisite silver-zoned leaves follow the
rosy-pink flowers that push their buds through the soil in
September. The variety album is white.
_repandum_--Red-purple flowers with wide-flaring petals, in
April.
CARE. Humusy soil, with drainage. Must never dry out, but roots must
never stand in water. Humidity in greenhouse. Outdoors, shade. Small
amount of lime. Once established, small amounts of rotted manure.
PROPAGATION. Seeds, and division (plant with top of tuber at surface;
may be dormant first year after planting).
SPECIAL USES. Rock and woodland gardens, forcing.