The Frugal Gardener: To Multiply Your Glads, Plant Cormlets

        If you dug and stored your glads last fall, you probably noticed lots of tiny cormlets (or cormels) clustered around the bases. Ranging in size from a BB to larger than a pea, these mini-corms will grow to blooming-size in a year or two.
        Getting them to sprout, though, can be a challenge, due to their nearly impermeable shells. You can nick or gently crack the shells, but it’s easier to dissolve them by soaking in full-strength household bleach for a few hours just before planting. Plant in full sun, 1-2 inches deep and 1-2 inches apart, depending on size. Keep the soil moist but not soggy till grass-like foliage emerges and, for optimal growth, throughout the summer. With good care, any cormlet larger than a pea will grow to blooming-size by the time you harvest them in the fall, and the smaller ones by the following fall. Good luck and have fun! (May 2010)

The Frugal Gardener: Tips for Saving and Storing Dahlias, Glads, Etc.

        You can save money and have extra bulbs to share by digging and storing your dahlias, glads, cannas, and tuberoses this fall. Wait till frost blackens their foliage, then follow our easy how-to in the Planting and Care section of our website. Remember, though, that temperatures and humidity vary from region to region and even house to house, so you may have to experiment to find what works best for you. (Oct. 2009)

The Frugal Gardener: Crocus, Yes! But in the Lawn? Maybe

        Crocus are inexpensive, and they multiply without care. You can tuck them into even the most crowded garden. And their blooms pack a lot of punch at the dawn of spring.
        Susan Reimer gave this big little bulb some well-deserved attention in the Baltimore Sun recently. Then in her engaging blog, “Garden Variety,” she asked both Becky Heath and us if we recommend planting crocus in the lawn. Becky said yes but we said no because we’ve never seen them do well there long-term. We’re always eager to learn, though, so we thought we’d ask: Have you ever planted crocus in your lawn, how did they do there, and would you recommend it? (August 2009)

The Frugal Gardener: Investing in Your Garden Pays Off

        There’s always something interesting to read at GardenRant.com. Jeff Gilman, an associate professor of horticulture at the U of Minnesota, cited some recent research about “What Landscaping is Worth”:
        “Readers probably realize that nice landscaping can help sell your home, but exactly how much extra is this nice landscaping worth to buyers? Well, 75 homes in Lubbock, Texas, were examined to determine how much and it turns out that a high quality landscape increases the sales price by 5.7% compared to average landscapes. Then comparing average landscapes with excellent ones, the difference in sale price is a whopping 10.8%. Furthermore, the authors calculate that every $1.00 spent on the landscape returns $1.35. I’m obviously investing in the wrong place.” (Apr. 2009)

The Frugal Gardener: Multiply Your (Plant) Wealth

        Plants multiply, and when times are tough that’s an especially good thing. Our good customer Henrietta Gulish of Columbia City, Indiana, writes: “I save all the little corms that my glads produce and plant them. I also split my daffodils and daylilies, and now I have a lot more of them.”
        Iris, dahlias, cannas – lots of heirloom bulbs multiply vigorously. Not sure how to keep the tender ones through cold winters? You’ll find easy advice in the Planting and Care section of our website. (Mar. 2009)

The Frugal Gardener: Cheap Thrills and Hope

        Times are tough, and the Frugal Gardener is here to help. He can’t fix the economy overnight, but every month he’ll be doling out tips, deep thoughts, and a bit of hope right here in our Gazette. You can help him and thousands of your fellow gardeners by sending your own thoughts, tips, and success stories to frugal@oldhousegardens.com . (Jan. 2009)

No Need to Buy a Monet, Just Garden Like Him!

        For the last twenty years of his life, Monet painted only one subject: his gardens in Giverny. Many bulbs played a leading role in those gardens, and it seems his taste for bulbs was shaped, at least in part, by financial difficulties in his early years.
        In Monet: The Gardener (2002), Sidney Eddison writes: “Today, water lilies continue to float on the pond at Giverny. In May, irises in every imaginable shade of blue and violet bloom in their long, narrow beds; in June, roses smother the metal arches along the front walk. By midsummer, gladioli stand tall among the nasturtiums, which have begun their headlong rush toward the middle of the path. And in the fall, dahlias lavish their rich colors on the beds. The gardens, now open to the public, are the property of the Academie des Beaux-Arts. But Claude Monet still owns them.”
        In the same book, Robert Gordon writes of Monet’s early career: “Given his precarious finances and the temporary nature of his abodes, many of the plants he chose were annuals . . . or corms, such as gladiolus, which can be dug up in the fall and saved from year to year. At Argenteuil, Monet planted gladiolus corms by the hundreds. In a painting simply titled Gladioli of 1876, . . . [Monet’s wife] Camille . . . gazes wistfully at cheerful ranks of pink, red, and bicolor flowers. . . . Two years later, in a work depicting Monet’s new garden at Vetheuil, gladioli appear again, but this time growing in decorative blue-and-white ceramic containers – a reminder of the impermanent nature of these early gardens. The same containers ultimately found a home at Giverny.” (Jan. 2009)

Book of the Month: Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

        My wife loves Barbara Kingsolver’s novels (best-sellers like The Bean Trees, etc.), but this is the first of Kingsolver’s books that I’ve read – and I loved it. A diary of sorts, it tells the story of Kingsolver’s family and the year they decided to turn their backs on fast food and out-of-season asparagus and “eat locally” instead.
        Though sympathetic to the cause, I worried that I might be in for a sappy or polemical read here. But Kingsolver is funny as heck, never pretends to have all the answers, and loves gardening. You’ll learn a lot from her about the science, history, and socio-economics of food, and you’ll have fun doing it! Like many people, Kingsolver is convinced that eating locally is good for our health, our neighborhoods, and our planet. I know this: she’s got me looking at what I eat from a whole new perspective, and at the end of the book I got a little emotional rooting for the family’s first turkey eggs to hatch.
        For an excerpt from the book, click here. (Jan. 2009)

Don’t Bury Your Money in the Backyard, Plant Bulbs!

        In troubled times like these, flower bulbs are one of the smartest investments you can make. And what other luxury costs so little? For a few dollars you get months of anticipation, weeks of beauty, fragrance, and pride when they bloom, and – as long as you meet their simple needs – they multiply happily year after year. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the Fed knows what it’s doing, but we’re also hoping that you’re like us – and that nothing’s going to stop you from planting some very special bulbs this fall. (Sept. 2008)

For articles on other topics, see our main Newsletter Archives page.