Fragrant Spring-Blooming Bulb Collection
By: Alan Summers
This week we have assembled a collection of fragrant spring blooming flower bulbs. We have chosen those that we believe to be the most fragrant of all. It happens that many are heirloom varieties. Ideal for planting in small clusters in little nooks throughout the garden. Several of the varieties are good for forcing indoors also.
Grape Hyacinth 'Golden Fragrance'
A new grape hyacinth with a gentle sweet fruity perfume, Muscari macrocarpum 'Golden Fragrance' blooms in April with unusual spikes of soft yellow that emerge from purple buds. The only grape hyacinth with yellow blossoms! Plant in full sun or very light shade. Height is 6 inches.
Tulip 'General De Wet'
The most fragrant tulip of all. A single early tulip that dates back about 100 years, it originated as a sport of Prince of Austria. The fiery orange blooms stipled with scarlet come in April. 'General De Wet' grows 12-14 inches tall. Plant in full sun. Of all the tulips, it is unsurpassed for forcing.
Narcissus jonquilla 'Simplex'
The true original jonquil that has been grown since the mid 1700s. It blooms in late April with several small golden yellow side-facing flowers with small cups. They are sweetly fragrant and are borne on sturdy 10 inch stems. The foliage is slender and reed-like. Jonquilla 'Simplex' naturalizes into nice little colonies. All narcissus are virtually deer proof.
Narcissus triandrus 'Thalia'
'Thalia' has pure white blooms borne in gently nodding clusters of 2-3 per stem. An heirloom variety dating back to 1916, 'Thalia' grows about 12 inches tall and blooms in very late April to early May. 'Thalia' is known for its fragrance and prefers a moist semi-shaded location where it will naturalize splendidly. Native to Spain and Portugal.
Multiple Flowered Narcissus 'Geranium'
'Geranium' is one of my favorite daffodils because it is amongst the last to bloom with a nice display of long-lasting blooms borne 3-5 per strong stem. It is extremely fragrant and naturalizes well in full sun to very light shade. Excellent for forcing. A true heirloom, it has been grown for about 80 years. It grows to 16 inches tall.
Hyacinth 'Blue Jacket'
Hyacinths are known to be the most fragrant of the spring blooming bulbs. Many people consider 'Blue Jacket' to be the most fragrant of all the hyacinths. They can be forced indoors or can be planted in masses out doors. We particularly like 'Blue Jacket' for its strong sturdy stems and its densely filled tubular spikes that are filled with florets right to the top. The flowers are particularly long lasting. They grow to be 10 inches tall.
Hyacinth 'Woodstock'
'Woodstock' combines delicious fragrance with fine spikes of rich plum purple. Hyacinths naturalize in well drained soil in full sun and they are deer resistant. Height 10 inches tall.
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Alan Summers, president of Carroll Gardens, Inc., has over 30 years experience in gardening and landscape design. He has made Carroll Gardens one of Americas preeminent nurseries, having introduced more than 20 new perennials and woody shrubs over the years and reintroduced numerous lost cultivars back to American gardeners.
Carroll Gardens publishes a weekly online newsletter written by Alan. It contains valuable gardening advice and tips and answers to customer questions. Click here to sign up for the Carroll Gardens weekly enewsletter.
Every Saturday, Alan hosts a call-in gardening forum on WCBM radio - 680 AM. For those outside of the WCBM listening area, they can listen to radio show via the internet.
Visit CarrollGardens.com to learn more.
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