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By Miles Hunter, November 3, 2011

November 3rd, 2011

It is time to Start your Paperwhites for Christmas Blooms!

Paperwhites is the name given to these easy-to-grow Daffodils, also known as Narcissus. Paperwhites grow and bloom indoors very easily. They require little care but reward you with a long period of fragrant indoor flowers. They are great near an entrance way to greet your guests or in your living or dining room to add a sweet fragrance.

Paperwhites can be grown in a pot with soil, but do just as well in rocks with water. To grow them in soil find a suitable pot and plant the bulb so that the top third of the bulb is visible above the soil. Water them until the soil is evenly moist. To grown them in water place an inch or two of rocks or glass beads in the bottom of a vase. Place the bulbs on top of the rocks an fill the vase with water until it touches the base of the bulb. Place the pot or vase in a bright sunny window to encourage the bulbs to grow. Regularly check the pot or vase adding water as needed. It is best if you plant the bulbs in the soil or rocks and place them in a cool room for 2 to 3 weeks to let them develop roots. Then move them indoors where it should take 4 to 6 weeks to bloom.

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By Miles Hunter, October 20, 2011

October 12th, 2011

Try these Great Colourful Combinations!

Spring flowering bulbs look their best when planted in combinations. If you are not sure what to plant together our bulbs suppliers have done the work for you. You can choose from a great selection of Colourful Combinations for your garden. This year the selection of Colourful Companions includes the Apple Basket Blend, Prince Trio, Wind and Tide, and Strawberries N Cream.

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By Miles Hunter, October 7, 2011

October 7th, 2011

Field Grown Winter Pansies have Arrived!

Don’t miss out on the best pansies you can grow. When these pansies are grown in the field they develop greater tolerance to the cold temperatures that winter brings. Their extra strength ensures that they produce the biggest and best blooms that any Pansy produce. Their cold hardiness ensures that they bloom all winter long and well into the spring. They may even continue to bloom through the following summer.

Plant you spring bulbs underneath them and the bulbs grow through them in the spring. Colour coordinating your bulbs with the pansies ensures a strong impact in your garden next spring. Try Purple Pansies with Yellow Daffodils, or Yellow Pansies with purple crocus, or white pansies with red tulips. There are many great combinations to try.

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By Miles Hunter, October 6, 2011

October 6th, 2011

Bigger Bulbs Produce Better Flowers!

When it comes to bulbs size matters. Bigger bulbs produce more flowers and at David Hunter Garden Centers you can find the largest Allium, Tulip, and Daffodil bulbs. Our selection of bulbs for 2011 include the Jumbo Allium ‘Large and Purple’, three varieties of Jumbo Tulips; Red Impression, Maureen, and Big Smile and the Jumbo King Alfred Daffodils.

For the Tulips Red Impression is a deep red, Maureen is a clean white, and Big Smile is a bright yellow. The flowers on these Tulips are produced on a strong sturdy stem and will be the size of a large hand. These bulbs will bloom in May and June and each flower can last for weeks. Be sure to add Evergro Bulb Food (3-15-8) to the soil when you plant and again in the spring when the bulbs begin to emerge.

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By Miles Hunter, October 5, 2011

October 5th, 2011

Celebrate the Beauty of Spring – Plant Dazzling Daffodils!

Daffodil bulbs, also known as Narcissus, are one of the most spectacular bulb to plant in your garden. They have cheerful yellow blooms in spring, they are perfect to grow in pots or on your garden, and they are squirrel and rabbit resistent. A group of Daffodils can bloom repeatedly in your garden for months in the spring. If you plant them in a sunny location with well drained soil Daffodils will return to bloom again for many years. Our selection still includes over 30 varieties of Daffodils for you to choose from.

The most popular daffodil has to be the King Alfred Daffodil. This variety is indeed the King as it has one of the largest blooms. Growing to between 12 and 16 inches (30 to 40 cm) tall they will produce an abundant grouping of flowers in mid spring (March and April).

Here is a complete list of Daffodils that you can choose from right now:

• Avalon
• Bridal Crown
• Canaliculatis
• Cool Flame
• Double Campernelle
• Double Poets
• February Gold
• Flowerdrift
• Fortissimo
• Full House
• Gigantic Star
• Golden Ducat
• Ice Follies
• Irene Copeland
• Jack Snipe
• King Alfred
• Lancaster
• Las Vegas
• Little Gem (Mini King Alfred)
• Mount Hood
• Pacific Coast
• Pink Parasol
• Pipit
• Poeticus Recurvus
• Precocious
• Quail
• Rynveld Early Sensation
• Sailboat
• Tahiti
• Tete a Tete
• Yellow Cheerfulness

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By Miles Hunter, September 16, 2011

September 16th, 2011

Planting Bulbs is as easy as “Dig, Drop, Done”!

If you have avoided growing spring flowering bulbs in the past because you thought they were to much work you might be surprised to fin out just how easy they are to grow. All you have to do is Dig a small hole, Drop the bulb into the hole, and you’re Done! Your bulbs will grow a root system during the winter and sprout next spring. Different bulbs bloom at different times and if you plant a variety of bulbs you can have colourful blooms from February right through June. Some of the most popular varieties include Snowdrops, Crocus, Daffodils, and Tulips. But you can also choose from Alliums, Anemone, Chionodoxa, Hyacinths, Iris, Muscari, and Scilla.

The best time to plant the spring flowering bulbs is during September and October. Although it is not recommended you can plant your bulbs here on the west coast as late as January and still have them flower the following spring. 

For more information about planting bulbs visit www.digdropdone.com. Here you will find handy tips and videos to help you.

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By Miles Hunter, September 15, 2011

September 15th, 2011

Grow your own Garlic!

Vampires beware it’s time to plant garlic. Fall is a great time to plant your garlic crop for next year. Growing good garlic is fairly easy. If you just plant the cloves in the ground anytime between September and March and it will probably grow, but not very well. If you want to grow large, healthy bulbs, there is more to it. Click here to download our Garlic Growing Tips Information Brochure.

This year you can choose from ten different varieties of garlic, including three varieties of certified organic garlic. They include:

• Regular White – regular type of white garlic, has a mild flavor.
• Elephant - has large cloves but very mild flavor
• German Hardneck – A very nice strain for our northern climates. Great for roasting due to large cloves.
• Legacy - A rocambole type hard neck garlic produces 4 to 6 cloves in a large bulb. Has a strong, full flavour.
• Mexican Purple – This garlic has a hot flavour when raw, but becomes milder when baked
• Music - Music is large beautiful and a well-formed porcelain garlic. Its flavor is very rich and musky, strong and robust and sticks around for a while.
• Red - The standard of excellent flavor in rocambole garlic. This is a delightfully mild, full flavored, productive garlic that store very well, present a nice appearance and has an excellent raw flavor.
• Russian Red (Certified Organic) – A rocambole garlic with a rich, musky flavour and is very hot when eaten raw. Grows great in the northwest.
• Inchelium Red (Certified Organic) – An artichoke garlic with delightfully robust flavour. A large and healthy garlic to grow resistant to most diseases. It is a good for storing but still peels easily.
• Italian Porcelain (Certified Organic) – A hardneck type that produces large bulbs with easy-to-peel purple cloves that do wonders for Mediterranean cooking.

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By Miles Hunter, September 10, 2011

September 10th, 2011

Winter Pansies are Ready to Plant!

It is hard to believe that fall is here but even harder to think that it is time to plant your winter pansies. As your summer annuals finish blooming it is time to start replacing them. Pansies make a great filler for winter adding colour to your garden beds, planters, or pots. You can choose individual pansy plants in 4 inch pots or get a better value buying them in a pack of six plants.

Pansies come in a variety of colours including shades of yellow, purple, lavender, mauve, orange, and black (dark purple). When you are planting your pansies be sure to plant your fall bulbs underneath them. You can create colourful combinations with pansies and fall bulbs like yellow crocus with purple pansies. Or try white hyacinths with purple pansies. The combinations are endless.

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By Miles Hunter, September 1, 2011

September 1st, 2011

Add Fall Colour to Your Garden with Mums!

Mums are a great addition to your garden for fall. They provide colour from August to October. They are a great combination plant with Pansies, Kale, or other fall perennials. They are excellent in the garden or in pots and containers. Mums are sold as annuals but they can be left in the garden to flower again next year, just cut them back in the winter and they come up again next spring.

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By Miles Hunter, August 31, 2011

September 1st, 2011

Fall is when trees show their best colours!

Most of the time we take the trees in our garden for granted. We enjoy the shade and the privacy they provide. Fall is when many of those trees show their best colours. The range of red and orange colours seems limitless. If you are looking around your yard and wondering where you can add a bit of colour look up and see if you have space for one of these trees.

Some of the best trees for fall colour include the Maples, both Japanese and European types. Even the green leaf varieties turn to beautiful yellow, orange and red tones. Other great choices include the Katsura Tree (Cercidiphyllum japonica), Sourwood (Oxydendron), and the Forest Pansy (Cercis).