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Descendant Bulbs 50-year-old: The rock itself is surrounded by old daffodils (descendant bulbs 50-year-old bulbs of 50-year-old plants that came from Janet's home in Indiana), some wild iris (Iris versicolor), white crocus (also old and brought from Indiana), a large clump of lady fern (Athyrium Filix-femina), a trailing variety of the bouncing Betty (Saponaria ocymoides), and various wild grasses of short stature.
Small bulbs such as grape hyacinths (Muscart) and scillas are often grown in rock gardens or used to make carpets of spring color beneath taller plants. Because spring-flowering bulbs die down in summer they can be used effectively with deciduous shrubs, which are bare of leaves when the bulbs are growing and flowering, or with herbaceous plants, most of which will hardly have started to grow so early in the year.
Winter aconite (Eranthis), snowdrops, crocuses, scillas, chinodoxas, muscaris, and daffodils are all particularly recommended for this kind of two-tier planting, as they do not have to be lifted every year but can be left undisturbed for several years until they become overcrowded.
Even if summer color is desired, it is still possible to underplant and interplant for other times of the year using bulbs and annuals.
Bulbs and annuals are invaluable for spring and early summer color, while herbaceous perennials are the most colorful summer contributors. In many places herbaceous perennials can be found in flower for most of the year, and by planting a good cross section it is possible to get a long flowering season. |
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