Megan's prep for Spring garden tour

What's that flower? This is Megan's question to me about a ranunculus featured on the cover of my new book coming out in December, FEARLESS COLOR GARDENS. The flower in gold tones, in burgundy, I answered, is Cafe. Why is it hard to get? I don't know. But we went online this weekend to put in an order at Willow Creek Nursery. It cost slightly more than the ranunculus-bulb-tuberlits (my word) for the spidery roots that you plant into the ground for gorgeous ranunculus flowers with their black dot centers. Megan purchased twenty; I purchased thirty.

A propagator friend of mine, Susan, asked me if I was going to plant them in the ground or start them in four-inch pots. I said both. Ranunculus' foliage is vulnerable to snails and slugs in the ground but it's easier to place them along with planting tulips, which I usually plant right after Thanksgiving right through to Christmas.

As you can see, there is a lot of detail in planting a garden for a tour. Megan told me that she's tired of her front garden's color scheme that emanated from a Felicia rose -- floriferous in a mighty bloom of gushing pinks that hangs itself out each year along her front fence. She doesn't want to get rid of Felicia but wanted to get rid of that pink. In jumps in Cafe, a modern looking flower in golds and burgundies that combines well with grasses like the golden Stipa and a new liberdia whose flat swordy leaves are thick and glistening like an eggy custard. Our color scheme will balance between these burgundies and custards, the old pinks showing through here and there. While Felicia is staying, Rosa the fairy whose pinky bower arms I still love, will come over into my garden.

Megan and I continued to chip from one section of her garden to another, reconfirming the color schemes of each section then drawing up a plant list from that. Being that it's October, our first foray into purchases was to get our bulb list ordered. One lily from the Tango series -- Halloween, a scary combo of black and orange -- delighted Megan's daughter Lucy who was born on Halloween. Lucy goes to Park Day School who sponsors a garden tour that will feature their garden during the last weekend of April. Megan and I put in her garden the year before Lucy was born, with the garden having been featured in the Park Day School garden tour when Megan was pregnant. Preparation of Megan's garden will become a regular feature of my blog with Megan making contributions.

Remember: now it's the time to purchase your Fall bulbs for Spring bloom. Bulbs bring the garden to life and welcome you into the new garden season. I purchase hundreds of bulbs each year to renew my garden. Sharing this bulb display is my reason for having Spring Open Gardens.

Here's a list of other bulbs we are gathering for Megan's garden. I recommend all of them.

Ranunculus -- Tecote Cafe, Salmon, Gold

Iris -- Rustler, Pass the Wine, Brown Lasso, Tennison Ridge

Dutch Iris -- Eye of the Tiger

Tulip -- Menton, Black Parrot, Queen of the Night, Cairo, Gavota

Lily -- Tango series, Honeybee, Halloween, Starburst, Spotted Salmon Tigerlily, Landini (the blackest lily)

Fritillaria -- Persica, Rubra (Red Crown, Yellow Crown)

Happy gardening,

Keeyla