Happy Easter & Happy Spring!
Yes, I know it's not Spring in the Southern Hemisphere, but Easter is the time of year that Tasmanians plant their Spring bulbs for a lovely show when Winter is over. Something to look forward to after those long dark days. Below are some of the things we used to do to make spring come sooner.
Bulbs
Find a glass jar with a narrow neck - milk bottles used to be perfect, fill it with water to just below the rim and pop a hyacinth, daffodil or tulip bulb on the top. The bulbs shouldn't touch the water or they will rot. Some gardeners lift and separate their bulbs at this time of year, so you may be able to badger them for a few, but you can usually pick them up quite cheaply at dollar stores and gardening centres. If you chill them in the refrigerator a bit first, they work even better. Then keep them in a warm dark cupboard.
Look at them from time to time and top up the water if necessary. Soon you will see long white roots grow, then green shoots and in about two months, you'll have a flower. Of course, if you have any bulbs left over, you can also stick them in a
flower pot with potting mix with a bit of gravel or broken pot in the bottom, so that it drains. They'll take a bit longer, but they will make a lovely present for someone in Spring. In Hobart, you might not even have to buy pots for this. Our local hardware store now recycles plant pots. That could be an idea for others too.
Blossoms
Here's another one. When the trees are bare, but the buds are starting to look plump and ready to burst, cut a little branch off a flowering tree and put it in a jar full of water. Better ask first -some people don't take kindly to you hacking into their shrubs and trees. Some say you should cut a notch in the bottom for better water uptake, but we never did. Then treat it the same way as your bulbs. Check the water level occasionally and watch them burst into flower.
Fruit tree branches are good for this, especially the ornamental ones. Cherry plums tend to flower earlier and so does Forsythia, with it's sunshine yellow bells, but you don't see that as much now. We often used Japonica too because it is an early bloomer as well. I just found out today that it is also called Ornamental Quince. Thanks Copilot! Camellia is supposed to work well too. Most just flower and don't get roots, but some do, especially pussy willow.
We loved those soft grey catkins, but Pussy Willow is now classed as a an invasive weed because it propagates so readily. The same with willow which makes lovely green sprigs, but in many urban areas now, you'd be hard pressed to find them, precisely for that reason.
As far as I know, Cherry plums are still legal and these might reward you with a plant or two which will grow.
Moss Gardens
Fill a saucer with water - or put a a few cms of water in the bottom of a flat takeaway container, add moss and then anything you like - poke a couple of flower stems through and maybe some twigs or little pebbles. Or you could make some little mushrooms or a snail out of self drying clay -it's a lot cheaper now than it used to be, and Voila! -you have a fairy garden. Moss also works for terrariums if you have a big jar. We made a dinosaur landscape out of one one year, with the addition of some of those tiny ferns from the hardware store and dinosaurs of course. You might even find a little spot near water - a fountain or a creek, for a well dressing, but don't leave plastic there.
Trees
You need lots of patience to watch acorns grow but it's very satisfying. I'm sure I have mentioned this before, but it's such a nice idea, that I'll mention it again. The Primary School the granddaughters went to had a big oak tree. Every year the kindergartners would plant a batch of acorns in soup tins with a hole in the bottom. At the end of the year, leavers - those ready to go off to High School, would be given one to care for and plant. You could try this with other big seeds like peach stones and cherry pits, but don't be too disappointed if it doesn't work. I have been trying for years!
Happy Planting!
Thank you Copilot for the lovely image at the top and bringin my ideas to life
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