I'm an outdoors person. I love to be outside puttering in my garden every chance I can get. So now that the snow is gone, I know it won't be long until I can enjoy my garden again.
If you are an avid gardener like I am, you are probably yearning for the arrival of Spring too. I can't wait for the frost to come out of the ground, followed by the flowering bulbs. Ahh! I await the hyacinths the most.
My garden contains more hyacinths than any other Spring bulb. Why? Mostly because of their strong, sweet fragrance, but also because the deer do not favour them. (I have a "herd" go through my yard every night and dine on my delicious garden!) But, also because they are perennial. Every Spring each bulb sends up more blooms. Yes, after about 6 to 8 years the bulbs get crowded and I have to dig them up in Fall and divide them. But this small effort is worth it - to keep the beautiful blooms coming.
Once they finish blooming in the Spring, I simply cut off the flower stalk near the ground and let the leaves to ripen (die off) naturally. The leaves will manufacture and store enough food in the bulb for the next year's big display of flowers.
Most garden plants and flowers offer instant gratification. You plant them and you can instantly see your garden transform with their foliage and/or flowers. But Spring bulbs must be plants in Autumn and do not appear until the following Spring. But I think the wait is worth it!
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