preparing for winter and spring

I ordered some bulbs from Brent and Becky's Bulbs:

tulipa 'Paul Scherer'

Crocus 'Jeanne d'Arc'

Hyacinthus orientalis Fairly White

Iris-dwarf 'Pauline'

Brent and Becky's Bulbs are one of few vendors who sell bulbs in small quantities, and the prices are reasonable too. They have a great collection of flowers to choose from especially for tulips and irises. My orders arrived relatively fast so I was pleased. The bulbs are carefully packaged in plastic netted pouches with labels of the flowers which can be used as a garden label to remind you what you've planted. It came with clear planting instructions, and I got a catalog too!

When I finally got around to planting them, I layered some of the bulbs . I planted the bulbs in one of the Root Pouch containers. I layered the bulbs so the container will hopefully continue to flower from early spring into summer. I learned about this from a YouTube video that explained layering bulbs in a container.

I also tidied up the balcony. Most of the tomato plants have been tossed. Only Root Pouch containers filled with potting mix remain. Empty Root Pouches will be tossed into the washing machine.

The mini rose bushes are doing very well and continue to grow and produce flowers. Despite their growth and flowering, they continue to be plagued by green aphids. I am diligent about brushing them off the rose buds, which seems to be where they like to cluster or at new growth. I also spray the bushes down with an organic product that also contains neem oil. It seems to be more effective in ridding the mini rose bushes of the fungal infection it was having. The aphids don't like the spray and eventually die but return.

I noticed one of the galore punk strawberry plants have produced runners. I plucked them off and planted them in separate pots with used potting mix. One runner had small roots while another had longer roots. I have two pots with strawberry plant offshoots. Looking forward to next spring.

photos of the flowers used in this post is from Brent and Becky's Bulbs.