Bulbs come in all shapes and sizes: the
larger bulbs pictured are Crown Imperials, also known as Fritillaria, along with Allium,
which are known as Giant Onions.
Every fall at Longwood a mighty mission
takes place, whereby a staggering 230,000 bulbs are individually planted! These
bulbs spend the winter underground and bloom in the spring, to create Longwood’s
famously spectacular springtime display. Last Thursday us students spent a day
helping the team with this huge bulb-planting project, as one of our weekly
activities.
Bulbs are underground batteries packed with
energy and they help a plant to survive the harsh conditions of winter in a
dormant state. The plant is then able to flower early in the year and harness
the springtime light. The fall is the best time of year to plant
spring flowering bulbs, as they are dormant at this stage of the year and at
Longwood a mix of bulbs are planted including Tulips, Daffodils, Fritillarias
and Alliums.
One of the main display areas for bulbs at
Longwood, is the Flower Garden Walk, which is an historic pair of parallel
borders, which are the length of two football fields. Each spring this area hosts
a mix of bulbs, which are planted in blocks of colour, following the spectrum
of the rainbow. In order to achieve such a large scale
planting, a design is drawn up a year in advance and detailed orders are placed
for the delivery of the bulbs. It then takes over a week of intense work kneeling down, for a large team of staff, students, and volunteers to first lay-out
the bulbs and plant each one individually. Guests are always delighted to see the vast
planting process and some ask whether we simply dump soil on top of the bulbs
once we lay them out? However we reassure them that each individual bulb is dug
in, 6 inches deep, using a trowel in order to maintain the pattern and design.
Curiously we started our
day of bulb-planting, with an area of bare soil and having planted the bulbs,
we also ended the day with bare soil. Come the Spring, the Flower Garden Walk
will be ablaze with colour and we will be able to see the results of this hard
work and the blooms of this buried treasure.
Here we are planting a mix of Tulips and
Daffodils.
To ensure correct spacing of the bulbs,
when laying them out, we use a pre-cut measuring stick. It is a tricky skill to
keep the rows straight and uniform!
Fellow interns Spencer, Clare, Myself and
Nathan, after a busy day laying out bulbs.
Thirsty work planting, on a warm October
day.
Article and photos by Katy Merrington, International Horticulture Trainee
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