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Now is the time to order Tulip and other bulb plants for garden enjoyment in 2010. I love to order on-line from www.michiganbulb.com because they have a “plant digger” icon that you can click. I can put the name, color, sun exposure and zone in the blanks and all the info I need pops up. The web site is very user-friendly. I urge all U.P. gardeners to make haste because most bulb orders are shipped this month for late September planting.

If you have a nice colorful spring bulb garden already why not try a one color scheme for a change. It certainly creates a unique additional beauty. This past summer, I enjoyed a separate 6 by 6 foot “shades of blue” patch. I called it my, “blue for you patch” because I had such a time missing my mother. The flowers did not disappoint and were true blue. Here was my sketchy plan from last autumn:

I planted 30 tulip bulbs of violet, purple and cream. I planted the round firm bulbs not in rows but in clumps of 5. In the back of the patch I planted 6 lavender allium bulbs (They grow tall); Lavender mountain lilies bordered the edge and mixed in the patch were blue hyacinth and purplish-blue iris. Between the bulb blooms I had a mix of perennial blue delphiniums and purple blue star liatris. What truly threw me for a loop were bundles of blue forget-me-nots that I had not planted. The seedlings must have come from the soil mix and compost I added in. But still, I wonder…

I’m really happy with the way my blue garden turned out and now I’m determined to try an “orange garden” in yet another patch for next year. My granddaughters begged me to plant a real arched rainbow garden and reminded me that the green arch in the middle of the “rainbow” would be the easiest to grow “because that could be plain green grass and weeds.” They advised me to make it wide enough to run the lawn mower through (this new generation is quite practical). The children then sang, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and I thought I saw that same twinkle in their eyes that resembled my mom’s.

I’m hooked on the rainbow idea and if time (oh time…) permits, I may create that yellow and red garden arch yet. Well, I better get digging.