Bulb Garden

There was a corner of our back yard that needed some help. It had a nice archway with a Clematis growing up one side of it. Whenever I looked at the archway I was always looking for something inviting to be seen on the other side of it. However there was nothing nice to look at. There was weeds, piles of moldy grass clippings the previous owners left, and years of tangled, pruned tree branches. There was also too many trees planted in that area. So we took out some trees. Now I could see my lilac bush and my maple tree. Then of course I had to clean up the weeds and left over branches. That lead to an idea...a bulb garden

   

So I cleaned up the ground, we got some more "good" dirt, dug it in, watered it, and dug it in some more. In the meantime I searched the area for bulbs, especially bulbs that would do well in part shade. I told my 6 year old grandson about my idea and he was fascinated with the idea of a flower coming out of a bulb. I showed him pictures of different bulbs and their flowers. Then he wanted to help me with my idea. When planting day arrived, he was there to help me. We transferred some of the ferns, columbines, and iris from other parts of the yard. Then we started in on the bulbs. Once I described the planting process to him, he was "all in". We did not plant individual bulbs but groups of bulbs. It was a good way for him to use his math skills as we had to divide up bags of bulbs. He loved using the garden tools, various shovels and rakes, to make it all work. In the end together we added up the number of bulbs we had planted 330!!! It's a good thing we planted them in clusters, I think digging 330 holes would have been too much for either of us. Here is our after picture. I'll have to post a flowering picture in the spring time.




Mr UAW and I will refinish the park benches in the back and we have a trellis to set up behind them. Now I think the arch way has something inviting on the other side of it.