DENVER — Bulbs are blooming all over the garden. Daffodils, tulips and hyacinths are most prominent, along with a minor bulb called Puschkinia, sometimes called striped squill. This minor bulb has been a major success in my garden. A handful of bulbs planted twenty years ago have multiplied into the thousands. It's planted in the fall, so make a note now to buy bulbs then.
Meanwhile, on the patio, pots of bulbs that spent the winter in my cool root cellar or garden trenches are blooming. Hyacinths have a wonderful fragrance. After they finish flowering, they'll be transplanted into the ground.
Accompanying the bulbs are many cool season flowers. The pansies and ornamental kale have been outside for nearly a month and have shrugged off the cold and snow. Now we're adding other plants that can handle cool nights. In fact, they thrive in cool weather and need it to develop properly. These include dianthus, nemesia, sweet alyssum, dusty miller and snapdragons. If you wait too long, you'll miss your opportunity to grow them well and you'll miss a whole season on the patio.
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