Garden Club Hosts Virtual Talk by Yvonne Savio

By LILY TINOCO | Reporter

Pacific Palisades Garden Club invited community members to learn about cultivating their fall plantings to “create a beautiful spring garden color palette” with Yvonne Savio during its latest virtual meeting on Monday evening, October 4.

“Why plant bulbs now for spring color? They’re easy to plant, require little maintenance and provide years of increasing color. What’s not to love?” the event program read. “You can choose among several characteristics—early bloomers, critter-resistant, fragrant, shade-tolerant, cut flowers or forcing indoors.”

Savio, a garden consultant and coach, discussed what a healthy bulb looks like, when to plant it, how to plant and how to care for it after it blooms. Savio also discussed the “hows” and “whys” of planting for fall, sharing different types of bulbs and supply resources.

Savio said she turns to bulbs for all parts of the year because she has found that during the time of drought, they tend to last years and are incredibly low maintenance.

Early bloomers—bulbs that will bloom early in the season—include anemone, chasmanthe, crocus and hyacinth. A couple critter-resistant bulbs are paperwhite and snowflake.

And those who would like fragrant bulbs should snag allium, daffodil, freesia, grape hyacinth, hyacinth, narcissus, paperwhite and tulip. A number of bulbs can also be “forced” indoors for additional enjoyment, including crocus, daffodil, tulip, grape hyacinth and hyacinth.

Savio said a healthy bulb is large, firm and dry, and it’s best to avoid bulbs with any type of mold or squishy spots. She also recommended purchasing and planting bulbs as soon as possible to ensure the highest quality and a long growing season.

Bulbs should be planted two or three times as deep as the bulb is tall, with the pointy side of the bulb facing upward or with any visible roots facing down.

“The deeper they are, the cooler the soil is and consequently the longer that the bloom … has to be supported by the soil in order to come up and put on the bloom,” Savio said.

When the bulbs bloom, Savio said to let the flower stalk and foliage dry back naturally—this allows the bulb to reabsorb the nutrients for the following season. Cutting off the foliage too early will lessen the energy available for next year’s bloom.

Savio said bulbs that flower in the spring are planted in the fall, so Palisadians should start to consider the bulbs they would like to incorporate into their gardens.

PPGC invited Palisadians to its next meeting on Monday, November 1, via Zoom to learn about “The Serious and Funny Business of Plants” with John Schoustra of Greenwood Daylily Gardens & Nursery in Fillmore, California.

For more information about bulbs, visit gardeninginLA.net or reach Savio directly at  gardeninginLA@gmail.com.