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Q. Can I plant my forced bulbs and living Christmas trees?
A. Bulbs you forced, like amaryllis and narcissus, can be planted outdoors. Likewise, if you decorated with a topiaried rosemary or a living Christmas tree, now is the time to get them in the ground or in a container. Rosemary and trees want plenty of sun. The bulbs can take a little more shade or can be planted under a deciduous tree. The living Christmas trees (as with all trees) have problems if they have a circling root. In time, that's going to strangle the tree and you may lose it 12 years down the line. So prior to planting any tree, soak the root ball very well in water and gently pry open or loosen those circling roots with a knife. Straighten them out as best as you can in the planting hole to give it the best chance of survival. If it's been in a lot of shade or, in other words indoors, for an extended period of time, you want to gradually introduce it to more light. So, you might want to place the container in an outdoor shady spot for a week or two and gradually move it into its full sun planting location. But, get it planted as soon as possible to get established before the heat comes on. By the way, this does not apply to Norfolk pines! They should not be planted outside or where they get blasting sun.
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Anacacho orchid tree(Bauhinia congesta)
This is one of my favorite native trees for our area. It doesn't get very large. It grows to about 8-12 feet, and makes a fine specimen accent. You can stick it in a corner here and there, wherever you've got a sunny spot and it'll do quite well. It has beautiful white blooms, primarily in spring, but you'll see some on through the season. The leaves, sort of like cloven hooves, add an interesting touch to our deciduous trees. Plus, it's extremely drought tolerant. It puts up with our very difficult soil situations, and performs well with very little care.
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<<view past Plants of the Week
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It's still prime planting season for our ornamentals. If you've got shrubs and trees that need to go in, do it now. Even things like roses that we think of as planting in February really should be planted now for better results. You want to choose varieties and species that are well adapted to the area. Just because it's for sale doesn't mean it should be planted here. Do a little research, check out the CTG booklist for the Welch, Shoup, and Druitt books on roses.
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Prepare the soil well for them. Don't just plop them down in the ground. Mix some compost into the soil. If it's a shrub that needs especially good drainage (like roses), make sure that it's on a slightly raised area if drainage is at all in question. Don't throw fertilizer in the planting hole. That just burns roots. There are some that are slow release and won't burn roots, but you want to be very careful. Plants really don't need a lot of nutrition until they've been growing for at least six weeks. And then they can use a little extra fertilizer.
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Now's a great time to apply surface compost around trees and shrubs. With the spring rains, it will wash the nutrients into the soil and really benefit your plants.
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