Brent & Becky's Blog

  When fall comes around, and spring-flowering bulbs are ready to make their way into the ground, hands down one of the most commonly asked questions for new bulb gardeners is “how deep do I plant?” And with a quick Google search yielding a whopping 30 million answers in seconds, we can’t blame them for being a little confused. Thankfully, though, the answer isn’t nearly as complicated as it may seem.    How Deep to Plant Bulbs When planting bulbs, the trick is to plant them not so deeply that it takes them too long to appear in spring, but...

  As long as we have been planting fall bulbs, we have been bothered again and again by those not-so-friendly visitors: squirrels. Anxious for a nibble of our freshly-planted tulips and crocuses, they ransack our fall plantings and leave us empty-handed in spring. So, what do we do to protect them?   Why Squirrels Eat Bulbs While their ruthless scavenging may be frustrating to wake up to the day after careful planting, the truth is, their excavating escapades are actually far more than just a tasty treat. In fact, bulbs are one of the few ways that squirrels can get...

  Tulips are the darlings of our spring gardens, but as a fall-planted bulb, now is when we need to start thinking about them. Planting in the fall is like an investment in the future of your garden, and you’ll be amazed by all the rewards popping out of the ground when the weather warms in the spring!   Pairing With Tulips While tulips create a spectacle in and of themselves, pairing them with other blooms can create an even more impressive display. You might want to choose plants that compliment any feature of your tulips — their color, their...

Why Is My Bulb Not Blooming Like It’s Supposed To? by Brent Heath, Co-Owner, Brent & Becky’s   After a fantastic trip to Chicago—where I met 350 new people, collected 200 hugs, and made a whole lot of new friends—I’m glad to be back home in one of the best places in the world: Tidewater, Virginia. But, being away for 10 days means there’s lots of catching up to do in the garden and in the shop, too. At this time of year, it seems our people are always wondering why something isn’t blooming or isn’t blooming like it’s supposed...

3 Unique Bulbs for Fall Planting   Fall is the time to start planning ahead for spring by getting those spring-flowering bulbs into the ground before the frost hits. And while there are certain “go-to” bulbs we return to each year—tulips, daffodils, alliums—there are many other, unique fall-planted bulbs that are less heard of, but just as stunning. Here are a few of our favorites:     Triteleia With it’s wonderful, upward-facing, bell-shaped flowers, Triteleia is a real treat for the late spring garden. As one of the few American native plants, it needs very little care to grow in...