By Jane Lappin and Adrienne Woodduck

As the dreary winter is ushered out, the lively blossoms of spring-blooming bulbs quench our thirst for color and tell us that the world of nature is reawakening. From below a wet, brown blanket of last autumn’s rotting leaves, tiny flowers of early-blooming bulbs will burst forth in vivid displays of pinks and blues, sunny yellows, or brilliant violets. Thus the labor of planting bulbs in the fall is handsomely rewarded from March through June. Planting bulbs en masse yields the best display.

But planting bulbs in seaside gardens can yield disappointing results if special considerations are not dealt with. High winds and salt air are two seaside conditions that thwart the success of even the hardiest of plants that thrive in nearby Hamptons areas. The best approach is to start off by testing with a few varieties and small amounts. Shorter varieties like Muscari are less likely to be affected by winds. All types of bulbs are likely to do better in protected seaside microclimates such as the side of a house or shed, near a stone wall, or interplanted in perennial beds. Mass plantings should be located in areas where they will not be disturbed by future planting and cultivating. Many bulbs are recommended for naturalizing, which means you can count on the bulbs multiplying each year and making ever more abundant displays as the years go by. Established perennial beds are excellent choices for the addition of flowering bulbs. Foundation beds with perennials and flowering shrubs will come to life much sooner with the addition of spring-flowering bulbs. Galanthus (white snowdrops) look particularly lovely under the canopy of a cherry tree; they are one of the first bulbs to bloom. Bulbs can also be planted in pots to bring early color to patios and porches. A relaxed, less formal garden is often the choice for summer homes where meandering groups of bulbs will certainly add charm.

Muscari, commonly called grape hyacinth, narcissus, and daffodils have been hybridized to offer a wide array of true blues, pale to shocking yellows, whites, peaches, and pinks. They are available in miniature and standard sizes, early to mid and late-spring bloomers. Muscari will be the first of these to bloom and will stay in bloom for several weeks complimenting the daffodils and early-blooming tulips, which are the next to flower. One of our favorite combinations at Wainscott Farms is daffodils interplanted with Muscari. It’s nice to interplant varieties that are early, mid, and late spring varieties for the longest duration of color. We highly recommend the small cupped daffodil Pheasant’s Eye. It’s a fragrant late bloomer and naturalizes well. Also add Scilla Hispanica — Spanish Bluebells — for a beautiful true blue contrast in late April.

You’ll almost always find daffodils, Muscari, and narcissus on the lists of “deer resistant” plants — but in the Hamptons, Sagaponack, and Sag Harbor, not all the deer have read those lists. Hungry deer will taste just about anything, and deer are pretty hungry at the end of winter when bulbs begin to sprout. Just last week a friend reported that her one-inch-tall daylily sprouts had “disappeared” overnight! Many properties on the East End border on wild, undeveloped lands, and the dunes are no exception. Deer are equally at home in the Northwest Woods and the dunes south of the highway, making seaside gardening doubly challenging. If you plant bulbs on a hillside lawn or any open area be prepared to use deer repellent spray at the first sight of growth or build a temporary Saga-Gard fence of stakes and deer netting around and over the beds. While While many a deer has passed up a daffodil, even an eight-foot-high fence may prove insufficient to stop a deer from tiptoeing through (and devouring) your tulips. They are truly deer caviar. Tulips can be small and simple, tall and ornate, bold or pastel, monotone or multicolored, early, mid, or late blooming. They can be fragrant or not. There are dozens, if not hundreds of varieties to please everyone’s taste and enhance every garden’s palette. In this neck of the woods (or dunes), however, one needs to provide 24/7 surveillance in the tulip bed. They can be sprayed with a deer repellent with a modicum of success, but the spray can also leave stains and shorten the bloom. Better to tent them with netting or plant them where the deer are sure to avoid them, like inside your rottweiler’s kennel. Try tucking Hyacinthoides Nonsciptus, previously classified as Scilla, into all the various types of gardens, as we do at Wainscott Farms. These are deer-proof bluebells that can be naturalized at the seaside as well as in woodland environments, and are one of the last bulbs to bloom.

Another hardy and very deer-resistant bulb family is the ornamental onion family known as Allium. Their color palette ranges from blue-to-red violets and includes pinks, blues, and whites. The heights range from quite low to the ground to several feet tall. Some have perfectly round globes that stand on tall, slim stems, which are very striking among lower grasses as they sway in the wind. They’re like gigantic purple dandelions gone to seed. Near the beach you find shad and cherry trees with asymmetrical, windswept structures that look wonderful underplanted with low varieties of bulbs, while tall varieties of allium add interest to beds of daylilies and irises. Most bulbs need to be in sunny locations throughout the growing season, as the foliage transports energy to the bulb to produce next year’s flowers. Cutting away the leaves, after the blooms are spent any sooner than July can result in a flower-less spring. When planting en masse or to naturalize bulbs such as daffodils, buy a mixture of varieties for better pricing and to ensure success. Some may flourish while others don’t.

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Jane Lappin is the owner of Wainscott Farms, which is known as a premier garden and landscape company. Adrienne Woodduck is a contributing associate designer with Wainscott Farms.

source :www.easthamptonstar.com