Castanet – Sigrie Kendrick – October 12, 2022
The Okanagan Xeriscape Association is extremely thankful for all of the support from both volunteers and the community last weekend at our first-ever fall plant sale.
It was a big success and will be repeated next autumn, as we continue to educate gardeners about the many benefits of planting perennials in the fall.
I would love fall, if it were not followed by winter. To me, in addition to perennials, fall is the ideal time to get a jump on next year’s garden by planting bulbs for early spring colour. There are many drought-tolerant bulbs available to consider which will enliven your early garden with pops of colour.
Drought-tolerant, or technically drought-avoidant, bulbs bloom before the heat of the summer season and benefit from dry conditions once they have finished blooming. Because our mandate is to help educate people about ways to conserve water used on the landscape, promoting spring bulbs is right up there with hiking for a fun fall activity, in my books.
One of the earliest bulbs to appear in spring is Winter Aconite (Eranthis Hyemalis), which pokes its cheery yellow head up as early as late February, often in the same time frame as snowdrops, although it is not as common. It is well worth searching out this bulb as it will naturalize in your garden and in time allow you to share some bulbs with your friends.