Activities

« Previous Entries

Colchicums: In person and in scans

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

Colchicums are fast becoming one of my favorite flower bulbs. Like most bulbs, they push up their foliage in spring and then die back. But they hold off on flowering until fall — just when the garden could use a little jolt of color.
The variety below, ‘Waterlily’ isn’t typical featuring extra petals.

Here’s a [...]

History connection: Henry Hudson

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

At a ceremony in New York’s Battery Park September 9, Princess Maxima of the Netherlands (right) baptized a new ‘Henry Hudson’ tulip to honor the 400th Anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage. Battery Park was once the site of the fort that guarded the young colony of New Amsterdam.
The ceremony was part of [...]

Cornell flower bulb labyrinth

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

Last fall, we reported about an ambitious project by students in Dr. Bill Miller’s herbaceous perennials class at Cornell University to plant a flower bulb labyrinth with some 14,000 bulbs. (See Cornell students plant bulb labyrinth.)
This spring, the results have been spectacular:

The bulbs — a mix of daffodils, tulips and grape hyacinth — were [...]

Bulb labryinth in Conn.

Monday, April 20th, 2009

Last fall we heard about a group in Connecticut planting a bulb labyrinth at the Tolland County Agricultural Center. This week, Lisa Krall, a soil scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, reported on their fine results and sent a picture. “The daffodils were in full force for an [...]

Kindergarten class gets lots of mileage out of simple bulb activities

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

From Marcia Eames-Sheavly:
Ellen Martyn teaches kindergarten at the Marlboro School, in Marlboro VT. She has done some very inspiring and interesting work with flower bulbs, and has linked them to the curriculum in multiple ways.
Every fall, every student in kindergarten plants a bulb. They eagerly await “their” bulb popping up out of the [...]

More fun with scanning

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

Last week I combined two activities, Grow bulbs in winter and Create a digital photo collage to produce this image of petals that fell off some forced tulips:
Give it a try. It’s fun and easy.

Snowdrop sells for $215

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

While it’s a far cry from the ‘Tulip Mania’ of the early 17th century in the Netherlands, a tiny snowdrop bulb recently sold at auction in England for 150 pounds, or about $215 U.S. dollars.
Snowdrops are tiny, white-flowered bulbs that are among the first to flower in late winter or early spring, depending on location. [...]

Scanning activity brings color to winter

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

Every month on my personal blog, Ellis Hollow, I participate in a community event called Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. It’s hosted by Carol at the May Dreams Garden blog. On the 15th of every month, more than 100 gardeners from around the world post about what’s blooming in their gardens. My contribution [...]

Holiday decorations: Origami flower bulbs

Sunday, December 7th, 2008

You meant to start forcing some bulbs so that they’d be in flower for the holidays, but never got around to it. You could still visit the florist and buy a pot of bulbs in bud. But if you are the do-it-yourself type, you still have another option: Flower bulb origami.
And there’s [...]

New activity: The Human Camera (share ideas)

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

This fun activity offers a chance to observe bulb flowers closely in pairs, and then write about the experience creatively and descriptively.
Use the comments to share ideas about how you have used or adapted this activity.

« Previous Entries