What's New In Gardening, March 16 2000

It's spring! In my yard right now I have snowdrops scattered all over, and this morning I discovered the first of the tiny spring crocuses - gorgeous little purple and white striped and looking so substantial they may as well have been dipped in wax. The hellebores are bursting with buds. And, alas, it appears that once again the critters have eaten most of my tulips.

But technology is a wonderful things. If you find that your carefully planted fall bulbs have disappeared, you can actually order more, plant them now and still get flowers. Just go to http://www.garden.com and take a look at their 'Bulblings' - bulbs that have been pre-chilled and sprouted and will arrive on your doorstep ready to be planted and to burst into bloom.

Looking for an interesting way to buy orchids? Try bidding for them at auction. A new site called Bid4Plants offers everything from seedlings to plants in bloom - plus a plant encyclopedia and links to tons of other orchid growers, retailers and wholesalers.

Another plant auction - for any kind of plant imaginable, is in the gardening section of eBay -not to mention garden books, supplies, and accessories - and many things that look like sure fire winners in the Tacky Yard Art Contest. There are some real bargains to be had here - and sometimes it's a great place to locate unusual plants - I know of some hybridizers who are actually using eBay's Gardening Section to sell their new plants. But don't get carried away with auction fever - I've also seen people pay well over market value for some fairly ordinary plants. If in doubt, check a good online catalog to see what the plant retails for - or ask one of the Suite 101 gardening editors. As an example of bargains to be had - I bought my Hortus here for $35 - it retails for well over $100. Tonight 1000 4-year old Japanese red maples are going off at $10.25 apiece.

If you are gardening in limited space, you may want to try the SpaceSavers gardening system - using raised beds, trellises and pyramids, Spacesavers claims that you will be able to "grow a lot more quality flowers and vegetables in much less space with much less effort". (I can't find any tangible estimate about how MUCH more you can grow - but there you have it.) The system won the Lawn & Garden Marketing and Distribution Association award for best new product this year. Checking it out at I see another possible use, and that is for those who may not have the expertise to build raised beds for our gardens, but who would benefit from them due to stiff knees and backs.

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