Plant or donate your Easter plants instead of tossing them. Don’t sentence them to the landfill.
We all await spring with Easter being the signal that it is not far away. The potted bulbs have arrived in the store giving an instant refreshment from the stuffy indoor air we all have tolerated. The hyacinth and snow white lilies are nothing short of glorious for scent (natural aromatherapy like no other), while the daffodils and jonquils are just the happiest things around. Like sunflowers, you just smile when you look at them.
But….I always worry at the fate of all these beautiful lilies and bulb gardens going out my door at Easter; and the 1000’s even more in the mega stores, gas stations, and garden centers. Are they a momentary joy for the day? Are they welcomed into the recipients family of other plants or…. shunned after 2 weeks? Are any from years ago still entertaining every spring as they should be? Does everyone realize these are a living entity?
Yes, I am the kind who buys those poor, ignored, on clearance, cypress trees in the grocery store the week after Christmas-they pull at my heart at their lack of care as I know how hard they tried to live. All plants are living beings in my eyes, and I feel just as responsible for them as I would for my Willow.
Unfortunately, in our saturated world of goods upon goods; there are millions of these plants grown every year-with the majority imported from Canada; and every year they are sentenced to a landfill after only a few weeks of giving us their best. All that human energy and fuel to get them here picture perfect-seems a huge waste all around and an unjust reward for their sweet pleasure they so freely gave us. I can never grasp why someone would carelessly toss them instead of taking a minute to plant outside. Each Spring I drive by dumpsters loaded with spent lilies and headless, pots of tulips; abandoned and left to die. I think we should start a community project in each town of ‘Save the Bubs”. Think what a show it would make for our towns, parks, and government buildings every spring-and the money saved.
All your traditional Easter bulbs including lilies, tulips, hyacinth, daffodils, and narcissus, are perennials. Which means….they bloom every year. They are cold hardy, easy adapters, and faithful souls. Each year at spring they will come back and bloom profusely without a bit of care. They know what to do and when to do it all by themselves; and it is so easy to give them a chance. As the leaves turn brown cut back the stem and just replant them outside when frost warnings are over. That’s it!
If you would prefer an early, indoor show next year; water them as any other houseplant through the summer. Bulbs need a cold period to rest and rejuvenate so at summers end I store them in a cold basement or refrigerator to sleep. Around late January I wake them up, repot, and start their diet of weekly watering in a sunny spot. And then…..like magic they come alive. This year my narcissus was blooming during our January blizzard; it was just the best.
If you are not inclined toward dirt, potting and watering; then give them away to your favorite gardener, or better yet-a park or inner city area that needs beautification. I have even seen them blooming in the woods-an obvious attempt to disown them-yet they lived on.
Always saving, Lynn