Gardening is a great hobby in any place, let alone Cresskill, where most people have a lot of space to work within their backyards and there’s ample sunlight for plants.  As it starts to get chilly out, we welcome the fall season with Halloween, orange and red leaves, and even the prospect of Thanksgiving.  Someone may think that gardening or planting anything right now is a terrible idea — what could possibly grow in this harsh cold and hard ground… right?  Well, in a way, they’re right.  But the thing is, we can plant “spring bulbs”, types of plants and flowers that stay underground through the winter, and when temperatures rise in the spring months of March, April, and May, they will sprout up from the ground and make beautiful and vibrant displays of color in your spring lawn.  When we overwinter spring bloomers, it helps create a biochemical process that prepares the bulbs for blossoming in the spring, so when temperatures begin to rise and falter less, they realize it’s spring, and will slowly poke through the ground.  Another reason to plant bulbs right now is because the majority of mainstream spring bloomers grow just fine in Cresskill. Being located in a plant hardiness zone of 6b-7a, Cresskill is not very tropical, but it gets pretty toasty in the late spring and summer.  Of course, if you’re interested in planting something specific, make sure you check the hardiness zone it prefers.  The months we are in right now, early-october to mid-november, are the absolute best times to plant spring bulbs.  I do recommend planting in November, as the colder temperatures deter squirrels and rabbits from going to town on your bulbs (the edible ones anyway), and they bloom with more vigor in my experience if you soak them for half the day or the full 24 hours in warm water before planting. This activates the bulb and gets it to prepare to bloom in the spring.  Temperatures seem very cold this year, so keep an eye on the frost, and I suggest you plant sooner rather than later, as it seems the first ground frost of the season will show up sometime before mid november.  

#1:  The Common / Garden Tulip (Tulipa gesneriana)

The quintessential spring bloomer–all you need to do is search up Holland in the Netherlands, and you’ll realize that the high praise these flowers have received over the years for their vibrant colors and beautiful displays are well earned.  The optimal time to grow these is October rather than November, as the warmer temperatures at the time of planting will have positive effects on the result in spring, due to tulips not taking the cold as well as other bulbs.  Not to say they aren’t hardy, they’ll survive just fine, so long as you plant them sufficiently spread apart (about 2 inches, consistent with most bulbs).  Not spreading them apart can cause root rot, as oxygen has a harder time reaching the roots due to the more compacted soil, killing the plants.  Also, keep a close eye on them in case of hungry squirrels, rabbits, and deer, which will devour both the bulbs and the leaves.  Expect blooms around early May in my experience.  

#2:  Daffodils (Narcissus)

Next up we’ve got daffodils.  These are beautiful early-blooming flowers that tend to vary in hues from the darkest of yellows to the lightest whites.  The main selling point of these flowers, besides the looks, is the fact that the plant contains the poison lycorine in all parts of it.  Why is that a good thing, you may ask?  Well, unless you’re interested in eating flowers, the only things that will be eating them are critters in your yard. As stated before, all it takes is one creature to get too cocky and try one out, and you won’t be dealing with any more damaged daffodils.  Plant these around mid November, and expect blooms as soon as early-mid April.  They smell especially good, meaning when they begin to lose their blooms in late May, you can prune them and keep them in a vase with water in your house!  Additionally, unlike tulips, these are perennial plants, meaning they will come back year after year, and multiply, while it isn’t as certain with the more fragile tulips.  

#3:  Snow Crocus (Crocus Chrysanthus)

Last but not least, we have the crocus.  These things are quite literally the epitome of “early-bloomer”.  They bloom incredibly early, sometimes poking up through snow, hence their name!  They bloom from late winter (around March) to early spring (around late March – early April), and are rather small, sometimes being only a couple inches tall.  To make up for this size, they tend to come back each year with more and more numbers, meaning they are very hands-off in terms of making your yard look better.  These are the hardiest bulbs I know of, but make sure you plant pretty early, around October, to give them sufficient time to prepare for the first frost of the season, which for us is around late November/December.  You can buy a lot of bulbs for not a lot of money, so they are a budget friendly way of adding some early color to your yard before the bigger flowers bloom later.  All in all, there are hundreds of species of flowers you can plant that will bloom in spring successfully here in Cresskill, and a lot of it is really just experimentation.  Your yard may have different soil from your neighbors or it may see more/less light, etc, affecting the bloom.  It’s up to you to find a golden balance for your plants.  Flowers will always be a great and cheap way to make your yard look better, so get outside and start planting!