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How do you add color
to your lawn in early spring when it's still brown (or maybe even
white)? By planting crocuses!
My friend Stacy
planted 100 crocus bulbs last fall in her backyard lawn, and now color
has exploded amidst the brown (and bit of greening)! She read of this
strategy in a catalog last year and decided to give it a go. The
result? Purple and yellow throughout her backyard already!
Here's what she did:
shovel down into the lawn about 3 inches, lift up the dirt and grass,
plant 2 or 3 bulbs in this pocket, and cover the bulbs up with what's on
your shovel; this way, you're not digging up the grass, just disturbing
it a little, and putting it back in place.
Because crocus come
up in early spring, before anyone mows grass and before the grass is yet
very green, the flowers bring color to the lawn at a time when we're
all "begging" for spring to arrive and to see color other than white
snow or brown dirt and mud. And, because you're not mowing the lawn
yet, the flowers have opportunity to flourish and show off.
Thus far, Stacy's
crop of backyard lawn crocus has produced almost half of her 100 bulbs;
she expects to see the rest pop up soon. She read somewhere that
several European estates plant crocus in their lawns to give vibrancy to
late winter, and therefore, be able to enjoy color early in the
season. So, she thought "why not?" Why not indeed? She's enjoying a
lawn rich with purple and yellow and some green, while most of the rest
of us are still looking at brown and white! And crocus can withstand
bursts of snow and cold that Rocky Mountain springtime can often
produce.
So, as you're
thinking about your lawn, garden, and landscaping plans for this year,
consider adding crocus to your front or back lawn this fall so that next
early spring you'll enjoy some wonderful color in your lawn way before
your neighbors even see a speck of green!
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