To attain heights of spring flowering glory, gardeners must direct their thoughts to procurement of bulbs in fall. Bulbs come in different quality grades. Discount houses buy lesser quality bulbs and could be perfectly adequate for your needs when planting large-scale, naturalized plantings. For refined garden beds, indoor forcing of bulbs and purchase of tender bulbs, such as amaryllis for Christmas gifts, you'll want to spend the extra pennies on top-quality, No. 1 grade bulbs. Unusual bulbs to look for are snowdrops, fritallaria, autumn-flowering crocus and saffron crocus.
Timing really is everything in controlling, eradicating and preventing pest problems.
A particularly useful, less toxic control for a wide variety of insects, mites and scale on decidous trees, shrubs and fruit trees is the use of dormant oil. This is a petroleum-based oil that simply coats overwintering insects, literally suffocating them. Its use is limited to periods of dormancy, when the plant is without foliage. Because it is a contact spray, not a systemic, there is no residual toxicity to fret over, nor is it a product that would leach or contaminate the soil. This spray can be applied anytime during the winter from Thanksgiving through March, with one application sufficient to control the above pests.