Time to order spring-flowering bulbs

It is time to plan for and order spring-flowering bulbs for your garden. Ordering early ensures availability of what you want to purchase.

The soil in a bulb garden should be well drained. Any area in the garden that remains wet for long periods of time — or has standing water for any length of time — is unsuitable for bulbs. They prefer moisture in spring and fall and drying out in the summer. Most prefer full sun.

When planted beneath a high-branching tree, bulbs will often flower before the tree leafs out and will have only light shade to contend with as they store energy for blooming the following year. Daffodils, ornamental onions and snowdrops are recommended for areas where there are deer and rabbits.

It is time to take cuttings of annuals such as geraniums and begonias that are to be kept over the winter. Coleus plants are easy to root and hold over winter in a sunny window. Cool nights in September will harden off the plants, which will make them more difficult to root. Take a tip cutting 2 to 3 inches long and stick it in a well-drained potting medium such as one part peat moss and one part perlite. Keep the cuttings in humidity and bright light. Cover the cuttings with a plastic bag and ventilate daily by opening and resealing the bag. Once they are well rooted, typically in two to four weeks, transplant to a 2- to 4-inch pot filled with growing medium. The size of the new pot will depend on the vigor of the rooted cuttings.

Remember to check the oil and clean out the air filter on your lawn mower on a regular basis. It is easy to overlook this task as you mow throughout the summer. The engine can be ruined by letting it run out of oil. The dust raised when mowing over dry leaves later in fall can clog up the air filter, which will impair performance of the engine.

Watch out for yellow jacket nests while working in the garden. They are very active on warm sunny days, flying in an out of the nest, which you can run across in retaining walls, brush piles, and ground cover beds. There is no need to kill the nests, just stay away from them.

• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.