Before Page Dickey and Francis Bosco Schell spent a single night in their house in northwestern Connecticut, clay pots of flower bulbs slumbered there, setting down roots in a space of their own.
The species tulips, miniature daffodils and dwarf irises that would grace the windowsills and dining table in late winter and early spring — after the couple’s yearlong renovation was complete and the December 2015 move-in day had arrived — were all present and accounted for.
Ms. Dickey, a garden writer and designer and a founder of the Garden Conservancy Open Days program, and Mr. Schell, a retired book editor and lifelong gardener, knew there would be no parade of homegrown flowers in the leanest months if the bulbs didn’t get their needed chill period.
That meant starting around October, so they could root and otherwise get ready.
With that in mind, they had placed the pressing matter of building at least one cold frame (Ms. Dickey’s preferred bulb-forcing spot) near the top of their to-do list.
Persons:
Page Dickey, Francis Bosco Schell, —, Dickey, Schell, Dickey’s
Organizations:
Garden Conservancy
Locations:
Connecticut