There's a

lot of new stuff for the garden this spring and like lots

of the new technology, the smaller the better.

The rage

this spring will be bulbettes. Bulbettes give the

gardener a second chance to plant spring flowering bulbs

in the fall. They are pre-sprouted bulbs, sold in pots or

flats, much like annuals, and are meant to go straight

into the ground or containers to provide outdoor color.

One

advantage of using these plants is that they allow for

simultaneous blooming by flowers that naturally bloom in

different times of the spring. They will rebloom in

subsequent years and after the first spring, they will

return to their natural blooming cycles.

Crape

myrtlettes, a small (up to 18 inches tall) crape myrtle

plant, which can be used in with flowering annuals and

perennials in the garden. The small plants will return as

perennials each year and should be mildew resistant, but

be careful - Japanese beetles do love the crape

myrtle.

The herb of

the year for 2000 is rosemary. Use the rosemary as a

garden plant as it provides a nice, needly foliage, a

wonderful piney scent and lovely white, pink, purple or

blue flowers. Depending on the variety, it can be used as

a ground cover or trained as a topiary. In the kitchen,

rosemary livens up meals, fish and vegetables. Vinegar

also can be flavored by infusing it with rosemary sprigs.

A native of

the Mediterranean, rosemary is a tender evergreen shrub

that needs lots of sun, and a well-drained, not too rich

soil containing sand. The upright forms can grow up to

five feet tall.

Some trees

that are getting attention this spring are the trident

maple and ornamental crabapples. The trident maple is

very drought tolerant and is becoming an important

addition to our landscape. The tree, which is deciduous,

should be placed in full sun to partial shade and will

grow to between 25-35 feet tall with a 15-20 foot spread.

Ornamental

crabapples make a nice specimen tree and produce

beautiful flowers and fruits. There are over 400

crabapple cultivars but these four are rated the most

disease resistant in recent studies:

"Adirondack", "Louisa,"

"Prairiefire" and "Red Jewel."

Crabapples produce spring flowers from mid-March to early

April in colors of pink, white and red. The trees will

grow from 15-25 feet tall and 10-20 feet wide.