As spring slowly tries to bloom, Steve Perkovich and the NIU Greenhouse staff are preparing a variety of flowers for the campus landscape.

“We planted daffodils all over campus,” Perkovich said. “There are going to be red tulips at the east entry. Siberian squill &those are low-growing blue flowers &they’ll carpet the sides of the lagoons.

“Our spring blooms consist of bulbs that we planted in between the months of December and March,” he said.

Annuals are planted each year, and perennials, like geraniums, typically are planted once but come back every year. According to www.bulb.com, while landscapers treat many bulbs & particularly certain tulips & as annuals to be re-planted each fall, other bulbs naturalize readily and can be incorporated into a landscape plan as would any other perennial.

Perkovich said last year’s less-than-ordinary climate has had an impact on campus plant life. Low temperatures and an extended frozen ground affected his job, delaying much of the planting work until a thaw-out just two weeks ago.

Despite chilly weather expected this week, students soon can get whiff of spring flowers.

“We hope that NIU will be able to see these blossoms by the first week in May,” Perkovich said.

Maintaining fresh plants isn’t just a challenge for landscapers. Students who wish to keep flora in their apartments and dorm rooms must deal with conditions, too.

“I am always getting flowers,” said Anna Urban, a freshman communication major. “And no matter what I do, they die within a week.”

The Web site of Chicago Botanic Gardens, www.chicago-botanic.org, claims the secret to keeping flowers and plants fresh is to put them outside during warm days and back indoors at night.

The site recommends that spring plant lovers grow the Sansevieria, also known as the “snake plant.” Versatile in size and growing conditions, it needs to be watered only three times in eight months. Of its 60 varieties, the most popular two are laurentii and zeylanica. chris waterman photo

Flowers like these won’t be the only foliage on NIU’s campus once the products of recent plantings blossom.