If you are new to planting spring-blooming bulbs, it may surprise you to learn that right now is the time to select and purchase them. New gardeners may find this need for such long-range planning difficult to understand, because the urge to acquire these beauties is triggered when we see them blooming. Getting excited about a bare brown bulb with no obvious signs of life can be a challenge to the imagination.
It can be hard to know what to select, when all you see is the color photo on the bulb box or package — most of us prefer to select plants in bloom so we know exactly what we are getting in form and color. However, we can't change the nature of bulb growth and dormancy needs, so we have to select and plant bulbs now if we want those glorious flowers in the spring. And fall is when bulbs are available in the garden centers.
In our climate, it is usually advisable to wait until late October or November to put most bulbs in the ground; even December is not too late. If you wait until then to buy them, however, the pickings will be extremely slim. Also, some bulbs [tulips, hyacinths, possibly crocus] should be chilled in the refrigerator — not the freezer — for 6 to 8 weeks before planting, to supply an artificial winter. They need the chilling to enter a true dormancy that will ensure proper flowering and stem length.
A few bulbs (or bulb-like plants) should be planted soon after purchase. Lilies and iris both decline in vigor if allowed to dry out so should be placed in amended soil or a container after you bring them home. Many bulbs are most effective when planted in groups, whether in pots or in the ground. Some can be expensive, so take a good look at bulbs sold in packages of six or more, for the best prices.
Most require sun and well-draining soil. Instructions are usually informative on specific needs and proper planting depth of the packaged bulbs; if you purchase individual bulbs, the nursery probably has handouts available that will tell you what those bulbs require.
All of us recognize tulips and narcissus (sometimes called daffodils or jonquils). Tulips are challenging to grow well here after the first flowering season since our winters are too mild to give them a proper dormancy. Narcissus, however, usually thrive, and some even naturalize, or spread, once planted in a site to their liking. Other bulbs will also naturalize. If you want that wildflower effect in your garden, and don't mind the browning bulb foliage that must be allowed to wither away naturally after bloom time, try species for miniature Narcissus, Sparaxis, Ixia, Puschkinia, Leucojum, Ipheion, Freesia or Ixioliriron. All are charming and stand up to early spring unsettled weather.
If your garden lacks full sun, try the following two bulbs:
Muscari (grape hyacinths) — these shade-tolerant little gems are easy and reliable, spreading happily among perennials and under trees and shrubs. Muscari botyryoides 'Album' has white flowers, M. 'Valerie Finnis' has palest blue, M. latifolium has two colors in each bloom spike, M. azureum has larger frilled flowers in beautiful sky blue, M. armeniacum 'Blue Spike' has double flowers of dark blue. And the old standby species, M. armeniacum has abundant small deep blue flowers.
Scilla (squills) — S. peruviana produces a large dome-shaped cluster of purple-blue star like flowers that are quite spectacular and always attract attention in the garden. Other squills, S. siberica and S. campanulata, naturalize readily and will carpet the ground under trees and shrubs, with pink, blue or white sprays of flowers resembling hyacinths.
-Sharon Hull
