Creating a Year Round Garden: Spring Bulbs

For this month plant spotlight I wanted to highlight Bulbs!

Now, to be fair, I am not really highlighting a single plant, but a number of plant, but I couldn’t pick just one. Because there really is no equal to seeing the bulbs come up in the later winter / early spring, at times even through bits of snow. Their presence in the a garden can carry that garden while other perennials are still waking up and annuals are not ready to put out. If you have ever come across a bed full of snow drops or crocus then you know what I mean, they transform the early spring garden. 

As a bonus, they are also incredibly low maintenance and some types naturalize, spreading easily. The only catch is you have a relatively short window to plant them in, bulbs have to be ordered and planted in the fall. So if you are looking out in your garden right now, wanting to add some bulb, set yourself a reminder in your calendar for August / September, order bulbs! 

I personal tend toward types that will spread on their own and will bloom year after year, such as naturalizing daffodils, snow drops (Galanthus), crocus, snakeshead fritillary, Leucojum. These bulbs look stunning in large swaths / clusters and can be grown in the beds with other perennials, as they die back to the ground in late spring. I also do enjoy planting large alliums in the front garden. Tulips too I like to grow, however many varieties will only bloom the first year, some will continue to bloom for many years, something check when selecting varieties. I often grow tulips in containers, then I can move them around the garden to add color and then when they are done, I can simply dump out the pots, recycle the soil and plant something else in them for the season. 

Clumping types, such as snow drops can be dug up and divided to help spread them over a larger area. Do this later on, after the plant has finished flowering and begins to die back.

So remember, this fall, to do yourself a HUGE favor for next spring, plan as many bulbs as you can. This last fall I planted over four hundred bulbs! I ordered in bulk from a wholesale supplier and I order different types in quantities of 50 or 100, which really dropped the price per bulb. It sounds like a lot, but trust me, there aren’t nearly as many as you think and when spring comes, and every year I wish I had planted more.