Plan Ahead for Spring Color
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Spring flowering bulbs are usually planted in the fall – this makes it essential to make a garden plan, and also to keep a record of where they’re planted.
Here’s a perfect place for delayed gratification; plant in the fall, forget about them, and get a lovely surprise in the spring when you most need it.
The fall is the most common time to buy bulbs – they have a short season, and they’re only available then, because they need to go in the ground while it’s still warm enough for them to make some root growth.
All the nutrients they need for blooming in the spring is in the bulb, but they like having a bit of bone meal added to the planting soil.
When spring comes, my garden starts off with a bang, with crocuses. The tiny early blooming kinds are first, gradually giving way to the larger forms in bright purple, white, and yellow, some striped.
Isn’t it strange that so many early bloomers are blue? I guess we like them so much because we haven’t seen much blue sky all winter.
Over the next few months, once the snow’s gone, daffodils are next, then some of the other smaller types of flowering bulbs, like Chionodoxa (glory of the snow) and Scilla sibirica, the Siberian Squill.
Those names should give you an idea of how hardy these plants are!
Another welcome sight is Muscaria, the Grape Hyacinth.
Anenome blanda is a self seeding, never invasive and always welcome. They bloom in blues, purples, pinks and whites.
One thing you’ll notice when all these early bulbs start to bloom is that they give the insects a valuable source of nectar.
Even when the nights are chilly, as long as the sun is out, they’ll be opening their flowers for the bees to get at.
All of these plants with the exception of Snowdrops, or Galanthus, are moved only once the flowers die back and the foliage starts to ripen. Galanthus is the only bulb that can be moved ‘in the green’ or in full flower.
It’s important to let the foliage of bulbs ripen, either in place, or lifted and heeled in – an out of the way garden bed is perfect for this. Then they can be replanted immediately, or stored dry in a cool place to be planted in the fall.
Don’t forget about them!
Ready to buy your bulbs? Find them at my affiliates here; Spring Flowering Bulbs.
