When we think of bulbs, most of us think only of the spring blooming varieties like daffodils, tulips, amaryllis, grape hyacinths and the members of the Allium family.
Spring bulbs are the most common, to be sure, and October is prime bulb planting time.
Tulips
Tulips are by far my most favorite spring flowering bulb. No questions, no commentary. My favorite.
I love the large red tulips that reach heights of two to 3 feet; I love the variegated yellow tulips; I'm enraptured by the double flowering tulips.
I don't know what it is about this particular species -- maybe it has to do with the beautiful row of tall red tulips that lined the walkway of the first house I bought. I hadn't planted them but they were absolutely beautiful and I kept them for years.
The biggest problem with tulips, however, is that they are a delicacy for squirrels and deer. This has caused many to give up on them and plant other varieties that won't be eaten by our woodland friends.
I live on 5 acres in the woods in Virginia. But I plant tulips -- successfully -- every fall. How? Containers.
Now, the containers I use are fairly large and deep. This way, I can plant tulip bulbs as much as 6 to 8 inches deep. Once the bulbs are planted I plant pansies on top so that the tulips will shoot through a carpet of color the following spring.
I've done this same pansy over-planting for years and have found it to be the most successful method for lots of color. You can buy pansies in the spring but buying them in the fall and overwintering them gives you the most frugal use of pansies.
Daffodils
There are literally thousands of varieties of daffodils. When you're trying to decide which kind to plant, think about where in the garden you want to plant them and whether you want to plant them year after year.
You can buy daffodils that are "naturalized", which means that they will grow and spread year after year without having to plant new ones. The color for these daffodils is always yellow.
But what do you do when you're trying to decide on other specimens to plant? Easy. Go with color and bloom time.
There are three distinct bloom times for Spring bulbs: early spring, midspring, and late spring. Early spring is usually somewhere between March and May, in spring is between April and the beginning of June, and late spring is the end of May to the end of June.
I like a lot of bold color in the garden in spring because it's been dormant for so long. Dormancy when you're living in the woods is usually various shades of brown. I'm always glad to see shocks all of bright orange, yellow and red.
There are also a lot of wonderful pastel varieties of daffodils as well -- I love the white daffodils with pale pink centers.
Just take a look at where you're going to plant them and what color scheme you'd like to see. When choosing your daffodils make sure to opt for some in each bloom time so that when one variety is finished blooming the next is ready to start.
Amaryllis
At one time, we have all been the benefactor of receiving an amaryllis plant. They are absolutely beautiful holiday plants in pots but did you know that you can also take that bulb and plant it outside for another year of bloom?
Although you may have been trained to pitch the amaryllis, bulb and all, into the composter this time do something different.
When the flower has died back, snip it off near the top of the bulb taking care not to cut any of the leaves. You'll probably find that the stalk is juicy or sappy and that's just fine.
Treat this plant just like your other houseplants. Amaryllis likes a lot of sun so if you have a sunny window so let it perch there until temperatures outside have warmed up to about 50°.
Instead of leaving your amaryllis in the pot over the summer, plant it in a sunny place in your garden. A planting bed near a deck is a perfect location to nurture them throughout the spring and summer. When planting them in the ground follow the same suggestions as you would planting them in a pot: leave the upper third of the bulb exposed above the soil line.
Give your amaryllis lots of water, sun and food in the spring and summer because that will cause the leaves to grow and the more leaves you have the more flower stalks will grow. It's best to stop feeding in August.
If you live in an area of the country that gets a hard freeze, you will want to take the bulbs out of the ground and pot them in fresh soil before a hard freeze hits. If you want to force the blooms for holiday time, pot them about 16 weeks before you want them to bloom.
After the bloom fades start the process all over and enjoy next year.
Spring isn't the only time to have bulbs adorn your garden. Summer and early fall are also wonderful times to host these colorful bloomers.
On of my favorite summer bulbs is caladium. It my zone 7 garden I grow them as an annual and dig them up in the fall to overwinter in a dry cool place. Their leaves bring a splash of color to a shady garden. They bloom in shades of red and white and can be grown all winter long in the warmer climates.
Gladiolas are also some of my favorite summer bulbs. The issue that you have with glads, however, is that they grow so tall a heavy rainstorm can break the stalks. If you're going to grow glads just remember to give them some support. These summer favorites bloom in shades of the rainbow. Yellows, whites, pinks and oranges are a great cut flower for tall vase.
Canna and calla lilies are also wonderful additions to the summer garden. They usually grow quite tall and I enjoy planting reds and yellows together for a bright burst of color.
I have many gardening friends who loved grow dahlias but, sadly, I haven't had any luck with them at all. It may be because my soil tends to be on the clay side rather than the loam side and this is a bulb that likes moist, light, well-drained soil. They are hardy to zone 9 so if you're growing them in any other zone, you will want to treat them as an annual and dig them up every year.
You can plant fall and summer blooming bulbs at the same time you plant your Spring bulbs or you can wait until early spring to plant them in.
