There is no limit to the number of ways you can utilize bulbs in your garden. Be it in a garden bed or patio setting, bulb planting can provide any combination of beautiful flowers, bright colours, and excellent fragrance. We’ve curated a brief text that offers a bulb planting guide.
First, let’s clarify some confusion: Bulbs in the gardening world are named for their planting time, not their flower time. In this vein, fall bulbs, which commonly include crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths, irises, and tulips, are planted in the fall and will flower the following spring. Conversely, spring bulbs cannot tolerate the frigid temperatures of deep winter, and are instead planted in the spring. They will flower the same year, often late in the spring or during the summer months.
Planting Spring Bulbs
Spring-planted bulbs produce some of the most dramatic garden colour with minimal effort. Many of these bulbs are ideal in containers and perfect as cut flowers!
The best time to plant spring bulbs is after all risk of freezing temperatures and hard frosts has passed. A good rule of thumb is quite simple: If it isn’t safe to plant tomatoes, it isn’t safe for bulb planting. Alternatively, start your spring bulbs indoors in a sunny window and take them outside when it is safe to do so. Most bulbs require lots of sun – at least six hours of direct sun each day, and good drainage is (usually) important. When picking out bulbs, ensure you pick the largest ones – bigger is almost always better when it comes to bulb planting.
If your bulbs come with instructions, follow the recommendations on the label of each type of bulb. If there are no instructions, a general rule is to plant your bulbs at a depth that is three times the diameter of the bulb.
It’s advisable to sprinkle some bone meal (2-14-0) in the bottom of your planting hole. Bone meal promotes root and flower production. Make sure to place the bulb in the hole with the pointed end up. Water your bulbs immediately after planting, but don’t water them again until you see shoots appear.
Keep the soil moist (but not waterlogged) throughout the growing season, and use a recommended flower or bulb fertilizer.
Throughout the growing season, the foliage of your bulbs will harness the sun’s energy and store it underground to be used the following spring to push out new growth. In cold winter areas, spring bulbs must be dug up as winter approaches to save them for next year. If you’re not keen on trying to store bulbs over the winter, that’s ok – just treat them as an annual.
Winter Storage of Bulbs
Stop watering two to three weeks before the first frost to encourage dormancy. Carefully dig up the bulbs after the first killing frost freezes the top growth. Be careful not to damage the bulb! Dry your bulbs for a week in a dark, well-ventilated area, and store them in an open paper bag or nylon stocking. Cover your bulbs with dry peat moss or vermiculite so they don’t touch one another. Bulbs are best stored at 10 to 15°C.
The Best 3 Bulbs to Plant in Spring
Dahlia
Dahlias are wonderful for their impressive variety. They’re not only showy and make great cut flower arrangements, but also some of the longest bloomers in the garden. They will start blooming in the summer months and, as you cut the flowers off, they will send up more brooms until frost finally takes the plant to the ground. In my area, this can be late November! To flourish, they need plenty of organic matter and various supplements. Be sure to dig the soil deeply. When dahlia plants are well established, feed with any complete fertilizer. Provide ample water during the growing season. All dahlias will flower more profusely if you pick the flowers regularly. Dig up dahlias after flowering, allow them to dry for a few hours, and then proceed with winter storage as described above. But do not wash them!
Gladiolus
Gladiolus has been a favourite for its aristocratic beauty in any floral arrangements. However, it also lends an air of dramatic beauty to gardens. Its leaves are sword-shaped and surround spikes that bear funnel-shaped flowers. Plant gladiolus corms in a sunny location in well-draining soil and keep planting corms every few weeks to extend the flower blooms in the garden. Start planting the first corms in spring, just two weeks before the last frost date and keep planting every two weeks until the second week of summer. Fertilize them when the flower spikes first appear and after the flowers are picked. Dig corms while stems are still attached and then cut back stems to within 1 inch of the corm. Dry corms in the sun for an afternoon and then cure them for about two weeks where air can circulate freely around them. They do not meed to be kept cool during the curing period. Remove the stems, old corms, and husks and store in sawdust or in paper bags in a cool place.
Lilies
Let’s accept this: Up close, no single flower could be more magnificent than lilies. Easy to grow lilies take up almost no space in the soil, but their flowers and foliage can add a big boost of colour a few feet above ground. Just pop the flower bulbs in between other plants and watch the blooms rise above their neighbors. Lilies are generally tall plants and are available in a variety of colours, with spots, speckles, contrasting edges and brushed-on stripes lending personality to each. Plant lilies in full sun. They enjoy lots of moisture during active growth, but because they cannot tolerate wet soil, excellent drainage is required.
At Van Luyk’s, we have a large variety of bulbs, from calla lilies and dahlias to canna lilies, gladiolus and elephant ears in the flowering bulb group as well as edible bulbs, including asparagus, garlic, onion and more…
See you soon!