Autumn is the Time to Plant Bulbs in the Garden

There are few sights more encouraging than that of a crocus pushing its way up through newly thawed ground after the long winter months insisting – no matter the weather – that spring is here. By April and May, spring flowers fill our gardens, and with a little planning and work in the fall, favorite blooms and colors continue sprouting, growing, and blooming on up to the following fall season. Year after year, these same flowers, grown from bulbs planted in fall, blossom without much care, but many of them proliferate – multiply – all by themselves. These easy care flowers are often hardy as the little crocus, that first flower of spring, and require no pesticides to stay healthy.

Autumn is the right time to shop for most bulbs, as well. The availability of spring through summer flower bulbs is prevalent, and favorite bulbs can be found in an array of colors, genuses – altered varieties, and bulk buying options are readily available. Catalogs are another good way to purchase bulbs.

Less Than a Month of Preparation Can Bring Six Months of Easy-Care Flower Garden Brilliance!

With a little careful planning, you can purchase and plant bulbs in the fall months that will blossom from March through August – a garden full of plants, continually flowering, as some dye back, others just begin to bloom – from that first spring blossom on up to the next fall’s planting season.

For example:

March: Crocus, Narcisscus, Snow drops

April: Daffodils, Narcisscus, Tulips, Bluebells

May: Hyacinths, Tulips, Lily of the Valley, Irises

June: Calla Lily, Asiatic Lilies, Irises, Gladiolas, Allium

July: Asiatic Lilies, Lilies, Dahlias

August: Lilies, Chinese lanterns, Dahlias

These bulbs can be bought from catalogs or from stores in the fall and planted within a week, leaving the gardener time to sit back and enjoy the show the following spring, or work other areas of the garden, filling in with perennials.

How to Plant Bulbs – A Plan for Success!

First, purchase the proper tools: a trowel, an auger – for less bending, no back pain – or a standard bulb planting tool. Also have the flower bed prepared with workable soil and a layer of mulch. Read each bulb package label. If bulbs are bought bulk from a bin, check for a card with information about the bulb to take with you. If a card is not available, write down as much information as you can from the bin about the blub’s planting specifications. When planting, you need to know two things in particular: planting depth (which can be estimated from the chart below), and sun exposure requirements – full sun, partial sun, or shade. Be sure to plant bulbs in the proper sun exposed areas. Full sun exposure is more than six hours of sun per day during the growth period of the flower. Partial shade is four to six hours of sun per day, and woodland exposure, or shade, is less than four hours of sun (or partial sun) per day.

Now that you have your months of blossoms planned for a vibrant show each month, color coordinate to add interest and visual artistry to your garden. Just like you do inside your home, choose color schemes and let them guide your choices among the multitude of bulbs available. The various flower beds of your garden can be planned out like the different rooms of a home: one might be pink, red, and cream, another purples, blues, and a dash of yellow.

Ready, Set, Plant!

• Plant bulbs in clumps, rather than rows. It looks more natural, as it is how they’d grow in the wild.
• Pay attention to spacing and depth.
• Dig a circular or oblong hole, the specified depth of the bulb to be planted, and large enough for at least ten to twelve bulbs plus the space required between each bulb. Don’t skimp! One or two bulbs won’t make a lovely show in the garden. Instead, plant in beds of 24 to 40 for an eye catching, dramatic statement.
• Lightly dust the base of the hole with a sprinkling of bone meal.
• Set bulbs in, pointy tip up.
• Cover first with a layer of soil, and then with a layer of mulch.
• Sprinkle another, slightly thicker than the first, layer of bone meal.

Continue planting until all the bulbs of the bed are planted and arranged just like you’d arrange the room of a house; but, you won’t get to see this room until it opens and blossoms before you over the coming months – that is the magic of bulb planting. Your work is done! Sit back and let the magic happen. You’ll feel delighted when those blooms begin, all the way through the next fall season.

Be sure to order and check catalogs for spring bulbs. This is a good thing to do in the winter months, new varieties and colors come out all the time. Check the internet for rare varieties and indigenous plants and keep a list of plants you’d like to see in your garden. If you are storing any bulbs over the winter months, be sure to keep them dry. Store them in rooms without dampness or moisture seepage, a room with a dryer or a water heater, perhaps, and in a basement only if it stays very dry. Another interesting thing to do over the winter months is force bulbs for indoor blooms and sweet fragrance. Amerylis and Narcissicus are two favorite varieties of bulbs to force indoors.

Refer to these articles for additional information on bulb planting as part of this series –

Forced Bulbs – Blooming Holiday Gifts to Make: Garden Fresh Flowers Growing Indoors

Rare Bulb Varieties and Indigenous Plants: Where to Find and Reasons to Plant Woodland Plants