Planning a Long Blooming Bulb Garden

A spring bulb garden is one of the easiest gardens there is to grow and nothing signals the end of the winter season like the first crocuses poking their heads up through the melting snow.

This fall as you are tidying up the landscape, you may find yourself dreaming of the sweet fragrance and brightly colored blooms of spring. There is no time for dreaming…now is the time to get started and turn that dream into a reality!

Bulb Garden Design

Planting a bulb garden is a reasonably simple task. The challenge is selecting the right bulbs to guarantee a long season of blooms. Using the list of bloom cycles below as a reference, plan your spring bulb garden. Start by choosing different bulbs from each category to ensure something will always be flowering.

Consider the location of where you will plant your spring bulb garden. Bulbs need a well-drained location where they will not sit in pools of water from the melting snow and spring rains. The amount of sun the plants will receive is another factor to consider, however most bulbs, except for late bloomers, will flower before the trees and shrubs are in leaf.

To make sure you’ll enjoy flowers all through the spring, select an assortment of bulbs with different blooming periods.

VERY EARLY	EARLY	MID-SPRING	LATE SPRING
Glory of the Snow Chionodoxa forbesii,	Crocus Crocus hybrids	Tulip Tulipa hybrids	Ornamental Onion Allium hybrids
Siberian Squill Scilla siberica	Dwarf Tulip Tulipa hybrids	Hyacinth Hyacinthus orientalis	Late Dwarf Iris Iris pumila
Dwarf Iris Iris reticulata	Early Daffodil Narcissus hybrids	Grape Hyacinth Muscari armeniacum	Late blooming Daffodil Narcissus hybrids

Select a beautiful fall afternoon and devote a few hours to planting your bulb garden. Once you have planted the bulbs, leave them to sleep all winter long. With the warm temperatures of spring, the bulbs awaken and emerge from the earth to form buds and begin to bloom. With very little effort and some thoughtful planning, you can enjoy a progression of blooms that begin in early spring and extend right into the glorious, first days of summer.