Flowers blooming in spring from bare little bulbs planted in the autumn has got to be one of the all-time great miracles of nature. Hold a few daffodil, tulip, and crocus bulbs in your hand, and you'd be hard-pressed to convince anyone that these rock-like balls have the power to deliver a profusion of color just from some sunlight and water.
But indeed, they will do just that, if properly planted in the fall and cared for in the spring.
If you're not familiar with gardening, it will help to think of the first way of dividing plants and flowers: annuals and perennials. Annuals are flowers that bloom only once; their whole lifetime lasts just one growing season. One example is pansies. You go to the nursery or the hardware store in spring, buy some plants already blooming, plant them in your garden or window box, and they die in the fall, never to return.
Perennials, on the other hand, keep coming back year after year; they don't die each fall, they just go dormant until the weather warms again.
Flowers from bulbs are perennials; plant some bulbs this fall, and chances are they'll provide you with blooms year after year. When you see a garden with a clump of iris or tulips or daffodils that is bushy and thick with flowers, you know those bulbs were probably planted years ago, as often the flowers multiply over the years.
When you're choosing the bulbs, think too about color and size of the blooms; there should be photos of the flowers next to the bin of bulbs. For the most part, smaller bulbs produce flowers that bloom earlier in the spring, and the flowers are small, like snow-on-the-mountain or crocus. The larger bulbs, such as tulips, bloom later and produce larger blooms. Make sure the bulbs are firm, clean, and free of mold.
The best time to plant is after the first frost, so the bulbs will stay cool throughout the fall and winter. What this means in terms of the calendar depends in large part on where you live, so check with your nursery about what the schedule for your area is. The first bulbs to plant, in any zone, will be the daffodils, some of the hyacinths, and camassia; next come the tulips, crocus, snowdrops, and iris, and finally the paperwhite narcissus and amaryllis.
happy planting!
But indeed, they will do just that, if properly planted in the fall and cared for in the spring.
If you're not familiar with gardening, it will help to think of the first way of dividing plants and flowers: annuals and perennials. Annuals are flowers that bloom only once; their whole lifetime lasts just one growing season. One example is pansies. You go to the nursery or the hardware store in spring, buy some plants already blooming, plant them in your garden or window box, and they die in the fall, never to return.
Perennials, on the other hand, keep coming back year after year; they don't die each fall, they just go dormant until the weather warms again.
Flowers from bulbs are perennials; plant some bulbs this fall, and chances are they'll provide you with blooms year after year. When you see a garden with a clump of iris or tulips or daffodils that is bushy and thick with flowers, you know those bulbs were probably planted years ago, as often the flowers multiply over the years.
When you're choosing the bulbs, think too about color and size of the blooms; there should be photos of the flowers next to the bin of bulbs. For the most part, smaller bulbs produce flowers that bloom earlier in the spring, and the flowers are small, like snow-on-the-mountain or crocus. The larger bulbs, such as tulips, bloom later and produce larger blooms. Make sure the bulbs are firm, clean, and free of mold.
The best time to plant is after the first frost, so the bulbs will stay cool throughout the fall and winter. What this means in terms of the calendar depends in large part on where you live, so check with your nursery about what the schedule for your area is. The first bulbs to plant, in any zone, will be the daffodils, some of the hyacinths, and camassia; next come the tulips, crocus, snowdrops, and iris, and finally the paperwhite narcissus and amaryllis.
happy planting!xoxo
source: diy
photo source: Country Living
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