Plant Cheerful Spring Flower Bulbs Now

 

Did you already plant your spring bulbs?  From the end of September to the end of October is the best time, depending on which hardiness zone you live.  Spring bulbs will definitely shorten the winter, bringing lots of cheerful colors into your garden - long before everything else is blooming and before the trees will show their leaves.

Plant Daffodils, Alliums, Tulips, Hyacinths, Crocus, Snow Drops, Scilla Siberica... in groups of seven, nine, or eleven bulbs - each one to two inches apart from each other.  Plant them directly behind other perennials to avoid seeing their withered leaves after blooming.  Cut the blooms and their stalk after they fade, and let the leaves soak in the sun and healthy soil - in order to store nutrition for next year's flower show.  

The most important thing is that the part of the garden where the flower bulbs are to be planted must not become too wet during the winter.  Water that remains in puddles several days after rain will absolutely ruin bulbs.  After all, they originate from dry areas in Russia, Turkey, Iran, and the high plains of Central Asia. 

Crocus, Snow Drops, and Scilla brighten a boring lawn in spring and naturalize easily.  However, mowing your lawn after bloom should wait at least six weeks.

Early spring flowers can bring the color and warmth of spring to your garden weeks ahead of the official springtime - a joyful garden sight!  So, don't forget to plant lots of bulbs NOW.

More Information:

VIDEO

Amazing Spring Bulbs That Beautify Your Garden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TP3P4cs0Tc

Top Performing Springs Bulbs that Naturalize

https://www.gardenia.net/guide/12-top-performing-spring-bulbs-that-come-back-year-after-year 

Frequent Asked Bulb Questions

https://www.flowerbulbs.com/678/faqs

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Early Blooms

Provident gardeners are now rewarded with early blooms - even earlier than usual this spring.
If you planted bulbs last fall you are enjoying now a cheery, colorful garden. Nothing says spring more than waves of yellow and blue flowers, seen in your garden everywhere. Best of all: many of these spring bulbs such as Scilla, Snow Drops and Daffodils naturalize and will bring more color into your garden in following years.

Blooming Parks
If you live in the Ottawa area visit Maple Lawn Garden on Richmond Road or Springfield Road in Rockcliffe (corner Mariposa) to find spectacular seas of blue Scilla.

Daffodils at Rockcliffe Park and the Rockeries
The pavilion and surrounding area has turned into a popular location for outdoor weddings. The Rockcliffe Rockeries has literally hundreds of thousands of Daffodil bulbs. The best time to view this display is now in April or early May, when flowering trees provide a burst of spring colour that complements the Daffodils.
Location: Rockcliffe Parkway, between Princess Avenue and Acacia Avenue, Ottawa


Fall Planting:
Mark your calendar for late August bulb purchasing and try to find bulb varieties of early and late bloomers and several heights. Plant them generously in wide groups. These bulbs are hardy to zone 3 and 4:

Galanthus (Snowdrop)
Hyacinthus (Hyacinth)
Muscari (Grape Hyacinth)
Narcissus (Daffodil)
Tulipa (Tulip)
Crocus (Crocus)
Scilla (Bluebell)

- Plant the bulbs in early October in well-prepared soil. Planting depth varies by the type of bulb (8cm deep for Crocus, 12 deep for Daffodils and Hyacinths, 15cm deep for Tulips).

- Cover with chicken wire to deter squirrels from eating your precious bulbs, water well and add another layer of soil or mulch.

- Fertilize plants immediately after their flowering ends generously with compost soil.

- Let th bulbs go dormant naturally. Important: Don't remove foliage after bloom.

- Plant groups of Achillea, Poppies, Euphorbia, Heliopsis, Lambs Ear, Purple Cone Flowers or blooming herbs between the bulb areas. They too don't to be watered and will cover the drying foliage of the spring bulbs

- Allow the bulbs to dry out (just quit watering) after the foliage begins to turn yellow. Most spring bulbs prefer dry soil during summer.

- Every three years: dig, divide and replant the bulbs when crowded.


My favorite early bloomer: Periwinkle
In shady gardens Periwinkle will strive, rewarding you with lots of dark green ground cover and blue flowers short after the last snow melted. They are not fussy with soil and spread themselves over the years.
Much nicer than boring brown lawn in spring - and less work!